distributed among the 80
circuits, or about an average of 3 prefectures to each.

Every prefecture is in turn subdivided into several magistracies, of
which there are 1477 in all, distributed among the 282 prefectures,
or about an average of 5 magistracies to each.

Immediately below the magistrates may be said to come the people; though
naturally an official who rules over an area as big as an average
English county can scarcely be brought into personal touch with all
those under his jurisdiction. This difficulty is bridged over by the
appointment of a number of head men, or headboroughs, who are furnished
with wooden seals, and who are held responsible for the peace and good
order of the wards or boroughs over which they are set. The post is
considered an honourable one, involving as it does a quasi-official
status. It is also more or less lucrative, as it is necessary that all
petitions to the magistrate, all conveyances of land, and other legal
instruments, should bear the seal of the head man, as a guarantee of
good faith, a small fee being payable on each notarial act.

On the other hand, the post is occasionally burdensome and trying in the
extreme. For instance, if a head man fails to produce any criminals or
accused persons, either belonging to, or known to be, in his district,
he is liable to be bambooed or otherwise severely punished.

In ordinary life the head man is not distinguishable from the masses of
his fellow-countrymen. He may often be seen working like the rest, and
even walking about with bare legs and bare feet.

Thus in a descending scale we have the Emperor, the viceroys and
governors of the 18 provinces, the intendants, or _Tao-t'ais_, of the 80
circuits, the prefects of the 282 prefectures, the magistrates of the
1477 magistracies, the myriad headboroughs, and the people.

The district magistrates, so far as officials are concerned, are the
real rulers of China, and in conjunction with the prefects are popularly
called "father-and-mother" officials, as though they stood _in loco
parentium_ to the people, whom, by the way, they in turn often speak of,
even in official documents, as "the babies."

The ranks of these magistrates are replenished by drafts of those
_literati_ who have succeeded in taking the third, or highest, degree.
Thus, the first step on the ladder is open to all who can win their way
by successful competition at certain literary examinations, so long as
each candidate c