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Chapter 5 Structure and Function We have thus far recounted the physical appearance as well as the historical evolution of the Yuanming Yuan. In this chapter, we shall look into the inner operation of the garden. How was the garden administered? Who ran the daily matters? How was security maintained? What was the punishment when rules were violated or crimes committed? From recently available archival sources, the human dimension of the garden can be at least partially reconstructed. Let us delve into the sources to look at how the Yuanming Yuan functioned during a period of one hundred fifty years. The Garden Administration and Its Services Administratively, the Yuanming Yuan was directly under the supervision of the Imperial Household (Neiwu Fu).1 The Qing’s Imperial Household had its roots in the Manchu banner tradition. Once the Manchus secured power in China, this particular o‰ce was reorganized into the Qing emperor’s personal treasury, and by the time of Qianlong it “had already reached its final, definitive form,” as Chang Te-ch’ang has pointed out (1972, 50). At the end of the Qianlong reign in 1796, the Imperial Household employed as many as 1,623 men. Their prime duty was solely “to manage the emperor’s private life” (Torbert 1977, 29, 39). The final form of the Imperial Household featured three divisions, namely, the Palace Stud, the Imperial Armory, and the Imperial Gardens and Hunting Parks, to which the Yuanming Yuan belonged. Presiding over the Imperial Household was the general director (zongguan dachen), who was selected by the emperor from a pool of high-ranking Manchu o‰cials. Apparently, as it turned out, more than one general director could be appointed. The general director appointed by the Qianlong Emperor in 1749 was given the prestigious second rank. Normally , two deputies, responsible for personnel and communication, respectively, assisted the general director; and they were each assisted by thirty-six secretaryships (bitieshi), half of whom could be Chinese. The secretaryship, which was an established Manchu system,| 101  dated from as early as 1631 (Fuge 1984, 22). Under its supervision, a group of assistants performed various services, such as logistical supply management, accounting, security, legal services, construction and maintenance, managing the pasturage of cows and sheep for sacrificial and worship purposes, embroidery manufacturing, ceremonial scheduling, and general management of His Majesty’s personal matters, including daily court services (Qingshigao 1976, 12:3421–3424). The Imperial Household drew its revenues from the royal domains, such as rents collected from the land in the neighborhood of the Yuanming Yuan. It received contributions from the provinces, including the best sorts of local food and products, and tributary goods from the vassal states. It also obtained profits from monopolized trade, in particular ginseng and furs, quota surplus from customs, and took fines and confiscated goods from various sources. It also played a major role in the Salt and Tax Administrations. Its various lucrative activies, as Torbert points out, “guaranteed a steady flow of funds in to the emperor’s personal co¤er” (1977, 43; cf. 103, 106, 108, 113, 120). In short, the Imperial Household’s financial reservoir appeared huge and ample until the mid-nineteenth century when the finances of the empire as a whole faltered. Under the division of imperial gardens and hunting parks of the Imperial Household, the Yuanming Yuan had its own structure of management. Early in 1723, upon the ascendancy of the Yongzheng emperor, who o‰cially made the Yuanming Yuan the principal imperial garden, the o‰ce of general supervisor was created. In the following year, with its growth, the garden administration had six managers (zongling) and twelve deputy managers (fu zongling). In 1730, the managers enjoyed the prestige of the sixth rank, and the deputy managers the seventh or eighth rank.The number of managers and deputy managers was sharply on the rise following the vast expansion of the Yuanming Yuan during the Qianlong reign. In 1741, the sixth year of the Qianlong era, two new acting deputy managers (weishu fuzongling) were added. There were as many as seven a decade later, and by 1767 the number rose to sixteen (Qingshigao 1976, 12:3429; cf. YMYA 1991, 2:992). The appointments of key garden administrators were always made by special imperial decree (tezhi), which underlined the importance of the Yuanming Yuan to the Qing emperors. Once appointed, they could recommend their own deputies; however, the nominees needed the approval of the throne. The relatively...

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