Differences between Bureaucrats and Aristocrats in Government

A detailed Summary of Differences between Bureaucrats and Aristocrats in Government

Differences between Bureaucrats and Aristocrats in Government

Bureaucrats and aristocrats, the former evident in the government in the Tang dynasty (617-907) and the ladder pronoun in the government of Heian Japan. Both are different in many different aspects, such as within government, government structure, law, economy, and society.

A bureaucrat can be defined by the following: an appointed government official with certain duties and responsibilities defined by disposition in the bureaucracy. A bureaucrat is more dependent on the government than an aristocrat because official power comes from official appointment through the bureaucracy (Class Lecture, Oct. 16, 97). Bureaucracy first replaced aristocracy in the Tang dynasty, under the rule of Empress Wu (625?-706?, r.690-706) bureaucracy was expanded by furthering expansion policies and supporting the examination system. Positions in government were filled through the examination system, and people who passed were called the literati. When one held this title of literati, you were considered intelligent and were considered to have high status (TA session, Oct. 28, 97). "They were a group of smart guys with a good education." (Steve, TA session, Oct. 28, 97). This of cou

Shifting gears now, we come to Heian Japan (794-1156), and aristocratic society, and radically different from that of the bureaucratic society of the Tang in China. An aristocrat can be defined by the following: someone who has high status in power due to their family background: independent of government and emperor because of their independent power base in form of land holdings and their inheritance.

Another example of the aristocratic gain in power can be characterized by two terms; shoen, and, shiki. Shoen first appeared in the eighth century and were private land holdings outside of government control. Most were aristocrat land holdings and they enjoyed tax exemptions and had immunity from government inspections within the boundaries of the shoen. There were four levels of people associated with a shoen. They were the cultivators, resident managers, central proprietors, and the patrons. Because the proprietor was usually an absent landlord, he required administrators and they assumed most duties of governance as well as fiscal rights which once belonged to the central government. These rights called shiki entitled the holder to a certain portion of income from the land, and could be sold, bought, inherited by both men and women. In 1072 the revival of the imperial family begun by Go-Sanjo and was continued by Shirakawa. He later enjoyed great power as a retired emperor (In). Later Toba (r.1107-1123; In, 1129-1156) and Go-Shirakawa (r.1155-1158; In, to 1192) also served as retired emperors. (Schirokauer, p.162). But the despite this resurgence of imperial power, the Fujiwara and thus the aristocrats still held tremendous power. For another 700 years until 1869, the imperial family and the Fujiwara remained in Kyoto and the Fujiwara still prov

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Category: History