Lidai zhiguan biao 歷代職官表

(Qinding) Lidai zhiguan biao (欽定)歷代職官表 "(Imperially endorsed) Table of government officials through history" is a list of the occupants of the highest state offices through history. It was compiled on official order during the Qianlong reign-period 乾隆 (1736-1795) of the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) under the supervision of Ji Yun 紀昀 (1724-1805), Lu Xixiong 陸錫熊 (1734-1792), Sun Shiyi 孫士毅 (1720-1796) and Lu Feixi 陸費墀 (1731-1790).

The book of 72 juan was to be a mirror of success and failure of central government politics. The lists are geared to the state official system of the Qing period and arranged according to departments. Each section begins with the Qing period and only in the second place lists the chronological occupation of these offices. Inspite of this arrangement, it is clearly explained if the administrative system was different in older times, when offices and institutions were created or abolished, or were renamed. The sources for the pre-Qing periods were lists from encylopaedias on statecraft, as the Tongdian 通典 or Wenxian tongkao 文獻通考, or the treatises on state offices (Zhiguan zhi 職官志) in the official dynastic histories. Information on the Qing period offices were copied from the Qing huidian 清會典. The book is a great help for research, but it also includes some errors and is in some places not easy to use.

It is included in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.

Huang Benji 黃本驥 (1781-1856）, courtesy name Zhongliang 仲良, style Huchi 虎癡, published a shortened version with a length of 6 juan. He hailed from Ningxiang 寧鄉, Hunan, obtained his juren degree during the Daoguang reign-period 道光 (1821-1850) and was educational instructor (jiaoyuyu 教諭) of Qianyang 黔陽, Hunan. He also wrote a kind of official bibliography, the Huang-Qing jingji zhi 皇朝經籍志.

The official list of high ministers, the 72-juan long Lidai zhiguan biao that had been compiled during the Qianlong reign-period was never published except in the Siku quanshu. Huang Benji regretted that this list was not available to the public and therefore decided to publish a shortened version with 67 tables and the same title. The original and Huang's book use the administrative terminology of the Qing dynasty and also follow the Qing custom that each government section has a fix number of officials with a determined rank. Huang left out the critical apparatus that was attached to each table, but his book is still extremely useful for consultation.

Unfortunately Huang made numerous of errors while copying the original information from the official text. His book was first published in 1846 in the series Sanchangwuzhai congshu 三長物齋叢書. In 1965 the Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局 published a modernized version of Huang's book, with a reprint in 1980. This edition is the most helpful tool for high state officials through Chinese history.