Origins
The department was established before thePersonnel
The department was manned by ''booi'' (Manchu: ''booi'', zh, p=baoyi, s=包衣, links=no), or "bondservants", who were selected from the bondservants of the upper three banners. ''Booi'' was sometimes synonymous with '' booi aha'', which literally means "household person", but ''aha'' usually referred to the hereditary and legally servile people who worked in fields, whereas ''booi'' usually referred to household servants who performed domestic service. The ''booi'' who operated the Imperial Household Department can be divided into roughly four groups: * a small ''booi'' elite; * the majority of the ''booi''; * indentured servants of the ''booi''; * the state bondservants (Manchu: ''sinjeku'', zh, s=辛者庫, links=no). In total, there were threeVarious classes of Booi
#''booi niru'' a Manchu word zh, s=包衣佐領, links=no), meaning Neiwufu Upper Three Banner's platoon leader of about 300 men. #''booi guanlin'' a Manchu word zh, s=包衣管領, links=no), meaning the manager of ''booi'' doing all the domestic duties of Neiwufu. # ''booi amban'' is also a Manchu word, meaning high official zh, s=包衣大臣, links=no). # ''Estate bannerman'' zh, s=庄头旗人, links=no) are those renegade Chinese who joined the Jurchen, or original civilians-soldiers working in the fields. These people were all turned into ''booi aha'', or field bondservants. # ''sinjeku'' is another Manchu word zh, s=辛者庫, links=no), the lowest class of the bondservants.Divisions
The central administration of the imperial household department was carried out by its chancery. Under the chancery, there were 7 Si (司), 3 Yuan (院) as well as numerous properties in different regions of China. One Grand chancellor of senior second rank to senior first rank was set at the top of the department. To assist the work of the Grand chancellor, there were 37 bithesi (Manchu: bithesi, , Secretaries) one langzhong (senior fifth rank) and one (senior sixth rank). Below are some of the many bureaus that were supervised by the Chancery of the Imperial Household Department () in Beijing:Seven Si
The Seven Si are the main functioning body of the department. Every Si (department) has several Langzhong (郎中), Yuanwailang (員外郎) and Bithesi who were officers that supervise the works of these departments. *Privy Purse (, later Guangchusi 廣儲司), in charge of imperial revenues and expenditures. At least as early as 1727, Administrator of the Canton Customs, known to Europeans as the " Hoppo", delivered substantial revenues to the Imperial Household Department through the Privy Purse. *Department of Works (), in charge of maintaining and repairing buildings inside the palace. *Department of Huntsmen (), in charge of personnel appointment and removal as well as the hunting of wild lives. *Department of Ceremonies (), in charge of ceremonial affairs. *Department of royal Ranch (), in charge of the royal ranch which provides livestock for the royal house. *Department of Accounting (), in charge of real estates of the imperial household. *Department of Prudence (), in charge of the martial law of the upper three banners which were governed by the emperor himself.Three Yuan
*Bureau of Imperial Gardens and Parks (), in charge of the everyday maintenance of palace gardens. *Imperial Armory (), in charge of the manufacture and repair of palace weapons. *Imperial Stables (), in charge of maintaining all the palace's horsesOther subsidiaries
* Imperial Buttery (), in charge of cooking ordinary meals for the court. * Shenfang (), in charge of rituals. * Old Summer Palace (), known for being burned down by Anglo-French expedition force in 1860. * Summer Palace (), now a UNESCO World Heritage Site * Chengde Mountain Resort (), now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. * Yonghe Temple () *Bureau of internal management (), in charge of the maintenance of imperial warehouses. By the nineteenth century, the Imperial Household Department managed the activities of more than 56 subagencies.References
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