[The Civilization Of China by Herbert A. Giles]@TWC D-Link book
The Civilization Of China

CHAPTER II--LAW AND GOVERNMENT
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This is because official servants receive no salary, but depend for their livelihood on perquisites and tips; and the Chinese suitor, who is a party to the system, readily admits that it is necessary "to sprinkle a little water." Neither do any officials in China, high or low, receive salaries, although absurdly inadequate sums are allocated by the Government for that purpose, for which it is considered prudent not to apply.

The Chinese system is to some extent the reverse of our own.

Our officials collect money and pay it into the Treasury, from which source fixed sums are returned to them as salaries.

In China, the occupants of petty posts collect revenue in various ways, as taxes or fees, pay themselves as much as they dare, and hand up the balance to a superior officer, who in turn pays himself in the same sense, and again hands up the balance to his superior officer.

When the viceroy of a province is reached, he too keeps what he dares, sending up to the Imperial exchequer in Peking just enough to satisfy the powers above him.


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