Ranks and Stipends in the Zhou Court
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English translation
Original Chinese text
北宫𨪆问曰:“周室班爵禄也,如之何?”孟子曰:“其详不可得闻也,诸侯恶其害己也,而皆去其籍。然而轲也尝闻其略也。天子一位,公一位,侯一位,伯一位,子、男同一位,凡五等也。君一位,卿一位,大夫一位,上士一位,中士一位,下士一位,凡六等。天子之制,地方千里,公侯皆方百里,伯七十里,子、男五十里,凡四等。不能五十里,不达于天子,附于诸侯,曰附庸。天子之卿受地视侯,大夫受地视伯,元士受地视子、男。大国地方百里,君十卿禄,卿禄四大夫,大夫倍上士,上士倍中士,中士倍下士,下士与庶人在官者同禄,禄足以代其耕也。次国地方七十里,君十卿禄,卿禄三大夫,大夫倍上士,上士倍中士,中士倍下士,下士与庶人在官者同禄,禄足以代其耕也。小国地方五十里,君十卿禄,卿禄二大夫,大夫倍上士,上士倍中士,中士倍下士,下士与庶人在官者同禄,禄足以代其耕也。耕者之所获,一夫百亩;百亩之粪,上农夫食九人,上次食八人,中食七人,中次食六人,下食五人。庶人在官者,其禄以是为差。”
English translation
Beigong Qi (written 𨪆 in the fixed text) asked, “How did the Zhou court assign ranks and stipends?” Mencius replied, “The full details cannot now be known. The feudal rulers feared the system would constrain them, so they destroyed the records. I have heard its general outline. There were five ranks: Son of Heaven, Duke, Marquis, Earl, and a shared rank for Viscount and Baron. There were six official grades: ruler, minister, senior officer, and upper, middle, and lower knight. The Son of Heaven’s territory measured a thousand li on each side; a duke’s or marquis’s, one hundred li; an earl’s, seventy; and a viscount’s or baron’s, fifty—four territorial grades. A state smaller than fifty li could not have direct access to the Son of Heaven and attached itself to a larger lord; it was called an attached domain. The land granted to a Son of Heaven’s minister matched a marquis’s allotment, that of a senior officer an earl’s, and that of a principal knight a viscount’s or baron’s. In a large state of one hundred li, the ruler’s stipend was ten times a minister’s; a minister received the combined stipend of four senior officers. Each lower grade followed the stated doubling pattern; lower knights received the same as commoners serving in office, enough to replace their farm earnings. A middle state of seventy li assigned a minister the equivalent of three senior officers; a small state of fifty li, two. The remaining ratios were the same. Each farmer cultivated one hundred mu: from the produce of a hundred mu, a top-grade farmer could support nine people, the next grade eight, the middle grade seven, the next lower grade six, and the lowest grade five. Stipends for commoners in office followed this scale.”