336 The China Quarterly and 1920s.In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916,Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions"by regularizing,standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective"technocracy.Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole.He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path"into the bureaucracy,which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training.And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent"who had been educated either abroad or domestically in modern subjects.4 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s.The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death,and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before.The Beiyang Ministry of Finance,at least in its earliest years,seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai:in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s,when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside,the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime"men of talent"who had some mix of credentials in the "modern"subjects of government,economics and law,and practical experience in local,provincial or central govern- ment financial administration.5 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy,standardization,rationalization,examin- ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s,it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough,as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments.Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning.During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body,fiscally kept alive (as noted above)by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control,and loans from Western banks.16 14.This discussion draws on my article,"Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s,"Moder China,Vol.20,No.2 (April 1994).Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.),Beiyang zhengfu shigide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period)(Beijing:Zhonghua shuju,1984). 15.This segment is based on details in ch.5 of Strauss,Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No.2 Historical Archives,files 1027/176(2), 1027/179,1027/181,and1027/188(1). 16.The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial336 The China Quarterly and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial and 1920s. In his short tenure between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai devoted a considerable amount of attention to attempting to create "good institutions" by regularizing, standardizing and establishing executive control over the government bureaucracy while pushing it in the direction of "objective" technocracy. Yuan established a new system of rank classifications and procedures for promotion in the civil bureaucracy as a whole. He drew up draft regulations to re-institute nation-wide open civil service examinations that assessed a combination of literacy in Chinese and knowledge of technical subjects as the preferred "regular path" into the bureaucracy, which was then followed by a provisional assignment to a ministry and two-year probationary period of intensive training. And Yuan consistently wooed to his administration "men of talent" who had been educated either abroad or domestically in moder subjects.14 There is some evidence to suggest substantial continuity of these policies in the central Beiyang governments into the early 1920s. The first nation-wide post-imperial civil service examinations were held in 1916, shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, and were identical in form to those he proposed the year before. The Beiyang Ministry of Finance, at least in its earliest years, seems to have continued in the way outlined by Yuan Shikai: in 1917 it assigned some 35 examinees who had passed the national civil service exams to a two-year probationary appointment. Until the early 1920s, when large numbers of staff began to be regularly replaced with those from outside, the Ministry of Finance probably retained many of the Yuan Shikai regime "men of talent" who had some mix of credentials in the "moder" subjects of government, economics and law, and practical experience in local, provincial or central govern￾ment financial administration.15 Although the Yuan Shikai and early Beiyang government push towards central government technocracy, standardization, rationalization, examin￾ation and training systems provided a powerful model that continued to influence parts of the National Government once the KMT came to power in the late 1920s, it did not in its own time effect an institutional breakthrough, as it had no means by which to project its authority much beyond Beijing into highly unstable and militarized provincial and local environments. Taxes from the provinces simply did not come in and government regulations had little meaning. During the Beiyang period the central government of China operated as a head without a body, fiscally kept alive (as noted above) by regular transfusions of the surpluses remitted by quasi-government tax collection agencies that it did not control, and loans from Western banks.16 14. This discussion draws on my article, "Symbol and reflection of the reconstituting state: the Examination Yuan in the 1930s," Moder China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (April 1994). Many of the original details can be found in Qian Shipu (ed.), Beiyang zhengfu shiqide zhengzhi zhidu (The Political System of the Beiyang Government Period) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984). 15. This segment is based on details in ch. 5 of Strauss, Strong Institutions in Weak Polities, with the original documentation from the No. 2 Historical Archives, files 1027/176 (2), 1027/179, 1027/181, and 1027/188 (1). 16. The fact that the Beiyang government in Beijing was the officially recognized central government of China meant that control of it provided automatic access to a range of financial