zongdu 總督そうとく, governor-general

Governors-general (zongdu 總督そうとく, between 1519 and 1551 called zongzhi 總そう制せい; also known as zhitai 制せい臺だい, zhijun 制せい軍ぐん, zhixian 制憲せいけん or zhifu 制せい府ふ) were high military officials controlling military units of one or several provinces during the Ming 明あきら (1368-1644) and Qing 清きよし (1644-1911) periods.

During the Ming era, some governors-general were entrusted with special tasks, namely the transport of tribute grain (zongdu caoyun 總督そうとく漕こげ運うん, see caoyun zongdu 漕こげ運うん總督そうとく), the management of the Grand Canal (zongdu hedao 總督そうとく河かわ道どう, see hedao zongdu 河かわ道どう總督そうとく), or the storage of grain (zongdu liangchu 總督そうとく糧かて儲もうか). These governor-generals were allowed to mobilize military personnel for the transport and management of grain. The office over local military garrisons was but a temporary one, when rebellions had to be suppressed or wars in the borderlands were waged.

In 1441, for instance, the Minister of War (bingbu shangshu 兵部ひょうぶ尚書しょうしょ), Wang Ji 王おう驥 (1378-1460), was temporarily entrusted as Governor-General suppressing a rebellion in Luchuan 麓ふもと川がわ (today's Longchuan 隴川, Yunnan). Yu Qian 于謙 (1398-1457), also Minister of War, took also over a similar task. The Minister of War in the Southern Capital (Nanjing 南京なんきん) carried concurrently the title of Governor-General of the metropolitan garrison (zongdu jingshi 總督そうとく京師けいし) and was also responsible for military affairs around Nanjing. In 1452 Wang Ao 王おう翱 (1384-1467) supervised the military affairs of Liang-Guang 兩りょう廣ひろ.

The first office of a governor-general that had a relatively permanent character was created in 1469 for the twin-provinces of Liang-Guang (Guangdong and Guangxi), with Han Yong 韓かん雍 (1422-1478) taking over the post. In 1497 the office was created for the "three borders" (sanbian 三さん邊へん) in Shaanxi (zongdu Shaanxi sanbian junwu 總督そうとく陜西きょうせい三さん邊へん軍務ぐんむ), in 1510 those for Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan and Hu-Guang (Hubei and Hunan), in 1513 that of Xuanda 宣せん大だい and Shanxi (concurrently responsible for grain used to supply the border troops), in 1150 that of Ji-Liao 薊あざみ遼りょう and Baoding 保ほ定じょう (also including the supply organization), and in 1554 that of Jiangxi, Fujian, Jiangnan and Jiangxi.

After the office had become a permanent character, governors-general and provincial governors (xunfu 巡めぐ撫なで) were called du-fu 督とく撫なで or du-fu dayuan 督とく撫なで大だい員いん. While the former was responsible for military matters, the latter administrated the province in civilian terms. Yet the governors-general had a higher status than governors. In some places, both offices were occupied by just one person. Most governors-general administered more than one province, some up to seven provinces. They were selected from high personnel in the ministries or the Censorate (duchayuan 都と察院). Quite a few had been Ministers (shangshu 尚書しょうしょ), Vice Ministers (shilang 侍さむらい郎ろう), Censors-in-chief (duyushi 都と御ご史し), Vice Censors-in-chief (fu duyushi 副ふく都と御ご史し) or Assistant Censors-in-chief (qian duyushi 僉都御ご史し) before being appointed as governor-general. Governors-general entrusted with special duties mostly came from ministerial directorates.

The Qing dynasty made the office of governor-general a permanent one. They controlled one or more provinces, yet the area of jurisdiction changed oftenly during the 18th century, particularly in the critical border zone of Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan. Governors-general (rank 2A, or 1B in case they held the title of Minister of War) were superiors to provincial governors. Their total number was about eight at a time. In the nineteenth century, there were governors-general for Zhili 直ちょく隸 (today's Hebei), Liang-Jiang 兩りょう江こう (Jiangsu and Jiangxi), Shaan-Gan 陜甘 (Shaanxi and Gansu), Min-Zhe 閩浙 (Fujian and Zhejiang), Liang-Hu 兩りょう湖みずうみ (or Hu-Guang 湖こ廣ひろ, Hubei and Hunan), Liang-Guang 兩りょう廣ひろ (Guangdong and Guangxi), Sichuan 四川しせん, and Yun-Gui 雲くも貴とうと (Yunnan and Guizhou). Governors-general sometimes concurrently held the title (xian 銜) of Minister of War or Vice-Minister of War, or Right Censor-in-chief (you duyushi 右みぎ都と御ご史し). They were the highest officials of the local administration and reported directly to the Council of State (junjichu 軍機ぐんき處しょ) and the emperor.

Unlike during the Ming period, the Qing governors-general also controlled civilian affairs and evaluated officials. The Western powers had to do with governors-general, which they called "viceroy", as the latter were virtually representatives of the emperor. After the First Anglo-Chinese War (1838-1842), the status of viceroys became even more prominent. Some of them were important modernizers, others can be called proto-warlords.

There were also three specialized governors-general, namely one for grain transport (caoyun zongdu), one for the northern or "eastern" parts of the Grand Canal (donghe zongdu 東ひがし河かわ總督そうとく), and one for its southern parts (nanhe zongdu 南河みなみかわ總督そうとく). In 1906 the three northeastern provinces (dongsansheng 東ひがし三さん省しょう) were transformed into regular provinces, and the office of Banner General was replaced by that of a governor-general.