Abstract
Recently unearthed materials and documents have greatly spurred research on “documentary administration.” However, many scholars have overly emphasized the written bureaucratic documents, while overlooking the fact that verbal communication had an equally important role. This article centers around a case study of the Jiaqu houguan (Jiaqu patrol) of Juyen duwei fu (Juyen border command), seeking to learn about the internal communication among officials at the Jiaqu patrol and the external communication with its subordinates. As traces of verbal communication are recognized, this paper also observes how written bureaucratic communication was carried out, as well as its limitations.
In conclusion, this paper argues that while bureaucratic communication can be carried out in both written and verbal forms, depending on the conditions and needs, face-to-face verbal communication can usually convey the message more clearly, and at the same time, mutual confirmation can be done more easily. Communication about judicial matters and rituals in particular, as they usually involve clarifying facts and relationships, create a burden for documentary communication.
In other realms, many reports indeed are required to be done in written format, where the documents will serve as records and people can therefore be held accountable. When written responses are required or when documents are passed between organizations, even internal communication within the same organization tends to be done in written form so that the messages can be responded or forwarded more efficiently. These documents are written in a format that follows a set of rules and standards, and must be delivered in accordance to the administrative levels and bureaucratic ranks. Authority can be easily established through documentary administration, but communication is also often constrained and hence other communication channels are often required.
Keywords
documentary administration, verbal communication, Han slips from Edsen-gol, Jiaqu patrol
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