| Summary/Abstract |
In recent years China’s Communist Party leadership has drawn attention to the lessons of imperial history for China’s modern system of cadre (ganbu) management. The Party’s focus on history draws attention to points of continuity and discontinuity between the bureaucratic systems of the empire and the People’s Republic. This article considers the historical framework of territorial government under which officials operate and the historical trajectory of bureaucratic control over territorially based communities over the longue durée, from the imperial period through the early Republic and into the People’s Republic under Xi Jinping. By approaching the Communist Party’s cadre system as a historical outgrowth of an earlier system of territorial administration, this article brings to light assumptions dating from the late imperial period that continue to underpin the exclusive power and privileges attached to the position of officials in China, which create, in effect, a nation of cadres.
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