“Zuoshi” (佐史) is sometimes written as “Zuo” (佐) and “Shi” (史) or “Zuoshi” (佐史) in historical records. For this reason, conventional researchers have also used the term interchangeably without clearly distinguishing whether it is “Zuoshi”(佐史) or “Zuo” (佐)·“Shi” (史).
First of all, this article confirms that the term “Zuoshi” (佐史) is used to refer to a group of ‘lower-level officials’ who receive the same zhilu (秩 祿), including the lowest-level “Zuo” (佐)·“Shi” (史) in the bureaucratic system. In other words, it is my basic position that “Zuoshi” (佐史) do not exist separately and should be categorized and distinguished as “Zuo” (佐) and “Shi” (史). There are many similarities in the duties of the “Zuo” (佐) and “Shi” (史) prefectural officials, who are the last of the prefectural officials. First, however, the qualification for the position of “Zuo” (佐) is only zhang (壯), which legally means an adult, while the qualification for the position of “Shi” (史) is the status of a shizi (史子), which requires passing an examination after a certain period of study. The duties of a “Zuo” (佐) are to be an assistant to a superior officer, “Shefu” (嗇夫), in the sense of “Zuo” (佐), while the duties of a “Shi” (史) are to record and create documents in the sense of “Shi” (史). Thirdly, while “Zuo” (佐) is an official with a specific ‘job title’ as an assistant to the “Shefu” (嗇 夫), “Shi” (史) is a ‘qualification’ or ‘qualification holder’ without a ‘job title’ and is not an official. Because of the difference between “position" and “qualification”, although “Zuo” (佐) and “Shi” (史) were equivalent, “Zuo” (佐) was habitually written before “Shi” (史) or “Shi” (史) seemed to be more senior than “Shi” (史), when writing. However, “Shi” (史), which means ‘qualification’ or ‘qualification holder’, was never an easy qualification to obtain through examinations. Therefore, as document administration developed and the amount of documents processed increased, “Shi” (史), which was appointed by the hereditary system, could not handle the administrative demands. For this reason, the nature of “Shi” (史) also changed, and from the middle Han period onwards, “Shi” (史) was used to express the presence or absence of low-level literacy skills alongside its traditional meaning of ‘qualification’.