Examination on Prefecture Officials Term of Office in the Han Dynasty

The Leaders of prefectures in the Han Dynasty, represented by Junshou(郡守),were regarded as the foundation for the people and government.Their terms of office not only reflected the construction of the bureaucrat system,but also displayed the distinctive feature of the time.In the early Western Han Dynasty,long term was practiced.During Emperor Xuan's reign,a term of three years of office was adopted.But long term of office was adopted in the early Eastern Han Dynasty,and then dropped again.These alternations exposed the instability of the term-of-office system of local officials during the early stage.Although it could not fully meet the scientific requirements of modern administration,the bureaucrat system of the Han Dynasty became acceptable with the people,serving as one of the most important means for the autocratic empire to strengthen control over the local governments.