In the Ming, prefectural, judges always had some administrative duties beyond the hearing of cases. As is revealed in a late-Ming handbook for prefectural judges, by the end of the Ming period those additional duties had expanded beyond prefectural boundaries and in many cases had led to prefectural judges serving as assistants to the regional inspector in the evaluation of local and regional officials. This paper traces the development of the role of prefectural judge from the founding of the dynasty in 1368, the expansion of his responsibilities over time, the debates over the changes, and how the support of the regional inspector became such an important role by the early seventeenth century. This account also serves to illustrate how the practice of local and regional administration changed over the course of the Ming dynasty.

中文翻译：

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当法官不再是法官：从地方法官的角色看明代地方行政的变迁

在明朝，地方官除了审理案件外，还肩负着一些行政职责。正如晚明的县官手册所揭示的那样，到明朝末期，这些额外的职责已经超出了县界，在许多情况下，县官在评估地方和地区官员。本文追溯了1368年建朝以来郡守角色的发展，随着时间的推移，其职责的扩大，关于变化的争论，以及早期地方督察的支持如何成为如此重要的角色。十七世纪。这个记载也有助于说明地方和区域行政管理的实践在明朝的过程中是如何变化的。