Читать книгу Study on the Auditing System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics - Liu Jiayi - Страница 12

The Official Counting System and Administrative Report System in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties were collectively referred to as the Official Auditing System. A great number of tribute activities were recorded in the Yin Ruins’ Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC), and the tortoise shell-bridge inscription, with records of tributes on the right bridge and verification words on the left bridge, is regarded as the earliest verifiable records of audit activities. After King Wu had overthrown the Shang Dynasty, Ji Zi, an aristocrat of the former dynasty wrote the Great Plan, summarizing the experience of the ousted dynasty in country administration, and presented it to King Wu. According to the Great Plan, the supreme ruler should insist that government officials give top priority to the “Eight Government Affairs” including the administration of the people’s food and wealth as well as the five critical factors of ruling the nation, including “Listening,” and not seeking private benefits and tyrannically abusing their power. “Listening,” meaning “Listening and Accounting,” covered the administrative performance of officials and the careful maintenance of financial records. Through proper listening, the supreme ruler can ensure officials are honest and never engage in fraud by applying supervisory tools such as accounting, auditing, and the like. Hence, the audit supervision connotation contained in “listening” is the same anywhere and at any time. In Chinese history, audit was always described as “Listening and Accounting” or “monthly and yearly accounts by listening to differences.” Both audit in English and audition in French were originated from audier in Latin. In the fourteenth century, the audit work of the United Kingdom was carried out by hearing a statement of the accounts.22 Even today, State organs exercise their important powers of economic supervision by listening to budget and audit reports.

The official ranks system of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046–771 BC) was a political system used to appraise and supervise the administrative performance of officials in regard to finance and the economy. This took the form of accounting annually or every three years. The head of the accounting department undertook overall responsibility for the national finances and their accounting, and for related auditing; Zaifu (an official taking charge of the qualification assessment of all the officials and reporting the results to the monarch) mainly inspected and supervised decrees, policies and financial revenues and expenditures under the control of all officials. In the bureaucratic system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Taizai (official rank), the head of six major ministers, took charge of national events, while Zaifu was affiliated to Xiaozai (official rank) under Taizai. According to the literature, such as the Rites of Zhou, Zaifu was responsible for supervising the implementation of decrees and rites, that is, to supervise the authority and the rankings of the king, ministers, and officials; conduct national governance and investigate offenders; report on governance performance and effect and achievements in finance and economy to the imperial court; audit and review government officials; recheck the accounts of income and expenditure; and report offenders found to be involved in document forging, manipulation of accounts, extravagant waste, and improper expenditure to the Taizai for punishment according to the laws and regulations. On the positive side, the recommended rewards for persons who saved on expenditure, sufficiently protected the treasury reserves and managed money well. The Zaifu could report any problems to the Taizai or even directly to the king of Zhou.23 In summary, the Zaifu mainly performed the duties of “guiding the methods of managing State affairs and formulating the laws governing the actions of officials” and achieved the governance goal of “defining the authority and rank of the king, ministers and officials” by audit supervision, which played an important role in maintaining the structure and capacity of national governance. Professor Michael Chatfield, an expert on the history of accounting and auditing in America, wrote in his book A History of Accounting Thought: “In the aspect of internal management, budgets and audit procedures, the Western Zhou Dynasty was unsurpassed in the ancient world.”24

The Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC) and the Warring States Period (476–221 BC) witnessed changes in the system of public land into private ownership with taxation on land and the system of enfeoffment changed into the system of prefectures and counties, while a hereditary system regarding appointments changed into one of recruitment and dismissal. To meet the needs of national governance, the official rank system was replaced by the System of Administrative Reports. Accordingly, local officials were supervised and restricted. They or personnel sent in their place had to regularly report to the imperial seat the situation regarding any changes in the revenue and expenditure related to households, farmlands, taxes, property, and so on within their jurisdiction, while such officials as Chuanji (official rank), Neishi (clerk of the capital), minister, and counselor-in-chief assisted the ruler in investigating, assessing, and meting out rewards and punishments. In the development of the auditing system, the Administrative Reports System made great progress in three aspects.

First, certain important auditing concepts appeared. Guan Zhong (c. 720–645 BC), a legalist chancellor, wrote in the book Guanzi Youguan, “If a country is dedicated to developing agriculture, industry and commerce, it will get rich; if a country can establish a legal system, develop common rules, scrutinize its policies, and cultivate competent officials, it will enjoy prolonged stability.” That is to say, auditing should not only verify and examine financial bookkeeping but also investigate and appraise decrees and policies.

Second, the Law of Verifying the Properties of Government Departments and other codified laws directly related to audit supervision were formulated. During this period, audit supervision and the dispersion of the results were widely mentioned in statute laws such as the Canon of Laws by the Wei Kingdom, Law of the State of Qin by the Qin Kingdom, the Royal Orders by the Chu Kingdom, the Monograph on Criminal Law by the Han Kingdom, Law of the State by the Zhao Kingdom, and so forth. Among them, the Law of Verifying the Properties of Government Departments in the Law of the State of Qin was specifically designed for audit supervision and imposition of penalties in regard to finance, economy, and discipline. It pointed out in the “Decrees for Checking Officials in the Capital and Counties” that “The excess or shortage of supplies and properties should be subject to evaluation, and penalties imposed according to the highest value therein.”25 It also prescribed that “If any problem is discovered in properties, supplies and account books, the person in charge of administration and accounting and other involved officials involved should be liable for the indemnification against the insufficiency.”

Third, the idea that “chaos originates from the ruler’s arbitrary listening and accounting” came into existence. Up to the middle and later period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770–256 BC), slackness in the laws and disciplinaries measures led to the decay of the Administrative Reports System. The Book of Lord Shang: Interdicts and Encouragements pointed out limitations in the Administrative Reports System for local officials and the ruler’s arbitrary listening and accounting. In detail, as local officials remained far from the royal seat, they made decisions at their own discretion, which might have easily resulted in fraud, data misrepresentation, and unfaithful reporting, but the king could hardly discover the problems existing in many of the reports during the short period of the annual listening and accounting. Even if the ruler could find some problems, it was hard to investigate and make a judgment due to insufficient evidence. It was in order to solve such problems that Han Fei-tzu (280–233 BC) proposed the concept that “chaos originates from the ruler’s arbitrary listening and accounting.” He stressed that the king should rule by virtue of “Laws” and “Kingcraft” and should audit and supervise officials rather than the people. Besides, he also proposed methods such as “matching the items of accounts with real objects, collecting evidence on a wide range, and soliciting opinions from all walks of life” to address the existing problems and improve the system of “Listening and Accounting.” To sum up, audit should be conducted in such a manner as to ensure accuracy between cash in hand and the accounting ledger, and make comparison in a fair and public manner.