本研究以戰前日本文官試驗的統計分析為主，兼論日本殖民帝國的官僚體系和殖民行政。全文概分二部分；第一部分檢討戰前日本文官試驗（考試）高等行政科的運作，並從及第者的統計資料入手，比較日治下臺灣和朝鮮兩大殖民地高等官人才的派任，從而檢視以行政科為主的臺灣人在日本帝國任職「高等官」的研究途徑。在第二部分，筆者自殖民地臺灣歷年的普通考試名單著眼，試圖建構日本殖民官僚的原鄉（籍貫）、民族別（臺、日人比），以期分析日治臺灣基層行政的考試任用和其他用人途徑。本研究透露了幾個訊息：一、帝國內的人才交流，以文官高等試驗的及第者為例，多半只限在派任地和日本內地之間流動，只有相當少數決策幹部和技術人才在帝國擴充之初充當地域性交流的開路先鋒；二、臺灣總督府歷年所舉辦的文官普通試驗對殖民地基層官公吏而言，只是一個微不足道的昇遷之道，其「出身立世」實際上另有其他管道，例如憑資歷升等和經銓衡任命等；三、根據官制所建立的官僚體制雖然是日本殖民行政運作上一個重要的機制，但官制外的編制和運作才是研究分析的重點所在。

This study primarily focuses on the statistical data on prewar Japan's civil service examinations, and it also attempts to evaluate the bureaucratic system and colonial administration of Japan's colonial empire. The paper consists of two parts. The first part examines prewar Japan's administrative divisions of the higher civil service examination, offers a comparison of Taiwan with Korea, and examines the flow of administrators in the empire, paying specific attention to the issue of examina tions as a channel of social mobility with regard to successful Taiwanese candidates. The second part analyzes the complete list of all the available successful candidates of the lower civil service examinations annually held by the Governor-General from 1899 through 1944, highlights the structural changes in the ethnic ratios between Japa- nese and Taiwanese, and traces and maps the distribution of the Japanese in terms of their birthplaces in Japan proper. I conclude by suggesting that, first, the flow of administrators in Japan's colonial empire, in the case of successful candidates of the higher civil service examination, was limited to the circulation between the colony of appointment and Japan proper, thus only few managerial and technical cadres took up the role of colonial pioneers in the initial stage of the expansion of the empire. Second, the lower civil service examination, at least in the case of Taiwan, served only a very limited role in terms of providing a "ladder of success" for the lowest-level government officials or public officials. Indeed, other channels for promotion, such as seniority or evaluation by a professionally appointed committee, offered better alter- native routes for "rising in society" in terms of social mobility. Third, while the bureaucratic system based on the organizational law of officials was an important mechanism for Japan's colonial administration, the crux of its operation in fact lay in the structure outside of the bureaucracy.

文官試驗;殖民行政;官僚體制;高等官;判任官

civil service examination; colonial administration; bureaucracy; higher-ranking officials; lower-ranking officials