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Fri 2 Oct, 2009 10:36 pm
Can we use "stipend" to refer to an annual payment to a Qing Dynasty official?
@fansy,
Yes. You can refer to it as 'his annual stipend.'
A stipend is often distinct from a wage or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed, instead it represents a payment that enables somebody to be exempt partly or wholly from waged or salaried employment in order to undertake a role that is normally unpaid, (e.g. a magistrate in England), or voluntary, or which cannot be measured in terms of a task (e.g. members of the clergy).
Stipends are usually lower than what would be expected as a permanent salary for similar work. This is because the stipend is complemented by other benefits such as accreditation, instruction, food and/or accommodation. Universities usually refer to money paid to graduate students as a stipend, rather than as wages, to reflect complementary benefits.
@contrex,
ty contrex
fansy i'd suggest you'd need to specify han on manchu official
emolument
stipends are rarely perquisites (complementary?)
@oolongteasup,
tea person wrote:stipends are rarely perquisites (complementary?)
They are never perquisites, by definition. As (I hoped) my post made clear, stipends are paid alongside complementary benefits and perquisites.
To make it clearer: a stipend is a monetary payment, distinguished from other payments because it is accompanied by (and reduced because of) complementary items such as housing, honorific titles, academic accreditation and so on. By convention, workers earn wages, senior employees earn salaries, directors earn emoluments.