Abstract: Educational Commissioners were the officers in charge of provincial education in the Qing Dynasty. This paper examines the process of change in the organization that this office underwent from Educational Circuits (xuedao) to Educational Commissioners(xueyuan). The author points out that the decree that enacted these changes was issued in the fourth year of the Yongzheng Reign, but after his accession Emperor Yongzheng did not appoint any Educational Circuits. This meant that institutionally the Educational Commissioner was no longer subordinate to the Governor or Governer-general and the Educational Commissioner acquired the power to select the talented people independently.