Abstract: The author of this essay is currently engaged in compiling a critical bibliography of the handbooks for officials composed during the imperial period(中国官箴公牍评书目). The present essay was composed in the course of this bibliographical work. The essay is divided into two parts. Part one examines the place of official handbooks in the history of administration in late imperil China. It seems that the fast increase in the output of official handbooks(官箴) and guides(指南) of all sorts in the late Ming and the Qing must be considered in relation with the expansion of the state apparatus and with a trend towards more specialization in  administrative work during that period. The author stresses the important contribution of the private secretaries(muyou幕友)during the  Qing; the muyou wrote a large number of specialized handbooks. The author also discusses the emergence and role of an “administrative elite”(治国精英) during the Qing period. The elite was composed of activist administrators with a very high idea of their duty towards the people and of the difficulty of their tasks; it included not only officials, but also muyou and other people interested in administration; it seems to have had a deep sense of its own importance as a community with shared pre-occupations and ideals. In part two the author attempts a classification of the various types of official handbooks. He first discusses their contents(内容)，and the genres(形式). As far as contents are concerned, the main distinction is between texts insisting on the  behavior of officials(行为), and texts insisting on the technical aspects of administrative work(技巧)，and texts insisting on the technical aspects of administrative work(技巧). Of course, many books combine the two types of contents, in variable proportion. As far as genres are concerned, the author discusses, among others,(1)the anthologies of official documents(公牍选编)， which became an important type of materials for the instruction of officials during the Qing;(2)the handbook for magistrates(州县官入门书)，which include many celebrated books like those of Huang Liuhong(黄六鸿) or Wang Huizu（汪辉祖）; and (3)the specialized handbooks for muyou(幕学书)