Official Travel - Environment

…During the Ming and Qing dynasties, all prefectural governors and above used palanquins to travel in and out of the country. These were called “official palanquins.” In the Qing dynasty, the official palanquin system was based on the color of the palanquin’s cover, with red for those used by princes and green for those of higher rank, and the number of palanquin carriers was limited to those of third rank or higher. In addition to official palanquins, there were also palanquins classified as “civilian palanquins,” which were small palanquins usually carried by two people and could be used by ordinary people. …

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "official transportation" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…明･清時代におよんで，県知事(知県)以上はみな出入りには轎を用いた。〈官轎〉というのがそれで，清代における官轎の制は，その轎帷(かごかけ)の色で等級を区別し，親王乗用のものが赤色で，緑轎は三品以上の大官乗用に限られ，また位階に応じてかごかきの数に制限があった。官轎のほか民轎と分類されるものがあり，通例2人舁きの小形の轎で，一般人が用いることができた。…

※「官轎」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報