Wu Shuo, a teacher in the history department of Nanjing University, said that the "department" in ancient China remained basically stable from the early Han Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty. Although the names of various departments may change, their functions remain basically the same, which ensures the continuity of policies. China was a static farming society in ancient times. The rulers always maintained a small-scale government and tried not to disturb the institutional setup. What changes have the ancient government institutions in China experienced? Please follow us to find out.
The earliest officials were called dragon officials and bird officials.
In Shang dynasty, nannies were high officials.
China's earliest official position is said to date back to the era of Three Emperors and Five Emperors. At that time, it was marked by tribal totem, and as the official name, it was called Dragon Officer and Bird Officer. Later, it combined fire, water, earth, spring, summer, autumn and winter in Jin Mu and became an official post. Yao and Shun have heavenly officials, local officials, spring officials, summer officials, Qiu Guan officials and winter officials.
In the AD, there was a saying that "Xia Houshi has 100 officials, and the son of heaven has three officials, nine ministers, twenty-seven doctors and eighty-one scholars". It can be seen that the Xia Dynasty had a considerable political system. During the Shang Dynasty, government organizations were strengthened and divided into two systems: Qing officials in charge of state affairs and officials in charge of priests. Liao, the Book of Rites Liao, is interpreted as "burning firewood to worship heaven". Government departments need to burn firewood for lighting when meeting in the house, so Liao became the name of the government department. Also known as "officials" and "group officials are officials", it can also be understood as the official system. According to the literature, Yin and Bao are the highest officials under their command, also known as Xiang. Bao, formerly known as nanny, is a female teacher. At first, she was the wet nurse of a famous family, and the wet nurse was often the king's confidant, so she became the assistant minister of purges.
In the Han dynasty, the position of prime minister was very high.
The emperor will go to the prime minister's office to discuss state affairs.
Qin Shihuang established the first centralized autocratic monarchy empire in the history of China, but he couldn't do whatever he wanted, so he created a government team. Appointed the Prime Minister as the head of the civil service system, Qiu as the head of the military official system, and appointed the censor to be independent of the civil and military administrative system, in charge of supervision and accounting. In addition, a court service system was established to manage the family affairs of the royal family.
"Han inherited the Qin system", the Han dynasty basically inherited the bureaucracy and organization of the Qin dynasty, and established the government system of "three officials and nine officials" based on the Qin system. In the Han Dynasty, the three princes were Qin Prime Minister, Qiu, and Qiu in turn, among which the Prime Minister had the highest status, one level lower than the Prime Minister and Qiu, and was the deputy of the Prime Minister. Qiu often works part-time beside the Prime Minister. office
Become the emperor's confidant and disintegrate the power of the prime minister.
It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that this phenomenon changed. In order to seize power, the emperor began to use ministers. What is the official position of Shangshu? At first, Shangshu's position was very humble. At that time, there were "six merchants": commercial officials, commercial doctors, commercial enterprises, commercial capital, commercial enterprises and commercial enterprises. Most of them are trying to eat, wear, make the bed and cover the quilt. It can be seen that their status is very humble. "History is responsible for copying. In the Han Dynasty, items were carved on bamboo slips, tied with ropes, and then the knots were sealed with mud, and a seal was put on the mud, which was called mud sealing. This can ensure that the bamboo slips will not be opened. Shangshu is responsible for unsealing the mud for the emperor and is the' master book' in the literature. This country has a two-track system. There are a group of administrators outside, and the emperor has his own security system. Shangshu became the emperor's confidant. Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty further used the function of Shangshu to strengthen centralization and establish Shang Shu Tai, with the aim of seizing political power. When senior officials led Shangshu to master the central secret decision-making power, Shangshu changed from a confidential officer to an administrative officer. " Wu Lizhen said.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the emperor deliberately weakened the power of the prime minister. Emperor Hancheng changed the physician to be a doctor, Qiu to be a fu, and the prime minister to be Stuart. Three metric systems have been established: Situ, Sima and Sikong to prevent anyone from monopolizing power. The tables have turned, and Sima's position began to climb, becoming the first of the three fairs. However, you should know that Qin and Han dynasties are the world you can get right away. The emperor knows the importance of military power too well, so Qiu is always firmly in his hands. Therefore, he is just a delayed and useless person. At best, he is only the emperor's strategist. Without it, Qiu can't send his troops. Therefore, Qiu is nominally the highest military attache and has no real power.
Guan Ma's servant was poor in the Han Dynasty.
Si Nong is equivalent to the Minister of Finance.
So what is Jiuqing's official position?
Song told reporters that the concept of "divination" began in the Han Dynasty. But "Qing" can't be equated with "nothing" in later generations, it is only the embryonic form of "nothing".
If the establishment of three fairs is to assist the emperor in making decisions, then the establishment of nine fairs is for administration. "Qing" is the head of each administrative department, carrying out the policies and strategies formulated by the emperor and the prime minister and handling various specific administrative affairs. "in the Qing dynasty, there was a class that served the country, like a big sinong; There is also a kind of service for the emperor's family, like Shaofu, who is in charge of the emperor's family affairs. The place where Qing works is called the' temple', which is an administrative institution. "
So, which departments were the chiefs of Jiuqing at first? What is the secretary in charge of?
Too often in charge of ancestral temple etiquette, incidentally in charge of culture and education, cure too much, and even water conservancy; Lu Xun is a hodgepodge, from court guards to attendants' responses and consultants' comments; Wei Wei's function is relatively simple, that is, commanding guards and carrying out security work.
Taibu Temple is in charge of horses, not only the royal chariots and horses, but also the national horse administration. Don't underestimate this job. In ancient times, horses were the main means of transportation and necessary vehicles for war, so horses were a military activity. At that time, Taipu Temple was a very important department with two servants around, so working in Taipu Temple was a very fat job.
Ting Wei is the highest judicial official in charge of prisons; Dahong Temple is an institution dealing with foreign affairs; Shaofutang is the department in charge of the emperor's family affairs and can be said to be the manager of court life.
Sinong Temple is an organization in charge of grain and goods, in charge of the revenue and expenditure of the country's money and tax, reclamation, warehousing, water transportation and other undertakings, and in charge of the country's economic lifeline, almost equivalent to the finance minister.
And Zong Zheng Temple. In fact, there are far more than nine departments. The "nine" here is an imaginary number, which means more. Besides Qin Jiu, there are other Qing Dynasties.
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, a three-province system was established. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shangshu rose, and Shangshutai invaded not only the three official lists, but also the nine official lists. The comprehensive expansion of power has made three officials and nine officials a trend. By the Wei Dynasty, Shangshutai had moved out of the Imperial Palace due to the increase of institutions, and Taiwan and the provinces were also called Shangshutai. However, the power expansion of Shangshutai continued to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, only changed. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to use Han officials, forbidding internal decision-making and external administration. The imperial palace where the emperor lived is also called Forbidden Palace and Forbidden Palace. Eunuchs can go in and out of the Forbidden City and are closely related to the emperor, so they often have the official name of "Zhong". Most of them were eunuchs at first. In the Western Han Dynasty, the officials of Zhongshu were eunuchs who were very close to the emperor. They specialize in drafting letters, not the previous work of ministers. Zhongshu became the actual decision-making organ and gradually developed into Zhongshu Province.
Since Zhongshu has also changed from a confidential official to an administrative official, it is natural for the emperor to re-train confidential officials with a new set of people and groups, so the province under the door appeared.
Xia Sheng is short for Yellow Gate, because all the doors of Han Palace are painted yellow, so it is called Yellow Gate. At first, Xiamen refers to the area between the harem and the front hall, where all courtiers can enter and leave. Attendants served the emperor in the yellow guard, and they were closely related to the emperor and were deeply loved by the emperor. When the official in charge of China's books quits the stage of confidential officials, the official in charge of the family has the obligation to take his place until he becomes a province in the family.
The prime minister of the Tang dynasty caught it.
The prime minister became a temporary official.
The Tang government basically followed the Sui system. The three northeastern provinces began in Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the Sui Dynasty was customized as a government center. The heads of these three provinces are all prime ministers. At that time, the administrative process was that Zhongshu was responsible for drafting the imperial edict and then the provincial government audited it. If the provincial government has no objection, it will be reviewed by the chief administrative officer, signed by the emperor and finally executed by the minister. Later, for convenience, Zhongshu and Shimen moved together for a meeting, which was called "Zhengshitang" or "Zhongshu Shimen". This system was later adopted. In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial edict that passed through Zhongshumen was called Fu Zheng, and if the emperor drew up the imperial edict independently without passing through Zhongshumen, it was called oblique printing ink fu.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the system of "three provinces and six departments" replaced the system of "three publics and nine officials" and established the heads of the three provinces as prime ministers. However, other officials may also be temporarily assigned to the central office or the prime minister's office. Therefore, the prime minister at this time is no longer a certain person, but a group of people. They need a place to discuss state affairs collectively, that is, the "government affairs hall" in the province under the door. Xiamen has the closest relationship with the emperor, so the intention of setting up a yamen here is very obvious. At this time, the prime minister has no real power.
In Tang Gaozong, Daming Palace is newly built. Since then, emperors have lived here for a long time, replacing the original Taiji Palace. In fact, this move into the palace stems from the power struggle. Wu Zetian obviously didn't trust the old members of the Central Committee left by Emperor Taizong. The three central provinces of Taiji Palace were controlled by nobles who opposed her old gate. Wu Zetian had to move to a new palace and set up a new department. When moving to the new palace, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province moved to the new palace, but they were excluded from the palace ban.
In the Song Dynasty, the title of the prime minister was unified from the Tang Dynasty to "learning to be an official", and the other deputy prime minister was called "participating in politics". Whether it is "doing things regularly" or "participating in state discussions", it means temporary dispatch. In the early Tang Dynasty, the emperor appointed a man to do speculative business.
The Ministry of War is a government functional organization in charge of the national military armament, which is almost equivalent to the "Ministry of National Defense" and has always been valued by the rulers. In addition, the Ministry of War will also conduct military exercises to select talents. The penalty department is the highest judicial administrative organ of the country. The Ministry of Industry is the administrative organ in charge of national engineering construction, ranking last among the six ministries.
Books and the Privy Council
Just two emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Shortly after the establishment of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin ended the separatist regime of the buffer region, unified the national military operations, and made the post-dispatch system fully blossom in the late Tang Dynasty. This kind of envoy was used to prevent ministers from centralization most of the time in the Northern Song Dynasty, so centralization and dictatorship rarely appeared in the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty produced a large number of ambassadors, many prime ministers, important military positions and local leaders were ambassadors. This official is not going to do practical things, but is sent to carry out government affairs. At this time, bureaucracy has developed into a typical bureaucratic disease, and even officials who don't do things can still get paid. In the Song Dynasty, government agencies were bloated and there were too many idle officials, which formed a large number of idle institutions in name only. The problem of redundant staff appeared at the beginning of Song Liguo. However, in order to decentralize power, the rulers of the Song Dynasty deliberately made officers with outstanding military achievements pay high salaries and keep clean, and advised them to lead a dissolute life.
The Song Dynasty began to change three provinces into two states. There are two civil and military officials under the door of Zhongshu, the Privy Council. Zhongshumen is located in the east of the palace, which is called the East Palace, and the Privy Council is located in the west, which is called the West Palace, which is called the "Second Palace" in history. The heads of the second government are called the Prime Minister and the Central Head. At the same time, there are three envoys in charge of finance, the chief of whom is Ji. The chief executive of the second government and the third envoy became the actual prime ministers, and together with the emperor constituted the political center of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The Privy Council is the highest national military affairs organ of the Prime Minister. However, in the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to prevent military commanders from dominating, the government used literature to control military forces and implemented "separation of soldiers and generals". The Privy Council can order the assignment of soldiers, but it cannot lead troops to fight. There is also an imperial office in the unified military organization. The Privy Council and Zhongshu parted ways, so that the news of each other was blocked, so that the cardinal transferred troops. Prime Minister Zhongshu doesn't know that only the emperor can master all this.
Zhu Yuanzhang, a part-time prime minister, abolished Han Shu and did not save the prime minister.
The prime minister system established in Qin Dynasty ended in Zhu Yuanzhang of Ming Dynasty. How did Zhu Yuanzhang start institutional reform?
When Zhu Yuanzhang called Wu Wang, he didn't move this idea, but set up a Chinese book province by imitating the Yuan system. As the foundation of his regime, he also established the military governor's office and monitoring platform. All the officials in the Prime Minister's command post are in charge of four departments, namely, ceremony, household, punishment and industry. 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor, and set up two officers and men on the basis of four, and six were the provincial capitals of Zhongshu.
At that time, the prime minister was in charge of the administration of the whole country, under one person and above ten thousand people. The imperial edict must be issued by Zhongshu Province, and the memorial service of courtiers must be presented to the emperor by Zhongshu Province. Zhu Yuanzhang felt the threat brought by the increase of power in Zhongshu Province and the overhead of military power. In the first month of the thirteenth year of Hongwu, Prime Minister Hu "rebelled", and more than 30,000 officials at all levels were implicated and dismissed. Zhu Yuanzhang promulgated Shuo Wen Jie Zi, in which all six ministers were directly led by the emperor, except that there was no prime minister in Zhongshu Province. In this way, the emperor actually served as prime minister. He is both a head of state and a head of state.
So, is the cabinet in power? Don't forget that there were also famous eunuch institutions in the Ming Dynasty. The eunuch institutions in Ming Dynasty were constantly adjusted and increased. After Judy moved to Beijing, it was customized as twenty-four yamen, including twelve prisons, four divisions and eight bureaus. Wu introduced that the 12 prisons are on-the-job government offices led by 12 eunuchs, with one eunuch in each prison and other eunuchs in the next. Because Chamberlain's yamen was called "prison" and its length was called eunuch, and later "eunuch" became synonymous with eunuch. Among them, the sword is the first of the 24 yamen, with the greatest power. Li Jian is the general manager of the Imperial Palace, in charge of court affairs, and eunuchs such as handprints and pens are responsible for approving red letters, conveying notices and government decrees.
During the reign of Xuande, the emperor was lazy and most of his plays were abbreviated. Later, eunuchs could even change the contents of the draft cabinet. Whether this will was written by the emperor or the eunuch is impossible to verify. In the later period, the emperor simply stopped going to court, and the eunuch's will to change became bolder. Eunuchs, on behalf of the emperor, criticize the red, so they can act arbitrarily.
The ministers of Nanxue and the Ministry of War are both "part-time"
In the operas of the Qing Dynasty, Nanhe Ministry of War was often mentioned. They were "pioneers" of the Qing Dynasty, but they were not as "orthodox" as we thought.
South study room is the place where Kangxi once studied. While rebuilding the Cabinet and imperial academy, Kangxi also set up his own secretarial team in the Imperial Palace, all of which were selected from imperial academy and called the South Study Room. The south study room is located under the right step diagonally opposite the Forbidden Palace and the Qing Palace, close to the emperor's bedroom. South study room is also called "Imperial Palace Hanlin". It is not a formal organization, has no fixed establishment, has a large turnover of personnel, and only serves the emperor. Hanlin, who entered the study in the south, not only reflected the emperor's feelings, but also gave orders verbally, and sometimes accompanied the emperor to inspect the people's feelings, giving consideration to both public and private interests.
The Ministry of War was established by Zhang, who studied in the south for many years during Yongzheng period, according to the emperor's will. The full name of the military department is "Military Affairs Department". Later, the functions of military departments expanded to all aspects of military affairs, politics and finance, and the gap between them and actual affairs became wider and wider. As a confidential institution of the emperor's military department, it existed until the late Qing Dynasty. Like Xue Nan, the military department is an informal organization and belongs to temporary assignment. The most specific and important function of the Ministry of War is cursive script rather than cabinet draft, and it is the emperor's order, which can be issued immediately after reading it. The minister's memorial was also copied and filed by the military department. But the military affairs minister is just a secretary's staff, making suggestions and not giving orders. All orders must go through the emperor.
"Ministry system" primary school asked
Dirty "officials"
More than the inflow of officials.
In the ancient official system, there is a huge "official" group, which deserves attention. Petty officials are low-level administrative personnel who specialize in handling official documents in the government. If officials are decision makers, then officials are executors. After the order is issued, the specific things will be shared with the officials and they will complete it. The number of officials exceeds the number of officials. There are assistants and staff among the collectors. They are state officials, and the state pays them wages. Others are called screen friends and are employed by local officials. They didn't prepare it, and the salary was paid by local officials. Like touts, they belong to collectors.
In ancient times, officials had good faculties, called "deviant"; After the Qing dynasty, the state can seal an official for his good behavior. Or donate an official yourself. Where does the collector's salary come from? A competent official can earn tens of thousands of dollars a year, and he has to take it from such items as "warehouse consumption" and "fire consumption".
The earliest secretary
Work in libraries and archives
A secretary is a government agency responsible for books and records. It first appeared in the Han Dynasty.
In the Ming dynasty, the secretary had a good opportunity. After Zhu Yuanzhang ousted the prime minister, the six departments were directly responsible to the emperor. The emperor reads more than 200 memorials and handles more than 400 political affairs every day. Don't be too busy, so Zhu Yuanzhang turned his attention to the young but low-level Hanlin attendants and started the Diange University. A college student is actually the secretary of the emperor's courtiers.
Fang Shang, written by Swart.
Actually, this is the official position.
We all know Fang's sword, but Fang is actually the official institution that made and managed palace utensils in ancient times. Founded in the Qin Dynasty, it belongs to Jiuqing Shaofu. During the Qin and Han dynasties, there were Shang Fang Ling and Shang Fang Cheng in Shaofu, which were responsible for making precious objects such as the emperor's sword. At the end of Han Dynasty, there were three kinds of prescriptions: Chinese, left and right. It was called Shangshu in Tang Dynasty, Shangshu in Yuan Dynasty and abolished in Ming Dynasty. In the Qing dynasty, it appeared again, called Fang Boss.