How did the two trends of autocratic monarchy in ancient China change?

The two major trends are the continuous strengthening of monarchical power, the weakening of ministerial power, the strengthening of central power and the weakening of local power.

The Evolution of China's Ancient Official System

The trend of the ancient central official system is that the monarchical power is constantly strengthened and the ministerial power is constantly weakened. The following statement is divided into dynasties, involving both the central official system and the local official system.

The Changes of Ancient Official System in China

One or three generations of official system

Hundreds of officials in Shang dynasty were called Duo Yin, which can be roughly divided into three categories: one is administrative officials, such as Yin and Qing history; The other is religious officials, such as Dob, Zhan and Wu Shi; The other kind is bureaucrats, such as butchers and petty officials.

The bureaucracy of the Western Zhou Dynasty is quite complete, and there are only 2 13 kinds of officials mentioned in the inscriptions of the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the most important officials in the royal regime were Taishi and Taibao. Taishi and Taibao hold the military and political power of the royal family. They are responsible for guarding and assisting the young monarch. The bureaucracy of the Zhou royal family is divided into two systems, namely, the Qing Dynasty History Liao and the Taishi Liao. Its authority is in charge of "three things" and "four directions". Officials in charge of the Liao Dynasty in Qing Dynasty were Taishi or Taibao in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, and Taishi after the middle Western Zhou Dynasty. Its subordinate officials are mainly Stuart, Sima and Sikong. Taishiliao is in charge of books, books, rituals, divination, rituals, seasons, astronomy, calendars, etc. The royal family also has court officials who are in charge of the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the King of Zhou, such as butchers, chefs, temple servants, junior ministers, boys, Fu Cha, Gong Wei, the court, ladies and the East Palace. The official system of the Western Zhou Dynasty was developed on the basis of "internal service" and "external service" in the Shang Dynasty. Different from Shang Dynasty, the bureaucracy of Western Zhou Dynasty was larger and more professional.

The rise of gentry in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period provided important conditions for the development of bureaucracy. Scholars existed in the Western Zhou Dynasty, belonging to the bottom of the aristocratic class, attached to clan groups, and have not yet become an independent social class. During the Spring and Autumn Period, with the collapse of clan politics, a large number of nobles who lost clan support became scholars, and the ranks of scholars expanded rapidly. They broke away from the original aristocratic hierarchy and became an independent social class. During the Warring States period, emerging intellectuals were more active than ever before. These intellectuals with high cultural attainments have no personal attachment, freedom of action and broad-mindedness, and have become the targets of various rulers. They rely on their own knowledge and talents to guide the country, inspire writing, or travel around the world for their ideals, or travel around the world for their livelihood, which is the best choice to enter the officialdom, thus forming a huge and dynamic bureaucratic system.

Second, the official system of Qin and Han Dynasties

After Qin unified the whole country, its territory was unprecedentedly vast. To rule this huge empire well, it is not enough to rely on the emperor alone, but also to establish a complete bureaucratic system. Therefore, after Qin Shihuang established the supreme imperial power, he immediately established the central government headed by the emperor. Although there were many officials in the central government of the Qin Dynasty, the most important thing was the "three officials and nine officials" mentioned in the history books. These three public officials are the Prime Minister, Qiu and Imperial Advisor. Under the three fairs, there are nine fairs. The nine officials are Fengchang, Langzhongling, Wei, Taifu, Tingwei, Dianke, Zong Zheng, Su Zhi Neishi and Shaofu. These officials are appointed and removed by the emperor, not hereditary. The feudal court, mainly composed of three officials and nine officials, was Qin.

In the Qin Dynasty, three officials and nine ministers were the right-hand men of the emperor, but the specific division of labor was different. These three officials are senior officials who directly assisted the emperor in handling state affairs. Prime ministers are divided into left prime ministers and right prime ministers, with the left prime minister as the respect, and their duties are to assist the emperor in handling state affairs. Qiu was a military officer who helped the emperor take charge of the national army. Yushi is mainly responsible for inheriting imperial edicts and supervising civil and military officials. Handle major cases. Jiuqing is in charge of the specific affairs of the central department. Feng Chang is in charge of ancestral temple etiquette, doctor's advice, court guards, servants, court chariots and horses, health care, state affairs and diplomacy. Ding Wei is in charge of criminal law, civil history and national finance and taxation. Zong Zheng is in charge of the internal affairs of the royal family. Shaofu is in charge of taxation and handicraft manufacturing of mountains, rivers, lakes and seas.

The Han dynasty inherited the Qin system with slight changes. The Western Han Dynasty implemented a parallel county system. In order to strengthen centralization, China and North Korea were set up to decentralize power. China and North Korea are decision-making bodies composed of low-level officials and people waiting to be subordinate to the emperor. They sent local officials to various places and divided the whole country into thirteen monitoring areas, which were called "state departments". Each state department set up a secretariat, and the "six questions" supervised the local area on behalf of the emperor, making local officials at all levels powerful. Monarchical power is subordinate to it, and it is stipulated that "those who have rendered meritorious service should be rewarded in the city and may not be appointed as officials." Economically, preferential treatment of 365 is meritorious, but it is rarely reused politically. To this end, Liu Xiu also expanded the authority of Shangshutai, thus forming a situation of "although there are three offices, the affairs are returned to Taige"

Third, the official system in Wei and Jin Dynasties.

The Northern Wei Dynasty reformed the official system. After Emperor Xiaowen ascended the throne, he issued two aides' orders in 493 and 499, and gradually established the central three-province system. At the local level, he mainly accepted the advice of Li Chong, the landlord of the Han nationality. In the tenth year of Taihe (486), the patriarchal clan system was abolished and the three-system system was implemented. The so-called sanlong system is the grass-roots management system, that is, five neighbors and one neighbor; Five neighbors, one mile long; Wuli is the party, establish a party leader. Neighborhood leadership, village leadership and party leadership are "three leaders". The duties of the three leaders are to check household registration, supervise farming, collect rent and pay taxes, levy corvee and perform military service. The implementation of the three-headed system is conducive to restraining the tycoons from hiding their household registration and evading rent, and is conducive to national fiscal revenue and social stability.

Fourth, the official system of Sui and Tang Dynasties.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the central government implemented the system of three provinces and six departments. In the central government, the six officials were abolished, the old system of Han and Wei dynasties was restored, and three departments were established, with Shangshu, Menxia, Literature and History as the highest authority. Shangshu province has officials, rituals, soldiers, punishments (officials), people (officials) and workers. In some areas, states and counties have been established. County officials change every three years, and locals are not allowed to enter, thus establishing a set of quite strict institutions. In the Tang Dynasty, the names, official positions, functions and nature were the same as those of the Sui Dynasty, except that the province of literature and history was renamed the province of Zhongshu, the order of literature and history was renamed the order of Zhongshu, and the governor was renamed Zhong Shi. In addition, in the setting of prime ministers, the governors of the three provinces are still held concurrently by the prime ministers of Wude period. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he was a senior minister. Therefore, this official will not be granted in name in the future. However, the emperor often gave titles to some officials with lower official positions, such as "participation in politics", "participation in politics", "three things with the same book door" and "things with the same book door", making them prime ministers, while ministers of Shangshu Province were dismissed. Without the above titles, they can only be responsible for provincial affairs. In the early Tang Dynasty, the government affairs hall was also established.

Five, Song and Yuan official system

In the Song Dynasty, the government office was established in Zhongshu Province, which was called the "Second House". Under the Prime Minister, an "assistant minister" was set up, and Tang Shi and San Si were appointed as permanent officials. Tang envoys were divided into the prime minister's military regime, the third secret was divided into the prime minister's financial power, and the governors of counties and counties were reduced.

The central management institutions of the Yuan Dynasty were Zhongshu Province, Privy Council and Yushitai. Zhongshu province is the highest administrative department, with secretariat, left and right prime ministers, left and right officials, left and right officials and officials. , collectively referred to as the prime minister. The province of Zhongshu has six departments: officials, households, rituals, soldiers, punishments and workers. The Privy Council is in charge of military power, with courtiers and ambassadors. They all set up the "Daruhuachi" (an official in charge of the people), which was held by Mongols.

Sixth, the official system in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

1376 (in the ninth year of Hongwu), the "Zhongshu Province" was abolished, and three departments (the propaganda and deployment department, the command and make department, and the punishment and make department) were set up, belonging to the imperial Zhongshu Province; After 1380, the province of Zhongshu was abolished and the post of prime minister was removed. Six departments, namely collectors, families, owners, soldiers and prisoners, are responsible to the emperor. A cabinet was formed, which was officially signed. After Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister, he set up Gaihuatang, Jinshentang, Wuyingtang, Wenhua Hall, Wenyuan Pavilion and Dongge as advisers to the emperor. Later,

In the Qing Dynasty, according to the Ming Dynasty, a cabinet (three halls and three pavilions) was set up in the central department. As the highest administrative organ of the country, it is composed of six departments. Convene a ministerial meeting, and the military department is the highest authority. The Ministry of War is the highest military and political decision-making body under the direct command of the Qing emperor. In the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729), the "military aircraft room" was set up because of the use of troops in the northwest, and it was officially renamed "military department" in the tenth year of Yongzheng. The minister of military affairs was not appointed by the emperor. A prince, a university student, a minister of history, an assistant minister or a court minister were all called "the minister of military affairs" or "the minister of military affairs walked on them", commonly known as "military aircraft". Their dependents are called "Beijing's military hangar", commonly known as "small military aircraft". The work of the military department is to carry out the will of the emperor, handle military affairs, appoint and remove officials and all important memorials, which is the highest development of centralization of authority in the history of China. Set up Duchayuan as the highest supervision institution; Set Dali Temple as the Supreme Court; Imperial academy's setting is that "the storage of talents is very important". The imperial court set up Zongren House, which was in charge of the imperial flag; Set up the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take charge of court affairs. At the local level, there are provinces, prefectures, counties, and border special administrative regions. Grassroots organizations adopt the Baojia system (license system).