Administrative Officers in China's Ancient Personnel System

Qingshiliao and Taishiliao. In the Qing Dynasty, Liao had three officials, Situ, Sima and Li, who were in charge of farming, conscription and construction respectively. Taishiliao is the administrative department in charge of calendar, sacrifice, divination and cultural education. Compared with Shang Dynasty, the status of religious officials in Western Zhou Dynasty declined.

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is a period of social change. With the advancement of feudalism, important changes have taken place in the government institutions of various vassal States. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the main consuls who assisted the monarch and handled government affairs appeared one after another in various countries. Qin is called Shangqing, Yaqing and Dashuchang, Chu is called Lingyin, and Qi, Jin, Lu and Zheng are called Xiang. Although countries have different names, their status and positions are equivalent to the later "phase". The central institutions are improving day by day. Qi, Lu, Zheng, Chu and other countries have inherited the official system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and Si Tuleideng, Sima and Sikou are still the chief executives of the government. Other important officials are: Sidian in charge of land tax, Sidian in charge of finance, Sidian in charge of mountain ze and hunting, etc. With the increase of contacts between vassal States, countries set up pedestrians to take the lead in diplomacy. The historian Tai Shigong has an important position, and his duty is to "remember the major events and write the alliance first". At the beginning of the Warring States, with the progress of political reform movements in various countries, the establishment of feudal autocratic centralized regime became an important feature of the central official system at this time. The prime minister and the prime minister of "the head of a hundred officials" have become the official positions generally set up in various countries. Due to historical and traditional reasons, the official system of various countries is still not unified. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, autocratic centralization became more and more complete, and a system of three provinces and six departments with the emperor as the center was established. "In the third year of the Tang Dynasty, the provinces merged, and the master of the Chinese book gave an order, and the door owner blocked it, and the master of the Chinese book followed it." The governors of the three provinces have the post of prime minister, forming a mechanism of clear division of labor and mutual restraint among the three provinces. This is an important change in the administrative system. Shangshu province is the center of the central administration, which consists of six departments and twenty-four departments. Shangshu adopts the joint office system. Dutang lives in the center of the province and is the center of government activities. The governor of Shangshu Province, the left and right servants, and the left and right Cheng all work here, and there are left and right divisions, which are divided into six departments. The six departments evolved from six Cao Cao departments, headed by the official department, which is in charge of administrative affairs such as selecting and awarding officials, honors and examinations, and has four departments under its jurisdiction: the official department, the secretary-general, the secretary-general and the clerk. The Ministry of Housing is responsible for population, land, currency and taxation, and has four divisions: the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Warehouse. The ritual department is in charge of etiquette, sacrifice and tribute, and consists of four divisions: ritual department, ancestral department, catering department and host and guest; The Ministry of War is in charge of selecting soldiers, maps, chariots, war horses and armor, and has four divisions: the Ministry of War, the staff side, the driving department and the treasurer department. The criminal department is in charge of laws and regulations, criminal law, exile and the policy of restoring bans, and has four divisions: the criminal department, the official department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Industry is in charge of Shanze, wasteland reclamation, construction and craftsmen, and has four divisions: the Ministry of Industry, wasteland reclamation, security department and the Ministry of Water. Compared with the nine ministers in Qin and Han Dynasties, the six ministers formed in Sui and Tang Dynasties were a great progress in terms of name, authority and organizational system. In addition to the six departments, there are nine halls and five prisons, which evolved from the Qin and Han Dynasties. Since Wei and Jin Dynasties, Cao Liu has replaced some of Jiuqing's functions and powers. Jiuqing's name has been preserved, but his duties have changed greatly. The Northern and Southern Dynasties changed its name to Dian, and the chief official and adjutant were called Qing He respectively. Among the nine halls, the Taichang Hall is only responsible for sacrifice and etiquette, and the imperial examination belongs to the ritual department; Guanglu Temple, originally guarded by the imperial palace (evolved from doctors), specializes in wine, gifts and meals; Weiwei Temple specializes in weapons and etiquette tents, not guards; Taibu Temple is in charge of the administration of generals and horses, regardless of the emperor's chariots and horses; Ting Wei was renamed Dali Temple, in charge of interrogation and supervision, and the judicial administration was returned to the Ministry of Punishment; Crack temple sponsored etiquette, and foreign dynasties hired etiquette department; Sinong Temple manages warehousing, and the tax revenue belongs to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development; The responsibilities of Zongzheng Temple have not changed; Taifu Temple is a newly-built temple in charge of the collection of gold and silver wires. The five supervisors are imperial academy, Shaofu, General, Military and Water Supervisors, who are in charge of school education, handicraft manufacturing of the state and the court, the construction of palaces, city corridors and government offices. Nine halls and five prisons are formally independent, but in fact they are offices that cooperate with six departments.

Before and after Zongshen Yuanfeng, the central institutions in the Song Dynasty were very different. There were three provinces and six departments before Yuanfeng, but they existed in name only. Taking "discussing peace under the same book" as the real prime minister, taking politics as the deputy minister and always taking administration; In addition, the Privy Council was established to take charge of the military, and the three departments, namely, the Transportation Department, the Iron and Salt Department and the Expenditure Department, were in charge of the finance, resulting in the separation of administrative, military and financial powers, and the power of the Prime Minister was greatly weakened. The powers of the six ministries have also been eroded by the increasing number of institutions. Such as the official department, the ownership of the examiner's East Hospital, the Imperial Palace, the examiner's West Hospital and the third-class hospital; Ministry of housing, belonging to the third division; Does belong to the courtyard of etiquette; Ministry of war, the power belongs to the Privy Council; The criminal department affiliated to the trial court picketed the criminal supervision department in Beijing; Ministry of industry, the third division of the right to build a case. There is a similar situation in the power transfer of some temples and prisons in the nine halls and five prisons. In five years (1082), Zongshen Yuanfeng carried out the reform of the central official system, abolished the three departments and all miscellaneous departments, and basically returned to the pattern of three provinces and six departments in the Tang Dynasty. Different from the Tang Dynasty, Shang Shu shot the left servant and assistant minister under the door as assistant ministers, while Shang Shu shot the right servant and assistant minister in the middle book as assistant ministers in the middle book, which was the position of prime minister (later renamed as left and right prime ministers). In addition, the position of Privy Council was retained. The central administrative system of the Yuan Dynasty changed the three provinces of Tang and Song Dynasties into one province-Zhongshu Province, which is the highest administrative organ and consists of six departments. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the autocratic centralization of feudal monarchies in China developed to the extreme. Zhu Yuanzhang made a major adjustment to the central official system in the early Ming Dynasty. First of all, the prime minister system since Qin and Han Dynasties was abolished as a cabinet system for consulting and handling daily affairs. In terms of supervision, Yushitai was changed to Duchayuan since the Han Dynasty; Militarily, the commander-in-chief was changed to the commander-in-chief of the fifth army Improve the status of the six departments, report directly to the emperor, and establish a huge eunuch institution and factory health secret service organization under its control. Among them, the abolition of the prime minister and the formation of the cabinet are the main contents of the government system adjustment. The Cabinet is composed of bachelor of imperial academy, which is divided into first assistant, second assistant and group assistant. Its main duty is to "draft the ticket", that is, to draft the imperial edict on behalf of others and reply to the memorial. After Yongle, the bachelor of cabinet gradually participated in politics, not only as a consultant, but also as a real power. Subsequently, the cabinet was changed from the adviser secretary of the emperor in the early Ming Dynasty to the national administrative center.

The Qing dynasty, established by Manchu nobles, was initially discussed through the meeting of the Eight Banners and the King. During the Yongzheng period, the northwest used soldiers frequently. In order to discuss military affairs in time, a quartermaster room was set up, which was later renamed as "Handling Military Affairs Department" or simply Military Affairs Department. At first, it was a temporary organization. Later, it not only replaced the King's Council, but also expanded its power. It became the central auxiliary political department that handled the national military and political affairs under the direct control of the emperor. Its characteristics are: high efficiency, high speed and confidentiality. The functions and powers of the six ministries in Qing dynasty were reduced, and they were no longer administrative centers, so they could not directly issue government decrees. In the Qing Dynasty, only Dali Temple, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, Taibu Temple and Split Temple were left as temple supervisors. The ancestral hall is above the six departments. Only imperial academy was left in the five prisons, and the other four prisons were merged into the Ministry of Industry. After the Opium War, in order to adapt to the invasion of foreign powers and maintain the feudal regime, the Qing court carried out official system reform and institutional adjustment.