Grand chancellor (China)

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Template:Short description

File:君臣魚水 - 劉備與諸葛亮.jpg
Statue of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, considered the ideal example of the loyalty, integrity and Ruist shared governance between a lord and minister in Chinese history.[1]

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The grand chancellor (Template:Lang-zh, among other titles), also translated as counselor-in-chief, chancellor, chief councillor, chief minister, imperial chancellor, lieutenant chancellor and prime minister, was the highest-ranking executive official in the imperial Chinese government. The term was known by many different names throughout Chinese history, and the exact extent of the powers associated with the position fluctuated greatly, even during a particular dynasty.

Professor Zhu Zongbin of Peking University outlined the role of "grand chancellor" as one with the power to oversee all jurisdictional matters, the right to decide and to draft edicts with other ministers, and the position of chief advisor to the emperor. This extended even to the ability to criticize the emperor's edicts and decisions.[2][3] Thus, the grand chancellor served as the emperor's chief of staff and main political advisor, often exercising power second only to the emperor. In practice, the grand chancellor was often a trusted executive aide to the emperor, but during political turmoil or power struggles between the two roles the grand chancellor could also be the emperor's primary political competitor and opponent.[4]

This balance of power means that the relation between grand chancellor (and the scholar-officials they represent) and emperor holds great significance in the Confucian thought of governance and the relation of "lord and subject" (Script error: No such module "Lang".).[5][6]

"Grand chancellor" can denote several positions. During the Six Dynasties period, the term denoted a number of power-holders serving as chief administrators, including zhongshun jian (Inspector General of the Secretariat), zhongshu ling (President of the Secretariat), shizhong (Palace Attendant), shangshu ling and puye (president and vice-president of the Department of State Affairs).[7]

History

Script error: No such module "anchor".In the Spring and Autumn period, Guan Zhong was the first chancellor in China,[8] who became chancellor under the state of Qi in 685 BCE. Script error: No such module "anchor".In Qin, during the Warring States period, the chancellor was officially established as "the head of all civil service officials." There were sometimes two chancellors, differentiated as being "of the left" (senior) and "of the right" (junior). Script error: No such module "anchor".After emperor Qin Shi Huang ended the Warring States period by establishing the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), the chancellor, together with the imperial secretary, and the grand commandant, were the most important officials in the imperial government, generally referred as the Three Lords.[9][10]

Script error: No such module "anchor".In 1 BC, during the reign of Emperor Ai, the title was changed to da si tu (Script error: No such module "Lang".).[11] In the Eastern Han dynasty, the chancellor post was replaced by the Three Excellencies: Grand Commandant (Script error: No such module "Lang".), Minister over the Masses (Script error: No such module "Lang".) and Minister of Works (Script error: No such module "Lang".).[12] In 190, Dong Zhuo claimed the title "Chancellor of State" (Script error: No such module "Lang".) under the powerless Emperor Xian of Han,[13] placing himself above the Three Excellencies. Script error: No such module "anchor".After Dong Zhuo's death in 192, the post was vacant until Cao Cao restored the position as "imperial chancellor" (Script error: No such module "Lang".) and abolished the Three Excellencies in 208.[14] From then until March 15, 220, the power of chancellor was greater than that of the emperor. Later this often happened when a dynasty became weak, usually some decades before the fall of a dynasty.

Script error: No such module "anchor".During the Sui dynasty, the executive officials of the three highest departments of the empire were called "chancellors" (Script error: No such module "Lang".) together.[15] Script error: No such module "anchor".In the Tang dynasty, the government was divided into three departments: the Department of State Affairs (Script error: No such module "Lang".), the Secretariat (Script error: No such module "Lang".), and the Chancellery (Script error: No such module "Lang".). The head of each department was generally referred to as the chancellor.[16]

Script error: No such module "anchor".In the Song dynasty, the post of chancellor was also known as the "Tongpingzhangshi" (Script error: No such module "Lang".),[17] in accordance with late-Tang terminology, while the vice-chancellor was known as the jijunsi. Some years later, the post of chancellor was changed to "prime minister" (Script error: No such module "Lang". shou xiang) and the post of vice-chancellor was changed to "second minister" (Script error: No such module "Lang". ci xiang).[18] In the late Southern Song dynasty, the system changed back to the Tang naming conventions.

Script error: No such module "anchor".During the Mongol-founded Yuan dynasty, the chancellor was not the head of the Secretariat, but the Crown Prince (Script error: No such module "Lang".) was. Script error: No such module "anchor".After the establishment of the Ming dynasty, the post became the head of the Zhongshu Sheng again. The post was abolished after the execution of Hu Weiyong, who was accused of treason (though his conviction is still strongly disputed in present times because of a lack of evidence to prove his guilt).[19] Still, appointments of the people who held the highest post in the government were called "appointment of prime minister" (Script error: No such module "Lang".) until 1644.

Influence

During and after the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, the Mongols continued the use of a title Chingsang, from Chengxiang (Script error: No such module "Lang".) for various high leaders, such as Pulad, the Yuan ambassador to the Ilkhan[20] and for the deputy of the Western Mongol leader, the taishi.[21] The title was also used in the Ilkhanate, for the vizier Buqa.[22]

List of chancellors of China

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List of chancellors of Shang dynasty

Name
Pinyin (romanization) Chinese characters
Yi Yin Script error: No such module "Lang".
Zhong Hui Script error: No such module "Lang".
Yi Zhi Script error: No such module "Lang".
Wu Xian Script error: No such module "Lang".
Wu Xian Script error: No such module "Lang".
Gan Xuan Script error: No such module "Lang".
Fu Yue Script error: No such module "Lang".
Ji Zi Script error: No such module "Lang".

Zhou dynasty

Qin dynasty

Han dynasty

File:Cao Cao scth.jpg
Cao Cao, who controlled the Late Han dynasty, is one of the most famous Chinese chancellors.

Three Kingdoms

Eastern Wu

Shu Han

Cao Wei

Sui dynasty

Tang dynasty

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Song dynasty

Northern Song

Southern Song

Ming dynasty

Note: after the death of Hu Weiyong, the title of grand chancellor was abolished. The office of the Grand Secretariat assumed the de facto powers of the chancellery after the reign of the Hongwu Emperor.

Template:Senior Grand Secretaries of the Ming dynasty

Qing dynasty

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The Qing dynasty bureaucratic hierarchy did not contain a chancellor position. Instead, the duties normally assumed by a chancellor were entrusted to a series of formal and informal institutions, the most prominent of which was the Grand Council. Occasionally, one minister may held enough power in the government that he comes to be identified, figuratively, as the "chancellor".

In 1911, the Qing court adopted reforms which, amongst other changes, established the position of prime minister. This position existed for less than a year before the Qing government was overthrown. Template:Chief Councillors of the Qing dynasty

Premiers after 1911

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Gallery

See also

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References

Citations

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  1. ↑ "Script error: No such module "Lang". ("Fish (and) water lord (and) subject") refers to the term "Script error: No such module "Lang"." from Records of the Three Kingdoms, where Liu Bei refers to gaining Zhuge Liang's service as if "a fish gaining water"
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Template:In lang Guan Zhong Memorial Opened in Linzi Template:Webarchive, Xinhuanet, September 19, 2004.
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Li (2007), 75.
  11. ↑ Wang (1949), 144.
  12. ↑ Template:In lang Chancellor of China, Sina.com.
  13. ↑ Book of the Later Han Vol.72; Records of Three Kingdoms Vol. 6.
  14. ↑ Records of Three Kingdoms Vol. 1.
  15. ↑ Template:In lang The History of the Chancellor System in China Template:Webarchive.
  16. ↑ Template:In lang Tong Zhongshu Menxia PingzhangshiScript error: No such module "Unsubst"., Encyclopedia of China.
  17. ↑ Template:In lang "Chancellor in the Song Dynasty"
  18. ↑ Template:In lang The Change of Central Administration in Tang and Song Dynasties Template:Webarchive.
  19. ↑ Template:In lang The History of Chancellor of China Template:Webarchive, QQ.com.
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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Sources

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External links

Template:Chinese Imperial Government

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