Sonraki Han

8/2/2019 Sonraki Han

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Harvard-Yenching Institute

An Outline of The Central Government of The Former Han DynastyAuthor(s): Wang Y-ch'anReviewed work(s):Source: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1/2 (Jun., 1949), pp. 134-187Published by: Harvard-Yenching InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2718206 .Accessed: 03/11/2011 08:10

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AN OUTLINE OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OFTHE FORMER HAN DYNASTY *WANGYU-CH'fUAN IEJ%

1. IntroductionThe governmentalmachinerywhichfunctioned hrough wothousandyearsof Chinesehistorynd whichwas abandonedonlyin 1911 had its nception n 221 B. C., the year China was unified.Later developmentsmodifiedmany spectsof ts organization utneverchanged hebasic structure.By 221 B. C. the First Emperor of the Ch'in dynastyhadoverthrownhe reigning ouse of Chou and conquered he otherfeudal tates, bolishedfeudalpolitical nstitutions,nd createdcentralized government.1The dynastywas short-lived.Theradical social and political changes which the First Emperorenforced fter his conquest caused considerable derangementand unrest.He made enemies f the old nobility fthe conquered

states by deprivinghem of their ong-establishedrivileges,ndfailed omakefriends ith hecommon eople, n whose houlders* There are threegeneralreferences orthis subject: (1) CH'EN Shu-yung off,Han-kuan ta-wen Wi1R,Chen-i-t'ang s'ung-shu x::'"N ed.; (2) T'AOHsi-sheng and SHEN Chii-ch'en , Ch'in Han cheng-chih hih-tuiiftshllKtShanghai,1936); (3) TSENGTzI-sheng t, Ch'in Han cheng-chihchih-tu hih * (Chungking, 942). Each of these works containsa wealth ofmaterial,but none is commendable or its analysis. In English,scatteredinformation egarding he topic can be gathered fromH. H. DUBS, The Historyofthe FormerHan Dynasty (Baltimore,1938), a translation fpart of the Han shu with

notes and discussions.The articleby T. H. Koo, " Constitutional evelopment of theWestern Han Dynasty," JAOS 40 (1930).170-193 is out of date and containsmisinformation.1 The centralizedgovernmentwas created through he adoptionof the chiin-hsien

iR5,, (province nd county) system. This systemplaced the territoryf the entireEmpire directlyunder the control of the centralgovernment nd did away with thelocal autonomywhichmarked the feudal fiefs f Chou time. The greaterextentofcentralization chieved by the state of Ch'in was instrumental o its unification fChina. For the early history f the chiin-hsienystem ee Ku Yen-wu ):,A Jih-chih u I 1 (Ssit-pupei-yao 3 ed.) 22.5b-7b, nd Derk BODDE, China'sFirst Unifier Leiden,1938), pp. 238-244.134


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 135rested hemainfinancial urden nd thelabor serviceneededforthe consolidation f the empire.Widespreadrebellions ollowedthedeath oftheFirstEmperor n 210 B. C. and hisdynastywasoverthrownn 207 B. C. In 202 B. C. Liu Pang V11, themostsuccessful f the rebel leaders,was enthroned. With him theFormerHan dynastywas established,which asted till 8 A. D.The newdynasty eversed nd substantiallymodifiedmanyofthe important olitical nstitutions f Ch'in; it abandonedcen-tralized ontrol vertheEmpireand revived hepoliticalfeudal-ismof theChou dynasty.Almost wothirds f theHan territorywas divided ntowang-kuo A or " kingdoms whichwerebe-stowed upon the founder's rothers,ons, and meritoriousssis-tants. Each kingdomhad the same governmentaletup as thedomain of the Emperorand possessedfull authority ver thepeople within ts boundaries.For many yearsthe power of thecentralgovernment f the FormerHan was confinedo the Im-perial domain comprisingmodernShensi,Shansi, Honan, Sze-chwan,Hupeh, andpart ofKansu.Liu Pang did notparcelout any partof this mperialdomainbutcontrolledt through he administrative echanism fCh'in,run by a centralized utocraticbureaucracy.The period from154 B. C. to 126 B. C. witnessed struggle etween heImperialgovernmentnd the semi-independentingdoms.The outcomewas that the Han Emperor was able to reduce the size of thekingdoms, bolish theirpoliticalsovereignty,nd establishcen-tral supervision verthem. The victory f the Imperialgovern-mentover the kingdoms nabled it to strengthentself nd toextend hescopeof tsadministration. he powerofthe mperialcentralgovernmenteached ts zenith n the last quarterof thesecondcentury . C. Fromthemiddleofthe first entury . C.on,thecentralgovernmentf theFormerHan gradually ost itsgrip over the empire. But this time its growingweaknesswascausedby social and economic orces fa differentature,which

2Except forthe hou-kuof , or marquisatesgranted o the Marquises,who weremostlymeritoriousministers,nd the i E, or appanages granted to the Empressesand the princesses. Different rom the kingdoms, hese fiefspossessed no politicalauthority ver the territoryr the people within.


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136 YU-CH'UANWANGinitiated courseof eventswhichwas to be repeatedmanytimesin the subsequent istory f China.3

The territory f the Han Empire was extensive, ivided intochiin 1" provinces and wang-kuo kingdoms," which,nturn,weresubdivided nto hsien : " counties,"hsiang 41 " districts,"and 1i M (the smallest dministrative nit). By the end of thesecond centuryB. C. it had expanded to cover the whole ofpresent-dayChina proper (except forthe extreme outhwest),southernManchuria,northern orea,and Tonkin. Its populationin 2 A. D. was recorded s 12,233,062householdsor 59,594,978individuals, robablywiththe omission fchildren elow the ageof seven.5 This spectaculargrowthwas acclaimed by the authorofthe Han shu and must have dwarfed he Empirein its earlydays.With an empire so extensive nd a population so large, theadministrative ork was bound to be heavy, making extensiveadministrativemachinery mperative. By the end of the firstcenturyB. C., government ffices, oth local and central,werenumerous, nd the numberof functionariesf the centraland

3 These were the local forcesrepresented y economically nd politicallypowerfulfamilies. These families n the course of time had accumulated large amounts ofland and other forms f wealth and were able to form large followinghroughbloodrelationshipnd various social connections.By means of theirwealth and power,theybefriended r overawed the local authorities nd interferedn the government d-ministration. hey evaded taxes and corvee and managed to freetheirtenants fromthem too. Thus they undermined he foundationsof the central government ndconstituted he feudalistic orceswhichwere everpresentthroughout hinese history.'Before 179 B. C. the wang-kuowere the provinceswhich had been bestowedupon brothers, ons, nephews,and meritorious ssistants of the emperors. With theelimination f the kingsof the Lu gP family (of the Empress of Kao-tsu) in 180B. C. the kings with surnames other than that of the Imperial house disappeared.From then on the kingswere sons of the Emperors.'There is a discrepency etween these figures Han shu [Po-na ed.] 28A.lla) andthe total figures f households and individuals isted under each province (Han shu28A.lla ff.; 28B.la ff.) By adding together he separate figures or the provincesweget 12,356,470 nterms fhouseholds nd 57,571,653 ndividualsforthe wholeEmpire.The populationfiguresfHUANG-FUMi 7 (215-282) for heyearA. D. 2 differsomewhat from these. His figures, ssuming that there were no mistakes by latercopyists, re 13,233,612households and 59,194,978 ndividuals. These are quoted byLIu Chao -J11j n his commentary o the Hsil Han chih , by SSU-MAPiaoJPXIJb (d. 306). Hou-Han shu (Po-na ed.) 19.4a.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENTOF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 137provincialgovernments an as high as 130,285.6 The regularofficialsn the Chancellery umbered 82 in 117 B. C., whenthedynasty was at the height of its power, and more than threehundred n the period from15 to 7 B. C. If we add the clerks,who numbered s many as 282 in 117 B. C., the total of theemployees ntheChancellerynthat year was 644. The ImperialSecretariatmployed 41 functionariesn 110B. C.; includingheclerks he totalwas wellover500.7Officialdomn the Empire was divided hierarchically ntotwenty anks (reduced, fter32 B. C., to sixteen). Each indi-vidual was assigned a rank, whichdetermined is status in theofficial orld,his salary, hetype ofclotheshe woreand carriagehe used, the privileges ccordedhim-such as exemption romforced abor and frommilitary ervice-and whichserved as ameasure npromotion.Rank was expressed y theofficial's nnual salary n terms fsomany hihE or Chinese ushels, angingromheten-thousand-bushel to the one-hundred-bushelank,the highestbeingheldby theChancellor, he lowestby thepettyofficials.Actualythenumberof shihmarking he rankof an official id not alwayscorrespond ohis salary,whichwaspaid partlyngrain nd partlyin cash. Nevertheless hissystem f rankprovidesus with keyto thearrangementftheHan bureaucracy.

2. The EmperorAtthehead ofthe central overnmentfHan stoodtheHuang-ti AiP or "Emperor." His predecessorwas the wang TF or" king" oftheChou dynasty,who claimedthat hisauthoritywasoTu Yu t?fti (735-812), T'ung tien j (Shih t'ung +t3f ed.), p. 108c. Inthe note to this number,Tu Yu says that it includes also the "petty officials fvarious chou, fu, and chiln (provinces). Both chou and fu were administrative nitsof his time (T'ang dynasty), not of the Han. The mistake might have been theresult of carelessness. t is clear, however, hat the numberof officialswhich he givesdoes not include those of the hsien (county); sub-unit of the province.'WEI Hung tj;J (Ist cent. B. C.-lst cent. A. D.): Han chiu i gM ,- (P'ing-chin-kubans'ung-shub ' ed.) 1.7b, lla.8 The ranks of the governmentfficials re to be distinguishedrom he chiieh ,which were ranks carrying pecial privileges.


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138 YL-CRIrAN WANGofdivineorigin.The kingofChou sharedwith heprinces,whomhe enfeoffed,he responsibility f administeringhe realm. Asthe royal courtof Chou entered ts period ofdeclinetheprincesusurped the titleof " king and made themselvesndependentrulers f theirrespective tates. Afterdefeating he royalhouseandthe severalfeudal tatesandbringinghewhole ftheChineseEmpire underhis control, he king of the state of Ch'in, laterknown s theFirst Emperor f theCh'in dynasty,was so exuber-ant at his unprecedented chievementhathe feltthat the title"king" was no longeradequate to express his "power" and" virtue (his" mana " or" charisma ) , and createdforhimselfthetitleHuang-ti, huselevatinghimselfbove previous ulers f"all-under-Heaven and makinghimself theGreatKing" and"the King ofKings."Withthecreation fthe title" Emperor therewas institutedfor the first ime in China a centralizedmperialgovernment,whichthrough ts provincialand local administrativegenciesdirectly ontrolled hewholeempire.The local governmentsndthepeople looked to the centralgovernmentordirectivesn allimportant olitical,military,r legalmatters.Suchwas thepowerwieldedbythecentralgovernment, hichfound ts personificationn the Emperor, incehe was the finalauthorityndthesource fall laws. He wasthehead ofthestate,and so to speak, the state itself.9 As the Emperorpossessedabsolutepowerover state affairsnd thepeople,thegovernmentof Ch'inwas,to use a modern erm, uthoritariann form.Therebellionwhichoverthrew he Ch'in regime naturallybroughtabout many changes in its authoritarian olicies, but the ad-ministrativemachinerywas preserved.Unlike theEmperorof Ch'in,the founder fHan, Liu Pang,came from family f poorand lowlyorigin.He had no shih-yehR or "historical background" to rely upon and beforehisrevoltagainstthe Ch'in he was onlya police chiefpatrollingtinypartof a county.

'As a matteroffact the Han people called theirEmperorthe Kuo-chia W1* (theState). Throughouthis essay, the Feng-shan -chi I W (quoted in the HsuHan chih,7.10a-15b), MA Ti-po Y;YMf designates he Emperorwiththisterm.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 139The prevailing onception fthe rulerof" all-under-Heavenat thetimewas that he must be a manofnobleorigin, r a man

ordainedbyHeaven,or a man ofgreatwisdom nd virtue.Thefirstheory rewdirectly utofthehistorical actthatChinahadbeenruledhitherto ythenobility fChou. The secondwas anattribute ponwhich he Choukings,ike thekings fother ands,had based their laimtosovereignights.The thirdwas a productof the newsocial and economic hangeswhich n politicsfoundtheirexpressionn the Confucian heoryof governmenty thesage and the wiseand virtuousman. This last,however,maynothave beenas intelligiblend convincings theother woforthecommon eople nthethird entury . C.Liu Pang was not ofnoblebirth, orwas he,to quote hisownwords, manofwisdom nd virtue.He waselevated o thethronebyhisfollowersnd assistants or hefollowingstensible easons:first,n overthrowinghe Ch'inregimehis contribution as con-sidered hegreatest; econd,he had brought eace to thepeople,whichwas a greatvirtue; nd third, e had unselfishlyhared heland of the Empire with the various "feudal lords who hadassistedhim.10 n addition, fforts ere made to strengthen isclaimto thethrone ycloakinghimwithdivine ttributes.All therulers f China before iu Pang werebelievedto havebeen of divine origin. In contemporaryolklore ven the un-popular house ofCh'inwas said to have been descendedfromWhiteGod (3 Ii Po-ti). Similarclaims weremade by mostofthe founders f succeedingdynasties. The ancientChinesebe-lieved that the benefactors f man should be worshipped, s,indeed,did the Greeks and the peoples of the easternMediter-raneanworld f theHellenistic ge.There are a numberof mythswhich attributeddivinity oLiu Pang. One storyhas it thathismother onceivedhimby agod in her dream, nd at his birth dragonwas seen hoveringover her. Another tory ellsthatwhenever e sleptsomestrangephenomenon lways appeared overhis head. His wifetold himthat shealways knewhiswhereabouts ecausethere lwayswas a

Han shu IB.3b. H. H. DUBS, The HistoryoftheFormerHan Dynasty 1.101.


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140 YUI-ClI'UANWANGcloud of a recognizablehape hovering bove him n thesky. Byhiscontemporariese was regarded s thesonoftheRed Godwhobattled againstthe son of the WhiteGod, that is, the rulerofCh'in. Whenhe entered he Han-kuPass to take the Ch'incapital,fivestarsconverged n the Tung-ching*# (Gemini) constel-lation. These differenttories ll had theone purposeofmakingLiu Pang appear to be superhuman.However, he ivingHan ruler,ikethe rulers fotherdynasties,was notregarded s a god,norwas anyworshipnstituted orhim.But it is reasonable o assumethat the divine haracter ttributedto LIU Pang must have played an important artinwinninghepeopleto hissideorofawing hem nto ubmission.Unfortunatelythis did not work withhis companions,who had been intimatewithhimthrough iscampaign owin thethrone nd had becomenowministers f theHan court. As can be easilyobservedfromall histories,uthorityannotbe preservednd enhancedwithoutthe establishment nd maintenanceof social distancethroughritual nd conventions etween he onewhocommands nd thosewhoobey. Therefore,t was necessary or henew rulerof" all-under-Heaven to adopta setofrigid ourt eremonieso elevatehimself o anunapproachable osition.The ceremonies ere ntro-duced n201 B. C. withtheaid ofa groupofConfucian cholars.They greatlyenhancedthe prestigeof the Emperorand savedthe Emperor'sdignity rombeing sulliedby continuedfamiliarintercourse ithhis former riends.As a symbolof the rulingdynasty, he Emperorhad his an-cestraltemples rected hroughoutheEmpire. In 72 B. C. theynumbered 68. As EmperorYuan put it in 40 B. C.: " This wasthe best expedientby whichpowerwas established, ubversiveintentionsradicated, nd thepeople unified." 1Later, in the reignof Emperor Wu (140-87 B. C.) the mostoutstanding hilosopher f this time,TUNGChung-shu VIPd(179-104B. C.), revived nd expounded he theory hat the Sonof Heaven, i.e., the Emperor,must have receiveda Heavenlymandate to be rulerof " all-under-Heaven." n 110 B. C. Em-"1Han shu73.10b.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 141perorWu ascendedMountT'ai, the sacredmountain n present-day Shantung,nd performedheceremoniesf feng and shan*R, thepurpose fwhichwas toreport oHeaventhatas recipientsof the Heavenlymandate he and his ancestorshad successfullycarried ut theirmission fruling hepeople on earth. The per-formance fthese eremonies uttheEmperorndirect onnectionwithHeaven and placed the finaltouch upon his divinechar-acter. The legitimacywas accordedto the positionof the Em-peror, o his personas well as to his authority,s being beyondthe people and above thepeople.Theseconscious ffortso make the Han Emperor uperhumanmayhave played somepart in legitimatizing is authority, uthis actual powercame directly rom he military nd politicalforceswhich he controlled.Supernatural heoriesand popularbeliefsmerely trengthened is position and contributed o itsperpetuation.Unlike thePharaohs ofEgypt and theirPtolemaicandRomansuccessors,heGreatKings of Persia and theSeleucids, heHanEmperordidnotown theChineseEmpireas hisprivateproperty.He possesseda few mperialparks, but theywere not forpro-ductionof any kind. His otherpossessionswerelimited, s faras historical ata tellus, to theproducts fthemountains nd theseas.12The incomederivedfrom heseresourceswas separatedfrom hegovernmentevenuefrom heEmpire.

But the Han Emperor had two greatresourceswhichconsti-tutedthebasis ofhispower. They werethe taxes and thelaborofthepeople. The most mportantfthetaxeswere he andtax,thepolltaxon adults (suan-fuR) and that on children k'ou-ch'ien t-) . In 119 B. C. taxeson merchants' ropertynd onhandicraftswereintroduced,18nd in about 114 B. C. a tax onlivestockwas instituted.With the strengtheningf the centralgovernment,hegovernmentmonopoly fsalt and ironbeganin119B. C."4 nd thatofcoinage n 115B. C. Fromthepeoplewho

12 Shih chi 30.2a; Han shu 24A.8a.3 Shih chi 3O.lla; Han shu 24B.llb.

14 Shih chi 30.9-lOa;Han shu 24B.1Ob-lla. See also E. M. GALE, Discourseson Saltand Iron (Leyden, 1931), p. 1 ff.


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142 Yt-CH'tAN WANGhad reached dulthood heEmperordemandedoneyear'sserviceformilitary raining,neyearforgarrison uties, ndannually nemonth f service t theirhome ocality.15Out ofthe taxeshe paid the administrativexpenses nd thesalariesof his officials.Military erv'icend forced abor enabledhim to maintain an army,of whichhe was the commander-in-chief, nd to carry out large-scaleconstructionwork, such asmilitary ortifications,oads, canals, etc., which n one way oranotherhelpedto securehis control ftheEmpire.

In thematter fgovernmentersonnel heEmperor ppointedall officials rom he six-hundred-bushelankup in the centralgovernmentnd theProvincialGovernors T'ai-shou i;?), theCountyPrefects Hsien-ling4) andtheCountyChiefs Hsien-changOR) in the ocalgovernment.n so far s hewas theonlyone who exercised ontrol ver all the offices f mportance ewasthe sourceof all power,honor, nd ofsocialprivileges.This is allthemore ignificants formerlynChinaa positionnthe govern-mentmeantnotonlypolitical owerbutsocialprestigendwealthas well.Furthermore he Emperorwas the sole legislator.16 he Hanlaw consisted f the code, the Imperialdecrees, he precedents,and thedecisions ftheCommandant fJustice T'ing-wei lPJrt).The code wascompiled ytheChancellor fState,HsIAo Ho lfiJ(d. 193 B. C.) To it werelater added the laws laid down byvarious ministers nd sanctionedby the Emperors. The Im-perial decreeswereordersregarding pecificmatters. The pre-cedents lso had to be approved by the Emperor. Only the de-

"I Han shu 24A.15a. Cf. HAMAGUCHI Shigekuni ji 1 , " Senk6 to kak&-Nyojun etsuno hihan" Yj-j j AA-_bX2j6Dtj1 I TG 19 (1931).84-107ndthe supplement o the preceeding rticlein TG 20 (1932).140-146; LAO Kan *I"Han-tai ping-chih hi Han-chienchung chih ping-chih"f:$! CYYY 10 (1942).23-54.16 On thispointTu Chou's tfJP statements most lluminating.Tu Chou was oneof the devoted supportersof absolute Imperial power in Emperor Wu's time. AsCommandantof Justice (109-99 B. C.) he was criticizedfor decidingcases not inaccordancewiththe law. To thiscriticism e said: " Wheredoes the law come from?That whichthe previousrulerthoughtrightwas proclaimed aw, and that whichthesucceedingrulerthinksright s enacted as law." Han shtu 0.1b.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENTOF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 143cisionsof the Commandant f Justicedid not emanatedirectlyfrom heEmperor,but since he was appointedby theEmperor,his decisions ould not contradict he Emperor'swishes.In purely civil law cases the Emperoracted as the supremejudge. The lowest law courtwas the county (hsien) admini-stration.Lawsuits which heCountyPrefectwas unableto settlewere sent- o the ProvincialGovernor,who, in case of doubt,presented hemto theEmperor.With all thesepowers n his hands,theHan Emperor xactedabsolute obediencefromhis subjects. To make thismorecon-vincing ndhisrulebenign, ontemporaryolitical heoristsmain-tainedthattheEmperorwas a son inhis relationship o Heavenand a fathern that to his people. This interpretationot onlyexplainedhis divinecharacter n such simpletermsthat everypersoncould easilyunderstandt, but also enabled himto exactfrom hepeople a loyalty nd reverence kinto thatowedby ason to thepaterfamilias.As father heEmperorshouldcare forandgovern,nd as childrenhepeoplehad torespect ndobey.

3. The ImperialCabinetAs shownby the titles of the Imperialministers mentionedbelow) and theirprimary unctions,he Imperialcabinetof theFormerHan was thedirectdescendant fthe courtoftheChoukings. Its personnelwas that of a large household. As China

developedfrom kingdomnto an empire nd theadministrativeworkmultipliedmanytimes, heempirebuilders idnotdeviseanew administrative rganization, ut retained the formof theoldroyalcourt ndallocatednewfunctionso theoriginal ffices.'7a. The Chancellor

Both in the meaningofhis titleand in administrativeutiesconnectedwith t,theCh'eng-hsiang&*, rendereds " Chancel-lor" forthe sake ofconvenience,was assistantto theEmperor."7lHowever,he office f Chancellor (Hsiang or Ch'eng-hsiang)was perhapsa newinstitution, hichgainedpolitical mportance uring he Chan-kuoperiod.


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144 YU-CH'UANWANGNext onlyto the sovereignn rank and power,he topped theentire fficial ierarchy.

Atthebeginning ftheHan dynastyherewas one Chancellor."8From 196to 180 B. C. thereweretwo Chancellors-a Chancellorof the Right and a Chancellorof the Left,the former ankingabove the other. From 179 B. C. on only one Chancellorwasfunctioning,houghfor a whilenominallyboth positionswerekept. In 1 B. C. the titleof Ch'eng-hsiangwas changedto Ta-Sssu-t'u CX t .

In Chapter 19 of the Han shu, whichtreatsof governmentorganizations,hefunctionsftheChancellor redescribednthefollowingwords: " He assiststhe Son of Heaven and helpshimmanage all importantmatters."19 Such a terse explanation sinadequate to conveyan understandingf the duties and au-thorityf theChancellor. n order o obtaina fuller icture f hisresponsibilities, e have to turnto other ourcesof information.These are: (1) the biographies f the Chancellors n both theShihchi and theHan shu; (2) theImperialdirectives ismissingincompetent hancellors; 3) thebooks on theHan governmentinstitutions rittenn thefirst nd secondcenturiesA. D.In a directive o his Chancellor, mperorAi (6-1 B. C.) said,"The Chancellor s our arms and legs, the one withwhomWe,succeeding urAncestors,uleall within heSeas." 20 Confirmingthewordsof the authorof theHan shu,EmperorAi's statementdefinesheposition ftheChancellor s thatof an assistant o thethrone.In a directive o his Chancellor,WANG hang EiEA, mperorCh'eng (32-7B. C.) said, " The Chancellorwithhis virtuecaresfor hestate, nd takeschargeofall theofficials."1 EmperorAionce said to his Chancellor, 'UNG Kuang RL), " Sir, in yourhandsyoubear theheavyburdenof stateaffairsnd take over-all chargeoftheduties ofall officials."2 Here the Chancellor sdescribed s the headof theofficialdom.

1 The exact titlewas Hsiang-kuo J , or Chancellorof State, whichcarriedmorehonorthan that of Ch'e'ng-hsiang."9Han shu 19A.3a. 21 Ibid. 82.5a.20 Ibid. 81.21a. 22 Ibid. 81.18a.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 145As assistant o theEmperor ndhead ofall officials,heChan-cellorenjoyedprivileges nd powersdeniedto otherministers.EveryChancellorwas enfeoffedith marquisate hou-kuo)andbore the title of Marquis (Hou). He was entitledto recom-mendcandidatesfor hemost mportant ositionsn thecentral,as well as in the local governments.He could appointofficialsfrom he six-hundred-bushelank down withoutconsulting heEmperor. However, nasmuchas he could recommendnd ap-pointofficialsighand low,he was also heldresponsible or heir

conductofadministrativeffairs.When the selection fofficialswas foundunwise, he Chancellornaturallywas the one to bearthe brunt of the criticism.He kept a record of all importantofficials,articularlyheprovincial overnors,hecking ponthemconstantly.23 ne of his subordinates, ntitledSsui-chih oltE("Director of Rectitude"), investigated he neglect of dutiesand improper ehavioron thepart of the officials.24n case anofficial,ven one ranking s high as or higher han ProvincialGovernor, as found ohave abused hisauthority,heChancellormight mete out punishmentwithout firstreporting o theEmperor.25The Chancellorwas responsible orthe finances f the state,and, nthewords fEmperorCh'eng (32-7B. C.), hadtoestimatetheamountoftherevenue f thestateand determinehebudgetof expenditures.26or the same reasonthe Chancellorwas heldresponsible orthegrainsuppliesprovidedto the frontierarri-sons. Althoughhe was not the commander f the army,hisposition s assistant o thethrone ndhead oftheadministrationmade himresponsible ormilitary reparations.27Throughout heFormerHan dynasty,mportant olitical,mili-tary, nd religiousssueswhich oncerned heEmpireweregener-ally transferredo the Court Conference ordeliberation eforetheEmperormadehisdecision seebelow,CourtConference) Ashead of the Imperial cabinet, the Chancellorseems to havepresidedat the meeting nd directed he discussions,whichhe

23 See Ku Yung's 4 7* Statement bout HSTEH Hsijan Han shv, 3.5b.24 Ibid. 19A.3a. "6Ibid. 84.10a.25 Ibid. 49.23a. 27 Ibid. 66.3a.


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146 YU-CH'UANWANGthen ummarized ndreportedo the throne.Even after 6B. C.,whenstate affairswererunby a regent,who also participatedntheCourtConference,heChancellortillretained isoldhonoredposition.In addition, heChancellor ad thepowerto direct nd super-vise theprovincialnd, ndirectly,lso thecounty dministration.As EmperorCh'eng once said to K'UNGKuang, Chancellorfrom36 to 30 B. C., a Chancellor takescharge fthe financial eportsand knowstheactual situation n theprovinces."8 In his officewerekepttheregistersf land and population, hemaps oftheempire, heprovincial eports n harvests nd banditry, nd thefinancial ccountsfrom he provinces. At the end of each year,which egally ame at theend of the tenthmonth about theendof November), every provincesent a delegateto the courttopresent ts annual reports, f which one copy went to the Im-perialSecretariatnd another o theoffice fthe Chancellor.Afterlookingthrough hemthe Chancellorgradedthe provincial d-ministratorsndmaderecommendationsegardinghepromotionor demotion f theProvincialGovernors.29eforethedepartureoftheprovincial elegates or heirprovinces heChancellor aveadministrativenstructionso them,whichwere to be relayedtotheGovernors.30ome of thelawsuitswhich ould not be solvedbytheGovernorswere enttotheChancellor ordecision.3'Whenspecial administrativemattersarose of which the settlementrequired higher uthority, e despatched his subordinates otheprovince.32n case theProvincialGovernor ailed n suppres-sing outlawbands,the Chancellor ent out one ofhis assistantsto accomplish hetask.33All ofthese dutiesand powerswerethelogicalresult f thefactthattheChancellorwasmaderesponsiblefor headministrationftheprovinces.

"8Ibid. 81.1la.29 Ibid.74.192a.30Han chiu i 1.8b-9b.31Han shu 83.5b.32 Ibid. 84.2b.33 Ibid.83.6b.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENTOF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 147b. The ImperialSecretary

Nextto theChancellornposition, s wellas inpower,was theYii-shih a-fua#-' or ImperialSecretary. n 8 B. C. thetitlewaschanged o Ta-ss-i-k'ung iJA. Fouryears atertheoriginaltitlewas restored.But in 1 B. C. the title of Ta-ssut-k'ungwasagain adopted. The change of title,however,was not accom-paniedby anychange n the officialutiesassociatedwith t.Defining hefunctions f theImperialSecretary, heauthoroftheHan shu states, He was an associateChancellor."4 There-fore, e was also calledtheVice-Chancellor, ho " outsideofthepalace assists the Chancellor n the over-alldirection fthe ad-ministration f the empire." Whenimportant ssues came up,theChancellordiscussed hemwithhim. If theyfailedto agree,theEmperorwas appealed to to makethefinaldecision(thoughtheChancellor's pinion suallyprevailed)36 Justbecausehe andthe Chancellor haredresponsibilitiesn many cases, edicts con-cerning uch matterswere ssuedto both of themto be in turncommunicated o the provinces. His officewas sometimes e-gardedas almostas importants thatof theChancellor.37However, his fact shouldnotlead to thebelief hatthe Chan-cellor ndthe mperialSecretarywere woministers or ne office,possessing qual power. CHU Po V4, himselfmperialSecretaryfrom to 5 B. C., explained hefunctions fhis office o EmperorAi withthesewords: " The founder fHan set up the ImperialSecretarywith a positionnext only to the Chancellorto takechargeof the laws and to rectifyheirviolations.Sharingdutieswithhim[that s, the Chancellor], e maintains general uper-visionoverall oftheofficialsnd seesto it that the superior ndthe inferior heckupon each other." 8 This statement f CHUPo makes tclear thatthe mperialSecretarywas a Vice-Chancel-

34Ibid. 19A.3b.35 bid. 83.4b."8Ibid. 71.7a.S7 The office f the Chancellor and that of the Imperial Secretarywerefrequentlymentioned ogether s theErh-fu -Jj' or the Two Ministries.Cf. ibid. 36.17a; 83.5b.38Ibid. 83.16a-b.


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148 YU-H'UtAN WANGlor,not withregard o the civiladministration,utonlyas farasthe supervision f administrative ersonnelwas concerned.Hismainfunctionwas to ascertain hatno official eglectedhisdutyor abused his authority.For thisreasonthe ImperialSecretarywas also calledthe Tien-fa a-ch'enAa;kff (GreatMinister nChargeoftheLaws) . To be sure, hese " laws " werenotthosethatappliedto thepopulation n general, ut specific neswhichconcerned he officialdom. or instance, t was the dutyof theImperialSecretary o stamp out venalityamongthe officials0and to see to it that no officialbused his authority,4' nd noProvincialGovernor iledan inaccurateannual reporton land,population, nd taxes.42For thisreasonhis office,ike theChan-cellery, lso kept a copy of the recordsof important fficials.43As a Vice-Chancellor e also received he provincialdelegateswho cametopresent hosereports nd gave them nstructionsntheirdeparture.However,his instructionsifferedrom hoseoftheChancellor, ortheyweremostly oncernedwithdisciplinarymatterswithin heprovincialdministration.44He exerciseddisciplinary upervisionnot only over officialsbelow him in rank,but also over the chief xecutive, he Chan-cellor.45His authoritywas notmerely onfinedo the inspectionof officialsn thegovernmentffices,ut extended vertheEm-peror'spersonal ttendants,hrough is subordinate,heYii-shihchung-ch'eng JA47 (Palace Assistant o the ImperialSecre-tary),whohad hisofficensidethePalace.46As theEmperor's ecretary, e received nd transmittedo theChancellery, hence heywerefurtherespatched otheprovincesand kingdoms,ome of the Imperialedicts,especiallythose af-fectingffairsfthestate, uch as proclamationf aws,choiceofheirapparent, nd recommendationfcandidates o officialosi-tionsmade by ProvincialGovernors.47n thatcapacitv. too. he

39 Ibid.76.13a. 43 Han shu83.5b.40 Ibid. 49.4b-5a. 44 Han chiu 1.1 a-b.41 Ibid. 46.1lb-13a. 45 Han shu 65.5b.42 Ibid. 8.24a; DUBS, op. cit. 2.263. 46 Ibid. 19A.3b-4a.7 For examples ee Shihchi 60.6a and Han shu IB.15a-b. Amongthewoodentabletsof Han times recentlydiscovered n the old Chii-yen J region (northwestern


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 149presented o the Emperormemorials rom he highministers.48Thus, the ImperialSecretarywas not onlya disciplinaryuper-visorbut also an agentof transmission.It is pertinent or further larification f the functions f theImperialSecretariat o say here a few words about the PalaceAssistantof the ImperialSecretary.Like his superior,his offi-cial was in charge fdisciplinaryctions. This is clearly xpressedin his original itle whichwas the Yii-shih hung-chih-fa4_QqiW or Holder of the Law withinthe Palace. The differencebetweenhim and his superior s that his sphereof action wasinside the ImperialPalace, which his superior ould not enterexcepton officialusiness.Besidesmaintaining iscipline mongattendants nd eunuchsin thePalace, the Palace Assistant ftheImperialSecretarywasalso incharge fmaps,registers,nd sacredbooks, nd, moreover,supervised heAttendant ecretaries Shih-yil-shih4lJ), whokepta dailyrecord f theEmperor's ctivities nd were aid alsoto be in chargeof theexecution f laws.49Outsidethe Palace hecontrolled he CircuitInspectors (Pu-tz'fi-shih Y11) whoseduty t was to maintain watchover the activitiesof thePro-vincialGovernorsnd to impeach hosegovernors ho werefoundguilty fconduct ontradictoryo theinterests fthe peopleandthe state. He receivedfortheEmperormemorials resented ytheministers,nd theedictsto theprovinces lso passedthroughhishand.50A very significant oint in the organization f the ImperialSecretariat s that thisministrywas actuallymade up of twooffices,ne outsideof thepalace and the other nside. The reasonforthiswas chiefly hatgovernmentunctionaries ere not per-Ninghsia province), there is one bearing a decree which was transmittedby theImperialSecretary o theChancellor. LAOKan, Chiu-yen an-chienk'ao-shihg4 1945, Shih-wen t 14a

48Ts'AI Yunq 0,9 (132-192): Tu tuan W ; (Han-Wei ts'ung-shuMAWKed.) 1.5b. According o the recordon one of thewoodentabletsfoundat Chii-yen,nsome matters he Chancellorhad to present he memorials rom he ministries o theEmperorthrough he Imperial Secretary(LAO Kan, Shih-wen1.3a-b).49Han shu 19A.3b-4a.5 Ibid. 1B.15b; DUBS, op. cit. 1.196-197.13


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1450 YU-CH'UANWANGmitted o stayin thePalace, so that a disciplinaryminister adtobe setup inside hePalace to supervise he mperial ttendantsand thepalace ladies. Duringthe laterpart of the dynasty heHan Emperorsdistrustedheir egularministers,referringhoseclose to the Imperialperson. The Palace Assistantof the Im-perial Secretary, eing close to the Emperor,graduallygainedpower nd finallyuperseded he mperialSecretary, issuperior,thus becomingan independentministerwith disciplinary ndpoliticalpowers.

c. OtherRankingMinistersStudents fgovernmentnstitutionsuring heHan periodarefamiliarwiththeterms an kungE (ThreeLords) and Chiuch'ing AO (Nine Ministers),whichcomprise ll the ministersof mportancen the centralgovernment.Kung was an honorificdesignation or the threehighestofficials,he Chancellor, heImperial ecretary,ndtheT'ai-wei kJA4rGrandCommandant.The word h'ingwas applied n thesamewayto thenineministerswhorankedbelowthethreekung, nd whomwemaycall rankingministers.Before hediscussion ftherankingministers wordmustbesaid about theGrandCommandant.As Han shuputs it,he wasa minister in chargeof military ffairs."1 And that was hisfunction ctually. In formalisticccounts of the Han centralgovernment e is always regarded s a regularmemberof thehighest riumvirateftheThreeLords. Sincehisoffice as not apermanent ne, but was set up whenever he need arose andeliminatedwhenthatneed disappeared, nd since it was finallydone away with n 139 B. C., I find t propernot to treatthisoffice s of equal importancewiththose of the Chancellor ndthe ImperialSecretary.Theninerankingministers ere (1) theT'ai-ch'ang** (Min-isterofCeremonies), 2) theKuang-lu-hsiln :XL1J)SupervisorofAttendants), 3) theTVei-weiPriMCommandant fGuards),(4) the T'ai-p'u *R (GrandServant), (5) the T'ing-wei I4

"1Han shu 19A.3b.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 151(Commandantof Justice), (6) the Ta-hung-lu CkN (GrandHerald), (7) the Tsung-che'ngZJiE (Directorof the ImperialClan), (8) the Ta-ssut-nung 1JA (Grand Ministerof Agri-culture), nd (9) theShao-fu?R (SmallTreasurer)52Each of themheld the rank of the full-two-thousand-bushel(chung-erh-ch'ien-shihf E), and maintained an office fconsiderableize,divided ntovariousdepartments. hey alwaysparticipated n the deliberations f the Court Conferences e-gardingmportantssuesconcernedwith hewelfaref heEmpire.

The Minister fCeremoniess said to have been" in chargeoftheceremoniesn the mperial ncestral emples and " inchargeof theworship fHeaven andEarth."53He wasthusdescribed sa chief riest n thegovernment. ut actuallyhisfunctionswentfarbeyondthat. For example, monghis subordinates ach oneofwhomheaded a differentepartment,ne was calledthe T'ai-shih-ling&k4t orPrefect ftheGrandClerks. He was inchargeof astronomy,strology,nd the dailyrecords f the Emperor'sactivities. Another ntitledT'ai-i-lingk;? tookchargeoftheImperialphysicians.Whenthe candidatesforoffices,uch as Men ofWisdomandVirtue Hsien-liang% ) and Men ofLetters We'n-hsileh&k ),recommendedy theProvincialGovernors,rrived t theCourt,the Ministerof Ceremonieshad to examinethem by means ofwritten ests,presentinghe resultsto the Emperor,who thendecidedupon their ppointmentrrejection.54efore heMasterofDocuments (Shang-shufi414)employed nyclerks, heGrandClerk,a subordinate f the Ministerof Ceremonies,scertainedwhetherhecandidatesrememberedheninethousand haractersrequired or uch a position.55

52 Changes in someof the titlesare as follows:(1) The Kuang-lu-hsiln: efore104 B. C. called Lang-chung-ling 14 .(2) The Ta-hung-lu:before144 B. C. called Tien-k'o ; and before 104 B.C.calledTa-hsing-ling1(4+-(3) The Ta-ssut-nung: efore 143 B. C. called Chih-su tu-wei fi ,rl T andbefore104 B. C. called Ta-nung-lingD-5 19A.4b; WANG Lung IE (A. D. 1st cent.); Han kuan - (P'ing-chin-kuan ts'ung-shu d.) 2a.54Han shu 58.1a."Postscript of the Shuo-wvenhieh-tzutM ZfW*- by HsIu Shen , a bookpresented o the throneby his son in A. D. 100.


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152 YU-CHtJAN WANGMost important f all the functions f the Ministerof Cere-monies was the supervision e exercised ver the ImperialAca-demy. Following heexampleofits predecessor,heHan set upa goodnumber f Erudites (Po-shih :?) under he Minister fCeremonies.Theywere earnedmen" who knowthoroughlyoththe past and the present and " are completelyfamiliarwiththe institutions f the state," and capable of answering nyquestionof the Emperor.56They also took part in the CourtConference.Theirnumber s givenas " severaltens" and more

thanseventy uring hereign fEmperorWen (179-157B. C.) 5In 124 B. C. fifty tudentswereplaced underthe instruction fthese earnedmen;thustheT'ai-hsiiehkM (ImperialAcademy)was established.The studentswereselectedby either heMin-isterofCeremonies imself r recommended o himby the pro-vincial authorities.The ministerwas also responsible or theirexaminationndreportedheir ligibilityor fficeo theEmperor.The number f studentswas increased o one hundredby Em-perorChao (86-74 B. C.), to two hundredby EmperorHsiian(73-49B. C.), to one thousandbyEmperorYuan (48-33B. C.),and even for a timeto threethousandduring he reignof Em-perorCh'eng (32-7 B. C.) 58 In so far s he supervised he mperialAcademythe Minister f Ceremonies erformedhe same dutiesas a Minister fEducation nthepresentChinesegovernment.The Supervisor fAttendantswas in chargeofthe Lang X orCourtGentlemen, hohad thedutyofguarding he doorsof thepalacesand halls. The importantoint s thattheseCourtGentle-menwerenotsimply uards, ut were t thesametime andidatesfor ffices. heyconsisted fsonsand brothersfofficialsankingfrom hetwo-thousand-bushelp,men offilialpietyand honestyrecommended y theProvincialGovernors, raduatesofthe Im-perialAcademy,men ofgreatwealth,menofspecialability,menwhohad presented n importantmemorial, nd for a time men

5"Han shu 10.7a-b;Hou-Han shu 25.2b.7 Han shu 19A.5a; Han chiu i pu-i A M (P'ing-chin-kuans'ung-shu d.)1.2b.

58 Shih chi 1921.4b; an shu 88.4b-6a.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 153who made financial ontributions o the government.59s theEmperor's ttendants,omeof themwere ble tomaneuver hem-selvesto such a favorablepositionthat their dvice was soughtin politicalmatters.Every yeartheseGentlemenwere examinedand ratedby theSupervisor ccording o theirpossession ffourqualities-simplicity,generosity,modesty, nd virtue-and ac-cording o theirmerits heywererecommendedoroffices.60Under heSupervisor fAttendantsherewere lsotheGrandeeAttendants (Kuang-lu ta-fu3MCJ), who stayed inside thePalace and served as the Emperor's advisorsand the groupofGrandeeswithin hePalace who waitedupon theEmperor n asimilar apacity. Of the lattergroupthe GrandeeRemonstrants(Chien-ta-fu*i) admonished he sovereign,nd the Inter-nuncios (Yeh-cheM) frequentlyerved as his envoys. Whenthe Ch'i-menJVMJuard (in 138 B. C.) and the Yu-lin M iGuard wereestablished ca. 104 B. C.), it was the Supervisor fAttendantswho tookcharge fthem.

The Commandantof Guardswas " in chargeof the garrisonsoldiers t thegate of thepalaces," 1 thatis,he was thechief fthe Imperial Guards. These guards were adults draftedfromamong hepeople,who wererequired o serve nthiscapacityforoneyear. The ImperialGuardsnumberedwentyhousandbefore140B. C. andwerereduced o tenthousand nthatyear.62The GrandServantwas " in chargeof[theEmperor's] hariotsand horses." 3 The typeofchariots, heirnumber, nd numberofhorses, nd the number f the accompanyinghariotswereallprescribedccording o theoccasion. It was alsohisresponsibilityto see to it that thearrangement as properly arried ut. Prob-ablythemost mportant artofhisduty,however,was to super-vise thegovernmentasturesand thehorsesraisedthere.Afterthemiddleof thesecondcentury . C. one large-scale xpeditionllHstT'ien-liin@-'W (fl.ca. 1200): Hsi Han hui-yao ' 4 (Wu-ying-tienchii-chen-pens'ung-shu e ed.) 45.3b-4b." Han shu 8.7a.61 bid. 19A.6b.

62 Ibid. 6.2a.63 Ibid. 19A.6b.


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154 YU-H'UAN WANGafter notherwas launchedagainsttheHsiung-nubarbarians nthenorth, nd a greatneedforhorseswas felt.Accordingo theHan-kuanchiu-i heHan governmentmaintained hirty-sixas-tures in its northern nd westernborderregionswherethreehundred housandhorseswerekept.64Althoughheremighthavebeen reductionsn lateryears,the numberof horses stillmusthave been arge.The Commandant f Justicewas " in chargeofthelaws ofthestate." 5 He accepted and decided all the lawsuitsthatthePro-vincialGovernors ailedto disposeof. The cases which heCom-mandantofJusticewas unableto decidehe reported o theEm-peror,giving he relevantdetailsand the appropriate rticlesofthe law code thatmightpossibly pplyto them. In Han timestherewas a law code called the Law of the CommandantofJustice.Thismayhave been a compilation fthedecisionsmadebythisminister.Moreover, e is said also to have been in chargeof themilitaryaw.66 t will have becomeapparentthatthere sa duplicationn thefunctionsftheChancellor nd oftheCom-mandantofJusticewithregard o theexecution f ustice. Thismultiplicationf legal authoritiess a resultof the factthat inChina in the past all administrative rganspossessedjudicialpowers.We arenot clearas to theexact legalproceduren Hantimes, r which ategory f awsuitswas handledbywhichoftheaforementionedunctionaries.

The GrandHerald is reported o have been a minister inchargeof the barbarianswho had returned o righteousness(that is, offeredheirsubmission)67 This is confirmedy thefact thatone ofhis subordinateswas entitled he " InterpretingOfficial" (I-kuan RV). But historicalrecordsshow that thefunctions f the GrandHerald werenot so limited.He was adirector f ritualwhensacrificeswereofferedo Heaven and atthe mperial ncestral emples, nd alsowasmaster fceremoniesat thereception fguestsbytheEmperor.Moreover, he affairs"Han i chu &J S quoted by Ju Ch'un ba, commentaryo Han shu 5.7b.a5 Han shu19A.7a-b.""Ibid. 6.6b; DUBS, op. cit. 2.45.67Han shu 19A.7b.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENTOF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 155concerning he marquises (enfeoffedmeritoriousfficials)wereleft nhis hands.68

As indicatedbyhistitle, heDirectorofthe mperialClan wasincharge f members ftheImperialhouse. He kepta record fthem ndreceived heregistersf mperialrelatives repared ndhanded up bytheprovincial uthorities.The last two of theNine Ministerswere officialsn chargeoffinances.The Grand Ministerof Agriculturewas in chargeofthestaterevenue nd disbursement,nd theSmallTreasurerwasmanagerofthe private finances fthe Imperialhouse. The polltaxes on adults,69heland tax,thecommutation flabor serviceinto cashpayment, heprofits rom hegovernmentmonopoly firon nd salt,and the ncomefrom ublic andand theprofit romthegovernmentale ofwineall wentto thetreasury fthestate;while the taxes on mountains, eas, and lakes, whichwere re-gardedas the Emperor'sproperty,wentto thePalace treasury.The GrandMinister fAgricultureisbursed heexpenditures fthegovernment,uchas salariesforofficials nd suppliesfor hearmy,while theSmall Treasurerprovided henecessities ortheImperialhousehold.Thus, in theirfiscal dministrationhegov-ernmentndthe mperialhouse wereformallyeparated.70In the handsof the GrandMinisterofAgricultureestedtheadministration f governmentmonopoliesfromthe productionand sale of iron and salt and the sale ofwine. Apartfrom heeconomicmportance fthesesourcesofrevenue heyhad manypolitical implications.When the government stablishedtheOffice fTax Substitutes (Chiin-shutJ4), whichrequiredthetaxpayers o offerpecial local productsneededby the govern-ment nsteadof cash or grain, he administrationf that officewas entrusted o the Grand MinisterofAgriculture.When the

68YING Shao's "WJ (2d-3d cent.) commentaryo Han shu 19A.7b; and Han shu43.16b.69 That is the suan-fu -t, to be distinguished rom he k'ou-ch'ienII -, whiclis a levy on children.

7 Cf.KATOShigeru7J1UV " Kandai ni okeru kokkazaisei to teishitsu aisei to nokubetsu narabi ni teishitsu aisei ippan" it I J-ffiJ 5 &%;tft, (O X gll (C Pjft-f TG 8 (1918) .159-206, (1919) .62-99,195-245.


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156 YU-CH'UANWANGOffice orEqualization (P'ing-chun ) was institutedo stan-dardize pricesby sellingcommoditiesn the possessionof thestate, twas also thisministerwho directedtswork.Besides,healso took directchargeof the granariesn both the capital andtheprovinces.71The SmallTreasurerwas rather n officialn thepersonal er-viceoftheEmperor.Therefore,monghissubordinatesrefoundthe Masters of Documents (Shang-shu fi32AF),he PrefectofTallies and Staffs fAuthorityFu-chieh-ling , ),72 and theeunuchs.By the endofthedynasty,when heEmperorhad moreconfidencen officials lose to his person,the Prefect of theMasters of Documents (Shang-shu-ling p'l*') attained to apositionwhich upersededhatoftheChancellor,nd theeunuchsfora whilecontrolled heEmpire,a situationwhichwillbe dis-cussed n a latersection.

4. The Colonel of Censureand the Circuit nspectorsThereare stillto be discussed wo moretypesofofficials, ho,without elonging irectlyo thebody ofthecentral overnmpent,yetplayeda rathermportant ole n assuring heefficacy f thecentral dministration. hey weretheSsut-lihsiao-wei J,3T1 ir(Colonel of Censure) and the Pu-tz'i-shih WgJA (Circuit n-spectors). The natureof theirfunctionswas solelydisciplinary.As pointedout in the Introduction,he centralgovernmentfHan was a large administrative rganization. Discipline wasmaintainedby the ImperialSecretary ogetherwithhis subor-dinates, nd also by theDirectorofRectitudefunctioningndertheChancellor.But boththe mperialSecretarynd theDirectorof Rectitudewereofficials elonging o the cabinet outsideofthePalace-in otherwords,notclose to theEmperor.The officeof theColonelofCensurewas institutedo remedy hissituation.A literal enderingfthetitleSsit-li siao-wei houldbe ColonelDirectorofConvict-Laborers,siao-weibeinga militaryitlefor71Han shu 24B.7b-8b.72 these credentials ee Lo Chen-yiu E: Li-tai fu-p'ai t'u-lu Kf{-trf[M (1925), Preface, nd DUBS, op. cit. 1.245 and note 2.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 157an officerankingbelow the General (Chiang-chilnNW). Ac-cording o CHENGHsUian%X (127-9200 . D.), therehad pre-viouslybeen an official alled theSsr(-li, r Directorof Convict-Laborers,whoseduty t was "to commandthe convict-laborersto construct oadsand canals." 3 We do not knowwith ertaintywhether e also bore the titleHsiao-wei;probablyhe didnot. In91 B. C. therewas a large-scalewitchhunt n theEmpirewhichcaused thousandsto be put to death. Inside the Palace manypersonswere nvestigated.Even the HeirApparentwas accusedofhavingpractisedwitchcraftgainstthe lifeofhis father, m-perorWu (140-87B. C.), an accusation which ed to the armedrevolt fthe HeirApparent.Defeated,he committeduicide, nda number ftheministersnd officials hohad sidedand sympa-thized withhim fell into disgrace. The Director of Convict-Laborers, heSs-i-li,andthenpromoted ndgivenunusualpowers.Carryinghe staff fauthoritynd commandingwelvehundredconvict-laborers, e was empowered" to seize practionersofwitchcraftnd investigate mportant reacherous lements."His powerwas extensive.The statement fWEI HungW (fl.25-57) that" no one fromhe HeirApparent ndtheThreeLords(e. g., Chancellor,mperialSecretary, nd GrandCommandant)downwas outside his control"75 is no exaggeration, orCHlANHsuin 'i"b, ColonelofCensure n 20-19B. C. speaksofhis func-tions na memorial s " carryingheImperialmandateto inspectand investigate ll persons rom hekungand thech'ing (officialsholding he rank ofthe full-two-thousandushel) down." Hewas " mandatedminister fthe Son ofHeaven " to whomeventhe Chancellor ould not give orders.The Han shu contains anumber fstorieswhich ubstantiatehestatementsuotedabove.In 45 B. C. the Colonel of Censurewas deprivedof the staffofauthority. n 9 B. C. his office as abolishedaltogether. n 7B. C. the officewas re-established, ut the title of theholderofthe officewas reduced to Ssut-liwithoutHsiao-wei (Colonel)77

3Chou Li Cheng-shihhuJ,9 '$1E (Shih-li-chiis'ung-shued.) 9.3b.74"Han shu 19A.12b. " Han shu 84.2b.75Han chiu i pu-i 1.5b. 7' bid. 19A.12b.


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158 YU-CH'UANWANGDeprivinghim of the staff f authorityhad limitedhis powermerely o inspecting,nvestigating,nd impeaching.In manyrespects hefunctions ftheColonelofCensuredupli-cated those oftheChancellor nd theImperialSecretaryn exer-cising disciplinaryupervisionverthe entireofficialdom. utthe differenceies in theirrelationto the Emperorand subse-quentlyin the manner, itherdirect or indirect,n whichtheEmperorthrough hemexercised ontrolover the bureaucracy.The Chancellor nd theImperialSecretaryweretheheadsoftheImperialCabinet,who, thoughundertheEmperor,were not hispersonalmenand frequentlycted againsthis wishes;whiletheColonel ofCensure, pecially ommissionedytheEmperor,washispersonalman,receivingrders rom imand beingresponsibleto himalone. The Imperial taff fauthoritywhichhe carried nhis missionswas the symbolof his powerto arrestand punishcriminals n the spot just as the Emperor could himself.Theestablishmentf the office f the Colonel of Censuremeant apartialtransfer fthepowerofdisciplinaryupervision vertheadministrativemachine from regulargovernmentetupto theEmperorhimself;t alsomeanttheconcentrationfthatpower nthehandsof the atter.The control f ProvincialGovernors hrough isciplinaryffi-cialswas a practice f theCh'indynastywhich heHan inheritedand developed. At the beginning f the dynastycertainsubor-dinatesof the ImperialSecretary, nownthe the Chien-yil-shihIkPk, or the ImperialSecretaries f Inspection,were sentouttocheckontheProvincialGovernors. n thetenthmonth feveryyeartheywentto the mperialcapitalto maketheir eports,ndin thetwelfthmonth heyreturned o theirrespective rovinces.In 167 B. C. some of the Secretariesof Inspectionwerefounddelinquentn theirduties. As a remedyClerks (Shih P) of theChancellorswere entoutto inspect heprovincial dministrationand supervise he Secretaries f Inspection.78n 106 B. C. theEmpire,exceptforthe areas aroundthe Imperial capital, wasdivided nto thirteen u PI (circuits). In each of these a disci-

78 T'ung tien L (Shih-t'ungtit ed.) 183c.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 159plinary officialwas installedwith the title of Pu-tz'ii-shih, rCircuitnspector.The oldsystem fSecretaries f nspectionwasabolished. These new Circuit nspectorswere,according o theHan shu," to investigate he chou J'8divisions, nothernamefor hecircuit) naccordancewith he tems pecifiedn an edict."According o Ts'AI Chih* (2nd cent. A. D.) the items con-sistedof thefollowing:9

(1) " Whether he land and houses of powerful lans and ofmagnateshave overstepped heregulations, hetherhesepeoplehave made use of theirpowerto oppress heweak,or,relying n theirgreaternumberhave tyrannized verthefew;(2) " Whether hetwo-thousand-bushelsi. e.,ProvincialGov-ernors)have failed o observe heImperialedictsorfailedtoobeythestatutes f thestate;whetherheyhaveturnedtheirbacks on the interests f thestateand have pursuedtheirprivate nterests; r whetherheyhave put aside theImperial dicts n order o keeptheirprofits;whetherheyhave exploited hepeopleby illegalexactions;(3) " Whetherthe two-thousand-bushelsave failedto givecareful ttention o doubtful aw cases,orhave putpeopleto deathcruelly;whetherheyhave recklessly esorted opunishmentwhen n anger, r whether heyhave grantedrewardsavishlywhen na happymood; whetherheyhavebeen so troublesomend tyrannical s to skin the peopleor cut them ntopieces,and are so hated by the peoplethatmountains ollapse,rockscrack, trange igns ppear,and rumors rise;(4) " Whether he two-thousand-bushelsave been unfair nselectingfficials,avoringhosethey ike, oncealing fromtheEmperor] hose who are worthy,nd toleratinghosewhoare stupid;(5) " Whetherhesonsand brothersf a two-thousand-bushel,

7As recorded n the Han kuan tien-chih 'k;IA quoted by YEN Shih-kuigiit (Han shu 19A.15a-b). Also in T'ung tien 183c.


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160 YJ-CH'UANWANGrelyingponhisprestigendpower, ave demanded avorsfrom hoseunder his supervision;(6) " Whether he two-thousand-bushelsave acted contraryto the public interest nd formed actions ogetherwiththeirinferiors,ttachingthemselves o powerfulndivi-duals, acceptingbribes, hus invalidating hegovernmentordinances."

One interesting oint in connectionwiththe Circuit nspec-toratedeserves to be emphasizedhere. The Circuit nspectorswere underthe supervision f the Palace Assistantof the Im-perialSecretary,whothough subordinate f the mperialSecre-tarywas also, by virtueof the locationof his office nside thePalace, an officiallose to thethrone.The factthat thedirectionof these nspectorswas notentrusted o the mperialSecretary rtheChancellorndicates hattheEmperor-at leastEmperorWu,who introduced he new system-desired to keep the control fprovincial dministratorsn his ownhands.Anotherpoint to be noted is that the Circuit nspectors n-spected the kingdoms s well as the provinces,80 rightwhichtheirpredecessors id not possess. As has been stated before,the kingdomswere provinces whichhad been bestoweduponsonsof theEmperoras theirfiefs.Before154 B. C. a kinghadfullauthority ver the kingdom nd over the population ivingwithin t. After 54B. C. thecentralgovernmentorced hekingsto forfeit heiroriginalrightsas a resultof the movement fcentralizationf the Imperialpower. The establishment f theCircuit nspectorate ignified otonlyconcentration fdisciplin-arysupervision vertheprovincial dministrationn thehands ofthe Emperor,but also an extension f the supervision ver thekingdoms."'It is generally rue that any autocraticgovernment,f it is to

80 WANGMing-sh6ngE ,% advanced he interpretationhat the functionsfthe Circuit nspectors,generally,were to inspectthe kingdoms. Cf. his Shih-ch'i-shihshang-ch'iuehA-_Q iti (1787 ed.) 14.2b-3a.81LAoKan's article Liang Han tz'fi-shihhih-tu 'ao" ; CYYY'11 (1943).35 is interesting,lthough cannot agreewithhim on all his conclusions.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 161have itswillprevail,musthavean efficientupervisory achineryover the local administration.n fact,the powerwhichsuch agovernmentwields can be judged from he degreeof the directsupervisionhat t can exert ver ts ocal agencies.The functionsof the Han Circuit nspectorwereperformedlso by the Pro-curator n the Roman Empire. Though a financial fficial,heProcuratorheld an independentmandate from heRoman Em-peror nd served s a checkupon theLegate in an Imperialpro-vinceanduponthe Proconsul na senatorial rovince.82o checkupon the administration f his provincialgovernorshe Frenchkingestablished he intendantdes provinces. The Roman Pro-curatorwas an institution fthePrincipate,heFrench ntendantwas a creationof the Frenchabsolutemonarchy, nd the IlanCircuitnspectorwas setup inthedaysofthegreatest entraliza-tion in thehistory fthe Han dynasty.The similarity etweenthesephenomenas notaccidental.

5. The Emperorand His CabinetFrom all ministerial ositions xcept one,namelythat of theDirector fthe mperialClan,themembers fthe mperialhousewerebarred.The reasonwas that theEmperorwantedno personin a privileged ositionto possesspoliticalpower,as thismiglhtbecomedetrimentalo the interests f the throne. But werethecommoners hooccupiedministerialositions lwayssubservientto theEmperor'swishes?This question eads us to theinvestiga-tionof therelations etween hesovereignndhisministers.It is truethat,formallypeaking, heEmperor'swordwas lawand thathisauthoritywas unquestioned.But inreality ispoweralso had its limits, s authoritarianowerhas underanyform fautocraticrule. Firstof all therewerethe law code,the earlierImperialorders,heprecedents,nd thecustoms, ll ofwhich hesovereignwas expectedto observe,and whichconstituted b-stacles forfree ctionon hispart. But thegreatest bstaclewas

82 G. H. STEVENSON in his Roman ProvincialAdministrationOxford, 936), p. 118,expressesthe opinion that the provincialconcilia, too, had served as a means ofImperialcontrol vertheprovincialgovernors.


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162 YU-CH'UANWANGthe very mperial Cabinet which he established.The reasonisof a practicalnature.Certainly heEmperor ossessed bsolutepower, utthispowercould beexercised nly hrough hegovernmentrgan, iscabinet;forno rulerwas so familiarwith headministrative ork ndpos-sessed such skillas to enablehimto run thegovernmentingle-handed. Powerthat is not effectives nominalonly. Yet not alltheHan Emperorswere ontent o bemerefigureheads. hus theEmperorcame to feel ealousy and suspicionwithregardto theleadingcabinetmemberswho happenedto be at variancewithhimon certainmatters. The greater he lust forpowerand thewillto rule in the occupant of the throne, hemoreserioustheconflict ecame.83 mperorKao, thefounder fthe Han dynasty,suspected he loyaltyofhis ablestgeneral,HANHsin fr, whowas deposed,deprived fhismilitary ommand, nd finallymethis death in 196 B. C. Similarly ome of his othergeneralsre-voltedbecausetheyresented he ealousyand suspicions ftheirlord. Out on a punitiveexpedition gainstone of his revoltinggenerals n196B. C., EmperorKao conceiveddoubtsofhisChan-cellorofState,HSIAOHo, and sentmen backto thecapital to spyon the activitiesof the latter. The second able rulerof Han,EmperorWu, was even more distrustful f his ministers.Hedeposedand caused the death of no less than five ofhis Chan-cellors,sometimesbecause of suspicion and sometimes n theslightestndicationof independent ction on theirpart. Chan-cellorLi Ts'ai 4 (121-118B. C.) committed uicide afterhewas chargedwithembezzling overnmentand. ChancellorYENCh'ing-ti@R X (118-115B. C.) endedhis own life n jail afterhis chief ubordinates ad been put to death fortheirpoliticalintrigues.Chancellor HAOChouCAJP115-112B. C.) wasfoundguiltyof acceptingfrommarquises tributegold which was de-

83 CHANG Ping-ling;eM (1868-1936) also recognizesthe conflicts etween theruler and his ministers n the historyof the Chinese government.He regardstheseconflicts s due to the fact that the ruler of menwas fondof his favoriteswho wereclose to him and loathedthe constraint ut uponhimby the superiority f those whopossessedprestige nd commandedrespect. (" Kuan-t'ung" , Chien-lun&Chang-shih s'ung-shu*41&I ed. 7.11a.)


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENTOF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 163ficientn weight;he was thrown nto jail, wherehe committedsuicide. ChancellorKUNG-SUNo 1hWW (103-91B. C.) died injail, wherehe was confinedn thechargethathe had had sexualrelationswith EmperorWu's daughter nd had practisedwitch-craft gainstthe Emperor's ife. ChancellorLiu Ch'ii-li IN)fi(90-91B. C.) was punishedbyhavinghis bodycut in two afterhe was accusedof the ntentionfsetting p theKingofCh'ang-iM 5, theEmperor'syoungest on,as successor o the throne nthe event of his father'sdemise. Incidentsof a similarnaturealso occurred nderotherEmperors.ChancellorWANG hia TEA(4-2 B. C.) even went so far as to return o the EmperoranImperial dictwhichheconsideredmproper,84n actionwhichbynomeanscouldpleasethe bsolute uler.Therewere ases nwhichthe Chancellorsmay have done wrong; but therewere othersinwhich heEmperorwas guilty f rresponsiblereatmentfhissubordinates.However, t isnotnecessary o decideherewho wasright nd whowas wrong; am interested nly in pointing utthat incidents ike thosementioned bove weresymptomatic fthe strained elations etween he Chancellors nd theEmperor,and increased n the one handtheruler'sdistrust fhisministersand on theotherthe desireon the part oftheministers o seizeadministrativeower n theirownhands.It is needless o say that in thehistory f Han therewerealsoEmperors and Chancellorswho co-operatedharmoniouslyndwhoserelationswerenothostile. Thiswasespecially he casewhenthe Emperorwas powerless, r the Chancellorsubservient ncharacter. The conflict etweenEmperorand Chancellor ervesto indicate herelations etween heEmperor ndhis other ank-ingministers,houghhere heantagonismwas not so pronounced.On thesideoftheministersherewere lso attempts o restrictthe Emperor'spowerand to reducehim to a merefigurehead.From 194 B. C. to 141 B. C. the empirewas ruledby sons andgrandsons fthefounder fthedynastywith he atter's ssistantsand friends s their hiefministers. he oldministersreated herulers s a man's trustedfriends reathis children.All thatwas

84 Han shu86.13a.


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164 YI-CII'UAN WANGdemandedoftheEmperorswas respect, nd oftheministers e-votion.The Emperors f thisperioddid notshowmuch nitiativeas expressed n politicaldecisions.From 140 B. C. on, the old typeofminister egan to be dis-placed byConfucian cholars.Naturallywiththeir iseto powerthe politicaldoctrines f Confucianism ame to prevail. Withregardto kingship (or emperorship)Confucianprinciples m-phasize two points: (1) The ideal rulerof mankind s not apractical dministratorut a perfectmoral eaderwhosetshimselfup as a model forthepeople to follow; 2) Such a ruler houldselect " wise and virtuousmen" and entrust hemwith stateaffairs. hisPlatonictheory fgovernments ably expounded ythe outstanding cholarand statesman, UNGChung-shu,n hisbookentitledCh'un-ch'iu an-lu ItS. Whenthistheory re-vails,accordingoTUNGChung-shu, theruler fmankindmakesnon-actionhis principle nd regardsunselfishnesss a treasure.If he maintains heposition n whichhe remainsnon-active ndmakes use of an officialdomerfectnevery espect,heusherwillshow him theway, withouthishavingto movehis ownfeet; hereception ttendantwillextendto the guest the speeches n thelatter'shonor,withouthis having to open his own mouth; andtheministers illrightlyerformheir uties inadministeringheempire],withouthis having to thinkabout it himself.Conse-quently, o onewillhaveseentheruler o anything; ut a success-fuladministration ill have beenachieved." 5How much nfluencehistheory veractuallydidexert nHanpolitics s hard to judge. But its validityhas neverbeen ques-tioned ither y therulers r bycourtministers.Besidesthisdoctrine fgovernmentywiseand virtuousmen,TUNGChung-shudeveloped anothertheorywhichhad a muchstronger earingon Han politics. It is the doctrine f the rela-tionshipbetweenHeaven and man, or " themutualresponsebe-tweenHeaven and man." In essence t asserts hatsinceHeavenpossesses onsciousnesstneverfails o reactto thehappenings nearth,particularlyo the activities f the ruler. Evil done by a

85Ch'un-ch'iufan-lu6.5b-6a.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 165ruler inds tsreflectionnnaturalphenomena.Thus any anomal-ous happeningsnnature, uch as eclipses f thesunorthemoon,and anycalamities, uchas floods, roughts,arthquakes,ocusts,were construed s signsofwarnings yHeaven toward the mis-behaviorormisgovernmentf the rulerofman. So declarednotonlyTUNGChung-shund otherConfucianministerst thecourt,but also theEmperors6 whowereapparently onvinced f thevalidityofthedoctrine. Such eventsfrightenedheEmperor omuch that he would avoid appearing n the main hall of thepalace, retire o his innerapartments o ponder over his faults,and issue edictsaskinghis ministerso discussfranklywhatevermistakeshe mighthave committed nd to cast aroundforap-propriate emedies.The significanceftheanomalies rcalamitiesof nature was generally nterpretedo criticizehis conductor hispolicy. To the studentof history wo thousandyearslaterthe"theory of calamities and anomalies appears as if it were awell-conceivedeviceto checkthewilloftheruler.

Sometimes heEmperorwouldend hispenitencewithan opendiscussion f his faultsby his ministers.He even issued edictscommanding isministers t court nd theProvincialGovernorsto recommend men of wisdom and virtue and of an uprightcharacter or "men who will speak straightforwardlynd ad-monishunreservedly so that the people's grievancesmightbeexposedand his ownadministrationriticized.Out ofthistheory hat a ruler'smisbehavior rings bout themisfortunefthepeople therenaturally rose the political doc-trine that the welfare f the Empire dependsupon the properconduct f theEmperor.To quoteTUNGChung-shu:" Thereforethemasterofmen mustrighthimself n order o right hecourt;right he court n orderto right hehundred i. e., all) officials;right hehundred fficialsnorder o right hetenthousand i. e.,all) people." Whenall arerighted theprinciples f theyin and86For a summary f TUNG'S theory n English see LIN Mousheng,Men and Ideas(New York,1942) p. 142. For statements y otherConfucian cholars uch as K'UANGHeng -*, K'UNG uangfL3~.ndKu Yung, ee Han shu81.5a,22a; 85.5a. Forstatementsy Emperor siian ndEmperor h'eng ee Han shu8.20b nd10.4b nd5b (DuBs, op.cit.2.255, 82, nd384).

14


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166 YU-CH'tAN WANGtheyangwill be inharmony,nd windand rain will arrive t thedesired ime." 7 There willbe no more nomalies, o more alami-ties. As faras can be deduced from hispremise, n Emperor'smainduty s to cultivatehis character nd rectify isbehavior oas to make himself perfectman. Thisgavethe ministersndthepeople an opportunityo criticize otonlytheadministration,utalso thepersonal onductof theEmperor; nd theydid so.As forthe politicalsignificance f the " theoryof anomaliesand calamities one has onlyto read some of thememorials othe throne nd answersto the Emperor'squeriesto realize itsextent. In 12 B. C. anomaliesand calamities werereported ohave occurredmorefrequentlyhan ever. EmperorCh'engsentforKu Yung's 1$i7kopinion t the timewhen he atterwas abouttotakeuptheposition fProvincialGovernor f a province nthenorthwesternrontier. his manboldlybeganhis replywiththeremark hat " the empire s an empireof all the people of theempire; t is not an empire foneman,"and he concluded, Onecan do good thingsworkingwitha superior uler nd cannotdobad thingswithhim. One can do bad thingsworkingwith aninferioruler nd cannotdo goodthingswithhim." Naturally heactionshe suggested n orderto counteract he anomalies wereall " goodthings." t was in thehandsofEmperorCh'engwhetherhe was to be a superior r an inferior uler. Far frombeing of-fendedby theseremarksfrom ProvincialGovernor, mperorCh'eng is said to have been " greatly ouchedby his words." 8The " theory f anomalies nd calamities aloneseemsto haveserved theHan ministerss a handy and efficacious eapon toremedymanya worthless olicy, o keep theEmperor'spower ncheck,and to strengthen he body of bureaucrats gainst anabsoluteruler.6. The Transfer fAdministrativeowerfrom he OuterCourt

(Cabinet) to theInnerCourt.After earning bout the conflicts etween he Han Emperorsand theirministers, articularlywhen a strongpersonalityike87 Han shu 56.6b. 88 Ibid. 85.16aSf.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENTOF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 167EmperorWu was involved, ne wouldsuspectthat a change nthegovernmenttructure as inevitable,nd thischangecaine attheend ofEmperorWu's reign, yhis creation f a regencywhichwas to become semi-permanentnstitution.The regencywas heldby a general, uchas theTa-chiang-chiin*tW (GrandGeneral), the Tso-chiang-chiuAW (GeneraloftheLeft), theChiu-chihiang-chiin (GeneraloftheChariot ndMount), ortheWei-chiang-chiin - (GeneralofProtection). As a specialhonorthegeneralholding heregencywas invariablygranted he titleof Ta-ssil-ma Ak:l or GrandMinister fMount, naddition ohis other itle.Thus,theGrandGeneralwhowasregentwascalledTa-ss-i-ma-ta-chiang-chiln,ndso on. Differingrom rdinary enerals regent-generalas nolonger purelymilitary fficer;ewasprimarily political igure.While the regulargeneralmaintainedonly temporaryhead-quarters t his camp,a regent-generalad a permanentffice itha large taff.Subordinate nly otheEmperor, henominalheadofthestate,the regentpossessedunlimited owers-althoughin the officialhierarchy is positionrankedbelowthatofthe Chancellor. Thereasonwas thattheChancellor, oweverimitedhispowerduringthe period of the regency,was still the head of the Imperialcabinet,while the regentwas merely personalofficial f theEmperor.

Whenan autocratic ulerdistrusts isministersnd fears om-petitionnpower, hemenwho canmosteasilywinhisconfidenceare usuallyhis loyal attendantsof low or alien originand hisrelativesby marriage.These men countno noble personage ntheir amily ree,dependonno widesocialandpolitical ffiliationfor theirascendency, nd can boast of no literary earningfortheiremployment; hey attain to powerpurelythrough heirmaster'sfavor,whichthey always must depend upon and inreturn heymustdemonstrateeaselessdevotion. In thehistoryoftheRomanEmpiretheImperialfreedmen,heGermanic en-erals,and the eunuchswieldedgreatpowers. Analogiescan befoundnChina, n thepast as in thepresent. t is ofgreat nterest


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168 Yt-H'UAN WANGthat wefind hetwo menwho held thefirst egencyn thehistoryof mperialChinawere Ho Kuang -T)3 (d. 68 B. C.) and CHINMi-ti Hk1i (134-86B. C.).Ho Kuang wasfrom poorand common amilyndwas able toenterEmperorWu's personal ervice nly through is stepsister,who was born ofthe samemother s EmpressWei,wifeof Em-perorWu. He had been in the Palace and servedEmperorWuforovertwenty earsbeforehe was made theGrandMinister fMount-GrandGeneral n 87 B. C. and entrusted y the Emperorwith theregency n behalfof his eight-year-oldon. Ho Kuangowedhis position o his loyalservice nd to the confidence hichEmperorWu placed in him.CHINMi-tiwasthe co-regentommissionedo assistHo Kuang.He was the son of PrinceHsiu-ch'uf4CM3E f the Hsiung-nu.Captured n 1921 . C., he became a slave attachedto thePalace.He wonEmperorWu's confidencey takingcaptivea would-beassassinand byhis devotedservice n the Palace. As the secondregent is titlewas Grand-Ministerf Mount-General f ChariotandMount.89The thirdregentwas CHANG n-shibNIt, an old ministerat thecourtwhohad playeda partin the enthronementfEm-perorHsiian in 74 B. C. underthe direction fHo Kuang. Im-mediately fter he regent,Ho Kuang, died in 68 B. C., he waspromoted o the post of GrandMinister of Mount-General fChariot ndMount, n which apacityhe was chargedwith uper-vising he affairs fthe office f the Mastersof Documents. Heheldthis position rom 8 to 62 B. C.AfterCHANG n-shih he regencywas mostly n thehands ofImperialrelatives-in-law,s shown n the followingable:

89 Ibid. 68.920a-923b.f. C. M. WILBUR, Slavery in China During the FormerHanDynasty (Chicago, 1943), pp. 323-324.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER RAN DYNASTY 169Name Duration Relation to the mperialHouse

1. HAN Tseng t$Jt 61-56 B. C. Unknown2. Hsu Yen-shoum 56-53 Brother fthe Empressof Em-perorHsiian (73-49 B. C.)3. SHIH Kao i 49-43 EmperorHsiian's firstcousin,onceremoved4. WANG hieh I4E 43-41 Unknown5. Hsu Chia n;:e 41 Father of the Empress of Em-perorCh'eng (32-9B. C.)6. WANG Feng 3EA 33-22 EmperorCh'eng'smaternaluncle7. WANG Yin 3E 922-15 EmperorCh'eng'smaternaluncle8. WANG Shang 3E5 15-13 EmperorCh'eng's maternaluncle9. WANGKen Tit 13-8 EmperorCh'eng'smaternaluncle10. WANG Mang 3E 8 EmperorCh'eng's cousin11. SHIH Tan ;I 7 Unknown12. Fu Hsi fC` 6 MaternalgrandunclefEmper-orAi (6-1B. C.)13. TINGMing TMJ 5-2 EmperorAi's maternal ncle14. WANG Mang A. D. 1-8 See 10

The creation ftheregency roduced hefollowing ignificantresults: First, the Chancellor nd the ImperialSecretarywerebothrelegated o the post ofmere administratorsnd lost theirpower o influenceecisions egardingmajorstate affairs. econd,replacing heChancellor,n officiallose to theEmperorwasnowat the helm of the state. Third,the Imperial Cabinet,or theOuter Court (Wai-t'ingA>k) as it was also called,was replacedby the InnerCourt (Nei-t'ingAX ), and the government astransferrednto the Palace.Anotherhangerelevant o the transferf administrativeowerfromregular abinetmembers o officials lose to the Emperorwas thepromotionfthe Masters ofDocuments nd theeunuchs,


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170 YU-CJ'UANWANGa phenomenonnterestinglynalogous to the employmentndempowering f the freedmeny the earlyRoman Emperors.The Masters of Documentswereoriginallyesser officialst-tached to the office f the Small Treasurer, he bursarof theImperialhousehold.Theywere ent ntothePalace to takechargeof preparing nd keepingstate documents.Duringthe timeofEmperorWu their duties were extended to the receivingofmemorials resentedby officials.90 ecause theyworked nsidethe Palace and wereactive npreparinghedecrees nd rescripts,theEmperorfrequently onsulted hem on political ssues. As aresult fthistheMastersof Documentsgradually ainedpoliticalimportance.Whena highminister,uch as the Chancellor,wasfound businghis authority,he Prefect ftheMasters ofDocu-mentswas sent to questionhim.9"Whenthepost of the mperialSecretarywas vacated,theprefect ftheAMastersfDocumentshad to examine he records fthe Ministers anking t the two-thousand-bushelsevel and determinewhichone should fill thevacancy.92In theoffice f the Masters of Documents herewas also kept alist of the meritorious fficialsn the provincialgovernmentorpurposesof promotion.When a Circuit nspectorcame to theImperial capital to make reportson the administrationf theprovinces nderhis urisdiction, efor omereasonhad to see thePrefect fthe MastersofDocuments.93

Such were hepowers ftheOffice ftheMastersofDocuments.Therefore,SIAO Wang-chih gSt, General ftheFront (Ch'ienchiang-chiin YIg) said about 46 B.C., "The Office f theMastersofDocuments s thefoundation fall offices.t is the keyorganofthestate." 4 It superseded heChancellerynd the Im-perialSecretariatnd broughthemunder tscontrol see below)Justbecausethe officefthe Masters ofDocumentshad becomeextremelymportant n the latter part of the Han period, theregentswere nvariably ranted he authority f supervising he90 hihchi 60.1b." Han shu 89.9a. 93 Ibid. 76.16a. 92.7b.92 Ibid. 79.8a. 94 Ibid. 64B.18b; 93.5a.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 171affairs f thisoffice.Anytrustedminister pon whomthe Em-perorwanted to rely was also allowedthisprivilege.

According o boththeHan chiui and theHan kuan i, before29 B. C. therewerefourdepartmentsn theoffice f theMastersof Documents.They were:(1) the Ch'ang-shih-ts'ao W6, or DepartmentofRegularAttendance,hargedwith he affairsftheChancelleryndthe ImperialSecretariat;(2) theErh-ch'ien-shih-ts'ao ff3if, orDepartment f the

Two-thousand-bushels,n chargeof the affairs oncerningthe Circuit Inspectors and the Two-thousand-bushels(ProvincialGovernors);(3) theHu-ts'ao P W,orDepartment f CivilAffairs,nchargeof affairsoncerninghepresentation f memorials y thepeople;(4) theK'o-ts'ao -W, orDepartment fGuests, n chargeofforeign ffairs.In 29 B. C. EmperorCh'engaddedone moredepartment.(5) the San-klung-ts'ao gW, or Departmentof the ThreeLords, nchargeof ustice.

The organizationof the office f the Masters of Documentsclearly howsthat t was in itself complete overnmentaletup,supersedinghe regularorganization. The Chancellorremainedthe chiefexecutiveof the regulargovernment,nd the directorof the super-governmentas the Prefect of the Masters ofDocuments.Anothergroup which gained prominencewas the eunuchs.These were ttendantswaiting pontheEmperor nd uponothermembers fhisfamily nside hePalace. Theirservicewasmenial,buttheycould follow heEmperor oplaces fromwhich rdinaryattendantswerebarred.Thisproximityo the sourceofauthorityofferedhemunusual advantagesas was also the case of theircounterpartsn thelaterRomanEmpire.EmperorWu first sed eunuchs o transmit ocuments.As heliked to enjoyhimselfn the innerpalace, he made someof the


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172 YU-CJPUANWANGeunuchsPalace Masters ofDocuments (Chung-shang-shuorChung-shuP+'), putting hem ncharge ftransferringocu-ments ddressed o the thronentothe nner alace. These PalaceMastersofDocumentspresumablywereheaded by a Prefect fthe Palace Masters of Documents (Chung-shu-ling PS4) astheywere n laterdays. Eunuch officialserved n thiscapacitythrough he reign fEmperorChao (86-74B. C.) and thegreaterpart ofthereign fEmperorHisuan (73-49B. C.), buttheywereentrustedwithno politicalpowers. In thelaterpart of EmperorHsiian's reignHUNGKung 4V, a eunuch,was made thePrefectof the Palace Mastersof Documents. He is reportedo have beenwellversed n laws,decrees, nd institutional recedents, s wellas skilled n makingusefulsuggestions,nd consequently uitecompetent n fulfillingisduties.We learnfrom is story hat atleast in the secondhalfof the first enturyB. C. thePrefectofthePalace MastersofDocumentshad expandedhisfield f acti-vities o politics.WhenHUNGKung died in 47 B. C., SHIH HsienWX, another ble eunuch, tepped nto hisplace. Beingfondofmusic and at thesametime npoorhealth,EmperorYuan failedto attendto politicalmatters, eavingthemto SHIH Hsien todisposeof. As a consequence, all matters,big or small,werereported to the thronefor decision by [SHIH] Hsien. Theesteemand favor in whichthe Emperor held him]swayedthewholecourt. All the officialserved SHIH] Hsien respectfully."A eunuchofficial ad becometheactual head ofthegovernment,andhisoffice ad become the" keyoffice at theCourt. In fact,he was so powerful hat HsIAO Wang-chih, he formerGrandGuardian (T'ai-fu Af#)fEmperorYuan and now theGeneralofthe Frontsupervisinghe affairsftheMastersofDocuments,was outmaneuveredy SHIH Hsien,and in thestrugglewithhimHSIAO Wang-chihwas compelled o takehisown ife.The acquisition f politicalpowerby officialslose to the Em-peror,whether hey were the Masters of Documents or eunuchattendants,could mean only one thing: the concentration fpower nthePalace orthe transferfpower o a factionnside hePalace.

95Ibid.93.4b.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 173However, differenceetween heMastersofDocumentsandtheeunuch attendants houldbe noted. As far as can be proved

fromhistoricaldata, the Master of Documentsowed his ascen-dancyprimarily o his close relationswiththe throneand hisfunction fhandling tatedocuments,whiletheriseto power ofthe eunuchsimplied morepersonaland political factors. Thereason forSHIHHsien's advancement o a prominentosition, srelated nthe Han shu, s that" being eunuchhewas associatedwithno faction utsidethepalace,and consequentlywas devotedto the Emperorand trustworthy."However,as soon as SHIHHsien acquiredpower,he not only associated himselfwith anoutsidefaction, ut also triedto form largeclique of his own.The significanthing s that, even after HIHHsien had builtupsuch a clique, EmperorYuan seems still to have harborednodoubtsregarding is reliability.Therefore, minister's artisanactivities t the Court did not necessarily onflictwith the in-terestsof the throne o long as the Emperorfound his factioninstrumentalo therealization fhis wishes. n fact, heministersat the Han court werealways divided nto differentactions orpoliticalor otherreasons. The rulerhad to rely on one factionora combination ffactionso maintain ispower.However, heeunuchs n theFormerHan perioddid notenjoyprominenceor ny ength ftime.Threeyears fter HIHHsien'sdeprivation fpowerand expulsion rom hepalace byEmperorCh'eng n32 B. C. theofficefthePalace Masters ofDocumentswasabolished.As intheLaterRomanEmpire, heeunuchs ainedpoweronlyunderweakemperors.

7. The CourtConferenceAny treatise n theorganization ndtheoperation fthecentralgovernment f the FormerHan dynastywould be inadequate

withoutdue emphasison the Court Conferences.Although heHan Emperorwas thesolepolicy-makernd legislator, e seldomproclaimed law orestablished n important olicywithout irstconsulting is ministersndividually r collectively.The collec-tive consultationwas knownas the T'ing-i41, or CourtCon-


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174 Yt-CH'tAN WANGference.Among ubjectsdeliberated n at the CourtConferencewerepoliticalproblems, uch as the enthronementfa new Em-peror (in case theprevious uler eftno heir),enfeoffmentftheEmperor's hildren,hesystem f mperialancestral emples, hestate religion;financialproblems, uch as the governmentmo-nopolyof ronand salt, the system f taxation, nd themonetarysystem; egal problems, uch as the introduction f new laws,decisionson difficultawsuits;and foreign olicies, uch as warorpeacewithforeignountries.

The enthronementf EmperorWen (179-157 B. C.) in 180B. C. and that ofEmperorHsuian (73-49B. C.) in 74 B. C. wereboththe outcome of debates by the Han nobles and ministers.Following decision eachedby a CourtConference,n edict waspromulgatedn 40 B. C. ordering ll Imperialancestraltemplesin theprovinces nd kingdoms o be abolished. A decisionby alaterCourtConferenceompelledEmperorYuan to eliminatenumber fthe mperialancestral emples n thecapital.96 n 121B. C. EmperorWu orderedhis ministers o discusswhether heGod ofEarth (Hou-t'u )JS?) shouldbe worshipped; e acceptedthe affirmativeolution rrived t by a Court Conference.Theshrineof the God of Earth was then erected n Ho-tung nPprovince.Followingthe majorityopinionof fiftyo eightat aCourtConference, mperorCh'eng n 32 B. C. movedthe shrineoftheGodofEarthfromHo-tungprovince othenorthernuburbofthe Imperialcapital and instituted heceremonies fworshipfor heGod ofEarth inthenorthernuburb. In A. D. 5 EmperorP'ing accepteda unanimous ecision f a CourtConferencewithsixty-sevenarticipants) nd resumed hepractice nauguratedn32 B. C. after he shrine f theGod ofEarth at the capital hadbeenabolished wicepreviously16 B. C. and 4 B. C.). Acceptinga unanimousdecisionof a CourtConference f eighty-nine in-isters,he officiallynnounced he titleof the God of Heaven asHuang-t'ien-shang-tikE (SupremeGod ofthe GreatHeav-en) and that of the God of Earth as Hou-t'u (SovereignofEarth)9

96 bid. 73.lob-14a. 97 Ibid. 25A.9b-Ila, 18b-22b.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 175Financialproblems, speciallywhenfraughtwithpolitical m-plications,were lwaysan issueof mportance othfor hegovern-

ment dministrationnd inthe people's ife. In 81B. C. EmperorChao handedtheproblem fthegovernmentontrol f salt andiron,whichhad aroused criticismnd objections, o an enlargedCourtConferencewhich ncluded a largenumber f the Men ofWisdom and Virtue and Men of Lettersrecommended y theprovinces. A hot debate ensued. But the administration on avictory.98 Court Conferencebout 44 B. C. advancedthe ageofthe children ubjectto thehead-tax (k'ou-ch'ien)from hreeto seven.99A change of the monetary ystemwas an issue ofdebate in the forties nd again during he last decade B. C. Atone time t was suggested hat clothand silkreplacemetalcur-rencies,whileon otheroccasionsthe advicewas offeredhattor-toiseshells nd cowrie hellsbe used as a substitute.The opinionof themajority t the CourtConferenceswas opposedto theseproposals.'00

Next in importance o civil affairswere the issuesconcerningpeace or war withforeignountries.More than any otherprob-lem their decisiondependedupon the deliberations f the Con-ference. n 176 B. C. a Court Conferenceuggestedpeace withtheHsiung-nu.'0' n theCourtConferencef 133B. C. debatingthesamequestion, pinionsweredivided,whileEmperorWu firstfavored eace and thenwar.'02 n 121 B. C. theErudite,Ti Shan9C1il,toodalone in a CourtConferences opposedto war. Hewasdefeated.'0' n 61 B. C. CHAOCh'ung-kuo IA ,commander-in-chiefn an expedition gainsttheCh'iangX people,whowerelivingustbeyond hewestern order f theHan Empire, dvisedrepeatedly hat thedefence fthewestern rontiere strengthenedbyestablishing ermanentettlementsnwhich hefrontieruardswould combinefarmingwithmilitary utiesand thusdefend heborder gainsttheCh'iangtribesmennstead ofengagingn con-tinual offensive oraysagainst them. Court Conferenceswerecalledto deliberate n hisproposal.At thebeginningnlythirty

98 See GALE, 10c. Cit. 101 Ibid. 94A.12a.9' Han shu 22.18a-b. 102 Ibid. 52.15a-19a.100 Ibid. 24B.18b-19a;86.20b. 108 Ibid. 59.3b-4b.


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176 YU-CH'UANWANGper centoftheparticipants oiced approval,thenfifty er centexpressed ympathywiththe idea. Eventually CHAO'Sproposalwon a victorywitha majorityof eightyper cent of the totalparticipants."'It is unnecessary o continue numeratingventsof thiskind.Suffi-cet to say that the CourtConference f the FormerHandynastyserved as an organ of deliberationon state politics,whether f a military r civil nature. It constituted n inter-ministerialrganization ossessing n authority igher hanthatof the Chancellerynd regency. ts decisionswerebased on theopinionof themajority egardless fthepositionor rank of theindividuals n either ide. As a ruletheywereacceptedby theEmperor.The Conferencewas always called in the name of the Em-peroror the EmpressDowager. The participantsn the Con-ferenceonsisted suallyoftheChancellor,he mperial ecretary,the Generals, the Marquises, ministersranking as full-two-thousand-bushels,hose ranking s two-thousand-bushels,ll ofthe Grandees such as GrandeeRemonstrants, alace Grandees(Chung-ta-fuP' c*), the Erudites, nd the CourtGentlemen-Advisors (I-lang AF). In termsof theirrelations o the Em-perortheycan be classifiednto two groups-the Outer Courtmembers,ncluding ll the rankingministerial fficials,nd theInnerCourtmembers,ncluding he GrandMinisterof Mount,the Generals, the Attendantswithinthe Palace (Shih-chungf+ ), the Palace Regular Attendants (Chung-ch'ang-shih

For issues of limited mportance mallerCourt Conferenceswere called. In this case the participantswerereduced to theChancellor,he mperialSecretary,ministersanking s full-two-thousand-bushels,nd the ministers n whose domain the par-ticular problem lay. For example, in discussionsregardingreligiousnstitutions heministersn chargeofceremonies arti-cipated,while n case of judiciaryquestionsthe presenceof theCommandant fJusticewas required.

104 Ibid. 69.la.


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CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY 177

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