Three Departments and Six Ministries
| Three Departments and Six Ministries | |||||||
| Chinese | 三省六部 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Sān Shěng Liù Bù |
The Three Departments and Six Ministries system was the main central administrative structure adopted in Imperial China. While its separate departments first took shape during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), it emerged in a more complete form during the Sui dynasty (581–618 CE), and was adopted in some form by all Chinese dynasties since.
The Three Departments were the top-level offices of the administration. They were the Central Secretariat (中書省; 中书省; zhōng shū shěng), the Chancellery (門下省; 门下省; mén xià shěng), and the Department of State Affairs (尚書省; 尚书省; shàng shū shěng). They were the principal divisions of a differentiated set of secretarial functions, distributed among the three departments. The head of the Central Secretariat or the Department of State Affairs was generally referred to as the Chancellor, next only to the Emperor in rank and power.
The Six Ministries, also traditionally translated as "Boards", were direct administrative organs of the state, and each was headed by a Minister/Secretary (尚書; 尚书; shàng shū) who was assisted by two Vice Ministers/Secretaries (侍郎; shì láng).
Before the institution of the Three Departments and Six Ministries, the central administrative structure of the Qin and Han dynasties was the Three Lords and Nine Ministers (三公九卿; sān gōng jiǔ qīng) system. Nonetheless, even then, offices which fulfilled the same functions as the later three departments were already in existence.
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