Qin Shihuang also established three officials and nine ministers.
In the Han Dynasty and the period of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che intentionally changed the tradition that the prime minister respected the powerful and changed his phases frequently. Later, he specially selected talents from taxis with low status to participate in state affairs. The inner dynasty was established to compete with the outer dynasty composed of prime ministers and ancient scholars.
The Tang Dynasty followed and perfected the three provinces and six departments system in the Sui Dynasty.
In the Song Dynasty, there was a Chinese book in the province, and the chief executive "is the same as the Chinese book." There is also the Privy Council and the Third Division to disperse the power of the Prime Minister.
The imperial power was strengthened and the relative power was weakened.
Official selection system
Hereditary system \ imperial examination system \ imperial examination system
The Formation and Development of Authoritarianism Centralization
(1) concept: authoritarian centralization system, including absolutism and power concentration, which are both different and related.
Absolutism, that is, absolute monarchy, is a major form of government in pre-capitalist countries, especially feudal countries and eastern countries. As far as the central decision-making mode is concerned, it is important to solve the relationship between monarch and minister. Generally speaking, it has the following characteristics: first, the life-long system of the throne and the hereditary system of the throne, that is, once an emperor ascended the throne, he became a lifelong emperor, reflecting the supremacy of imperial power; Second, the emperor's personal arbitrary dictatorship, set the highest power of the state in one. The feudal emperor was arbitrary from decision-making to the exercise of legislative power, administrative power and judicial power; Third, the monarch rules the whole country through a huge political and military bureaucratic machine responsible for him; Fourth, advocate "divine right of monarchy" and implement ideological and cultural autocracy. This is due to the natural conditions, modes of production, political situation, cultural psychology and historical traditions of the eastern countries.
As far as the relationship between the central and local governments is concerned, centralization is a single form of state structure. Its characteristic is that local governments have no independence in politics, economy, military and culture, and must strictly obey the orders of the central authorities and obey them. The emergence of this political system is determined by the feudal economic base, because the feudal natural economy is decentralized, which requires a strong central government to safeguard national unity and social stability to ensure the production and reproduction of the small-scale peasant economy; The feudal landlord class also needed strong political power to protect feudal land ownership and suppress farmers' resistance.
(2) evolution:
Preliminary Practice: Warring States Period
Time of establishment: Qin Dynasty
Consolidation: Han Dynasty
Perfection: Sui and Tang Dynasties
Strengthening: Northern Song Dynasty
Development: Yuan Dynasty
Prosperity and Decline: Ming and Qing Dynasties
In the ancient feudal society of China, no matter which dynasty strengthened the autocratic monarchy and centralized rule, it all started from these aspects: adjusting the central and local administrative systems (innovating institutions, setting up official positions, and centralizing local military, financial, administrative and judicial powers in the central government); Attach importance to the selection and supervision of officials; Reform the local organization system; Control thought and cultural autocracy; Attach importance to the rule of law.
Central official system: Qin dynasty: three public officials and nine ministers system
Sui and Tang Dynasties: Three Provinces and Six Departments System
Song Dynasty: Participation in Politics and Privy Council (Sovereign Contradiction)
Yuan Dynasty: Zhongshu Province, Privy Council and Yushitai.
Ming dynasty: the prime minister was abolished and the power was divided into six parts.
Qing dynasty: set up a military department.
The formation and evolution of (1): After the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Six Kingdoms, on the basis of establishing the supremacy of imperial power, the system of "three public officials and nine ministers" was established, and the posts of Prime Minister, Qiu and Yushi were set up in the central government. Among them, the prime minister assisted the emperor in handling the political affairs of the whole country, the censor was responsible for supervising officials, and Qiu was in charge of the military. They are all appointed and removed by the emperor, and they must absolutely obey and carry out the emperor's orders. The Han dynasty inherited the system of the Qin dynasty, and the Han dynasty continued to use the system of three public officials and nine officials of the Qin dynasty, but the names of some official positions changed, and the scope of their functions and powers changed little. (2) Features: Compared with the previous generation, the central administrative department has a clearer division of labor and a clearer authority; However, it is only a primary administrative management model that adapts to centralization and needs to be developed and improved. (3) Influence: The establishment and perfection of the system of three officials and nine ministers in Qin and Han Dynasties created a new situation for the establishment and development of autocratic centralization, and had a far-reaching impact on the political system of subsequent dynasties.
Three provinces and six departments system: (1) Formation and evolution: The three provinces and six departments system was founded in Sui Dynasty on the basis of inheriting the central administrative system since Wei and Jin Dynasties, and continued to be used in Tang Dynasty. The three provinces in Tang Dynasty were Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province. There are six departments: the official department, the household department, the ritual department, the military department, the criminal department and the industrial department, and the six departments are directly under Shangshu Province. Among them, Shangshu Province is responsible for administration, Zhongshu Province is responsible for drafting state decrees, and Xiamen Province is responsible for examining and approving state decrees. The governors of the three provinces are all prime ministers. They contain and restrict each other, and are directly appointed and removed by the emperor. Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties changed slightly on the basis of following the official system pattern of Sui and Tang Dynasties, but the changes were limited to the form. (2) Features: The system of three provinces and six departments embodies the characteristics of connecting the preceding with the following; Because the governors of the three provinces are all prime ministers, each has its own position, but they also contain each other, further weakening the relative power and greatly strengthening the autocratic and centralized monarchy. (3) Influence: The establishment of the central administrative organization with three provinces and six departments as the core shows that the bureaucratic system in China and ancient feudal countries tends to be mature; This system effectively divided the relative power, strengthened the imperial power and further improved the centralization of absolutism. The system of "three provinces and six departments" strengthened the central government, effectively promoted social stability and prosperity, and became a political guarantee for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. The system of three provinces and six departments has a great influence on later generations, and the pattern of the central administrative organs has not changed significantly since the Tang Dynasty.
The main differences between these two systems are:
(1) The established and prevailing times are different: the system of three publics and nine ministers was established in Qin and prevailed in Han; The system of three provinces and six departments was established in Sui Dynasty and prevailed in Tang Dynasty. (2) The internal structure is different: the system of "three officials and nine ministers" is a comprehensive central administrative organization, which integrates administrative, military and supervisory powers, and the internal affairs of the emperor are confused with national politics; The system of three provinces and six departments is a central administrative institution integrating decision-making, deliberation and administration. (3) The composition and status of the prime minister are different: the prime minister in the former assisted the emperor in handling state political affairs and had relatively independent decision-making, deliberation and administrative power; The latter, because the governors of the three provinces are all prime ministers, divided the power of the prime minister into three, thus strengthening the imperial power. (4) Different roles and positions: the establishment of the system of three public officials and nine officials has established and consolidated the autocratic centralization; The establishment of the system of "three provinces and six departments" further improved the autocratic centralization.
Local official system: Qin dynasty: county system
Western Han dynasty: county system
Yuan dynasty: provincial system (contradiction between central and local governments)
Ming Dynasty: Trigonometric System
Comparing the enfeoffment system, the county system and the provincial system: the same points: ① They are all important local administrative systems in ancient China society; (2) The purpose is to consolidate feudal rule; As a result, they all have positive effects in a certain period of time. (4) It has a great influence on future generations. Difference: ① The prevailing times are different. Feudal system is a local administrative system in slave society, which prevailed in the Western Zhou Dynasty. County system and province system are local administrative systems in feudal society. The county system prevailed in almost the whole feudal era, and the provincial system was established and prevailed in the Yuan Dynasty. ② The relationship with the central government is different. Feudal vassal States are relatively independent of the central government, and their power and status can be hereditary; Counties and counties are local administrative agencies under the central government, and county orders and county orders are directly appointed and removed by the emperor; Each province is only the agency of Zhongshu Province, the highest administrative organ of the central government, and its chief executive is directly responsible to Zhongshu Province. (3) The effect and influence are different in a certain period. Although the enfeoffment system played a positive role in a certain period, the long-term residual forces destroyed the unity of the country and social stability; The county system and provincial system not only effectively strengthened centralization and safeguarded national unity at that time, but also played a more and more active role after adjustment and supplement in later generations.
Official selection system: procuratorial system: (Western Han Dynasty, method, standard, development, function)
The imperial examination system: evolution: establishment (Sui Dynasty), perfection (Tang Dynasty), reform and development (Northern Song Dynasty), rigidity (Ming and Qing Dynasties) and abolition (1905). Methods: Check. Standard: achievement. Scope and form of inspection. Influence.
Causes and Evaluation of Imperial Examination System
The imperial examination system was a system for selecting officials through examinations in ancient China. This subject is an examination subject; Promotion is recommendation, and the local branch will recommend people to participate in the examination and selection.
At the end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the gentry had been declining day by day, and the landlord power among the civilians was rising day by day. During the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the promotion of officials was no longer entirely dependent on family background, and the nine-crystal system gradually lost its function. After the Sui Dynasty unified the whole country, in order to rebuild a unified feudal centralized state, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty replaced the Jiupin official law since Wei and Jin Dynasties with the branch of Juren, and returned the right to choose officials to the central government.
The establishment and perfection of the imperial examination system is a great progress of the feudal official selection system: (1) it established the form and procedure of official selection, changed the situation of aristocratic families monopolizing official career, and played a role in restraining the door valve. (2) To enable a large number of civilian landlords and intellectuals to participate in political power through examinations, thus expanding the source of officials and the social foundation of feudal rule. (3) The imperial examination system linked reading, examination and being an official, which improved the cultural quality of officials and promoted the development of cultural education. (4) The imperial examination system centralized the power of local predators to select talents and appoint officials, which greatly strengthened centralization and was conducive to political stability. Therefore, the imperial examination system was used by all previous dynasties and had far-reaching influence. The imperial examination system in Sui and Tang Dynasties established two subjects: Jinshi and Mingjing, which gradually became the main examination subjects. In Xuanzong, poetry and fu became the main examination content of Jinshi, so scholars focused on dealing with poetry and fu and Confucian classics, ignoring practical knowledge. Moreover, because the imperial examination system was gradually controlled by powerful people in practice, after the mid-Tang Dynasty, powerful people interfered with examiners, and candidates fled the door of power and entrusted them privately, which ruined the fairness of the examination. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the examination procedure was further tightened, and the method of affixing names in the examination was implemented, so that the examiner's cheating was curbed. In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination system became a tool for authoritarian regimes to clamp down on ideas and cultivate slaves.
Supervision system: Qin dynasty: physician
Song dynasty: general judgment
Yuan dynasty: emperor platform
Ming Dynasty: Inspection Department of Secret Service and Factory Hygiene
Evaluation of ancient supervision system in China;
In ancient China society, supervisors played an active role in cracking down on corrupt officials, clarifying official management, cracking down on local separatist forces, maintaining centralization, remonstrating against emperor's mistakes and preventing decision-making mistakes. The prosperous feudal era in history was mostly related to the emperor.
Strengthen supervision, such as: when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty founded the secretariat system, he helped him achieve "great unity"; Emperor Taizong made great efforts to improve the status of the admonisher, "humbly accepting the words of the admonisher" and realizing the rule of chastity. Yuan Shizu attached great importance to the function of Yushitai. He said, "I am left-handed in books, right-handed in parliament, and hands on the desk of imperial officials", and repeatedly supported the inspectors to correct the illegal acts of the powerful ministers, thus achieving "great unity."
However, the role of ancient supervisors also had limitations, especially when a feudal dynasty was abnormal or a dynasty entered the middle and late period, and there was a ruling crisis, it was difficult for supervisors to play their normal role and even catalyzed official corruption. For example, eunuchs in the Ming dynasty used the exclusive power of factories and health secret service agencies, which led to political darkness.
Local organizational system: Left-wing League system, household registration system, Baojia system and Eight Banners system.
Ideological control: burn books to bury Confucianism, oust a hundred schools of thought, respect Confucianism alone, respect the emergence and development of Neo-Confucianism alone, implement the imperial examination system, adopt the stereotyped writing system for scholars, and vigorously develop literary inquisition.