The ancient supervisory system in China originated very early. During the Warring States period, the censor in charge of literature and history had obvious supervisory functions. The Qin dynasty began to form a system, and later became an important political system in previous dynasties. After a long period of development, this system is gradually improved and complete. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, in 22 1 BC, Qin unified China, established autocratic centralization and established a supervision system. The central government set up an imperial censor with three levels, with the second prime minister and imperial censor as its official positions, mastering the documents of the world and supervising the world. At the local level, the emperor sent an empire to counties, which was called "monitoring empire" and was responsible for monitoring all the work in counties.
Han inherited the Qin system, but it was stricter than the Qin system. In the Western Han Dynasty, the central government still set Yushi as the chief executive, Yushi as the deputy, and concurrently served as the confidential secretary of the emperor and the central supervision. Locally, the imperial history was abolished in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, and the Prime Minister appointed the "Prime Minister History" at any time to stab the states. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to strengthen the control of the central government on local governments, the whole country was divided into 13 monitoring areas, which were called state departments. Each the State Council has 1 person full-time inspector to supervise the counties under the State Council with "six questions". The prime minister's office has a direct department, and the prime minister is in charge of illegality. If a court official protests to the doctor and adds an official for this matter, he has the right to supervise this illegal act. At the county level, Du You represents the prefect and supervises the county and township. When Xuan Di is declared emperor, he will be an adviser to the court, responsible for legal documents and have the right to judge whether the prison is right or wrong. Because of his special mission, Fu's imperial history, book management imperial history, military supervision imperial history, embroidered clothes imperial history (also known as embroidered clothes guidance) and so on. , respectively, to exercise the suggested functions and powers. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the physician was renamed Dasikong, and the imperial government was changed to Yushitai, and Yushicheng was in charge of supervision affairs. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yushitai was called Sendai, and it was still under the command of Zhongcheng, but its authority was expanded. Yushitai is nominally placed under Shaofu, but in fact it is the highest specialized supervisory organ. It is also known as the "Three Stations" with the important bookshop in charge of court communication. Eastern Han empire, picketing; Manage books, suggest history and check suspicious prisons. The whole country is divided into 13 monitoring areas, including 1 Li Si (municipality directly under the central government) and 12 states. Li Siyou 1 officers, and their position is very prominent. When attending the meeting, he was on an equal footing with Shangshutai and Shiyu Zhongcheng, nicknamed "Three Sitting Alone". A captain from Li Si is responsible for supervising court officials except Sangong and those who violate the law near the capital county. Each state has a 1 secretariat to monitor the local political situation, accept cases and evaluate officials. Due to the mixed powers and responsibilities, the secretariat gradually became a local governor at or above the county level, losing its supervisory role, so it was renamed as Zhoumu, and the state changed from a supervisory area to an administrative area, and the local supervision system basically collapsed.
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the feudal regime was basically divided. The names of supervision institutions in different dynasties are different, but the system is the same as that in Han dynasty, with some changes. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Yushitai was no longer subordinate to Shaofu, but became a national supervisory organization directly controlled by the emperor. During the Southern Liang Dynasty, the Later Wei Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Imperial censorate (also known as Nantai) and the Constitutional Taiwan in the Later Zhou Dynasty were still controlled by the Imperial Commander Zhong Cheng, and the Northern Wei Dynasty was called the Imperial Captain. Due to the growing power of the inspector general, there are already provisions to prevent supervisory officials from breaking the law and dereliction of duty. If the vassal commits a crime and does not correct it in the proposal, he will be dismissed from office. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, in order to prevent the supervisory organs from practicing favoritism and malpractice and give full play to their supervisory efficiency, it was clearly stipulated that the literati should not be the official of the imperial history. After the Jin Dynasty, Zhong Cheng, the Imperial Advisor, set up the positions of Imperial Advisor in the Hall, Imperial Advisor in the School and Imperial Advisor in the Transportation. And divided the power of internal and external supervision. At this time, there was no longer a fixed supervision organization in the local area, and the court sent inspectors from time to time to supervise local officials. In addition, the system of "listening to the wind and playing things" was formed during this period.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the central supervisory organ was still Yushitai, and the chief Yushitai Zhong Cheng was changed to Dr. Shi Yu, and two people were appointed as assistants. The proofreading suggestion is changed to monitoring suggestion, and *** 12 people are responsible for going out for inspection. The supervision system of the Sui Dynasty was developed in the Tang Dynasty, and the supervision institutions were more complete. In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the central government set up the Imperial History Desk, which was headed by Dr. Zheng Sanpin and assisted by Zheng Sanpin. Yushitai is called Sendai, and the doctor is called Daxian. When Wu Zetian was in power, he changed the Yushitai to Su on the left and Su on the right. After zhongzong, it was changed to the left and right suggestion platform. The function of Yushitai is "to be in charge of the criminal constitution and laws of the country, so as to rectify the current situation" (Volume XIII of Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty). There are three courtyards under the Yushitai: ① Courtyard, belonging to Yushitai, "hundreds of people are in charge, and the prison pushes the lawsuit"; (2) the temple belongs to the history of the imperial court and "holds the ceremony of the temple"; (3) The imperial court, which belongs to the imperial censor, "inspects hundred guards, patrols counties, corrects prisons and cleans courtiers" (ibid.). At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the whole country was divided into 10 prison areas, called 10 road (later added as 15 road), and each road was equipped with 1 person (called historical patrol, interview disposal envoy, observation disposal envoy, etc.). ) to inspect their counties. In the Tang Dynasty, the powers of supervisory organs and censors were further expanded. Yushitai enjoys partial judicial power and has the right to supervise the judicial trials of Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment.
The system of remonstrating officials in Tang dynasty also tends to be perfect. The establishment of remonstrance officials has existed since Qin and Han Dynasties, but it developed greatly in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, the central government implemented the system of three provinces, and the main responsibility of the provinces under the door was to correct political gains and losses and take remonstrance as its own responsibility. There are scattered riding attendants under the door, admonishing doctors, filling vacancies and picking up relics (among them, the right to fill vacancies and the right to pick up relics are classified as Chinese book provinces), giving middle-level posts. Anything that goes against the subject's morality and national decision-making can be corrected. One of the more powerful things is to give a letter (that is, the meaning of censorship).
With the development of feudal absolutism, the supervisory organs in Song Dynasty were strengthened. The central government followed the Tang system, and there are still three courts in Yushitai. If a local judge is set up, it is equivalent to a satrap and is called a supervisory state. It has the right to report to the emperor at any time and become the emperor's eyes and ears at the local level. In addition, transshipment at the road level will improve some prison operations. , but also have the responsibility to supervise the counties. In order to ensure that Yushi had more experience in politics, it was clearly stipulated in the Song Dynasty that a person without two county orders could not be appointed as Yushi. According to the regulations, the suggestion has the right to "listen to the wind and bomb people" and must play things once a month, which is called "monthly class"; If you take office for one hundred days, you must blow up people, or you will be dismissed from foreign officials or punished. This is called "humiliating Taiwan money". Since then, the empire has abused its power. The suggestion can impeach the prime minister directly, and also has the responsibility of admonition. Yu Shitai also has the right to appoint Shi Yu to participate in the trial of major criminal cases.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the central government set up an imperial history desk, and the imperial history doctor was superior in rank. "Non-native surnames (Mongolian aristocrats) were not granted" (Yuan Shitai Pingchuan). Also in Jiangnan and Shaanxi, there are special Yushitai, whose organization is the same as that of the Central Yushitai, as the dispatched organ of the Central Yushitai. This is a significant development of the supervision system in Yuan Dynasty. The whole country is divided into 22 prison districts, and each prison district has a resident ambassador (that is, the censor) to supervise local officials.
The supervision system in Ming Dynasty was fully developed and improved with the strengthening of autocratic monarchy centralization. The central government changed Yushitai to Douchayuan, the "main picket department for internal and external officials". Duchayuan has left and right capitals, vice capitals and female capitals. Examiner 13, * *110, responsible for specific supervision. Although the suggestion is subordinate to the suggestion, it is directly ordered by the emperor and has the right to correct impeachment independently. The Ming Dynasty also established the system of imperial envoys inspecting places. The inspector is in charge of other local affairs on the orders of the emperor. As the governor and the governor's officials, their power is greater than that of ordinary governors and censors, and they have the right to "engage in cheap jobs." In addition to exercising supervision power, Duchayuan also has jurisdiction over major cases. In wartime, the censor supervised the army and went out with the army.
In the Ming Dynasty, the local supervision system was combined with the central supervision, and six departments were specially set up to supervise six affairs, aiming at strengthening the emperor's control over the six departments. All the six subjects of etiquette, household, official, soldier, punishment and industry are given to 1 person, and the left and right are given to 1 person and several people. All six dramas must be submitted for trial, and if there is anything wrong, they will all be rejected; The tasks assigned by the emperor to the six departments were also completed on schedule. The six subjects give things, and the supervision suggestion is collectively called the branch. Although officials are not high in rank, they have great power and a wide range of activities. So the selection of Taoist officials is very strict. At the same time, it also stipulates that the punishment for crimes committed by prison officials is heavier than that of ordinary officials. "The crimes committed by court officials are all added to the third class, and the stolen goods are heavier" (Ming History).
The supervisory organs in Qing dynasty followed the Ming dynasty and developed. In the central government, there is also a Douchayuan. As early as before entering the customs, Huang Taiji wrote a letter: "Where there is political absurdity, Baylor and his ministers are arrogant, greedy and rude, and Xu Duchayuan will speak out." "If you know that you are being bullied, you will blame your country wrongly" (Qing Hui Dian Example, volume 998). Officials at all levels are under the supervision of Duchayuan. In the Qing Dynasty, Duchayuan took the imperial history as the main official, and participated in the discussion with six ministers, general political envoys, Dali temple officials and other important officials. Duchayuan has 15 censors (increased to 22 in the late Qing Dynasty) who specialize in picketing. During the Yongzheng period, six subjects specializing in six departments merged into Douchayuan. Six departments are responsible for supervising and impeaching officials inside and outside Beijing. In the Tang Dynasty, Taiwan was juxtaposed with remonstrance, in the Ming Dynasty, science and Taoism were separated, and in the Qing Dynasty, science and Taoism were completely unified in organization. The centralization of supervisory power is a major feature of the supervisory system in Qing Dynasty.
In the Qing dynasty, on the one hand, supervisors were allowed to listen to the wind and be outspoken; On the other hand, in order to prevent the supervisor from being too powerful, it is stipulated that the impeachment of the censor must be ruled by the emperor. During the Xuan Tong period, the new cabinet was established and the Duchayuan was revoked. Functions and Characteristics The supervision system of feudal society in China in past dynasties played a certain role in strengthening the government's supervision over officials, eliminating the harmful effects and regulating the internal contradictions of the ruling class. It has become an important means to strengthen the central government's control over local governments, strengthen imperial power and consolidate feudal rule. However, under the feudal autocratic monarchy, the supervision system is an accessory of imperial power, and whether it can function normally is closely related to the ignorance of the emperor. At the same time, due to the class nature of feudal regime and feudal officials, many supervisors were convicted of accepting bribes and bending the law.
The ancient supervisory system in China has the following main features: ① Independent institutions and complete systems. Since the Han dynasty, the supervisory organs have been basically independent of the administrative system, and there are specialized institutions and officials from the central government to the local government, which are self-contained. Local inspectors are directly under the command of the central supervisory body and are appointed and removed by the central government; As the eyes and ears of the emperor, the supervisor has relative independence, which provides organizational guarantee for the gradual improvement of the supervision system and the exertion of supervision efficiency. (2) The supervision of officials in the past dynasties penetrated into the assessment and reward system, and heavy rewards and punishments were imposed. (3) Give priority to the severity, adopt the policy of poor grades and heavy rewards and heavy penalties for prison officials, and give junior prison officials the power to supervise senior officials. (4) The power of the supervisory organization comes from the imperial power. With the strengthening of centralization and the expansion of imperial power, the power of supervision institutions has also been improved, even expanded or abused at will, thus making the supervision system develop abnormally, such as the supervision system in Yuan Dynasty with the nature of national oppression. Yuan Shizu clearly stipulates: "Anyone who is not diligent in his duties, don't ask the Han people to reply, and all of them will be punished by the theory. There is no one" (Volume 10 of the History of the Yuan Dynasty, Sai Zuji), but the Mongols are not subject to this restriction. In the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the public supervision institutions, six secret spy agencies such as Duchayuan and Factory Health also became part of the monitoring network.