The Grand Secretariat (;

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

: ''dorgi yamun'') was nominally a coordinating agency but ''de facto'' the highest institution in the imperial government of the Chinese

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. It first took shape after the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...

abolished the office of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

(of the

Zhongshu Sheng The Zhongshu Sheng (), also known as the Palace Secretariat or Central Secretariat, was one of the departments of the Three Departments and Six Ministries government structure in imperial China from Cao Wei (220–266) until the early Ming dynast ...

) in 1380 and gradually evolved into an effective coordinating organ superimposed on the

Six Ministries The Three Departments and Six Ministries () system was the primary administrative structure in imperial China from the Sui dynasty (581–618) to the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). It was also used by Balhae (698–926) and Goryeo (918–1392) an ...

. There were altogether six Grand Secretaries (;

: ''ashan bithei da''), though the posts were not always filled.Hucker, 29. The most senior one was popularly called Senior Grand Secretary (, ''shǒufǔ''). The Grand Secretaries were nominally ranked as mid-level officials, ranked much lower than the Ministers, heads of the Ministries. However, since they screened documents submitted to the emperor from all governmental agencies, and had the power of drafting suggested rescripts for the emperor, generally known as ''piàonǐ'' () or ''tiáozhǐ'' (), some senior Grand Secretaries were able to dominate the whole government, acting as ''de facto'' Chancellor. The word ''nèigé'' itself also became to refer modern

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

in Chinese. The Grand Secretariat system was adopted by the

Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known as Later Lê dynasty ( vi, Hậu Lê triều, chữ Hán: 後黎朝 or vi, nhà Hậu Lê, link=no, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, ruling Đại Việt from 1428 to 1789. The Lê ...

and

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...

of Vietnam. It was also adopted by the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, however, it was only the ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' highest institution during Qing dynasty.

Evolution

At the beginning of the

, the administration adopted the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

's model of having only one department, the Secretariat, superimposed on the Six Ministries. The Secretariat was led by two Chancellors, differentiated as being "of the left" (senior) and "of the right" (junior), who were the head of the whole officialdom in the empire. the Hongwu Emperor was concerned that such a concentration of power in the office of Chancellors would become a serious threat to the throne. In 1380, Chancellor

Hu Weiyong Hu Weiyong (; died 1380) was a Chinese politician and the last chancellor of the Ming dynasty, from 1373 to 1380. Hu was a main member of Huaixi meritorious group. He was later accused of attempting to rebel and was thus executed by the Hongwu Em ...

was executed upon accusations of treason. After that, the Hongwu Emperor eradicated the Secretariat and the posts of Chancellor; Ministers of the Six Ministries directly reported to the emperor himself. The burden of the administrative details made it imperative for the emperor to seek secretarial assistance. In 1382, the Hongwu Emperor drew from the Hanlin Academy, an institution that provided literary and scholarly services to the court, several ''Grand Secretaries'' to process his administrative paperwork. These Grand Secretaries were assigned for duty to designated buildings within the imperial palace, and they were collectively known as the ''Grand Secretariat'' since the reign of the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

. The Grand Secretariat gradually had more effective power since the

Xuande Emperor The Xuande Emperor (16 March 1399 31 January 1435), personal name Zhu Zhanji (朱瞻基), was the fifth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1425 to 1435. His era name "Xuande" means "proclamation of virtue". Ruling over a relatively ...

's time. During his reign, all memorials from the Ministries to the emperor had to go through the Grand Secretariat. Upon receiving a memorial, the Grand Secretaries first scrutinized it and then decided upon proper response. The rescript was then pasted to the face of the memorial and submitted with it to the emperor. Through this process known as ''piaoni'', the Grand Secretariat became ''de facto'' the highest policy-formulation institution above the Six Ministries, and the senior Grand Secretaries had power comparable to the Chancellor of old.

Rank of Grand Secretaries

During the Ming dynasty, civil service officials were classified into nine grades, each grade subdivided into two degrees, extending from grade 1a at the top to grade 9b at the bottom. For example, the top-ranking, non-functional civil service posts of the

Three Councillors of State The Three Ducal Ministers (), also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in Ancient China and Imperial China. These posts were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 A ...

had rank 1a, so did the office of Chancellor.Hucker, p. 32. Under this system, the Grand Secretaries, having merely a rank 5a, nominally ranked under various Ministers (whose rank rose from 3a to 2a after the abolishment of the Chancellor). However, the Grand Secretaries were usually given other high-ranking posts of regular administrative agencies, such as Ministers or Vice Ministers in one of the Nine Ministries. Some even obtained the title of

Grand Preceptor Grand Preceptor, also referred to as Grand Master, Section Cp2:192 C was the senior-most of the top three civil positions of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The other two were Grand Tutor (太傅) and Grand Protector (太保), respectively. These three p ...

among the Three Councillors of State.Hucker, 30. As a result, throughout the Ming dynasty, the Grand Secretaries always took precedence over other civil service officials by virtue of their honorable status among the Three Councillors of State, or their appointments as high-ranking officials in the administrative hierarchy.

Titles of Grand Secretary

In China

During Ming dynasty, there were 6 different titles of Grand Secretary: * Grand Secretary of the Zhongji Hall (中極殿大學士): named after the Zhongji Hall (present-day the Zhonghe Hall). Changed name from Grand Secretary of the Huagai Hall (華蓋殿大學士) during

Jiajing Jiajing () (28 January 1522 – 8 February 1567) was the era name of the Jiajing Emperor, the 12th emperor of the Ming dynasty of China. Comparison table Other eras contemporaneous with Jiajing * China ** ''Tianyuan'' (天淵, 1546): Ming peri ...

era. * Grand Secretary of the Jianji Hall (建極殿大學士): named after the Jianji Hall (present-day the Baohe Hall). Changed name from Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Hall (謹身殿大學士) during

era. * Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall (文華殿大學士): named after the Wenhua Hall. * Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall (武英殿大學士): named after the Wuying Hall. * Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Library (文淵閣大學士): named after the Wenyuan Library. * Grand Secretary of the Eastern Library (東閣大學士): named after the Eastern Library (東閣). During Qing dynasty, there were 7 different titles of Grand Secretary: * Grand Secretary of the Zhonghe Hall (中和殿大學士, Manchu: ''dulimba i hūwaliyambure deyen i aliha bithei da''): named after the Zhonghe Hall. * Grand Secretary of the Baohe Hall (保和殿大學士, Manchu: ''enteheme hūuwaliyambure diyan i aliha bithei da''): named after the Baohe Hall. Abolished by

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...

in 1748. * Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall (文華殿大學士, Manchu: ''šu eldengge diyan i aliha bithei da''): named after the Wenhua Hall. * Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall (武英殿大學士, Manchu: ''horonggo yangsangga deyen i aliha bithei da''): named after the Wuying Hall. * Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Library (文淵閣大學士, Manchu: ''šu tunggu asari i aliha bithei da''): named after the Wenyuan Library. * Grand Secretary of the Eastern Library (東閣大學士, Manchu: ''dergi asari i aliha bithei da''): named after the Eastern Library (東閣). * Grand Secretary of the Tiren Library (體仁閣大學士, Manchu: ''gosin be dursulere asari i aliha bithei da''): named after the Tiren Library. Created by Qianlong Emperor in 1748. * Assistant Grand Secretary (協辦大學士, Manchu: ''aisilame icihiyara aliha bithei da'')

In Vietnam

In Vietnam, during

, there were 5 different titles of Grand Secretary: * Grand Secretary of the Cần Chánh Hall (): named after the Cần Chánh Hall. * Grand Secretary of the Văn Minh Hall (): named after the Văn Minh Hall. * Grand Secretary of the Võ Hiển Hall (): named after the Võ Hiển Hall. * Grand Secretary of the Đông Các Hall (): named after the Đông Các Hall (lit. "Eastern Library"). * Assistant Grand Secretary ()

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{Separation of powers Government of the Ming dynasty Government of the Qing dynasty