The Ministry of Works or was one of the Six Ministries under the

Department of State Affairs The Shangshu Sheng (), sometimes translated as the Department of State Affairs or the Imperial Secretariat, was one of the departments of the Three Departments and Six Ministries government structure. It was the primary executive institution of ...

in imperial China. The Ministry of Works is also commonly translated into English as the or

History

The ministry was established during the Sui dynasty as one of the six functional divisions of the

. It was also part of the same department during the Five Dynasties period and the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. After the merger of the " three departments" (''

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 ...

'', ''

Menxia Sheng The Menxia Sheng (), sometimes translated as the Chancellery, was one of the departments of the Three Departments and Six Ministries government structure of imperial China. It advised the emperor and the ''Zhongshu Sheng'' (Central Secretariat), ...

'' and ''

Shangshu Sheng The Shangshu Sheng (), sometimes translated as the Department of State Affairs or the Imperial Secretariat, was one of the departments of the Three Departments and Six Ministries government structure. It was the primary executive institution of i ...

''), it was reassigned to the ''Zhongshu Sheng'' (Secretariat) in the

Yuan Empire 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 ...

and later the

Ming Empire The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

. In 1380, the office of Secretariat was abolished and the ministries, including the Ministry of Works, became independent and continued to report directly to the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

. Under the Ming and Qing, it lost some influence in favor of agencies run by palace eunuchs, provincial coordinators, and governors. It was usually considered the weakest of the six ministries. During some periods (under the Southern Song and Yuan) it was merged with the Ministry of Justice. The ministry was headed by the Minister of ''Shangshu'' (pinyin: ''shàng shū'', Chinese: 尚書; Manchu: ''aliha amban''), who had the Standard class, Rank 3 under the Changs (in the Nine-rank system); Secondary class, Rank 2 under the Song; Standard class, Rank 1 under the Jin, Yuan and Ming up to 1380; Standard class, Rank 2 under the Ming after 1380 and Qing; and Secondary class, Rank 1 under the Qing after 1730. During the Qing dynasty, there was one minister for the Manchu and another for the Chinese. He was assisted by two deputy ministers, called ''Shilang'' (pinyin: ''shì lang'', Chinese: 侍郎; Manchu: ''ashan-i amban'').

Functions

Under the Ming, the Ministry of Works had charge of

weights and measures A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multi ...

, the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure (especially

roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

and

canals Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

), other government construction works (especially

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

projects), the manufacturing and provision of government equipment, the public exploitation of

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

, and the hiring of artisans or laborers for temporary service. Permanent hires fell under the purview of the

Ministry of Personnel The Ministry of Personnel was one of the Six Ministries under the Department of State Affairs in imperial China, Korea, and Vietnam. Functions Under the Ming, the Ministry of Personnel was in charge of civil appointments, merit ratings, promotio ...

References

Citations

Sources

* * {{Chinese Imperial Government Government of Imperial China Six Ministries Government of the Ming dynasty Government of the Tang dynasty Government of the Song dynasty Government of the Yuan dynasty Government of the Qing dynasty Government of the Sui dynasty

History

Functions

See also

References

Citations

Sources