kimerajamm
Joined: 28 Nov 2010
Posts: 785
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 Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 7:37 am Post subject: During Western Han |
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During Western Han, the Chancellor was the chief civil official.[39] The duties of the chancellery were divided between a Right Chancellor (右丞相) and Left Chancellor (左丞相) between 196 and 180 BCE. After 180 BCE, the Left Chancellor's post was merely titular and its incumbent had no real authority.[40] The Western Han Chancellor oversaw state finances, logistics for military campaigns, registers for land and population, maps of the empire's territories, annual provincial reports, high-profile lawsuits, and drafted the government budget.[41] The Chancellor could directly appoint officials who were ranked 600-dan or below, while he was also able to recommend nominees to the emperor for recruitment to the senior roles in central government.[42] The Chancellor was held responsible for the actions of officials he recommended and appointed, yet he could also punish inadequate officials without the emperor's consent.[42]
Whenever the emperor was absent from a court conference but sought its advice, he relied on the chancellor to direct it and inform him of the resulting majority opinion. If the attending ministers were split into opposing factions of roughly equal size, the chancellor would listen to the positions of both sides and count the exact number of ministers who supported either opposing opinion.[43]
The Palace Writers (Zhongshu 中書) were originally palace eunuch secretaries (Zhongshu kuan 中書官) from Emperor Wu's reign until 29 BCE, when they were staffed by regular officials. They usurped much of the Chancellor's powers by the end of the Western Han.[44] The position of Chancellor was abolished for much of Eastern Han and replaced by the Excellency over the Masses. However, in 208 CE the Excellency of Works Cao Cao (155–220 CE) assumed the revived post of Chancellor while acting as the de facto ruler over the court of Emperor Xian (r. 189–220 CE). Cao Cao also abolished the Grand Commandant and Excellency of Works while reinstating the Imperial Counselor.[45]
[edit] Imperial Counselor
During Western Han the Imperial Counselor, also known as the Grandee Secretary and Imperial Secretary, was considered the second-ranking official below the Chancellor.[46] Like the Chancellor, he exercised censorial powers over provincial officials who also sent him annual reports.[47] His primary duty was to uphold disciplinary procedures for officials; he could investigate even those attached to the chancellery and the imperial palace.[47] Since one of his main functions was to prevent abuse of authority, his jurisdiction over officialdom tended to overlap with that of the Chancellor's.[48] His subordinates included the Imperial Clerks (Shiyushi 侍御史; also known as Attending Secretaries), led by the Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk (Yushi zhongcheng 禦史中丞; also known as the Palace Assistant Secretary).[49] They were often sent out into the provinces to investigate possible wrong-doing on the part of local officials.[49]business cards online
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