Government of the Han Dynasty - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

(206 BC – 220 AD) of ancient China

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

was the second imperial dynasty of China

Dynasties in Chinese history

The following is a chronology of the dynasties in Chinese history.Chinese history is not as neat as is often described and it was rare for one dynasty to change peacefully into the next. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they...

, following the Qin Dynasty

Qin Dynasty

The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...

(221–206 BC). It was divided into the periods of Western Han (206 BC – 9 AD) and Eastern Han (25–220 AD), briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty

Xin Dynasty

The Xin Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty which lasted from AD 9 to 23. It followed the Western Han Dynasty and preceded the Eastern Han Dynasty....

(9–23 AD) of Wang Mang

Wang Mang

Wang Mang , courtesy name Jujun , was a Han Dynasty official who seized the throne from the Liu family and founded the Xin Dynasty , ruling AD 9–23. The Han dynasty was restored after his overthrow and his rule marks the separation between the Western Han Dynasty and Eastern Han Dynasty...

. The capital of Western Han was Chang'an

Chang'an

Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...

, and the capital of Eastern Han was Luoyang

Luoyang

Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...

. The emperor

Emperor of China

The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...

headed the government, promulgating

Promulgation

Promulgation is the act of formally proclaiming or declaring a new statutory or administrative law after its enactment. In some jurisdictions this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect....

all written laws, serving as commander-in-chief

Commander-in-Chief

A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...

of the armed forces, and presiding as the chief executive official. He appointed all government officials who earned a salary of 600 bushel

Bushel

A bushel is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent in each of these systems to 4 pecks or 8 gallons. It is used for volumes of dry commodities , most often in agriculture...

s of grain or more (though these salaries were largely paid in coin cash) with the help of advisors who reviewed each nominee. The empress dowager

Empress Dowager

Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...

could either be the emperor's actual or symbolic mother, and was in practice more powerful than the emperor, as she could override his decisions. The emperor's executive powers could also be practiced by any official upon whom he bestowed the Staff of Authority. These powers included the right to execute criminals without the imperial court's permission.

Near the beginning of the dynasty, semi-autonomous regional kings rivaled the emperor's authority. This autonomy was greatly diminished when the imperial court enacted reforms following the threats to central control like the Rebellion of the Seven States

Rebellion of the Seven States

The Rebellion of the Seven States or Revolt of the Seven Kingdoms took place in 154 BC against China's Han Dynasty to resist the emperor's attempt to centralise the government further.-Prelude to the rebellion:...

. The End of the Han Dynasty came about during a time of civil, military and religious upheaval, which resulted in the period of Three Kingdoms

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

.

The highest officials in the central bureaucracy, who provided advisory, censorial, executive, and judicial roles in governing the empire, consisted of cabinet

Cabinet (government)

A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

members known as the Excellencies

Three Excellencies

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...

, heads of large specialized ministries known as the Nine Ministers

Nine Ministers

The Nine Ministers was the collective name for nine high officials in the imperial government of the Han Dynasty , who each headed a specialized ministry and were subordinates to the Three Councillors of State...

, and various metropolitan officials of the capital region.Most of the English renditions of the Chinese titles used in this article are taken from Rafe de Crespigny

Rafe de Crespigny

Dr Rafe de Crespigny is a retired Adjunct Professor with the China and Korea Centre, Australian National University in Canberra, Australia...

's A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (2007); alternate renditions are provided in parentheses and are taken from Hans Bielenstein's The Bureaucracy of Han Times (1980) and Wang Yu-ch'uan's An Outline of The Central Government of The Former Han Dynasty (1949). Note that sometimes there is only one variant English title in the parentheses; this means that Bielenstein and Wang used the same English rendition. Distinguished salary-ranks were granted to officials in the bureaucracy, nobles of the imperial family, concubines of the harem, and military officers of the armed forces.

Local government divisions, in descending order by size, were the province, commandery, county, and district

District (China)

The term district, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China....

. Local fiefs of the nobility

Chinese nobility

Chinese sovereignty and peerage, the nobility of China, were an important feature of traditional social and political organization of Imperial China. While the concepts of hereditary sovereign and peerage titles and noble families were featured as early as the semi-mythical, early historical...

included the kingdom, which was modeled largely upon the regular commandery, as well as the marquess

Marquess

A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...

ate, modelled largely upon the regular county. Although the central government's monopolies on salt, iron, and liquor eventually failed and were relinquished back to private production, the government successfully nationalized the issuing of coin currency through its imperial mint

Mint (coin)

A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...

, which lasted from 113 BC until the end of the dynasty. The conscription

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

system for commoners as non-professional soldiers was reduced in size in favor of a volunteer army

Volunteer Army

The Volunteer Army was an anti-Bolshevik army in South Russia during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920....

and a substitution tax by Eastern Han. A small professional standing army

Standing army

A standing army is a professional permanent army. It is composed of full-time career soldiers and is not disbanded during times of peace. It differs from army reserves, who are activated only during wars or natural disasters...

existed throughout Western and Eastern Han. During times of crisis, the volunteer army increased in size, but large militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

s were raised and certain officer titles were revived for temporary use.

Salaries

During the Han Dynasty, the power a government official exercised was determined by his annual salary-rank, measured in grain units known as dan (石, a unit of volume, approximately 35 litre (0.993215768747586 US bsh)). However, approximately half an official's salary in grain was made in payments of cash coins, the standard of which, after 119 BC, was the wushu (五銖) coin measuring 3.2 g (0.11 oz). The other half of an official's salary consisted of unhusked grain and husk

Husk

Husk in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. It often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective outer covering of a seed, fruit or vegetable...

ed grain measured in hu (觳, approximately 20 L / 676 oz

Fluid ounce

A fluid ounce is a unit of volume equal to about 28.4 mL in the imperial system or about 29.6 mL in the US system. The fluid ounce is distinct from the ounce, which measures mass...

); since one hu of unhusked grain was equal to 100 coins and one hu of husked grain was equal to 160 coins, the conversion ratio for unhusked grain to husked grain was 10 to 6 (see table below). The most senior officials

Three Excellencies

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...

in central government earned a 10,000-dan salary. The officials who oversaw nine specialized ministries

Nine Ministers

each earned the Fully 2,000-dan rank, while the magistrate of a county earned a 600-dan rank. Occasionally, emperors bestowed luxurious gifts of wine, foodstuffs, and silk clothes

History of silk

According to Chinese tradition, the history of silk begins in the 27th century BCE. Its use was confined to China until the Silk Road opened at some point during the latter half of the first millennium BCE. China maintained its virtual monopoly over silk for another thousand years...

upon high officials. These gifts, in some generous cases, could equal as much as half the value of the officials' standard annual salary. Aged officials were often retired from service and given a pension. Below is a table outlining salaries measured in coin cash, unhusked grain, and husked grain for the highest to lowest-paid officials in Han officialdom:

Salary list of 106 AD
A. Rank (measured in dan)	B. Monthly Salary in Unhusked Grain (measured in hu)	C. Monthly Salary in Coin (standard currency)	D. Monthly Salary in Husked Grain (measured in hu)	E. C divided by half-value of B (measured in cash per hu)	F. Ratio of D to half-value of B
10,000	350	17,500	105	100	60%
Fully 2,000	180	9,000	54	100	60%
2,000	120	6,000	36	100	60%
Equivalent to 2,000	100	5,000	30	100	60%
1,000	90	4,500	27	100	60%
Equivalent to 1,000	80	4,000	24	100	60%
600	70	3,500	21	100	60%
Equivalent to 600	60	3,000	18	100	60%
400	50	2,500	15	100	60%
Equivalent to 400	45	2,250	13.5	100	60%
300	40	2,000	12	100	60%
Equivalent to 300	37	1,850	11.1	100	60%
200	30	1,500	9	100	60%
Equivalent to 200	27	1,350	8.1	100	60%
100	16	800	4.8	100	60%
Equivalent to 100	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Officials Whose Salaries are in Terms of Dou	11	550	3.3	100	60%
Accessory Clerks	8	400	2.4	100	60%

Emperor

Qin's imperial model

Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...

, the first ruler of the Qin Dynasty

Qin Dynasty

, established China's imperial system of government in 221 BC after unifying the Seven Warring States

Seven Warring States

The Seven Warring States or Seven Kingdoms refers to the seven warring states in China during the Warring States period of Chinese history...

through conquest, bringing to an end the Warring States Period

Warring States Period

The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...

. For a time, the rulers of the warring states claimed nominal allegiance to an overlord king of the Zhou Dynasty

Zhou Dynasty

The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...

(c. 1050 – 256 BC), yet the Zhou kings' political power and prestige was less than that of later Chinese emperors. The imperial system fell apart after the fall of Qin in 206 BC. However, following Han's victory over Chu

Chu-Han contention

The Chu–Han Contention was a post-Qin Dynasty interregnum period in Chinese history. Following the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu split the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms. Two prominent contending powers, Western Chu and Han, emerged from these principalities and engaged in a...

, the King of Han reestablished the imperial system and is known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu (r. 202–195 BC).

The Han system of imperial government borrowed many of its core features from the regime established by the Qin Dynasty. For example, Gaozu's Chancellor Xiao He

Xiao He

Xiao He was a Chinese statesman who lived during the early Han Dynasty. He served Liu Bang during the insurrection against the Qin Dynasty, and fought on Liu's side in the Chu–Han contention against Xiang Yu. After the founding of the Han Dynasty, Xiao He became chancellor and held office until...

(d. 193 BC) integrated much of the statutes of the Qin law code into the newly compiled Han law code. Yet Gaozu's establishment of central control over only a third of the empire—the other two-thirds of territory was controlled by semi-autonomous kingdoms—strayed from Qin's imperial model which gave the emperor direct control over all of China. However, a series of reforms eventually stripped away any vestiges of the kingdoms' independence. Han emperors thereafter enjoyed full and direct control over China, as had the first Qin emperor. The Han court's gradual move towards reestablishing central control can also be seen in its monetary policy. While the Qin regime installed a nationwide standard currency, the early Western Han regime oscillated between abolishing and legalizing private mints, commandery-level mints, and kingdom-level mints issuing various coins. In 113 BC the Han court finally established the central government's monopoly control over the issuance of a standard, nationwide currency.

Roles, rights, and responsibilities

The emperor, who enjoyed paramount social status, was the head of the government administration. His rule was virtually absolute

Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...

, although civil officials, representing the competing interests of different state organs, scrutinized his decisions. Although the Grand Commandant had a nominal role as commander-in-chief, the emperor served as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The emperor had the sole right to appoint central government officials whose salary-rank was 600-dan or higher. The emperor also appointed the leading officials at the provincial, commandery, and county levels of government. Appointees to office were usually recommended men from the commanderies, family relatives of high officials, or student graduates of the Imperial University

Taixue

Taixue , or sometimes called the "Imperial Academy", "Imperial School" , "Imperial University" or "Imperial Central University", was the highest rank of educational establishment in Ancient China between the Han Dynasty and Sui Dynasty. It was replaced by the Guozijian...

. This institution was established in 124 BC, and provided a Confucian

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

-based education for those entering civil service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

.
The emperor had the exclusive right to modify the law code

Code (law)

A code is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the code was enacted, by a process of codification. Though the process and motivations for codification are similar in common law and civil law...

and issue new laws in the form of imperial edicts (zhao 詔) and decrees (ling 令). However, he often accepted the decisions and reforms suggested by his chief judicial minister, the Commandant of Justice. The emperor also acted as the supreme judge. Any lawsuits which a county administration, then commandery administration, and then Minister of Justice could not resolve were deferred to the emperor.

The emperor's role as supreme judge could be temporarily duplicated by any official he designated in times of emergency or in distant borderlands where central government had little influence. This entailed a symbolic conferral of power, which was embodied in the Staff of Authority (Jiezhang 節杖). Roughly 2 m (6 ft) in height and decorated with ribbons, the Staff of Authority was often granted to an official with a specific errand, such as acting on behalf of the emperor as ambassador to a foreign country, appointing civilians to office, or immediately promoting a deserving military officer on the field of battle. Moreover, it granted its bearer the authority to sentence criminals and political rebels with execution without notifying the court first.

During the Qin Dynasty, the first Qin emperor's legitimacy to rule was ultimately decided by his ability to conquer others. However, by the time of Wang Mang

Wang Mang

's (r. 9–23 AD) reign, the Mandate of Heaven

Mandate of Heaven

The Mandate of Heaven is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. It is similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings, in that both sought to legitimaze rule from divine approval; however, unlike the divine right of kings, the Mandate of...

was considered the only legitimate source of imperial authority. This concept was given greater prominence after the state officially sponsored the worship of Heaven

Tian

Tian is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the cosmos and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang Dynasty the Chinese called god Shangdi or Di , and during the Zhou Dynasty Tian "heaven; god" became synonymous with Shangdi...

over that of the Five Powers in 31 BC. Moreover, the philosophy of the scholar Dong Zhongshu

Dong Zhongshu

Dong Zhongshu was a Han Dynasty Chinese scholar. He is traditionally associated with the promotion of Confucianism as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state.-History:...

(179–104 BC), which held that a dynasty's rule on earth was bound to greater cosmological

Cosmology

Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...

cycles in the universe, was officially sponsored by the Han court from Emperor Wu's

Emperor Wu of Han

Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...

(r. 141–87 BC) reign onward. The emperor was expected to behave according to proper ritual, ethics, and morals, lest he incur the wrath of Heaven and bring an end to his reign. He became the highest priest in the land. By performing certain religious rites and rituals, the emperor acted as a sacred link between Heaven and Earth.

Court conferences

Although the emperor held supreme power, he more often sought the advice of his cabinet and other ministers before making decisions and when revoking them. He often assembled leading officials for debates or discussions on policy, known as court conferences (tingyi 廷議). Various issues were debated at these gatherings, such as installment of new emperors, enfeoffment of nobles, the establishment of new ancestral temples, reforms to the state religion, the monetary or tax systems, management of government monopolies on salt and iron (when they existed during Western Han), the introduction of new laws or the repeal of old ones, complex lawsuits, or whether or not to declare war on a foreign country or accept peaceful negotiation. Although the emperor could reject the decisions reached by his court conference, he did so at the risk of alienating his leading ministers. More often than not, he was forced to accept the majority consensus

Consensus decision-making

Consensus decision-making is a group decision making process that seeks the consent, not necessarily the agreement, of participants and the resolution of objections. Consensus is defined by Merriam-Webster as, first, general agreement, and second, group solidarity of belief or sentiment. It has its...

of his ministers, whose individual opinions were equally tallied regardless of their standing or salary-rank.

Empress dowager

When the emperor died without officially appointing a successor, his widow, the empress dowager

Empress Dowager

, had the sole right to appoint one of the late emperor's surviving sons or relatives to the position. Most often the successor chosen in this fashion was a minor, thus the empress dowager served as regent over the government. A high-status male relative, usually a father or brother, would assume control of the Imperial Secretariat. Even when an emperor reached his majority and became an active ruler, he often sought the advice and acceptance of the empress dowager on policy decisions; she also had the right to override his decisions. The empress dowager was protected by the Minister of the Guards, yet if her faction—the consort clan

Consort clan

The consort clan is the family, clan of or group related to an empress dowager or a spouse of a Chinese dynastic ruler or a warlord. The leading figure of the clan was either a sibling, cousin, or parent of the empress or consort.- Han Dynasty :...

— was removed from power, he was then responsible for keeping her under house arrest

House arrest

In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...

Grand Tutor

The post of Grand Tutor (Taifu 太傅), although given the highest civil status below the emperor, was not regularly occupied. The role was considered an honorary rather than substantive office. In Western Han, a Grand Tutor was supposedly appointed at the beginning of each emperor's reign, and was not replaced until that emperor's death. However, only four Grand Tutors were appointed between 202 BC – 6 AD. In contrast, during Eastern Han, a new Grand Tutor was appointed when every emperor except Emperor Huan of Han

Emperor Huan of Han

Emperor Huan of Han, ch. 漢桓帝, py. hàn húan dì, wg. Han Huan-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He was a great-grandson of Emperor Zhang....

(r. 146–168 AD) had a Grand Tutor installed at the beginning of their reigns. The Grand Tutor's salary-rank was unspecified in literary sources, although it was likely higher than the 10,000-dan rank. The Grand Tutor was nominally in charge of providing a young emperor with moral guidance, but it is doubtful that this role was ever taken seriously or formally conducted. The post often served to deliberately block someone from obtaining a more important post, such as one of the Excellencies, while Grand Tutors were usually elder statesmen chosen for their age rather than merits (so they would die off quickly after being appointed).

Title variations

The Excellencies (gong, literally translated as "dukes

Chinese nobility

") were the foremost officials in central government who formed the cabinet

Cabinet (government)

during both Western and Eastern Han. For most of Western Han, the Excellencies were the Chancellor (Chengxiang 丞相), the Imperial Counselor (Yushi dafu 御史大夫), and the Grand Commandant (Taiwei 太尉). The Great Commandant's post was irregularly filled, and it was retitled to Grand Marshal (Da sima 大司馬) in 119 BC. In 8 BC, the post of Imperial Counselor was abolished in favor of a Grand Excellency of Works (da sikong 大司空), and by 1 BC the Chancellor's post was abolished and replaced by the Grand Excellency Over the Masses (da situ 大司徒). On 8 June, 51 AD the prefix "Grand" (大) was removed from the titles of the Excellency over the Masses and Excellency of Works, while the Grand Marshal was reinstated with the original title of Grand Commandant, and would remain so for the rest of Eastern Han. The exact salary figures for the Excellencies before 8 BC are unknown, although from that year forward they were given a 10,000-dan salary-rank, in addition to periodic gifts which further boosted their incomes.

Chancellor

During Western Han, the Chancellor

Chancellor of China

The Chancellor , variously translated as Prime Minister, Chancellor of State, Premier or Chief Councillor, was a generic name given to the highest-ranking official in the imperial government in ancient China...

was the chief civil official. The duties of the chancellery were divided between a Right Chancellor (右丞相) and Left Chancellor (左丞相) between 196 and 180 BC. After 180 BC, the Left Chancellor's post was merely titular and its incumbent had no real authority. The Western Han Chancellor oversaw state finances, logistics for military campaigns, registers for land and population, maps of the empire's territories

History of cartography

Cartography , or mapmaking, has been an integral part of the human story for a long time, possibly up to 8,000 years...

, annual provincial reports, high-profile lawsuits, and drafted the government budget

Government budget

A government budget is a legal document that is often passed by the legislature, and approved by the chief executive-or president. For example, only certain types of revenue may be imposed and collected...

. 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. 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.

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.

The Palace Writers (Zhongshu 中書) were originally palace eunuch

Eunuch

A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...

secretaries (Zhongshu kuan 中書官) from Emperor Wu's reign until 29 BC, when they were staffed by regular officials. They usurped much of the Chancellor's powers by the end of the Western Han. The position of Chancellor was abolished for much of Eastern Han and replaced by the Excellency over the Masses. However, in 208 AD the Excellency of Works Cao Cao

Cao Cao

Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

(155–220 AD) assumed the revived post of Chancellor while acting as the de facto ruler over the court of Emperor Xian

Emperor Xian of Han

Emperor Xian of Han , personal name Liu Xie, style name Bohe, was the last emperor of the Han Dynasty period of Chinese history...

(r. 189–220 AD). Cao Cao also abolished the Grand Commandant and Excellency of Works while reinstating the Imperial Counselor.

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. Like the Chancellor, he exercised censorial powers over provincial officials who also sent him annual reports. His primary duty was to uphold disciplinary procedures for officials; he could investigate even those attached to the chancellery and the imperial palace. 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. 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). They were often sent out into the provinces to investigate possible wrong-doing on the part of local officials.
The Imperial Counselor transmitted and received imperial edicts to and from the chancellery and also presented officials' memorials to the throne. During Western Han, the Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk's office was located within the walls of the palace. He had the authority to investigate attendants and eunuchs of the palace and to reject improperly written memorials before submission to the Imperial Counselor. The Masters of Writing under the Minister Steward then processed these memorials before they were sent to the throne. The Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk's proximity to the emperor during Eastern Han allowed him to surpass the authority of his nominal superior, the Excellency of Works, yet his Western-Han-era power to inspect local provincial authorities was removed. The Minister Steward—who was supervised by the Imperial Counselor (and later Excellency of Works)—became the Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk's new superior by early Eastern Han. The Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk also managed the Imperial Library in both Western and Eastern Han, this duty being transferred to a subordinate of the Minister of Ceremonies in 159 AD.

Grand Commandant

The Grand Commandant (also known as the Commander-in-Chief) was the head commander of the military in Western Han, yet his office was irregularly filled (from 205–202 BC, from 196–195 BC, from 189–177 BC, from 154–150 BC, and in 140 BC). After 119 BC, the generals Huo Qubing

Huo Qubing

Huo Qubing , born in Linfen, Shanxi, was a general of the western Han dynasty under Emperor Wu. Being the illegitimate son of Wei Shaoer, he was the nephew of Wei Qing and Empress Wei Zifu....

(d. 117 BC) and Wei Qing

Wei Qing

Wei Qing , born Zheng Qing in Linfen, Shanxi, was a famous general during Han Dynasty of China, whose campaigns against the Xiongnu earned him great acclaim. He was the younger half-brother of Empress Wei Zifu, making him the the Emperor Wu's brother-in-law...

(d. 106 BC) simultaneously held the title until their deaths, but when the post was revived in 87 BC it became politicized when conferred as a regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

's title for Huo Guang

Huo Guang

Huo Guang , courtesy name Zimeng was a Western Han statesman who was a rare example in Chinese history of a powerful official who deposed an emperor for the good of the state rather than to usurp the throne...

(d. 68 BC). The regent was thus considered one of the Three Excellencies, although he was not technically part of the cabinet.

The Grand Commandant's office witnessed significant changes during the Eastern Han. Wang Mang separated the regent's role from the Grand Commandant's post during the Xin Dynasty

Xin Dynasty

The Xin Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty which lasted from AD 9 to 23. It followed the Western Han Dynasty and preceded the Eastern Han Dynasty....

(9–23 AD), since he did not want an active regent for his regime. This was retained by Eastern Han, while the third Grand Commandant of Eastern Han appointed in 51 AD transformed his ministry into a primarily civilian one. Although the Eastern-Han Grand Commandant shared the same salary-rank as the other two Excellencies who were nominally considered his equals, he was nonetheless given de facto privilege as the most senior civil official. However, his censorial jurisdiction now overlapped with the other two Excellencies (i.e. he was able to investigate the same officials in central and local government), who shared an advisory role to the emperor (policy suggestions could be submitted independently or jointly by all three cabinet members). His various bureaus handled appointment, promotion, and demotion of officials, population registers and agriculture, the upkeep of transportation facilities, post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

s, and courier

Courier

A courier is a person or a company who delivers messages, packages, and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for...

s, civil law cases, granary storage, and military affairs. He was also given formal powers to supervise three of the Nine Ministers: the Minister of Ceremonies, Minister of the Household, and Minister of the Guards.

Excellency over the Masses

The Excellency over the Masses (also known as the Minister over the Masses) shared the same censorial and advisory roles as the other two Excellencies, the Excellency of Works and Grand Commandant. Like his previous counterpart, the Chancellor, he must have been responsible for drawing up the annual budget, although contemporary sources fail to mention this point. Aside from the court conference, the Great Conference of leading officials across the empire was conducted by his ministry. The Chancellor's bureaus were also retained by the Excellency over the Masses, and were nearly identical to that of the new Eastern-Han Grand Commandant's bureaus. He was given formal powers to supervise three of the Nine Ministers: the Minister Coachman, Minister of Justice, and Minister Herald.

Excellency of Works

The Excellency of Works, also known as the Minister of Works, was less powerful than his previous counterpart, the Imperial Counselor. This official's advisory and censorial responsibilities coincided with those of two other Excellencies, forming a tripartite cabinet arrangement. Unlike the abolished Imperial Counselor, he was given the specialized role of overseeing public works projects throughout the empire. The Excellency of Works was responsible for the construction of city walls

Chinese city wall

Chinese city walls refer to civic defensive systems used to protect towns and cities in China in pre-modern times. The system consisted of walls, towers, and gates, which were often built to a uniform standard throughout the Empire....

, towns, canals, irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...

ditches, dykes and dams, and other structural engineering projects. The Court Architect supervised only imperial building projects. The Excellency of Works made annual reports to the throne about the progress of local administrations' conduct of construction projects. He was given formal powers to supervise three of the Nine Ministers: the Minister of the Imperial Clan, Minister of Finance, and Minister Steward.

Nine Ministers

The Nine Ministers, who were supervised by the Three Excellencies but not direct subordinates of the cabinet, each headed a specialized government ministry and held a salary-rank of Fully 2,000-dan. Along with the tripartite cabinet members, these ministers usually attended court conferences.

Minister of Ceremonies

The Minister of Ceremonies (Taichang 太常) also known as Grand Master of Ceremonies, was the chief official in charge of religious rites, rituals, prayers, and the maintenance of ancestral temples and altars. The role's title was changed to Upholder of Ceremonies (Fengchang 奉常) from 195 to 144 BC before reverting back to the original title. Although his main concern was to link the emperor with the supernatural world and Heaven

Tian

, he was also given the task of setting educational standards for the Imperial University

Taixue

(est. 124 BC) and the academic chairs (boshi 博士) who specialized in the Five Classics, the canon of Confucianism

Confucianism

.

One of the Minister of Ceremonies' many subordinates was the Court Astronomer (Taishi ling 太史令; also known as the Prefect Grand Astrologer), who made astronomical observations

Chinese astronomy

Astronomy in China has a very long history, with historians considering that "they [the Chinese] were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs."...

and drafted the annual lunisolar calendar

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. It is not exclusive to China, but followed by many other Asian cultures as well...

. The Court Astronomer also upheld a literacy test

Literacy test

A literacy test, in the context of United States political history, refers to the government practice of testing the literacy of potential citizens at the federal level, and potential voters at the state level. The federal government first employed literacy tests as part of the immigration process...

of 9,000 characters for nominees aspiring to become subordinate officials for either the Minister Steward or Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk. These nominees were often recommended subordinates of commandery-level Administrators. Other subordinates of the Minister of Ceremonies reported illegal acts at ancestral temples, prepared sacrificial offerings of food and wine at shrines and temples, and arranged for the music and dancing that accompanied ceremonies.

Minister of the Household

The Minister of the Household (Guangluxun 光祿勳), also known as Superintendent of the Household and Supervisor of Attendants, was originally titled the Prefect of the Gentlemen of the Palace (Lang zhongling 郎中令) before 104 BC. He was responsible for the emperor's security within the palace grounds, external imperial parks, and wherever the emperor made an outing by chariot. However, to ensure that the emperor's entire safety was not entrusted to a single officer, the subordinates of the Minister of the Guards were given sole right to patrol the palaces' entrances and walls while the eunuchs guarded the emperor's private apartments and harem

Harem

Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...

. Three of the five cadet corps commanded by the Minister of the Household were actually armed civilian nominees serving a period of probation before appointment to a government office; the other two corps were composed of imperial bodyguards who were never appointed to civilian offices. The former were often recommended by commandery-level Administrators as Filial and Incorrupt

Xiaolian

Xiaolian , was the standard of nominating civil officers started by Emperor Wu of Han in 134 BC. It lasted until its replacement by the imperial examination system during the Sui Dynasty....

, while others could be relatives of high officials in central government. The Minister of the Household oversaw subordinates who provided an advisory role to the emperor; these officials engaged in scholarly debates and were allowed to openly criticize the emperor, participate in provincial inspections, and conduct mourning ceremonies for recently deceased kings and marquesses while installing their successors. Internuncios (Yezhe 謁者), led by a Supervisor of the Internuncios (Yezhe puye 謁者僕射), were subordinates of the Minister of the Household who participated in state ceremonies, condoled on behalf of the emperor for recently deceased officials, inspected public works and military camps along the frontiers, and acted as diplomats to the semi-autonomous fiefs and non-Han-Chinese peoples

Ethnic minorities in China

Ethnic minorities in China are the non-Han Chinese population in the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China officially recognizes 55 ethnic minority groups within China in addition to the Han majority. As of 2010, the combined population of officially recognised minority...

along the borders.

Minister of the Guards

The Minister of the Guards (Weiwei 衛尉) was also known as Commandant of the Guards), and briefly as the Prefect of the Palace Grandees (Zhong da fuling 中大夫令) during Emperor Jing of Han

Emperor Jing of Han

Emperor Jing of Han was an emperor of China in the Han Dynasty from 156 BC to 141 BC. His reign saw the limit and curtailment of power of feudal princes which resulted in the Rebellion of the Seven States in 154 BC. Emperor Jing managed to crush the revolt and princes were thereafter denied rights...

's reign (r. 157–141 BC) before reverting back to the original title. This Minister was responsible for securing and patrolling the walls, towers, and gates of the imperial palaces. The duties of his ministry were carried out by prefect

Prefect

Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....

s, one of whom controlled the gates where nominees for office were received and officials sent memorials to the throne. To control and monitor the flow of traffic through the palace gates, the prefects used a complex passport system involving wooden and metal tallies. During an emergency, the tallies were collected and no-one was allowed to enter unless they breached the gates by force. The guards were conscripted

Conscription

peasants who served for a year's term as soldiers and were invited to attend a celebratory feast hosted by the emperor before demobilization.

Minister Coachman

The Minister Coachman (Taipu 太僕), also known as the Grand Coachman, was responsible for the maintenance of imperial stables, horses, carriages and coachhouses for the emperor and his palace attendants, and for the supply of horses for the armed forces

Horses in East Asian warfare

Horses in East Asian warfare are inextricably linked with the strategic and tactical evolution of armed conflict. A warrior on horseback or horse-drawn chariot changed the balance of power between civilizations....

. His latter duty entailed the supervising of large breeding grounds of frontier pastures, tended by tens of thousands of government slaves. By the reign of Emperor Wu of Han

Emperor Wu of Han

(r. 141–87 BC) these contained 300,000 warhorses intended for use in campaigns against the nomadic Xiongnu Confederation

Sino-Xiongnu War

The Sino-Xiongnu War is a name given to a series of battles between the Han Dynasty and the tribes of Xiongnu between 133 BC and 89 AD. The nature of these battles varied through time between Han conquest and the possession of city-states in central Asia. The war culminated in Geng Kui driving the...

. Some of the Minister Coachman's subordinates managed stables outside the capital city. These stables housed Ferghana horse

Ferghana horse

Ferghana horses were one of China's earliest major imports, originating in an area in Central Asia. These horses, as depicted in Tang Dynasty pottery representations of them, "resemble the animals on the golden medal of Eucratides, King of Bactria ."-Ancient history:Dayuan, north of Bactria, was...

s that were imported or gathered as tribute from Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

n countries.

In Eastern Han—possibly due to the Coachman's influence over the transport of arms—a prefect in charge of manufacturing bows, crossbows

History of crossbows

This history of crossbows documents the historical development and use of the crossbow.It is not clear exactly where and when the crossbow originated, but there is undoubted evidence that it was used for military purposes from the second half of the 4th century BC onwards.- Europe :The earliest...

, swords, and armor for the military was transferred from the Minister Steward's ministry to that of the Minister Coachman.

Minister of Justice

The Minister of Justice (Tingwei 廷尉), also known as the Commandant of Justice, and was known as the Grand Judge (Dali 大理) between 144 BC and 137 BC and again between 1 BC and c. 25 AD. He was the chief official in charge of upholding, administering, and interpreting the law

Original intent

Original intent is a theory in law concerning constitutional and statutory interpretation. It is frequently—and usually spuriously—used as a synonym for originalism generally; while original intent is indeed one theory in the originalist family, it has some extremely salient differences which has...

. Only the emperor, in his role as judge, was superior to this minister. The Minister of Justice was the supreme civil-appointed judge for cases deferred to the capital from provincial lawsuits. His judicial powers, however, were similar to those of the Chancellor. He could recommend changes to the law code

Code (law)

and the granting of general amnesties to those charged with crimes. His ministry was responsible for maintaining the Imperial Prison, where trials were conducted, and carrying out executions

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...

. It is unknown whether he oversaw all of the twenty-six prisons in Western Han Chang'an, which were built to house convicted ex-officials. However, during Eastern Han, the Imperial Prison in Luoyang was the only prison managed by the Minister of Justice.

Minister Herald

The Minister Herald (Dahonglu 大鴻臚) was also known as the Grand Herald; he was also called the Director of Guests (Dianke 典客) between 202 BC and 144 BC and Prefect Grand Usher (Daxingling 大行令) between 144 BC and 104 BC. He was the chief official in charge of receiving honored guests, such as nobles and foreign ambassadors

Foreign relations of Imperial China

Imperial China had a long tradition of foreign relations. From the Qin Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty, the Culture of China had an impact upon neighboring and distant countries, while gradually being transformed by outside influences as well....

, at the imperial court. Alongside the Minister of the Imperial Clan, his ministry oversaw the inheritance of titles and fiefs by condoling on behalf of the emperor at kings' funerals and memorializing the posthumous name

Posthumous name

A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in East Asia after the person's death, and is used almost exclusively instead of one's personal name or other official titles during his life...

s of kings and marquises. The Minister Herald's office received the annual reports from the commanderies and kingdoms when they arrived in the capital at the beginning of the year

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...

, before passing them on to the Excellencies. His subordinates acted as seating guides and ushers for officials, nobles, and foreign delegates at imperial ceremonies and sacrifices. One of his subordinates maintained living quarters for officials in the commanderies and kingdoms who were traveling to the capital. While the Minister Herald had always conducted the formal reception of foreign envoys and enlisted the aid of interpreters, his powers in matters of foreign affairs were expanded further when the post of Director of Dependent States was abolished in 28 BC. However, by Eastern Han his duties involving the affairs of Dependent States were transferred to local administrations along the borders.

Minister of the Imperial Clan

While eight of the Nine Ministers could be of commoner origin, the post of Minister of the Imperial Clan (Zongzheng 宗正), also known as the Director of the Imperial Clan, was always occupied by a member of the imperial family. He oversaw the imperial court's interactions with the empire's nobility and extended imperial family, such as granting fiefs and titles. His ministry was responsible for record-keeping of all nobles, a register being updated at the beginning of each year. When a serious infraction was committed by a member of the imperial family, the Minister of the Imperial Clan was the first high official to be notified before the emperor, who made the ultimate decision about any possible legal action. This minister's subordinates heard grievances of imperial family members and informed them about new ordinances. Unlike kings and marquesses, who were not responsible to any of the Nine Ministers, imperial princesses and their fiefs were kept under surveillance by the Minister of the Imperial Clan.

Minister of Finance

The Minister of Finance (Da sinong 大司農) was also called the Grand Minister of Agriculture, and before 144 BC, was known as Clerk of the Capital for Grain (Zhisu neishi 治粟內史). This minister was the central government's treasurer

Treasurer

A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...

for the official bureaucracy and the armed forces. While the Chancellor drafted the state budget, the Minister of Finance was responsible for funding it. He was in charge of storing the poll tax

Poll tax

A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...

es, which were gathered in coin cash, and land tax, which was gathered as a proportion of farmers' annual crop yields. He was also responsible for setting the standards for units of measurement

Units of measurement

A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention and/or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same physical quantity. Any other value of the physical quantity can be expressed as a simple multiple of the unit of...

. In addition to reviewing tax collections, he could implement policies for price control exacted on certain commercial commodities.

During Western Han, the Minister of Finance's powers were limited to the public treasury, the Minister Steward being responsible for the emperor's private wealth. However, in Eastern Han, the responsibilities for the public treasury and the emperor's private wealth were amalgamated and entrusted solely to the Minister of Finance, which later proved disastrous when handled by irresponsible emperors such as Ling

Emperor Ling of Han

Emperor Ling of Han, trad. ch. 漢靈帝;, sim. ch. 汉灵帝, py. hàn líng dì, wg. Han Ling-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He was a great-great-grandson of Emperor Zhang. The Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out during Emperor Ling's reign.Emperor Ling's reign saw yet another repetition of...

(r. 168–189 AD). During Western Han, the Minister of Finance managed the government's monopolized salt and iron agencies, which were abolished during Eastern Han and transferred to local administrations and private entrepreneurship. He also managed the government's brief monopoly over liquor from 98–81 BC, before it was returned to private production. Although the Minister Steward and then the Superintendent of Waterways and Parks managed the imperial mint

Mint (coin)

for issuing standard coins during Western Han, in Eastern Han the imperial mint was transferred to the office of the Minister of Finance.

Minister Steward

The Minister Steward (Shaofu 少府), also known as the Privy Treasurer and Small Treasurer, served the emperor exclusively, providing him with entertainment and amusements, proper food and clothing, medicine and physical care

Traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...

, valuables and equipment. For this purpose he was given responsibility for the emperor's personal finances during Western Han, yet this responsibility was transferred to the Minister of Finance during Eastern Han. Although he was not a castrated eunuch

Eunuch

A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...

, many of his subordinates were, since his ministry managed the imperial harem housing concubines. His secretaries were headed by a Prefect of the Masters of Writing (Shangshu ling 尚書令). The secretaries were responsible for relaying all written messages to the emperor, official correspondence with Excellencies, senior ministers, provincial authorities, common people who submitted memorials to the throne, and non-Han-Chinese peoples within and outside the empire. Since the Masters of Writing were not eunuchs, and thus not allowed into the imperial harem, Emperor Wu established an all-eunuch office of secretaries for the inner palace, which was abolished in 29 BC.

The Minister Steward had many subordinates, including the Court Physician (Taiyi ling 太醫令), also known as the Prefect Grand Physician, who checked the emperor's health every morning and accompanied him on imperial hunting trips. The Court Provisioner (Taiguan ling 太官令), also known as the Prefect Grand Provisioner, was responsible for managing the kitchen, its cooks, and supplying food for the emperor. Other subordinates managed the weaving houses which supplied the clothes for the emperor, the workshops which produced wares, utensils, and funerary items for the emperor, and the imperial parks and gardens where the emperor could hunt and attend outings. The Bureau of Music (Yuefu 樂府) was overseen by the Minister Steward and was in charge of musical performances at imperial ceremonies and entertaining the emperor with folk songs gathered from throughout the empire; it was disbanded in 7 BC and its musicians transferred to the Minister of Ceremonies.

Staffs of the heir apparent, empress, and harems

When a Liu

Liu

劉 is a common Chinese family name. The transliteration Liu can represent several different surnames written in different Chinese characters:*劉 / 刘, pinyin: Liú...

-family relative of an emperor—usually a princely son—was designated as his heir apparent

Heir apparent

An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....

, he was provided living quarters within the palace and a personal staff which was not disbanded until he became the next emperor. During Western Han, the staff had two divisions: one was led by educators of the heir apparent, known as the Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent (ranked 2000-dan) and Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent (ranked 2000-dan), the other led by a Supervisor of the Household (ranked 2,000-dan). During Eastern Han, the Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent lost his administrative role but remained the chief educator and was promoted in rank to Fully 2,000-dan; the Junior Tutor remained an administrator with a salary-rank of 2,000-dan. The post of Supervisor of the Household was abolished. Other Western Han staff offices of the heir apparent were abolished during Eastern Han, such as the Chief of the Kitchen and the Household Prison of the Heir Apparent. If he reached adulthood, the heir apparent could be married to a principal wife who led a harem of his concubines.

The empress, the legal wife of the emperor, also had an area of the palace separate from that of the emperor's private apartments, where the empress was expected to spend every fifth night with the emperor. Both the empress and the heir apparent received an income from the taxes of forty counties. She also had a Supervisor of the Household (ranked 2,000-dan), and many other subordinates, either male eunuchs or female maids, who took care of domestic needs. The concubines of the harem were subordinates of the empress and were ranked below her in fourteen grades by the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han

Emperor Yuan of Han

Emperor Yuan of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He reigned from 48 BC to 33 BC. Emperor Yuan was remembered for the promotion of Confucianism as the official creed of Chinese government. He appointed Confucius adherents to important government posts...

(r. 49–33). However, the founder of Eastern Han abolished the fourteen salary-ranks in favor of three ranks with no definite salary; instead, the concubines were irregularly granted gifts. The chief concubine of Western Han, the Brilliant Companion, shared the same salary-rank as the Chancellor, while the concubine ranked just below her, the Favorite Beauty, shared the same salary-rank as any one of the Nine Ministers.

Metropolitan offices

The metropolitan area

Metropolitan area

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

s of both Western Han Chang'an

Chang'an

and Eastern Han Luoyang

Luoyang

were governed and secured by several officials and officers. The county and municipal divisions of the capital cities were governed by a Prefect (Ling 令). The Prefect was also responsible for a prison and could arrest officials of high rank. The Colonel of the City Gates (Chengmen xiaowei 城門校衛) commanded the garrisons at the twelve city gates, each guarded by a captain, in both Western Han Chang'an and Eastern Han Luoyang.

Bearer of the Mace

The Bearer of the Mace (Zhi jinwu 執金吾) was also known as the Bearer of the Gilded Mace. This official, whose title had been Commandant of the Capital (Zhongwei 中尉) before 104 BC, maintained law and order in the capital city—excluding the imperial palaces—in both Western Han Chang'an and Eastern Han Luoyang. During Western Han, his salary-rank was Fully 2,000-dan, thus his prestige was similar to that of the Nine Ministers. However, during Eastern Han his salary-rank was reduced from Fully 2,000-dan to Equivalent to 2,000-dan.

While his subordinates were on constant patrol, the Bearer of the Mace personally inspected the city three times each month. He was responsible for the military arsenal

Arsenal

An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...

as well as disaster relief efforts during floods and fires. The Bearer of the Mace had a large staff of subordinates during Western Han, whose posts were abolished or transferred elsewhere during Eastern Han. This included the abolition of the Captains of the Standard Bearers, and the emperor's entourage became responsible for clearing the roadways when the emperor left the palace and hoisting colored standards to signal his return.

Court Architect

The Court Architect (Jiangzuo dajiang 將作少府) was in charge of the construction, maintenance, and repair of imperial palace halls, government halls, temples, grave tumuli, buildings in funerary parks, roads leading out of the capital, and flood control

Flood control

In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...

works. His salary-rank was 2,000-dan. He directed the efforts of conscripted corvée

Corvée

Corvée is unfree labour, often unpaid, that is required of people of lower social standing and imposed on them by the state or a superior . The corvée was the earliest and most widespread form of taxation, which can be traced back to the beginning of civilization...

laborers until this duty was transferred to the ministry of the newly created Excellency of Works in 8 BC. The Court Architect's subordinates were responsible for gathering timber for carpenters and stone for masons. Although his office existed at the establishment of Eastern Han, it was abolished in 57 AD and his duties were transferred to an Internuncio in the Ministry of the Household. However, the post was reinstated in 76 AD with the original salary-rank, yet many of his subordinates remained abolished. Since most buildings were constructed from wood, with ceramic roof tiles, a large workforce was needed to maintain buildings that fell into disrepair. The restoration of the Imperial University during Emperor Shun's

Emperor Shun of Han

Emperor Shun of Han, trad. ch. 漢順帝;, sim. ch. 漢顺帝, py. hàn shùn dì, wg. Han Shun-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty and the seventh emperor of the Eastern Han period...

(r. 125–144 AD) reign required 100,000 laborers to work for a year under the supervision of the Court Architect.

Colonel Director of Retainers

The Colonel Director of Retainers (Sili xiaowei 司隸校尉), also known as Colonel of Censure and Colonel Director of Convict-Laborers, was originally called the Director of Retainers (Sili 司隸). His task was to supervise 1,200 convicts in their construction of roads and canals. In 91 BC, an unsuccessful five-day rebellion in Chang'an was instigated by Crown Prince Liu Ju

Liu Ju

Liu Ju , formally Crown Prince Li was crown prince during the reign of his father, Emperor Wu of Han, during China's Han Dynasty...

(d. 91 BC) and his mother Empress Wei Zifu

Empress Wei Zifu

Empress Wei Zifu , formally Wei Sihou , was an empress during Han Dynasty. She was Emperor Wu's second wife, and stayed as his empress for 38 years, the second longest in Chinese history...

(d. 91 BC), who had been accused of witchcraft

Witchcraft

Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

and black magic

Black magic

Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...

. For this event, Emperor Wu prefixed "colonel" to the Director of Retainers' title in 89 BC, promoting him to the salary-rank 2,000-dan, and granted him the Staff of Authority, allowing him to arrest and punish those allegedly practicing witchcraft.
Following the crisis, the Colonel Director of Retainers retained his privileged possession of the Staff of Authority and was granted the same investigative and censorial powers as the Chancellor and Imperial Counselor over officialdom. He routinely inspected the conduct of officials in the capital region and seven nearby commanderies. His investigative powers matched those of a provincial Inspector, although his Staff of Authority made him more powerful than the latter. The Colonel Director of Retainers was a personal servant of the emperor, answering only to him, allowing the emperor to greatly enhance his control over the bureaucracy. However, the Staff of Authority was removed from the Colonel in 45 BC, limiting his powers to inspection, investigation, and impeachment

Impeachment

Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....

and he was distinguished from a provincial Inspector only by a higher salary-rank. The office of Colonel Director of Retainers was abolished in 9 BC, and reinstated once more as the Director of Retainers in 7 BC. He was now a subordinate of the new Excellency of Works and supervised convicts in public works projects, like his early Western Han counterpart. In Eastern Han, the Colonel Director of Retainers was reappointed without the Staff of Authority, with powers to inspect the capital region, but his salary-rank was reduced from 2000-dan to Equivalent to 2000-dan.

Superintendent of Waterways and Parks

The Superintendent of Waterways and Parks (Shuiheng duwei 水衡都尉) was also known as the Chief Commandant of Waterways and Parks, and was once a subordinate of the Minister Steward until 115 BC, when he, and other former subordinates of that ministry, became independent officers. His salary-rank was equivalent to 2000-dan. The Superintendent of Waterways and Parks managed a large imperial hunting park located outside Chang'an, including its palaces, rest stops, granaries, and cultivated patches of fruit and vegetable gardens, which, along with game meat

Game (food)

Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...

, provided food for the emperor's household. He also collected taxes from commoners using the park's grounds and transmitted these funds to the Minister Steward, who managed the emperor's finances. One of the Superintendent's subordinates supervised convicted criminals in their care of the park's hunting dog

Hunting dog

A hunting dog refers to any dog who assists humans in hunting. There are several types of hunting dogs developed for various tasks. The major categories of hunting dogs include hounds, terriers, dachshunds, cur type dogs, and gun dogs...

s.

In 115 BC the central government's mint

Mint (coin)

was transferred from the Minister Steward's ministry to the park managed by the Superintendent of Waterways and Parks. In 113 BC the central government closed all commandery-level mints; private minting had previously been outlawed in 144 BC. The Superintendent's imperial mint in the park outside Chang'an had the sole right to issue coinage throughout the empire. However, Emperor Guangwu of Han

Emperor Guangwu of Han

Emperor Guangwu , born Liu Xiu, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in AD 25 and thus founder of the Later Han or Eastern Han...

(r. 25–57 AD) abolished the Superintendent of Waterways and Parks and revived his post annually during autumn to conduct a ritual sacrifice. The imperial mint became the responsibility of the Minister of Finance and the imperial park located outside Eastern-Han Luoyang was administered by a prefect.

Director of Dependent States

The Director of Dependent States (Dian shuguo 典屬國), whose salary-rank was 2,000-dan, was responsible for embassies to foreign countries and nomadic peoples along Han's borders and the annual exchange of hostages—usually foreign princes—submitted to the Han court. Dependent States (Shuguo 屬國) were first established in 121 BC and composed mostly non-Han-Chinese nomadic tribes and confederations who surrendered after negotiation or armed conflict and accepted Han suzerainty

Suzerainty

Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...

. They served as a buffer between Han territory and hostile tribes, such as the Xiongnu

Xiongnu

The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...

, and as a means to quell tribes in the Ordos Desert

Ordos Desert

The Ordos Desert is a desert and steppe region lying on a plateau in the south of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China . The soil of the Ordos is a mixture of clay and sand and, as a result, is poorly suited for agriculture. It extends over an area of...

. The Han court appointed a Commandant (Duwei 都尉), also known as Chief Commandant, ranked Equivalent to 2,000-dan, to govern the non-Han-Chinese populations of each Dependent State. The Director of Dependent States' title was abolished in 28 BC; his duties and his subordinates, the Commandants, became the responsibilities of the Minister Herald. The Protectorate of the Western Regions

Protectorate of the Western Regions

The Protectorate of the Western Regions was a regional government established by the Han Dynasty to manage and to control the Western Regions, roughly today's Xinjiang ....

, established in 60 BC, which conducted foreign affairs with the oasis city-states in the Tarim Basin

Tarim Basin

The Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of about . It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's far west. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The...

of Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

, was not the responsibility of the Director of Dependent States.

Provincial authorities

The Han Empire was divided by hierarchical political divisions in the following descending order: provinces (zhou), commanderies (jun), and counties (xian). This model of local government was adopted from the previous government structure of the Qin Dynasty.

A Han province consisted of a group of commanderies, the administrations of which were subject to scrutiny and inspection by centrally appointed officials. These were the Inspectors (Cishi 刺史), also known as the Circuit Inspector, who were first appointed in 106 BC at a salary-rank of 600-dan. In Western Han they were supervised by the Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk and were subordinates of the Imperial Counselor. Aside from the province-sized capital region which was entrusted to the Colonel Director of Retainers from 89–9 BC, there were thirteen provinces during Western Han. Eventually, the title of Inspector was changed to Governor (Mu 牧; literally "Shepherd"), a post with a considerably higher salary-rank of 2,000-dan. From 5–1 BC, this post was reverted to Inspector, but was once again re-titled Governor, who was now responsible to all Three Excellencies.
During early Eastern Han, the loss of Han's control over the Ordos Desert

Ordos Desert

prompted the Han court to reduce the provinces to twelve—excluding the capital region—in 35 AD. In that year, the Inspectors-cum-Governors were still appointed by the central government, but their staffs were recruited from local administrations where they were transferred. By 42 AD, the title Governor once more became Inspector, who remained the head of provincial authorities until 188 AD. At an unknown date the Governors were reinstated, yet some of the provinces were still administered by Inspectors; this arrangement remained in place until the end of the Han Dynasty in 220 AD. A key difference between the roles was that an Inspector had no executive powers and only an advisory role, whereas a Governor could execute decisions on his own behalf. There were exceptions to this rule. If banditry or rebellion simultaneously arose in several commanderies under his jurisdiction at once, the Inspector was authorized to raise troops throughout all commanderies under his watch and lead this united force as commander to quell the disruption.

Both the Inspector and Governor were responsible for inspecting commandery-level Administrators and their staffs, as well as the semi-autonomous kingdoms and their staffs. They evaluated officials on criteria of competence, honesty, obedience to the imperial court, adherence to the law, their treatment of convicts, and any signs of extortion, nepotism, or factionalism. These reports were submitted to the Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk and Imperial Counselor during Western Han, but by Eastern Han these reports were submitted to each of the Three Excellencies. The reports were then used to promote, demote, dismiss, or prosecute local officials.

Commandery administration

There were thirteen commanderies, including the capital region, and ten kingdoms at the beginning of Western Han. Many kingdoms were reduced in size and the empire's territory expanded through conquest. By 2 AD there were eighty-three commanderies and twenty kingdoms containing an aggregate total of approximately 58 million people according to the census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

. A commandery consisted of a group of counties and was governed by an Administrator (Taishou 太守), also known as Grand Administrator, who was appointed by the central government and earned a 2,000-dan salary-rank. The Administrator was the civil and military leader of the commandery. He was not allowed to govern over his native commandery.

An Administrator was assisted by one or several Commandants (Duwei 都尉) also known as Chief Commandant, who handled all local military affairs such as raising militia

Militia

s, suppressing bandit groups, and building beacon

Beacon

A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important information, such as the status of an airport, by the colour and rotational pattern of its airport beacon, or of...

towers. The Commandants' salary-rank was Equivalent to 2,000-dan. After 30 AD, all Commandants who were not located in distant frontier commanderies were abolished, yet if the commandery was located along borders where raids and armed incursions by hostile nomadic groups were frequent, he was still appointed. A Commandant in an interior commandery could only be appointed temporarily to deal with crises as they arose. Each commandery also had secretaries, a treasurer, and an Official in Charge of Accounts who submitted annual reports to the imperial court on the Administrator's performance.

Many of the Administrators' duties were seasonal, such as inspections of counties every spring to check on local conditions like agriculture. In the fall he sent subordinates into the counties to report whether local criminal lawsuits had been conducted fairly. He was responsible for recommending worthy nominees, known as Filial and Incorrupt

Xiaolian

Xiaolian , was the standard of nominating civil officers started by Emperor Wu of Han in 134 BC. It lasted until its replacement by the imperial examination system during the Sui Dynasty....

, to the capital at the end each year during winter; the nominees would then be considered for an appointment to a central or local government office. This followed a system of quotas for each of the commanderies that was first established during Emperor Wu's reign, when two Filial and Incorrupt men from each commandery were sent to the capital. This was changed in 92 AD to one man for every 200,000 households in a commandery. After the Commandants of interior commanderies were abolished, the Administrators assumed their duties, yet they were still not allowed to raise militias, mobilize troops, or send troops outside their commandery without permission frm the central government.

County administration

In the nationwide census conducted in 2 AD, there were 1,587 counties listed. The Han county was the smallest political division containing a centrally appointed official. In larger counties of about 10,000 households he was known as the Prefect (Ling 令); in smaller counties he was known as the Chief (Zhang 長). Depending on the size of the county, the Prefect's salary-rank was 600-dan or 1,000-dan, while a Chief was ranked at 300-dan or 500-dan. Due to their judicial role, historian Rafe de Crespigny

Rafe de Crespigny

Dr Rafe de Crespigny is a retired Adjunct Professor with the China and Korea Centre, Australian National University in Canberra, Australia...

does not differentiate between Prefects and Chiefs, referring to both as Magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

s. The county's head civil servants, usually respected scholars or elders in their local communities, were appointed directly by the Magistrate.
A county Magistrate was in charge of maintaining law and order, storing grain in case of famine, registering the populace for taxation, mobilizing conscripted commoners for corvée labor projects, supervising public works, renovating schools, and performing rituals. They were also given the duty to act as judge for all lawsuits brought to the county court. The judicial jurisdictions of the commandery Administrator and county Magistrate overlapped, so it was generally agreed that whoever arrested a criminal first would try him or her. Under Emperor Wu, commanderies and kingdoms operated public schools, and although counties could operate their own public schools, not all of them did.

The county was further divided into districts

District (China)

The term district, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China....

, each consisting of at least several hamlets

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

grouped together; typically a community of approximately one hundred families. A chief of police

Chief of police

A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...

was assigned to each district by the county Magistrate. A county Magistrate heavily relied on the cooperation of local elders and leaders at the district level; these carried out much of the day-to-day affairs of arbitrating disputes in their communities, collecting taxes, and fighting crime.

Kingdoms, marquisates, and fiefs of princesses

A Han kingdom was much like a commandery in size and administration, except it was officially, and after 145 BC, nominally, the fief of a relative to the emperor, including brothers, uncles, nephews, and sons—excluding the heir apparent. The policy of awarding kingdoms only to imperial relatives was gradually adopted by the founder Emperor Gaozu of Han (r. 202–195 BC), as many of the early kings were non-relatives who were leading officers during the Chu-Han contention

Chu-Han contention

(206–202 BC). Kingdoms were usually inherited by the king's eldest son born to his queen

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

.

The number of kingdoms fluctuated between Western and Eastern Han, but there were never fewer than eight nor greater than twenty-five. In the early Western Han, the kingdoms accounted for approximately two-thirds of the empire. The imperial court ruled over the commanderies located in the western third of the empire, while kings ruled their fiefs with little or no central government intervention. The administrative staffs of each kingdom paralleled the model of central government, as each kingdom had a Grand Tutor (ranked 2000-dan), Chancellor (2,000-dan), and Imperial Secretary (2,000-dan). No kingdom was allowed to have a Grand Commandant, since they were not allowed to initiate war campaigns on their own behalf. Although the kingdoms' Chancellors were appointed by the imperial court, the king had the right to appoint all other officials in his fief.

The power of the kings declined after the Rebellion of the Seven States

Rebellion of the Seven States

in 154 BC; the number of kingdoms and their sizes were reduced. An imperial edict in 145 BC removed the kings' rights to appoint officials above the salary-rank of 400-dan, and all officials ranked higher than this were appointed directly by the central government. Excluding the kingdom-level Minister Coachman, the kingdoms' Nine Ministers and Imperial Counselors were abolished. The Chancellor, now the equivalent of a commandery Administrator, was retained, although he was still appointed by the central government. After these reforms, the kings were no longer administrative heads and merely took a portion of the taxes collected by the government in their kingdoms as personal income. Charles Hucker

Charles Hucker

Charles O. Hucker , was a Professor of Chinese language and history at the University of Michigan. He was regarded as one of the foremost historians of Imperial China and a leading figure in the promotion of academic programs in Asian Studies during the 1950s and 1960s.Born in St...

notes that after this transformation of kingdoms and marquessates into virtual commanderies and counties, respectively, a "... fully centralized government was achieved" for the first time since the Qin Dynasty.

Han society below the level of kings was divided into twenty ranks, which awarded certain privileges such as exemption from certain laws, the nineteenth being a marquess

Marquess

and the twentieth being a full marquess—the difference being the former was only given a pension while the latter was given a marquessate (houguo 侯國)—typically the size of a county. If the kings' sons were grandsons of the emperor, they were made full marquesses; if not, they were considered commoners. However, this rule was changed in 127 BC so that all the kings' sons were made full marquesses. It is unknown whether early Western-Han marquessates enjoyed the same level of autonomy as early Western-Han kingdoms; by 145 BC, all marquessates' staff were appointed by the central government. The marquess had no administrative role over his marquessate; he merely collected a portion of the tax revenues. His Chancellor was the equivalent of a county Prefect.

The emperor's sisters and daughters were made either senior princess

Princess

Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....

es, who shared the same rank as kings, or princesses, who shared the same rank as full marquesses; a princess's fief was typically the size of a county. The husband of a princess was ranked as a marquess. The daughters of kings were also princesses, but their fiefs were typically the smaller size of county districts, and could not be inherited by sons. Unlike the fiefs of kings and marquesses, the staffs of the princesses' fiefs answered directly to one of the Nine Ministers: the Minister of the Imperial Clan.

Conscripted soldiers and militias

Upon reaching the age of twenty-three, male commoners became eligible for conscription

Conscription

into the armed forces (zhengzu 正卒) for one year of training and one year of service; the year of service could be served until the age of fifty-six. Conscripts were trained, and would serve in one of three branches of the military: infantry, cavalry, or naval marine. The year of service could take the form of soldiering at frontier garrisons protecting the borders against nomadic enemies, serving as guards in the courts of kings or as guards under the Minister of the Guards in the capital. By 155 BC, the minimum age for conscription was lowered to twenty. During Emperor Zhao of Han

Emperor Zhao of Han

Emperor Zhao of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty from 87 BC to 74 BC.Emperor Zhao was the youngest son of Emperor Wu of Han. By the time Zhao was born, Emperor Wu was already 62. Zhao ascended the throne after the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC. He was only 8 years old...

's (r. 87–74 BC) reign, the minimum age was raised to twenty-three, but after his reign it was once again reduced to twenty.
Although this system of conscription survived into Eastern Han, conscription could be avoided upon payment of a commutable tax.

The government also exempted those who presented authorities with a slave, a horse, or grain. In the system of twenty ranks bestowed on commoners and nobles alike, those of the ninth rank and above were exempt from military service. To compensate for the loss of manpower, the Eastern Han government favored the recruitment of a largely volunteer army

Volunteer Army

The Volunteer Army was an anti-Bolshevik army in South Russia during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920....

. Many other soldiers in Eastern Han were convicted criminals who commuted their sentences by joining the army. Mercenaries

Mercenary

A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...

eventually comprised much of the capital guard, while foreign nomadic tribes were often employed to guard the frontiers.

After their year of active service, Western Han-era soldiers were demobilized and sent home, where they were obligated to join the local militia

Militia

that convened every eighth month of the year. This obligation was intended to curb local and regional warlord

Warlord

A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...

ism that nonetheless became prevalent by the end of Han. Militias dismissed members who reached the age of fifty-six. By Eastern Han, the obligation upon retired soldiers to join local militias was removed.

Standing army and army reserves

The non-professional conscripted soldiers who served a one-year term under the Minister of the Guards belonged to the Southern Army (Nanjun 南軍). Non-conscripted, professional soldiers belonged to a standing army

Standing army

known as the Northern Army (Beijun 北軍). The Northern Army's main purpose was to defend the capital, but it was sometimes required to repel foreign invasions. The Northern Army is first mentioned in Han records in about 180 BC, yet little is known of its command structure at that time. Several decades later, Emperor Wu reformed the Northern Army's officer corps

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

so that its command was shared by five Colonels (Xiaowei 校尉) who each ranked 2,000-dan and commanded a regiment. Emperor Wu also appointed three other Colonels, ranked 2,000-dan, whose forces were considered an extension of the Northern Army yet were stationed far outside the capital at strategic passes. Each of the eight Colonels was assisted by a Major (Sima 司馬) who was ranked at 1,000-dan. Professional soldiers could also be found in agricultural garrisons

Tuntian

The Tuntian or Duntian system was a system of government-encouraged agriculture originated in the Western Han Dynasty period of Chinese history...

established in the Western Regions

Western Regions

The Western Regions or Xiyu was a historical name specified in the Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of Jade Gate, most often Central Asia or sometimes more specifically the easternmost portion of it The Western Regions or Xiyu was a...

, such as those led by the Wu and Ji Colonels (Wuji xiaowei 戊己校尉, who were ranked Equivalent to 600-dan and were based at the Turpan oasis.

During Eastern Han, the conscripted army under the Minister of the Guards was no longer referred to as the Southern Army. The Northern Army was retained, although it was reformed so that there were five Colonels instead of eight. The Eastern Han-era Colonels of the Northern Army were also demoted to the rank of Equivalent to 2,000-dan.

According to Eastern Han-era sources, the Northern Army was a relatively small fighting force of between 3,500 and 4,200 professional soldiers, each regiment consisting of approximately 750 soldiers and 150 junior officers. To aid this force, Emperor Guangwu established a 1,000-soldier unit of army reserves in Liyang County along the Yellow River in 43 AD, while two other reserve units were created in 110 AD; these were headed by a Commandant (the same title used for the commandery-level military officer). The main purpose of these reserve units was to position Han troops at strategic passes to guard the lower Wei River

Wei River

The Wei River is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization....

against Xiongnu, Wuhuan

Wuhuan

The Wuhuan were a proto-Mongolic nomadic people who inhabited northern China, in what is now the provinces of Hebei, Liaoning, Shanxi, the municipality of Beijing and the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia....

, and Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

an tribes.

Wartime militia and officers

During peacetime and war, the command structure of the Northern Army remained the same. However, during times of great conflict and crisis, the raising of large militias required the appointment of many new officers with various titles, which were often bestowed as honorary titles to officials during times of peace. Large divisions

Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

were led by a General (Jiangjun 將軍) whose rank depended on status; divisions were divided into a number of regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

s commanded by a Colonel, and sometimes by a Major. Regiments were divided into companies

Company (military unit)

A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...

and led by Captains, who ranked Equivalent to 2,000-dan, while companies were further divided into platoon

Platoon

A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...

External links

Chinaknowledge.de (maps, geography, and a list of the Han-era provinces with Chinese characters)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Salaries

Emperor

Qin's imperial model

Roles, rights, and responsibilities

Court conferences

Empress dowager

Grand Tutor

Title variations

Chancellor

Imperial Counselor

Grand Commandant

Excellency over the Masses

Excellency of Works

Nine Ministers

Minister of Ceremonies

Minister of the Household

Minister of the Guards

Minister Coachman

Minister of Justice

Minister Herald

Minister of the Imperial Clan

Minister of Finance

Minister Steward

Staffs of the heir apparent, empress, and harems

Metropolitan offices

Bearer of the Mace

Court Architect

Colonel Director of Retainers

Superintendent of Waterways and Parks

Director of Dependent States

Provincial authorities

Commandery administration

County administration

Kingdoms, marquisates, and fiefs of princesses

Conscripted soldiers and militias

Standing army and army reserves

Wartime militia and officers

Further reading

External links