Chapter 11 Section 2 Two-Jin Official System

The two Jins refer to the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316 AD) and the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420 AD).The official system mostly follows the Cao Wei system.Most important officials came from the Sima clan and the gentry class. In the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, there was no prime minister, and it was not until after the Eight Kings Rebellion that the prime minister was installed, usually by kings or powerful gentry.The prime minister has a high weight. "Song Shu Baiguan Zhi" said: "Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it has not been the position of Furenchen." Under the prime minister, there are the so-called "Eight Gongs", namely Dazai, Taifu, Taibao, Taiwei, Situ, Sikong, Da Sima, and Grand General are all appointed by kings or aristocratic families.Under Eight Dukes, there is also the name of "Wei Cong Gong", which began in Cao Wei.Those who open the government ceremony and the three divisions are all servants.Kaifu refers to the establishment of a mansion and the establishment of an official construction office.The three divisions of Yitong refer to the same honor guards as Taiwei, Situ, and Sikong.More generals and doctor Guanglu with various titles are added. The former is the military officer and the latter is the civil official.

The most important institutions in the Jin Dynasty were Shangshutai, Zhongshusheng, and Menxiasheng.Shangshutai, also known as Shangshu Province, has been used together since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and it was not fixed as a province until the late Southern Dynasties.The organization of Shangshutai in the Jin Dynasty was stricter than that in the Eastern Han Dynasty and Cao Wei Dynasty.Those who are powerful in the public affairs record the affairs of the ministers.Shangshu Ling is the head, and Shangshu Pushe is the deputy.The offices of Shang Shu Ling and Pu She are called Du Zuo, with Zuo Cheng and You Cheng.Zuo Cheng was in charge of Shangshutai's internal ban and general affairs.Youcheng is in charge of storing cottages and memorials for documents from far away.Below the seat of the capital, there are listed Cao Shangshu. At the beginning, there were six Caos: Libu, Sangong, Kecao, Jiabu, Tuntian, and Duzhi.In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Ministry of Officials, the Five Soldiers, Zuo Min, Du Zhi, and the Five Caos of the Temple Department were set up.There are thirty-five Cao Lang (Shang Shu Lang) under Shang Shu.In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were only fifteen Cao Lang.It can be seen from the organizational structure that Shangshu Province is the gathering place for various government affairs inside and outside the imperial court, as well as in the central and local governments.The Shangshutai was transformed into an institution dealing with administrative affairs, and the Ministry of Zhongshu became the confidential department, and its status became increasingly important.Zhongshu Province set up Zhongshu Supervisor and Order.Under it are Zhongshu Shilang and Zhongshu Tongshi Sheren. "Tong Dian Zhongshu Ling" said: "Below the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Zhongshu supervisors and orders praised edicts, recorded current events, and wrote documents. It is called the Phoenix Pond.” Explaining that making edicts according to the emperor’s will is the main responsibility of Zhongshu Sheng. According to the "Book of Jin · Xunxu [xu Xu] Biography", in the Western Jin Dynasty, Xunxu served as the supervisor of Zhongshu for 24 years, specializing in secrets, and later changed to Shangshuling.Someone congratulated him, and he replied angrily: "Take my Phoenix Pond, what is there to celebrate!" It can be seen that Zhongshu Province has been favored by the emperor and its actual power has surpassed Shangshutai.Most of the supervisors and orders of Zhongshu in the Jin Dynasty came from high-ranking Chinese clans, and they were often held concurrently by Sangong.For example, in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Dao, Yu Liang, Xie An, Liu Yu, etc. were the three princes who were in charge of the Zhongshujian. They were all respected officials who held real power in the court at that time.Menxia Province evolved from Shizhong Temple in the Eastern Han Dynasty.As mentioned above, Cao Wei already had the name "Menxia", and the Western Jin Dynasty was officially called Menxia Province.The Menxia Province is the emperor's close advisor. Whenever important government orders and military affairs are involved, the emperor generally consults the Menxia Province.In addition, the Menxia Province has the right to "refute", that is, the Shangshutai's memorial must be reviewed by the Menxia Province before it is submitted to the emperor. The matter was submitted to the emperor to decide.In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Menxia Province also had the right to "refute the imperial edict", that is, the imperial edict was first reviewed by the Menxia Province before it was issued to the recipients.The governor of the province under the door is Shizhong, and there are officials such as Huangmen Shilang, Sanqi Changshi, Gishizhong, and Sanqi Shilang.The three provinces have their own division of labor and check and balance each other. This is a major change in the form of auxiliary government after the prime minister system.

There were still Lieqing in the two Jin Dynasties, but Yu Shangshutai, the head of the court and the general government, had a significant decline in status, and his duties were also consolidated.In the Western Jin Dynasty, there were no lieutenants.In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Weiwei and Guangluxun were not set up, and Dahonglu, Taipu, and general craftsmen were not often set up.Yushitai still regards Zhongcheng as the official, "Supervisor of Bailiao" ("Book of Jin · Fu Xuan Chuan Yu Xianfu Biography").During the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, Yezhetai was merged into Yushitai.In the Western Jin Dynasty, the clan and relatives were still regarded as the captain of the car, the captain of the son-in-law, and the captain of the cavalry.The only surviving princess in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was the son-in-law captain.

Among the palace duties, the settings of the empress dowager's three ministers and empress ministers are the same as those of Cao Weishi.However, the status of the Empress Dowager Sanqing is different from that of Cao Wei, but the same as that of the Eastern Han Dynasty.In the time of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, a prince official was set up, and he was led by the prince Taifu and Shaofu.Later, there were Shi Bao, Zhan Shi and other officials set up, but the provincial set up was not common.The subordinate officials include Zhongshuzi, Zhongsheren, Shiguanling, Shuzi, Sheren, Xima, secretary, left and right guards, family orders, servants, etc.

The enfeoffment system and the state, county and county systems are implemented locally.At the beginning of the Jin Dynasty, 27 members of the royal family were enfeoffed as princes and kings.There are three types of kingdoms: large, medium, and small.A large country has 20,000 civilian households and 5,000 military personnel; China has 10,000 civilian households and 3,000 military personnel; a small country has 5,000 civilian households and 1,500 military personnel.Each kingdom can establish its own civil and military officials, and the chief is called internal history, and his job is like a prefect.The Western Jin Dynasty followed the old system of the Han and Wei dynasties, and set up the Sili Xiaowei to control the Sizhou to supervise the capital and the counties under its jurisdiction.The capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was established in Jiankang (now Nanjing), and the governor of Yangzhou took the place of Sili Xiaowei.The states other than Sizhou have governors, counties have prefects (the county where the capital is located is called Yin), and counties have magistrates and chiefs.State and county governors usually hold two posts in one person, with no distinction between military and civilian administration.The governors of most states, and even the sheriffs, often bear the titles of governors and generals.They not only hold military talismans, but also manage civil affairs; they have state and county assistant officials, and also set up generals and shogunate, civil and military assistants, and they are vertical and horizontal [baihe put box].During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the gentry of the Central Plains and their tribes moved southward, and relocated prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River, which were called Qiaozhou, Qiaojun, and Qiaoxian.

In the Western Jin Dynasty, in addition to the king, there were titles such as Gong, Hou, Bo, Zi, Nan, Xianghou, Tinghou, Guanneihou, Guanzhonghou, and Guanwaihou.For official grades, goods and stones are mixed.Salary is calculated in combination of dendrobium (grain), horse (silk), and catty (cotton).