Quick Answer: What Were the Three Departments and Six Ministries?
The Three Departments and Six Ministries (三省六部, Sān Shěng Liù Bù) organized central administration under the emperor. The framework took shape in the Sui and became closely associated with the Tang. They divided work on central government business into drafting, review and execution.[1][2][3]
- Draft: The Secretariat (中書省, Zhōngshū Shěng) prepared policy documents and decrees.[1][2]
- Review: The Chancellery (門下省, Ménxià Shěng) examined drafts and could send them back.[1][2]
- Execute: The Department of State Affairs (尚書省, Shàngshū Shěng) supervised the implementation of policy through specialized ministries.[1][2]
The offices held different duties within an administration centered on imperial authority.[1][2][4]
A decree could pass from the people who wrote it to officials who checked it and then to offices that handled the work. The three departments and six ministries describe where those responsibilities sat in a model of central government.[1][2][4]
What the Three Departments Did
The Secretariat drafted documents on the emperor’s behalf. The Chancellery reviewed them and could propose changes or return a draft. An approved decree carried the emperor’s authority. The Chancellery could return a draft for revision before it moved forward. Once approved and transmitted, the order went to the Department of State Affairs for administrative execution.[1][2]
An edict’s wording and its implementation posed different problems. A draft might need revision before the court accepted it. Carrying it out might involve officials in several offices. This division gave officials defined responsibilities without removing the emperor from the process.[1][2][4]
What the Six Ministries Handled
Under the Department of State Affairs, six ministries, also called boards in some English accounts, had different fields of responsibility. The table gives broad functions. The exact division of tasks changed over the history of these offices.[1][2][3]
| Ministry | Main field of work |
|---|---|
| Personnel | Civil appointments, evaluation and promotions |
| Revenue | Households, taxation and fiscal matters |
| Rites | State ritual, ceremonies and examination administration |
| War | Military administration and appointments |
| Justice | Penal administration and review of cases |
| Works | Public construction and infrastructure |
For example, household records mattered to Revenue, while a matter of civil appointment belonged to Personnel. The court could also have other offices for particular purposes, so the table is a guide to these six units within a larger government.[1][2][3]
How the Model Changed After the Tang
Later courts adapted the model. The Song Yuanfeng reforms of 1082 looked back to the scheme described in the Tang Sixfold Statutes of 738. That reform reorganized offices in a Song setting with its own institutions. Keeping the same names could preserve an ideal of administration while changing what particular officeholders did.[4]
The Ming retained the six ministries as a familiar form of administration. Its arrangements at the center differed from the Tang model. The Grand Secretariat belongs to that later institutional story. A county magistrate handled government at a different level from the court offices described here.[2][4][5]
FAQs About the Three Departments and Six Ministries
Did the six ministries belong to all three departments?
The six ministries fell under the Department of State Affairs in the Tang model. The other two departments had responsibilities for drafting and review.[1][2]
Who approved an imperial decree?
It carried the emperor’s authorization. Secretariat and Chancellery officials drafted and reviewed it as part of the process.[1][2]
Did the same arrangement last through every dynasty?
Later governments adapted its names and ideas. The Song reforms of 1082 and the Ming use of six ministries illustrate distinct arrangements.[4][5]
Sources
[1] State Council Information Office. Three Departments and Six Ministries
[2] Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The Three Departments and Six Ministries in the Tang
[3] Andrew Mertha. Bureaucracy and Policy Making
[4] Cambridge University Press. Sung Government and Politics
[5] Ray Huang, Cambridge University Press. Fiscal Organization and General Practices