Three Departments and Six Ministries
Sui built, and Tang improved, a clear way to rule a huge land. At the top were Three Departments:
- Secretariat (Zhongshu): drafts the emperor’s orders.
- Chancellery (Menxia): reviews each draft and may send it back if it is unwise or unclear.
- Department of State Affairs (Shangshu): carries the order out.
This made a chain of checks. The emperor still held final power, but wrong orders were less likely.
Under State Affairs were Six Ministries:
- Personnel: picks, ranks and promotes officers.
- Revenue: counts households and land, collects tax.
- Rites: ceremonies, schools, exams and foreign guests.
- War: army and supplies.
- Justice: courts and punishments.
- Works: roads, canals, walls and palaces.
Below them were provinces, prefectures and counties, each with appointed officers. This design lasted, with changes, until about 1900.
The imperial examinations
Before, officers were mostly chosen because of their family or a recommendation. Sui began to pick some by exam (the system is called keju), and Tang grew it.
- Candidates studied the Confucian classics, poetry and writing on state matters.
- The jinshi degree (about writing and policy) was the most respected. Only a few dozen passed in a year out of thousands of candidates.
- Wu Zetian added a palace exam and military exams, and used exams to bring in people outside the old noble families.
Why it mattered: talent could rise, officers were tied to the emperor and not to their families, and people across the land studied the same books. The limits: in Tang times many officers still came from noble families, and poor families found it hard to pay for years of study. The exam system became more important in the next dynasty, Song, and lasted until 1905.
Tax reforms: equal-field, three taxes, two-tax
Equal-field system (begun in Northern Wei, kept by Sui and Tang): the state gave each farming household land. Part (for growing mulberry or hemp) was kept in the family; the rest returned to the state after the adult died. This kept large landlords weak and made sure farmers had land.
Three taxes in return, each year:
- Grain (zu): a fixed amount of grain per adult man.
- Cloth or silk (diao): a fixed length of cloth.
- Labour (yong): about 20 days of work for the state, which could be replaced by paying cloth.
Taxes were tied to people, not to land size. This worked while records were good. After the An Lushan war, many fled their plots, powerful families had taken land, and the records did not match reality.
Two-tax system (780) by the minister Yang Yan: tax is on land and property actually held now, in two seasons (summer and autumn), often in money. It no longer cared where a person was born or registered. It raised money more fairly and kept the state alive for over a century. It was a step toward land-based taxation used by later dynasties.
Key formulas and definitions
- Three Departments: Secretariat (draft), Chancellery (review), State Affairs (do)
- Six Ministries: Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, Works
- Exams: begun in Sui, grown in Tang; top degree = jinshi
- Equal-field: land from the state; tax = grain + cloth + labour
- Two-tax (780): tax on land and wealth held, paid in summer and autumn
- Pass rate = passed ÷ candidates × 100
Worked examples
1. An order says "build a road". Which department drafts it, which checks it, which does it, and which ministry works on it?
Secretariat drafts, Chancellery checks, State Affairs carries it out, and the Ministry of Works builds the road.
2. In one year 3,000 people sat an exam and 30 passed. Find the pass rate.
30 ÷ 3000 × 100 = 1 percent. Only 1 in 100 passed.
3. Why did the equal-field system fail after 755?
Many farmers left their plots because of war, powerful families took land, and population changed. Records no longer matched who held which land, so the state could not collect person-based taxes.
4. How is the two-tax system fairer than the three-tax one?
It taxes what a family actually holds now. Rich holders of much land pay more, and a poor family with little land pays less, instead of every adult paying the same fixed amount.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the three departments were the same as six ministries. The ministries sat under State Affairs.
- Thinking the exams were open to everyone equally. Poor families had little time or money for study.
- Mixing up the two tax systems. Equal-field with three taxes came first; two-tax came in 780.
- Thinking the Chancellery was only a secretary. It could send orders back.