Chancellor of The Tang Dynasty - Tang Reorganization

Tang Reorganization

Tang's founder, Emperor Gaozu, initially largely followed the Sui governmental organization, including the five-bureau organization. However, he created a single head for the executive bureau, known as the Shangshu Ling (尚書令), having his son Li Shimin the Prince of Qin (and future Emperor Taizong) serve in that role. After Li Shimin became emperor in 626, that post became vacant because none of his officials dared to occupy it. After 626, the executive bureau was thus headed by its two vice-directors, the Shangshu Puye. (Guo Ziyi was commissioned as the Shangshu Ling in 764 in recognition of his great contributions, but he declined the office repeatedly, and the commission was removed later that year.) Around this point, probably by Emperor Taizong's orders, the institution of multiple chancellors was formalized, with the heads of the executive, examination, and legislative (which was renamed the Zhongshu Sheng (中書省)) bureaus regarded as the chancellors. As there were often, but not always, more than one head for the examination and legislative bureaus, there were not necessarily only four chancellors. Later in Emperor Taizong's reign, he also began to designate certain high level officials, even though they were not heads of one of the bureaus, chancellors, with designations such as Canyu Chaozheng (參豫朝政, literally "participator in the administration's governance"). Yet later in his reign, in 643, he revised the designation and formalized it as the Tong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin (同中書門下三品, literally, "equivalent to the officials with the third rank from the Zhongshu and the Menxia") -- because the heads of the legislative bureau, the Zhongshu Ling (中書令), and the examination bureau, the Shizhong (侍中), were of the third rank. (These officials were rendered as "chancellors de facto'" (實質宰相) by the modern Chinese historian Bo Yang in his modern Chinese edition of the Zizhi Tongjian.) Throughout Tang history, the names of the examination and legislative bureaus were changed multiple times, and so the designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin was frequently changed in response thereof. (For example, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, when the legislative bureau was briefly known as the Ziwei Sheng (紫微省) and the examination bureau the Huangmen Sheng (黃門省), the chancellors de facto were known as the Tong Ziwei Huangmen Sanpin.) A lesser designation, with still the same powers, was created in 682, during the reign of Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong, and was initially known as the Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事, literally "equivalent to the participators from the Zhongshu and the Menxia"), rendered by Bo as "chancellors de facto second grade." Later in Tang history, after the Anshi Rebellion, while the chancellor-de-facto designation was not officially abolished, it was no longer used, as the last chancellor to be designated as such was Li Lin, in 757-758, and the chancellor-de-facto-of-second-grade designation became very common and was used for the rest of Tang history. Further, after 705, the heads of the executive bureau were no longer considered chancellors, unless they received the chancellor-de-facto designation of either kind. Throughout the early dynasty until the second reign of Emperor Ruizong in 710, variations of the Canyu Chaozheng also continued appearing, including Canzhi Jiwu (參知機務, literally "participator in important matters"), Canzhang Jimi (參掌機密, literally "participator in national secret matters"), Canzhi Zhengshi (參知政事, literally "participator in governance matters"), Canmou Zhengshi (參謀政事, similarly in meaning to Canzhi Zhengshi) also appeared, which Bo rendered as "chancellors de facto of the third class."

The chancellors periodically met together at the Zhengshi Tang (政事堂, literally "the Hall of State Matters"), originally physically located within the examination bureau. In 683, when Pei Yan, then the head of the examination bureau, became the head of the legislative bureau, the Zhengshi Tang was moved from the examination bureau to the legislative bureau. Later, during Emperor Xuanzong's reign, when Zhang Shuo became chancellor, he changed the name to Zhongshu Menxia (中書門下), apparently employing a double entendre, as when the terms were put together, they meant, "within the doors of the Zhongshu." Zhang also reorganized the Hall by creating five offices under the chancellors—in charge of civil service, state secrets, military matters, governance, and criminal law, respectively. Later in the dynasty—starting during the reign of Emperor Suzong -- the chancellors begin to rotate off-days so that at least one would always be on duty; when submissions were to be made to the emperor, they were signed in the names of all chancellors, whether on duty or not. The name of their meeting place also changed back to Zhengshi Tang.