A history of China., [3d ed. rev. and enl.]. Wolfram Eberhard
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the central government. When a rising or a local war broke out, that was the affair of the officer of the region concerned. If the regional troops were insufficient, those of the adjoining regions were drawn upon; if even these were insufficient, a real "state of war" came into being; that is to say, the emperor appointed eight generals-in-chief, mobilized the imperial troops, and intervened. This imperial army then had authority over the regional and feudal troops, the troops of the protectorates, the guards of the capital, and those of the imperial palace. At the end of the war the imperial army was demobilized and the generals-in-chief were transferred to other posts.
In all this there gradually developed a division into civil and military administration. A number of regions would make up a province with a military governor, who was in a sense the representative of the imperial army, and who was supposed to come into activity only in the event of war.
This administration of the Han period lacked the tight organization that would make precise functioning possible. On the other hand, an extremely important institution had already come into existence in a primitive form. As central statistical authority, the court secretariat had a special position within the ministries and supervised the administration of the other offices. Thus there existed alongside the executive a means of independent supervision of it, and the resulting rivalry enabled the emperor or the chancellor to detect and eliminate irregularities. Later, in the system of the T'ang period (A.D. 618–906), this institution developed into an independent censorship, and the system was given a new form as a "State and Court Secretariat", in which the whole executive was comprised and unified. Towards the end of the T'ang period the permanent state of war necessitated the permanent commissioning of the imperial generals-in-chief and of the military governors, and as a result there came into existence a "Privy Council of State", which gradually took over functions of the executive. The system of administration in the Han and in the T'ang period is shown in the following table:
| Han epoch | T'ang epoch |
|---|---|
| 1. Emperor | 1. Emperor |
| 2. Three counsellors to the emperor (with no active functions) | 2. Three counsellors and three assistants (with no active functions) |
| 3. Eight supreme generals (only appointed in time of war) | 3. Generals and Governors-General (only appointed in time of war; but in practice continuously in office) |
| 4. —— | 4. (a) State secretariat |
| (1) Central secretariat | |
| (2) Secretariat of the Crown | |
| (3) Secretariat of the Palace and imperial historical commission | |
| 4. (b) Emperor's Secretariat | |
| (1) Private Archives | |
| (2) Court Adjutants' Office | |
| (3) Harem administration | |
| 5. Court administration (Ministries) | 5. Court administration (Ministries) |
| (1) Ministry for state sacrifices | (1) Ministry for state sacrifices |
| (2) Ministry for imperial coaches and horses | (2) Ministry for imperial coaches and horses |
| (3) Ministry for justice at court | (3) Ministry for justice at court |
| (4) Ministry for receptions | (4) Ministry for receptions (i.e. foreign affairs) |
| (5) Ministry for ancestors' temples | (5) Ministry for ancestors' temples |
| (6) Ministry for supplies to the court | (6) Ministry for supplies to the court |
| (7) Ministry for the harem Ministry | (7) Economic and financial |
| (8) Ministry for the palace guards | (8) Ministry for the payment of salaries |
| (9) Ministry for the court (state secretariat) | (9) Ministry for armament and magazines |
| 6. Administration of the capital: | 6. Administration of the capital: |
| (1) Crown prince's palace | (1) Crown prince's palace |
| (2) Security service for the capital | (2) Palace guards and guards' office |
| (3) Capital administration: | (3) Arms production department |
| (a) Guards of the capital | |
| (b) Guards of the city gates | |
| (c) Building department | |
| (4) Labour service department | |
| (5) Building department | |
| (6) Transport department | |
| (7) Department for education (of sons of officials!) | |
| 7. Ministry of the Interior | 7. Ministry of the Interior |
| (Provincial administration) | (Provincial administration) |
| 8. Foreign Ministry | 8. —— |
| 9. Censorship (Audit council) |
There is no denying that according to our standard this whole system was still elementary and "personal", that is to say, attached to the emperor's person—though it should not be overlooked that we ourselves are not yet far from a similar phase of development. To this day the titles of not a few of the highest officers of state—the Lord Privy Seal, for instance—recall that in the past their offices were conceived