The History of Liao, vol. 47, "Hundred Officials Zhi III", contains:
"The six prefectures of The Yan Dynasty and the Ten Dynasties were established in the Tang Dynasty, and the officials of the three southern provinces, the six ministries, the taiwan, the courtyards, the temples, the overseers, the guards, and the Eastern Palace were restored."
The nanmian official system basically follows the administrative management system established by the official system of the Central Plains regime, absorbs the Han people in the administrative management structure and form, and accepts the Han people in addition to selecting Khitans in the selection of officials, and clearly states that the Khitan people serve as officials in the south, requiring them to wear Hanfu and speak Chinese. It is aimed at the Han people living in Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures and Liaowujing, and is "the matter of governing Han people's prefectures, rents, and military horses".
Next, I will look at the Khitan (Liao) imitation of the Central Plains official system from the five major institutions.
Privy council
Due to the fact that the historical records of the Liao Dynasty are too brief and there are many omissions, coupled with the lack of historical materials, there is a lot of controversy about the study of the Privy Council of the Liao Dynasty, and the scholars have seen the benevolent and the wise have been inconclusive. There are two main views in the academic community:
One view is that the Liao Dynasty had only two privy councils, the northern privy council belonging to the northern official system and the southern privy council belonging to the southern official system, the Han privy council, that is, the southern privy council; the other view is that the northern privy council and the southern privy council belong to the northern official system, and the Han privy council exists independently in the southern official system.
To the south is the Han Privy Council
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Abaoji set up a Han Er Division to be in charge of Han affairs, "Taizu chu had Han Er Si, and Han Zhigu knew Han Er Si Shi." During the civil unrest in the Later Tang ruling clique, Emperor Taizong of Liao went south to aid Lishi Jingyao. In this war, more than 200,000 Han troops were recruited. In order to win over the Han bureaucracy to defect to the Liao regime, Emperor Taizong copied the Central Plains bureaucracy to reward the Officials of the Liao Dynasty and temporarily set up a privy councillor to be in charge of the Han army in the Central Plains.
With the deepening of the feudalization of the Liao Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty established a southern official based on the Zhongshu Province and the Han Privy Council on the basis of the Han Dynasty. The Zhongshu Province and the Han Privy Council of the Southern Officials of the Liao Dynasty were in charge of the han civil affairs and military affairs of the former Han Er division, and the Han affairs of these two institutions constituted the main business of the southern officials of the Liao Dynasty. Between Zhongshu Province and the Han Privy Council, the Han Privy Council not only controlled the administration of soldiers and horses, but also "concurrently Shangshu Province", and its power seemed to exceed that of Zhongshu Province.
After Sejong ascended the throne, the northern official system introduced the privy council system and established the Northern and Southern Khitan Privy Councils. The Privy Council of the Liao Dynasty experienced a brief period of coexistence between the Han Privy Council, the Northern Khitan Privy Council, and the Khitan Southern Privy Council.
"As a strategy of the Liao Dynasty to consolidate its rule in the Yanyun region, the Han Privy Council was the product of a combination of the current situation and the geopolitical environment."
After the gradual strengthening of Liao's rule over the Yanyun region and entering a period of steady development, the Khitan rulers did not allow the Han to control the army in large numbers and for a long time, and it was imperative to adjust the Han Privy Council out of the Liao Dynasty's political institutions and bring all the military power into the hands of the Khitan aristocratic clique.
After the death of Zhao Yanshou, the core of the Han army in the second year of Tianlu (948), Gao Xun took his place as the "General Han Military". In this way, on the surface, the Privy Councillor of the Han People was replaced by Emperor Sejong with Gao Xun, but in fact, the Southern Privy Council replaced the Han Privy Council at the time of this military position change, and the inherent status of the Han Privy Council was greatly weakened, and its politics of soldiers and horses was henceforth vested in the Southern Privy Council.
It can be seen from this that the Han Privy Council is a reflection of the idea of "Khitan rule by Han occupation" in the official system of the Liao Dynasty, which is a flash in the pan, and after experiencing the fireworks of the early Liao Dynasty, it fades into the sky of history like fireworks. The demise of the Han Privy Council was "the embodiment of the Liao Dynasty rulers' pursuit of 'military and state affairs and han discord'".
North of the Privy Council
The Northern Privy Council is divided into the Northern Privy Council of the Khitan and the Southern Privy Council of the Khitan Dynasty.
As the supreme ruling organ of the Liao Dynasty, it was not the original of the Liao Dynasty itself, but the result of the inheritance and transformation of the official system of the feudal regime in the Central Plains, and finally played a vital role in the development of the Liao Dynasty both reasonably and unexpectedly. At the beginning of Sejong's reign, there was still a confrontation between the ruling clique and the conservative forces that tended to be Sinicized, and the contradictions that existed during the Taizong period could not be properly resolved, and the contradictions between the two sides were still sharp.
In his early years, he accompanied Emperor Taizong on his southern expedition, which made Sejong deeply familiar with the privy council's military and political leaders, and had a profound understanding of the privy system of the Later Jin Dynasty. In the first year of Datong (947), Sejong "set up privy councillors in the northern and southern provinces above the northern and southern zai chancellor's offices, and was responsible for various military and political affairs of the Khitans, including "the administration of military aircraft, martial arts, and herdsmen, and all Khitan military horses belong to Yan". He was appointed as the Privy Counsellor of the Northern Yuan, quan, to manage the government of the Khitan soldiers and horses, so that the military and political power could be guaranteed to be firmly in the hands of Sejong, and it would be much easier to control the Liao government.
In September of the same year, Sejong appointed "Gao Xun as the Privy Counsellor of the Southern Yuan" and was responsible for khitan civil affairs:
"In charge of the government of WenQuan, the clan, and The Ding Fu, all the Khitan people belong to yan", and the privy councillor system of the two chambers was formally formed. The Northern and Southern Privy Councils of the Khitans were in charge of all military and political affairs of the Khitans, and the Northern and Southern Privy Councillors were "in charge of state affairs together."
The North and South houses seem to be juxtaposed, and there is no doubt that the North Privy Council is the highest administrative body among the northern officials. The institutions and officials of the Khitan Northern and Southern Privy Councils are basically the same, and the words "south" and "north" are used in the front to distinguish them.
Since then, the Northern Privy Council headed by An Shu and the Southern Privy Council headed by Gao Xun, together with the Han Privy Council headed by Gao Xun, have formed a pattern of coexistence of the three chambers, forming a pattern of coexistence of the three chambers, and the responsibilities of the three chambers are different. The Northern Privy Council was mainly responsible for the military affairs of the Khitan soldiers and horses, the Southern Privy Council was responsible for civil affairs, and the Han Privy Council was in charge of all the affairs of the Han people.
As the process of feudalization accelerated, the need for rulers to further strengthen the authoritarian centralization was imminent. The most important of these is the further centralization of power in the northern official system, that is, the consolidation of all the affairs of the Han Privy Council "in charge of the government of the Han people and horses, and the initial merger of Shangshu Province" into the northern official system, and the coexistence of the three courts is very short-lived.
After the death of Zhao Yanshou, a Han secret envoy in the second year of Tianlu (948), his general Han army affairs were replaced by Gao Xun. After the Southern Privy Council replaced the Han Privy Council, the Liao Dynasty Privy Council gradually formed a situation in which the Northern and Southern Privy Councils were established side by side.
With the gradual strengthening of the power of the Northern and Southern Privy Councils, the functions and division of labor of the Northern and Southern Privy Councils of the Khitan Continued to Change in the process of expanding their power. By the time of Emperor Shengzong of Liao, it gradually evolved into a Khitan and Han chinese division institution that "divided the Khitan and Han people into northern and southern Privy Councils". At this time, the southern official system also became an auxiliary institution of the northern official system, and the important administrative department in the southern official system, Zhongshu Province, also became an auxiliary institution of the Khitan Southern Privy Council, or the Khitan Southern Privy Council was the superior competent department of Zhongshu Province. At this point, the development of the Privy Council system of the Liao Dynasty was fixed, and the final Liao dynasty did not change.
Zhongshu Province
During the Liao Taizu Yelü Abaoji period, a government decree was set up, "Han Yanhui, Taizu Shi was a government affairs order". At this time, although there were already officials of government decrees, there was no office, but only a fictitious title to commend the merits of his subordinates. Sejong Tianlu began to establish the province of government affairs in the fourth year (950), and was renamed Zhongshu Province in the thirteenth year of Emperor Xingzong's reign (1044). Zhongshu Province is still an important administrative department among the officials of the southern dynasty, mainly governing the affairs of the prefectures and counties in the Yanyun area, and its establishment means that the system of officials and prime ministers in the south is formed, which is of symbolic significance.
The Grand Chancellor and the Left and Right Chancellors were senior positions for the governor of Zhongshu Province, and were not very granted. Zhongshu Ling, Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, and Counselor Zhi were the heads and vice-chancellors of the southern system, and all three were borrowed from the Tang system and had important functions. In particular, the change in the power of Zhongshu Ling is closely related to other important officials of Zhongshu Province, and the change in the position of Zhongshu Province in different periods can be seen from the change of Zhongshu Ling's position in different periods. The early Zhongshu Ling played an important role in the political affairs of the Liao Dynasty.
The southern official system was established, and Zhongshu Province naturally became the prime minister organ in the southern official system, so Zhongshu Ling also became the southern prime minister. However, the Zhongshu Ling of the Liao Dynasty as prime minister was not the same in status and function as the Zhongshu Ling of the Tang Dynasty. As one of the three provincial prime ministers, the status of zhongshu ling in the Tang Dynasty is self-evident; the Liao Dynasty Zhongshu ling has more important officials above it in terms of status.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Zhongshu Order summarized all the major affairs of the whole country, and the superintendents of the state civilian officials and local important officials were authorized in the Zhongshu; the affairs that the Zhongshu Ling of the Liao Dynasty could involve were mainly to manage the Han people and "all the matters involving the Han and han dynasties", and its authority was far less than that of the Tang Dynasty Zhongshu Order. At the same time, in terms of the power of quan-que to elect officials, Sejong Tianlu issued an edict in May of the fifth year (951) that "the prefecture and county recorders join the army, and the main book committee political affairs province quan notes", and the Liaoshi Yingwei Zhi also contains "The civil officials and county orders record the following ... Listening to the Zhongshu QuanXuan", two historical materials show that Zhongshu Province only has a file note and an authorization for some low-ranking grass-roots civil officials in the southern counties and counties.
By the middle of the Liao Dynasty, with the acceleration of the pace of feudalization and the need to further strengthen imperial power, the rulers appointed Han and Khitan people to take turns or jointly serve as Zhongshu Ling, which was a significant change in the Zhongshu Ling during this period. The power of the Zhongshu Order was shared by the Han and Khitans, and in this way, the power of the chancellor was in fact greatly reduced; on the side, this strengthened the centralization of power. Then it is not difficult to explain the reason why the behavior of "giving officials" and "adding officials" in Zhongshu Ling appeared at this time at the phenomenon level.
"Officials" are often given a certain reward for meritorious retirees or martyrs. "Additional official" refers to the addition of other official titles in addition to the original official position to show respect. Zhongshu Ling was conferred as an additional official, especially the title of "Zhongshu Ling" to the northern imperial official, who "could legitimately inquire and participate in the discussion of the affairs of Zhongshu Province" and "coordinate the commanding relationship between the northern and southern officials and the central and local officials". It should be mentioned here that the Liao dynasty followed the "envoy minister" system that prevailed in the central plains official system since the Tang and Song dynasties, and that "princes, privy councillors, left-behind envoys, jiedu envoys and attendants, Zhongshu Ling, and Tongping Zhangshi are all called envoys."
The setting of the Zhongshu Ling in the middle of the Liao Dynasty not only met the urgent desire of the Khitan nobles to become high-ranking officials, but also adapted to the practical needs of the rulers to strengthen the centralization of power, and it was also the beginning of the gradual evolution of the Zhongshu Ling into a "false title". By the late Liao Dynasty, the Suffragan Government Affairs replaced Zhongshu Ling as the actual prime minister in the south, and the Suffragists were set up in the middle of the Liao Dynasty by referring to the Tang Dynasty or the Five Dynasties' official system, almost all of which were held by Han Chinese. During this period, Liao was in a critical stage of feudalization, and many affairs needed to be handled by the Han people in accordance with the provisions of the feudal system, and the addition of "participatory governors to the officials of Zhongshu Province was the result of the Khitan rulers constantly adjusting the political structure according to their needs."
As the deputy of Zhongshu Ling in the early days of the establishment of the Zhongshu Ling, he ostensibly assisted the work of the Zhongshu Ling, but in fact he restrained the power of the Zhongshu Ling, and from the time of Emperor Xingzong of Liao, the Suffragists had a tendency to take full control of zhongshu province. Zhongshu Ling only had the official title of prime minister during this period, becoming a "false title" representing a very high honor. Even if Zhongshu Ling became a fictitious title and could not truly exercise the power of prime minister, it still played an important role in the ceremonial exchanges between the Liao Dynasty and the surrounding regimes.
The process of Zhongshu Ling's evolution from a real position to a false title was accompanied by the feudalization process of Liao dynasty society.
Under the guidance of the system of "ruling according to customs", in order to adapt to the differentiated characteristics of politics, economy, culture, society, and diplomacy in various historical stages, the Liao Dynasty critically viewed the Central Plains canonical system in light of its own reality, actively adjusted the state system, and effectively consolidated state power, effectively maintained social order, and strengthened authoritarian centralism in this process. The provincial system of the Liao Dynasty itself has a special nature. It is different from the overlapping and imaginary system of the three provinces connected by the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties, and the Song Dynasty, and its functions are not only far inferior to the Zhongshu Province in the Tang and Song Dynasties, but the Zhongshu Province of the Liao Dynasty has been separated from the involvement of the three-province system, independent, and has become the ruling organ at the central level of the Liao Dynasty.
Imperial Observatory
In the same year (938), Emperor Taizong of Liao established the Imperial History Platform, which was successively appointed by The Imperial Historian, the Imperial Historian, the Imperial Attendant, the Imperial Attendant in the Temple, and the Inspector Of Imperial History, who was the chief supervisor of the civil and military officials and impeached the lawless, and was the most important supervisory body of the Liao Dynasty. Compared with the Tang and Song dynasties, judicial picketing and unjust prison trials received special attention, but the actual power was slightly reduced.
During the Liao Dynasty, the Central Supervision System followed the principle of dual-track parallelism and rule according to customs, incorporating the supervision system into the southern and northern official systems, with the Southern Imperial History Platform as the mainstay, and the Central Cheng Division under the Privy Council in the north responsible for the management, picketing, and reporting of hundreds of officials, both of which had the power of supervision and impeachment, and the functions intersected with each other.
At the same time, Khitan officials accounted for a high proportion of yushitai, indicating that although a large number of Han Chinese were absorbed into the political process in the process of development, they still favored their own ethnic groups, especially high-level officials in the nobles and judicial institutions, and were keen to elect them as government officials to consolidate their own rule, as stated in the "History of Liao" "Hundred Officials Choose People, Must First Have The Clan Name".
Dali Temple
Dali Temple is mainly responsible for the trial of Han prisons in the south, and it is a judicial affairs institution set up by the Liao with reference to the Tang Dynasty system. The History of Liao does not explicitly mention the time of the official establishment of the Dali Temple institution in the Liao Dynasty. The "Yingwei Zhizhong" records that the Southern Official System Entourage Agency when the Khitan Emperor patrolled at the time of the Fourth Hour had "Yushitai and Dali Temple to choose one person to follow", which confirmed the existence of Dali Temple and the existence of this institution with official positions that could accompany the "patrol".
According to this record, Dali Temple should exist at the same time as zhongshu province, Yushitai and other southern official entourage institutions. Unlike The Imperial Observatory, dali temple is related to special business, Han officials occupy an absolute position in Dali temple, these officials have a high level of education, many of them are from the jinshi background, and the characteristics of "treating Han people with a Han system" are particularly prominent in Dali Temple.
Hanlin Temple
The Hanlin Academy was basically set up with reference to the Tang system, and was one of the important institutions of the official system in southern Liaoning, "in charge of the affairs of Tianzi Wenhan", in charge of important clerical affairs for the emperor, accompanied by the emperor on tour or expedition, and played a more important role in some major ceremonial affairs or activities. However, the setting of its official system, on the basis of the Tang system, also bears the national characteristics of the Liao regime.
Zhizhi Zhizhi, Hanlin Bachelor, Hanlin Scholar Chengzhi, etc. are generally similar to the Tang Dynasty, and on top of the Hanlin Scholar's Undertaking, there are "South Linya", "Hanlin Dulinya", "Linya" is the name of the Khitan official, and there is a Dalinya courtyard in the northern official system, and its highest official is "North Dulinya", and the officials who appear in the Southern Hanlin Courtyard are obviously influenced by the official system of the northern official system of the Khitan clan, and most of the officials who hold these two official positions are Khitan nobles, while the officials below the Hanlin Scholar's Tuchengzhi are mostly Han. This at least reflects the dominance of the Khitan in this institution, and in a sense also shows the importance attached to wenhan affairs.
In the Southern Liaoning Dynasty, the official system was established late, and some were set up to achieve special functions, so there were more missing data.
In summary, the power of the southern official is smaller than that of the northern official, but it is still a complete system that exists relative to the northern official system. Although some departments had always been valued in the Liao Dynasty and had the power to influence the political situation in a certain historical period, the functions and powers of the second chancellor's office, the second royal court, and the northern official's privy council could not be compared at all. In such a political structure with the Khitan as the ruling nation, the northern official system was in power.