(A) the embryonic stage of the pre-Qin period. In the state affairs of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there were already factors or activities of supervision. The imperial history of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period had the mission of supervision. However, during this period, full-time supervision institutions have not yet been produced, and as a strict supervision system, they have not yet been established.
(2) The formation stage of Qin and Han Dynasties. The Qin Dynasty established the Imperial Medical Administration as the central supervisory organization, and established the county imperial history at the local level. The Han dynasty inherited the Qin system. At the same time, the central government set up the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and at the same time added the Prime Minister Si Zhi and a captain Li Si as the central supervisory officers. Established 13 local departments to supervise local 2000 stone officials, and formulated the first special local supervision regulations. Officials who gave advice to officials and doctors also came out.
(3) the development stage of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The central censorate was separated from the Shaofu and directly obeyed by the emperor. The supervisory organization was initially unified, and the supervisory power was expanded, and everything was corrected from the Crown Prince. The system of admonition officials began to be standardized and systematized, and a special province for admonition officials was established in the Southern Dynasties.
(4) The mature stage of Sui and Tang Dynasties. Sui set up an imperial history room, a secretarial office and an exhaust fan room, which were responsible for internal and external supervision respectively. In the Tang Dynasty, there were three courtyards: Tai Yuan, Dian Yuan and chayuan, with clear division of labor and mutual cooperation. The local area was divided into ten (later increased to fifteen) monitoring areas, forming a relatively strict monitoring network. The organization of remonstrating officials is divided into two provinces: Zhongshu and Menxia, forming a situation of coexistence of remonstrating and remonstrating.
(5) The strengthening stage in Song and Yuan Dynasties. In the Song Dynasty, the remonstrance court was established, and the remonstrance power of Taiwan Province began to be mixed and unified. The local supervision department has a supervision department and judges, and the emperor of Zhili. The yuan dynasty abolished the remonstrance court and unified Taiwan remonstrance. The local authorities have set up an Imperial History Desk, which governs 22 prison districts, and each prison district has a special envoy (the Department of Punishment and Supervision) to prevent corruption, thus integrating the central and local authorities in the supervision institutions. The Yuan Dynasty also formulated a set of supervision laws and regulations.
(6) The rigorous stage in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, Yushitai was changed to Douchayuan, and then the imperial court was stopped, and six departments were set up, focusing on affairs and becoming six independent supervision institutions with both discipline and morality. According to the suggestion and the provincial criminal department, thirteen local inspection departments are set up, and at the same time, the governor is set up to form a three-level local inspection department network. In the Qing dynasty, the six subjects were placed under the Duchayuan, and the subjects and Taoism were unified, and the local supervision continued to use the Ming system. At this point, the ancient supervision system in China reached a high degree of unity and strictness. In the name of the emperor, the Qing Dynasty also formulated the most complete supervision code in ancient China, the Law of Imperial Discipline Compliance. During this period, the feudal supervision system in China reached the peak of history.
The specific content of the ancient supervision system in China shows the following characteristics:
(a) the emperor has the highest supervision. Under the autocratic system, the highest supervisory power belongs to the emperor, and the whole supervisory process, from correction to discussion, from verification to re-dissolution, must be carried out according to orders, and finally the emperor will make a ruling. The effect of supervision depends on the wisdom of the emperor, and the supervisor depends on the protection of the emperor.
(2) The supervision institutions are independent and supervise vertically from top to bottom. Due to the separation of the Yushitai in Wei and Jin Dynasties from the Shaofu, the main body of central supervision was separated from the administrative organs, forming an independent supervision organ. Local supervisory organs and supervisory organs are generally not subordinate to local government organs. This kind of supervision system is conducive to the independent exercise of supervision power by supervision institutions and the elimination of interference by administrative heads at the same level or at higher levels.
(3) Pay attention to the selection of supervisors. Rulers of past dynasties attached great importance to the selection of supervisors. In other words, supervisors are required to have integrity, rich official experience and excellent political achievements, and they are also required to have high cultural quality.
(4) Assess supervisors strictly according to their performance. The feudal rulers in China assessed the supervisors according to their actual performance and adopted some quantitative methods, which could make the supervisors do their duty, be proactive and reduce the phenomenon of false supervision.
(5) wind is allowed. Supervisors can get wind of things, which is a very useful provision in the ancient supervision system of China. It can make the inspector boldly and widely exercise his supervisory power, which is conducive to improving the efficiency of supervision and strengthening the monarch's control over ministers.
The development process of China's ancient supervision system can be found to have the following characteristics:
(a) "Isomorphism"-The establishment of supervisory bodies is similar.
No matter how the world changes in Cang Sang, how the dynasty is overthrown and rebuilt, and whether the Han nationality or ethnic minorities are in power, the general supervisory organs and the supervisory organs of past dynasties have not changed much as a whole, and even the names, official names and tastes of the institutions are similar. Officials at the central level have high rank and great power. However, officials in charge of local supervision have lower professional titles, and most of them are seven-quality officials. This is a way of controlling the big by small, forcing officials who perform supervision tasks to work hard and be diligent.
The establishment of the supervisory organization reflects the super-stability of the political system of the feudal dynasty in China. It also embodies the class attribute of the feudal ruling group. Of course, with the development of history and society, especially the different background of dynasties, the supervision mechanism and operation mode of its supervision system will inevitably change.
(B) differences-the need to strengthen the imperial power politics
There are many reasons for promoting the reform of the supervision system in the past dynasties within the scope of "degree", but the fundamental one is to strengthen the imperial power. A history of feudal supervision system, in a sense, can be said to be a history of maintaining imperial dictatorship. While weakening their own supervision, rulers of past dynasties must strengthen supervision over central and local officials. The general principle of the reform of supervision system and the establishment of new operation mechanism is to strengthen imperial power. The "secretariat system" founded by Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty is proof. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the territory was constantly expanding, and the number of administrative agencies, counties and countries also increased greatly. The original supervision system could not meet the needs of rule. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the local supervisors sent staff to stay permanently, and the second was to send supervisors to inspect the counties from time to time. This method soon showed its weaknesses: first, the management was chaotic and the clues were difficult to understand; Second, when the central inspector was stationed in the local area all the year round, he colluded with the governors or local governors and rebelled repeatedly, so the court supervision was no longer credible. In the fifth year of Yuanfeng, he made up his mind to "set up a secretariat at the beginning".
The secretariat supervision system designed and established by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and its operation mode are indeed unique. First of all, the secretariat was directly appointed by the emperor, which extended the imperial power vertically downward, and no official dared to compete with it. Second, the authority is clear, the task is single, the secretariat only supervises, and the target is mainly local governors at the state level. Third, although the secretariat has great power, it is also greatly restricted. He can only ask questions with "six articles", and it is illegal to ask questions beyond the scope of six articles. He only has the right to "play illegally" and has no right to punish officials. In addition, the official rank of the Secretariat is not high, and there are only 600 stones in Lu Feng. After nine years in office, he is expected to be promoted. This forced the Secretariat to make every effort to "correct the disintegration". Fourth, the secretariat himself is subject to double supervision, and his activities are directly under the command and supervision of the prime minister Cheng and Si, so the secretariat dare not deviate easily. This kind of supervision system with clear authority played an important role in strengthening local control in Han Dynasty.
Alienation-a "double-edged sword" in the hands of rulers
In order to strengthen supervision, rulers of past dynasties adopted two methods. First, raise the level of central supervisory officials and make their institutions and officials authoritative. Second, in terms of specific operations, the practices of past dynasties can be summarized as two sentences: to control the big with small ones, and to control the outside with internal ones. In other words, the official position of the censor who is responsible for patrolling the place is very low, usually seven products. Officials (governors) are officials of the central organization, representing the emperor and the court to go out to see things. This method of controlling from small to large and from internal to external can not only improve the authority of implementation and supervision, but also facilitate the control of local governments and curb their arrogance and abuse of power. Rulers' intentions are not bad, but things always have two sides: while increasing the power of supervision institutions, it also hides the alienation of supervision power. Therefore, once the supervisor lost or got rid of the supervision, it became the opposite of the feudal dynasty and the catalyst to accelerate the collapse of the dynasty. But once the supervisor lost or got rid of the supervision, he began to alienate and became the opposite of the feudal dynasty and the catalyst to accelerate the collapse of the dynasty.
The sword of supervision in the hands of rulers may cut themselves.
Vulnerability-"strong cadres and weak branches" eventually went against their wishes.
There is an obvious defect in the supervision system of China in past dynasties, that is, the supervision of officials in the capital is more important than that of local officials. This is true whether it is the setting of official positions, the size of the power given, or the organizational system. The officials who supervise the capital are senior officials, while the officials who inspect local censorship institutions are junior officials. In terms of organizational structure, the central government's supervision of imperial history is often only located at the provincial level, and there are few dynasties that set up institutions at the government level, and there are almost no administrative organizations at or below the county level. The vast majority of officials who specialize in supervision are county governors or deputies, or "self-correcting". Why? Probably they think that the most direct threat to the survival of the dynasty mainly comes from the dignitaries in the court. The same is true of historical facts. In many dynasties, the change of the throne was often caused by the coup of the official court. Those "three officials and nine ministers" who hold various powers are naturally uneasy, so the focus of supervision is on them, forming a supervision model of "strong cadres and weak branches".
Analyzing this model again, we can find that this practice is the product of extreme individualism in the final analysis. To put it bluntly, let them sit on the throne. What they are most concerned about and worried about is the official coup. Because, once the power is sidelined, those who are loyal to their masters, including the supervisors, always watch the wind and steer, and the new dignitaries will put the throne in danger.
The fragility of the feudal dynasty supervision system is also manifested in its restriction mechanism. No matter how strict and comprehensive the supervision means are in any dynasty, the organizational line of supervision is always the same: supervising officials by officials. There is no record of mobilizing ordinary people to supervise officials in past dynasties.
Based on the above four aspects, we can draw the following conclusions: the supervision system of feudal dynasties played a positive role in the formation and consolidation of China's unified multi-ethnic country in the process of historical development; Today's political system reform and discipline inspection and supervision system construction can still be used for reference. However, no matter how perfect the supervision system of the feudal dynasty was. No matter how strict and comprehensive it is, it can't solve the internal contradictions of the feudal dynasty and save the fate of the inevitable demise of the feudal exploitation system.