The Tang Dynasty was the peak of feudal law in China, which played an important role in the history of ancient Chinese law development. In the Tang Dynasty, the central judicial organ was called Dali Temple, which was headed by Qing and deputy, and was mainly responsible for hearing the cases of more than 100 central officials and Beijing Normal University. However, only the punishments department can exercise the jurisdiction over cases of imprisonment and exile, and the punishments department takes Shangshu and Assistant Minister as the main officials and adjutants. In fact, the judicial power of the Tang Dynasty was mainly controlled by Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment.
In the early Song Dynasty, the Tang system was followed. In the central government, the judicial institution was Dali Temple. The review organ of Dali Temple's judgment is the Ministry of Punishment. Song Taizong set up a trial court in the palace, and put the review power of Dali Temple and the punishments into the trial court. Song Shenzong, and restore the Dali Temple and the censors of punishments. In the Song Dynasty, in addition to Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment, there was also a censorate, which not only enjoyed the right to supervise, but also enjoyed the right to judge officials for breaking the law. Therefore, the judicial power in Song Dynasty was mainly controlled by Dali Temple, Ministry of Punishment and Yushitai.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the judiciary was in charge, and the administration held the judicial power. At this time, the penalty department is in charge of judicial administration and trial, and partially exercises judicial power. As the monks in the Yuan Dynasty enjoyed special rights, the judicial organs in the Yuan Dynasty also included Zheng Xuan Academy, which was the central organ that presided over the national Buddhist affairs and directed the military and political affairs in the Tubo region, and exercised judicial power over criminal and civil cases of monks and officials. Therefore, the judicial power of the Yuan Dynasty was mainly exercised by the administration, the Ministry of Punishment and Zheng Xuan Academy.
The judicial organs in the Ming Dynasty were collectively referred to as the "Three Legal Departments", namely, the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple and Duchayuan. In the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Punishment took the place of Dali Temple in charge of the main trial business. Dali Temple has become a cautious punishment organ, mainly managing the refutation and rehabilitation of unjust, false and misjudged cases. Duchayuan can not only supervise the judicial organs, but also have the right to "judge major issues and decide minor issues". To some extent, the "three major legal departments" embody the characteristics of separation and mutual restriction of the three powers.
The Qing dynasty inherited the "three-law division" system of the Ming dynasty, and the judicial organs were still the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple and Duchayuan. But at this time, the functions and powers of the three organs were very different from those of the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, the Ministry of Punishment was still the central judicial organ, but its scope of authority far exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty. It not only enjoyed judicial power, but also enjoyed the power of penalty review and execution. The status of Dali Temple in Qing Dynasty was far worse than that of the previous generation. Its main duty was to examine the cases that the Ministry of Punishment planned to sentence to death. Duchayuan is a law and discipline supervision organ, which not only examines death penalty cases, but also participates in autumn and hot trials and supervises officials.