A Study On The Administrative Stratification In The Sansheng System Of The Yuanfeng Reform

This article mainly deals with the administrative stratification in the Shansheng 三省system of the Yuanfeng Reform 元丰改制. By studying the changing patterns of thegovernmental administrative stratification in the early Northern Song, the Xining 熙宁movement and the Yuanfeng period, this article discusses the process on howYuanfeng's administrative stratification system was formed since the Northern Songdynasty was established.This article defines the administrative stratification as a category of the stratification inwhich diverse bureaucratic branches including the emperor and the prime ministerformed different ranks and shared different powers of decision-making andadministrative-practice.During the period of early Northern Song dynasty, the emperor situated at the center ofthe whole administrative reporting system. The Zhongshumenxia 中 书 门 下 andShumiyuan 枢密院 had special power to make the final administrative decision on somecommon daily administrative affairs. Other departments such as Sansi 三司 andShenxingyuan 审刑院 only had the power to make suggestions on the administrativeaffairs they received and reported their suggestions to the emperor. On the other hand, bystudying the governmental documents such as the Chidie 敕牒, Gaoshen 告身 and Zhazi札子, we can draw a conclusion that on the process of administrative operational system,the emperor and the prime minister can be regarded as two sections on the same chain.They commonly shared the powers of decision-making and administrative-practice,while other governmental departments do not have clear ranks during the process thedealt with daily administrative affairs.During the Xining movement, two kinds of administrative stratification formed. First,by dealing with the administrative affairs relating to the Xiningbianfa 熙宁变法, theemperor, the prime minister and the other new bureaucratic departments followed theadministrative stratification that formed in the early Northern Song dynasty. Second, onthe matters of daily common affairs, the administrative power was partly shifted from theemperor and prime minister to the lower ranked departments. Such changes alsomotivated the appearing of Liubu 六部 system in the Yuanfeng reform.In the Sanshengliubu 三省六部 system of the Yuanfeng Reform, the administrativestratification for dealing with the Wufashishi 无法式事 still followed the system of earlyNorthern Song dynasty. On dealing with the Youfashishi 有法式事, the administrativestratification walked on the track of Xining's new trend. Such patterns appeared in thestratification system, which can be generalized as the Liubu 六部-Shangshudusheng 尚书都 省 -Menxiasheng 门 下 省 and Zhongshusheng 中 书 省 line. The Yuanfeng'sadministrative stratification system was the one that combined the changing patterns inthe stratification systems of the early Northern Song and Xining periods. The Learning ofTangliudian 唐六典 in Shenzong's 神宗 period was another facilitating factors thatmotivated the establishment of Yuanfeng's administrative stratification system.