A Study On The Supervisory Functions Of Shangshu Tai In The Eastern Han Dynasty

The supervisory system is an important part of the ancient bureaucratic politics.Its development reflects the interaction between the imperial power and the bureaucratic group.As the foundation of ancient supervisory system,the multiple supervisory system of Han Dynasty has its own characteristics.Since Emperor Wu of Han,the central level has formed a situation of three-point supervisory power by Yu Shi Zhongcheng,Chengxiang Sizhi and Sili Xiaowei.In the Eastern Han Dynasty,the pattern of multiple supervision continued to be maintained.At present,academia has made a lot of achievements in the research of the supervisory system of the Han Dynasty.However,the supervisory functions of the Shangshu tai of the Eastern Han Dynasty have been neglected,which is undoubtedly a great defect in the research of the Shangshu tai and the supervisory system of the Han Dynasty.Therefore,this paper attempts to make a systematic study of the supervisory functions of the Shangshu tai in the Eastern Han Dynasty on the basis of the relevant research of the predecessors,mainly from the following aspects:The first chapter describes the background and causes of the supervision of Shangshu in the Eastern Han Dynasty,mainly from the three aspects of the system of Shangshu,political environment and practical needs.The reasons why Shangshu developed from the clerical officials close to the emperor to the administrative center and gained the supervisory functions are not only related to the development of Shangshu institution itself,but also the inevitable result of the centralized system of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the use of multiple supervisory system in strengthening the imperial power.The second chapter studies the operation of the supervisory functions of Shangshu tai in the Eastern Han Dynasty from three aspects of the subject,content and method of supervision.The officials in Shangshu tai can not only exercise supervisory power extensively,but also supervise the administration,judicature and etiquette.In addition to impeaching officials who are illegal or dereliction of duty,the Shangshu tai can also exercise the supervisory functions by means of the review of the impeachments,the review of the elected officials,and persuasion of the emperor.The third chapter explores the similarities and differences between the supervision of Shangshu and other supervision,mainly from the two aspects of the status of supervision and the exercise of supervisory power.Compared with Yushi tai,Sili Xiaowei or Sizhi,Shangshu tai not only integrates administrative power and supervisory power,but also gets close to the emperor,which further strengthens the imperial power’s control over supervisory power.The fourth chapter analyzes the actual effect of the supervisory functions of shangshu tai in the Eastern Han Dynasty,mainly from the two dimensions of its essence and operation effect.In essence,it is the result of the expansion of imperial power,and played the role in restricting other supervisory organs to a certain extent,thus solving the problem of imperial power falling in the late Western Han Dynasty in a short period of time.However,the design of this system also has a fatal defect.It is highly dependent on the imperial power,so it is easily used by the appendages of the imperial power(relatives and eunuchs),thus deviating from its original intention of the design of supervising officials,and reducing it to a tool for fighting against dissidents in the political struggle.The fifth chapter reflects on the supervisory functions of the Shangshu tai in the Eastern Han Dynasty.The history of the development of the Shangshu in the Han Dynasty shows that the ancient supervision followed the evolutionary path from the inside out,which hides the essence of the supervisory power.Under the background of imperial autocracy,there are unavoidable defects in both the separation and exclusive of supervisory power,which can not really play the role of supervising all officials and clarifying the administration of officials.