Three Ducal Ministers


The Three Ducal Ministers, also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in ancient China.

Overview

Each minister was responsible for different areas of government, but the boundaries were often blurred. Together, the Three Ducal Ministers were the emperor's closest advisors. Toward the end of the dynasty, the positions were often sold to men of wealth to raise state revenue. The Three Ducal Ministers were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 AD and replaced with the position of Imperial Chancellor.
Starting in the late Shang dynasty and Zhou dynasty, the top three were:
During the Western Han dynasty, the three positions were:
In the Eastern Han dynasty, the names of the Three Ducal Ministers were changed to:
Because all the three name have the word "司", at the Eastern Han, the Three Ducal Ministers were also called "Sansī".

Rank

During the Han dynasty, civil service officials were classified according to twenty grades, expressed by the official's annual salary in terms of number of dàn or Chinese bushels of grain. This ranged from the ten-thousand-bushel rank at the top to the one-hundred-bushel at the bottom. Under this system, the Three Ducal Ministers all held the highest rank of ten-thousand-bushel.

Citations