Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2014

 

Zhai Gong in the Tsinghua Bamboo Slips and the Three Ministers of the Western Zhou

(Abstract)

 

Du Yong

 

The Zhai Gong on the Tsinghua Bamboo Slips comes from a dependable Western Zhou source. The names of the Three Ministers inscribed on the slips have provided a new line of research on the collegial system set by the three ministers. "Three Ministers" was a general term of address for the executive ministers, not limited to three, who worked in the Western Zhou court. They usually included three to six chief officials from the Bureau of Administration and the Grand Secretariat, one of whom would generally be the Chief Executive Minister. The "Three Ministers" were chosen from among the feudal lords with the rank of count in the capital city and its environs; it was rare for people living outside the capital to be chosen to work at court. Most of the Chief Executive Ministers were treated as having the rank of duke, but to maintain the political vitality of the administration, such titles were rarely inherited by their sons. With the proviso that the Zhou ruler had the supreme decision-making power, the "Three Ministers" of the Western Zhou carried out the functions of the central government through a collegial system, a system implemented with a certain degree of democracy and optimization of executive decision-making.