A Study On Sansishi Of Northern Song Dynasty

Sansishi is the leader of three financial departments which are Yantie,Duzhi and Hubu. It was sprouted at the end of Tang Dynasty, established in Five Dynasties, consummated in Northern Song Dynasty. It appeared, developed, vanished under the background of tremendous changes which include politics, economy, military. It was a product of Tang Song's transformation.The development of Sansishi tended to be consummate in Northern Song Dynasty. It became the supreme head of finance besides emperor. Sansishi not only dealt with internal affairs of three financial departments, but also recommended official, compiled account book, managed military expenditure, made suggestions about military administration and so on. The qualification was very strict to take up the post of Sansishi. Sansishi was nominated by emperor or prime minister. Its tenure was very short, only one year and three months on average. A quarter of Sansishi was probably promoted to be prime minister. The status of Sansishi came to a head, so Sansishi played an important role in the power center of Northern Song Dynasty.Most of Sansishi were emperor's trustful officials, the emperor grasped the ownership of property by controlling Sansishi. In order to keep balance in power, the emperor also took charge of the storage wealth to restrict Sansishi's power. Sansishi couldn't content with prime minister who could appoint and remove it and its underling, Sansishi and prime minister managed financial affairs together. Compared with emperor and prime minister, Sansishi played a weak role, so it was likely to act as the victim when emperor contested with prime minister.Sansishi of Northern Song Dynasty was set up in order to strengthen centralization. Later, excessive centralization resulted in administrative inefficiency. Government tried to adjust it, but with little result. In the end, Sansishi was replaced by the leader of Hubu...