Research On The Impeachment Power Of Yushi In Tang Dynasty

In Tang Dynasty, Yushi (the censor in the feudal China) system has developed to a certain height. The reason is complicated, but there is a main factor which should not be neglected, that is to improve the impeachment power of Yushi. Simply put, Yushi system reaches a certain height or not is concerned with two powers:the procuratorial power and the impeachment power. They are closely linked and complement each other; they devote to achieving the common goal of the censor system. This paper will choose one of the impeachment powers as subject, hoping that through the deep research on the impeachment power, people can understand the nature of the impeachment power as an important part of the Yushi system and the historical destiny decided by its characteristic. In addition to the introduction, this paper is mainly divided into five parts.The first part is mainly about the development and evolution of the impeachment power of Yushi. Through the study, we find that in Tang Dynasty, the development trend of the impeachment power of Yushi shows parabolic features. From Tang Dynasty to the Wu Zetian period, the impeachment power was in progressive stages of development, and reaches the apex in the Wu Zetian period; after Wu Zetian but before An Lushan Rebellion, the impeachment power had a short rise period due to the good governance of Emperor Xuanzong. After An Lushan Rebellion, the impeachment power gradually becomes weak because of the falling imperial power, the rising power of the prime minister and the local regime in feudal China. In third part this chapter, it focuses on the analysis of the reason that the impeachment power was able to reach the peak during the period of Wu Zetian.The second part focuses on the subjects of the impeachment power of Yushi. It starts from two perspectives. From the perspective of the mechanism, the Yushi Tai (the censorate) is the executive body of the impeachment power. The pattern of the Yushi Tai is "one Tai, three Yuan (institute)", namely, Tai Yuan, Dian Yuan and Cha Yuan. From the perspective of the personals, Yushi is the executive body of the impeachment power, which can be divided into five parts:the Yushi Dafu, Yushi Zhongcheng, Shi Yushi, Dianzhong Shi Yushi and the supervisory Yushi. Each Yushi takes different part but they cooperate with each other and fulfill the supervisory functions of all the officials. The third part takes the objects of the impeachment power of the Yushi as the research object. And the study finds that the object protected by the impeachment power is divided into three aspects. They respectively are to maintain the political order, economic order and military order of the feudal rule. However, the most important object is to maintain the political order of the feudal governance, namely to make every management systems to the officials.The fourth part is mainly about the operation procedures of the impeachment power of Yushi. Through the study, we find the operation procedure is divided into two stages. At first, the Yushi brings in the impeachment case in a certain procedures and methods according to the regulations of the Lv, Ling, Ge and Shi. Then the emperor decides the impeachment case, to impeach or not and which institute he should hand it over according to the nature of the cases.The fifth part is about the restraining factors of the impeachment power of Yushi. Through the study on the history of two hundred and ninety years, we can find that whether the impeachment powers of Yushi can be run well or not depends on four factors:the imperial power factor, the Prime Minister Power factor, self factor and other factors. However the determinant factor is the imperial power. Ultimately, all of the other three factors are subject to the imperial power factors.