An Preliminary Exploration On The Appointment And Dismission Of The Three Excellencies In Eastern Han Dynasty

Eastern Han Dynasty established the Three Excellencies System that was made up of supreme commander,minister of finance and minister of works at the central level on the basis of the Western Han and New Dynasty.The System lasted from the 1st year of Jianwu of Kuang-wu-ti(A.D.25),when it was established as the marshal of state,the grand minister of finance and the grand minister of works,and then was formally established as supreme commander,minister of finance and minister of works after being renamed in the 27th year of Jianwu(A.D.51),until the 13th year of Jianan of Hsien-ti(A.D.208),when it was abolished.It had been existing for 184 years and almost ran through the entire Eastern Han dynasty.In the meantime,there were 225 three excellencies or 155 people in all.Among them,there were 77 supreme commanders or 66 people,and 69 ministers of finance or 64 people,and 79 ministers of works or 73 people.As the core members of central officials,the three excellencies had a high status and played a enormous role in national political life.Being able to become the three excellencies should be extremely honorable to ministers.In Eastern Han,both central and local officials had an opportunity to becoming the three excellencies.Concerning central officials,not only could the incumbent three excellencies transfer to each other,but the retired could directly be promoted.Furthermore,both other senior officials like the grand tutors,general officers,and the relatively junior nine ministers,including their subordinate officials were the source approaches of the three excellencies.Besides,some others also had a chance to becoming the three excellencies,such as the colonel for internal security and the officials of the Palace of Prolonged Joy and the Palace of Perpetual Joy.Concerning local officials,among regional commissioners,governors of commanderies and prefects of counties,there were all such people who were directly appointed to the three excellencies.In addition,also there were individual people who held the post of the three excellencies with the orders of honor but without office status.From another point of view,the diversity of approaches to selecting the three excellencies,reflected the eclecticism of the court on this issue.By the appointment condition of the whole three excellencies in Eastern Han,compared with Western Han,we could find some interesting or special phenomena,which showed some characteristics.Firstly,a number of individuals had become the three excellencies more than once.They were at least twice,but no more than six times.Secondly,there were only few people that when they were appointed as the three excellencies,and in the meanwhile the marquisates were conferred on them.It was quite different from "the old system" that no sooner had someone been appointed as the chancellor than the marquisate was conferred on him since Wu-ti of Western Han Dynasty.Thirdly,many three excellencies could participate in the running of the central agency by the way of being made intendants of the secretariat.Fourthly,a few three excellencies were not formally appointed,but fulfilled the obligations of the three excellencies at other officials identities until their tenure ended.Fifthly,beyond the normal appointment system of the three excellencies,sometimes the court could temporarily appoint the three excellencies because of some particular affairs.Sixthly,the generational three excellencies,that is to say the family pattern of the three excellencies,related to 23 different families in total.The position of the three excellencies was so important that the appointment to them was generally affected by multifarious factors and the imperial power also had various considerations on this in actual political life.For instance,in the beginning and end of the Dynasty when wars were so frequent,it was relatively common for the three excellencies to be appointed because of military exploit.Besides,in most period of the Dynasty,in the case of the appointment to the three excellencies,it was the normality all the way that they were often selected from those who were proficient in Confucian classics,and possessed excellent virtue,and had outstanding abilities.However,the appointment to the three excellencies was always affected by some such abnormal factors as currying favour with those in power,buying offices for abundant cash,the need for restoring old systems and stabilizing social order,the rewards or compensations with human interest,powerful ministers being in the way.In Eastern Han,there were a set of procedures for the appointment to the three excellencies,while there were also corresponding procedures to execute when the posts needed removing due to all kinds of reasons.Just as the diversity of approaches to selecting the three excellencies,there were also various causes for their dismission.Like transferring to another official post,demising in office,and oldness and illness,these situations of dismission were more as a result of the effects of normal appointment or natural factors.Besides,being dismissed because of disasters and unusual phenomena and crimes wasn't only concerned with themselves,but a great deal of political factors.Moreover,there were also some other reasons for the dismission of the three excellencies.