KING AND COURT 595
only the Six Ministries but the whole bureaucracy. The State Council had been
created in 1400 by King Chongjong to replace the supreme deliberative coun-
cil carried over from the Koryo dynasty, the Top'yong'iiisasa, and Yu pointed out
that there had been considerable debate since the founding of the Choson dynasty
in 1392 whether supreme responsibility should be vested in one or threc state
councilors. He, himself, had decided on the basis of his study of thc Chinese
situation that a single prime minister (Sungsang; Ch'eng-hsiang in Chinese) was
the correct way. In fact, in one place he referred to his State Council as the Prime
Minister's Office (Sangbu). His councilor or prime minister would, along with
the next two councilors, also function concurrently as the Samgong, or the three
virtuous advisers to the king in the Chou fashion.2S
Yu observed that in Chou times in China the elevation of a single prime min-
ister to take overall charge of government affairs was indispensable to a good
system of government, and he cited two commentaries that praised the practicc
in both the Ch'in and Han dynasties of frequently leaving the same man in the
office of prime minister (Ch'eng-hsiang) for long periods, even for life. Chung
Chang-Cung ofthe Later Han, for example, bclievcd that this was the reason for
the success that the Former Han dynasty enjoyed: "Generally speaking, when
you appoint one man, he has exclusive charge over government affairs, but when
you appoint several men, they rely on one another [i.e .. share responsibility J.
When government is in the exclusive charge [of one man], it is harmonious, but
whcn [several men] rely on one another, there are violations and perversions.'·26
Fan Yeh, author of the History of the Later Han (Hou Han-shu), dcscribcd the
advantages of a single prime minister in terms of the Taoist-Legalist ideal state,
where affairs are so well regulated that the ruler hardly has to lift a finger:
The kings of ancient times only appointeu a single prime minister to govern
the empire. This was the reason why government orders emanated from a single
place and there was a place to excrt control over [the rest of] the government.
The prime minister was able to carry out his responsibilities, and the ruler was
able to attain the right Way [of ruling]. [The ruler J kept himself modest and
respectful and did nothing [wu-wei], yet the empire was well governed.^27Yu found that the treatise on governmcnt organization in The History of the
T'ang Dynasty (T'ang-shu) criticized the operation of the T'ang system because
the responsibilities that should have been vested in a single prime minister were
shared by two men, the two leading officials of two of the Three Departments
(San-sheng). What was worse, from EmperorT'ai-tsung's reign Cr. 626-49) on.
lesser officials like a minister of personnel, or the head of the Department of
Secret Documents, were also summoned to participate as councilors in the high-
cst level deliberations of state. In thc mid-scventh century another adulteration
was added when new titles were created for lower officials to justify their tem-
porary assumption of thc duties of a prime minister.
Hu An-kuo of the Sung also deplored this situation in the T'ang era and empha-