CENTRAL BUREAUCRACY 613
third and second millennia, B.c.) when more officials had to he created, they still
were able to make do with a mere two hundred.^2
As mentioned in the previous chapter, hoth the Book of History and Rites of
Chou described six ministers who divided responsibility for administration even
though their descriptions did not match.^1
Proliferation of Officials and ComplexityYu traced the history of bureaucratic organization from the Han through the Ming,
delineating in great detail the structure of central government offices for each
dynasty. He interrupted the descriptive detail on occasion to sound the theme
that perfection of Chou organization had been lost with the increasing number
and complexity of bureaucratic posts. Although the Han government suffered
from laxity and inefficiency because it did not continue the Six Ministries and
created new agencies that were not appropriate, at least it retained the classical
principle of avoiding the creation of idle or superfluous officials, and it was still
better than all subsequent dynasties.^4 He cited Tu Yu, compiler of the T'ung-
lien (ca. 766-801), who remarked that even though the Ch'in and Han did not
organize their governments exactly like the six ministers of the Chou, "never-
theless institutions were still not overly complex."5
Yu's sources indicated that the superior features of Han administration were
gradually lost in the governments of the third century A. D. Wei and Chin dynas-
ties, which began to create more bureaucratic positions and numerous rank titles.
It was only in the short-lived Later Chou dynasty (557-81) that the Yti-wen fam-
ily attempted a literal restoration of the system described in the Rites of Chou,
an effort that later received the adulation of Chll Hsi.^6
U nfortllnately, this brief period of reform was reversed by the Sui dynasty in
the late sixth century when the number of regular officials was expanded and a
new category of irregular officials (San-kuan) created.? Tu Yu had commented
that despite the Later Chou attempt to return to the six ministers of Chou, the
Sui emperors decided to return to the organization of the Wei and Chin dynas-
ties because the people had become so used to previous modes of organization
that it was difficult for them to adjust to the institutions of antiquity. The Sui
emperors called the ministers of the Six Ministries the Masters of Documents
(Shang-shu) after the Han imperial secretaries, created additional and separate
courts and directorates (Ssu and Chien), and ordered their heads to share
responsibility with the six masters of documents. This action destroyed the unity
of command that had been exercised exclusively by the six ministers of ancient
time. Tu Yu also complained about the overlap of responsibi lity among the many
subordinate bureaus and agencies, let alone the highest ministries in the Sui
dynasty, and stressed the necessity of maintaining simplicity and economy in
government organization.s
As if to punctuate the point, Yu Hyongwon laid out the complete organiza-
tion of the Tang, including the officials of the Six Departments (Sheng), nine