New Interpretation of the Law of Government Subordination in Zhou Li

Abstract: The law of the government subordination is the first of the “eight laws of the Great Zai” of Zhou Li and the research on this issue has made little progress since Sun Yirang published the Zhou Li Zheng Yi. The essence of the law of the government subordination is the law of official assignment, which can be subdivided into the law of official post assignment, the law of official number assignment and the law of personnel rank assignment. As one of the important tools to analyze the Zhou Li, the government subordination can be divided into four types: the first is called “tongshu” (“通属”), that is all the government offices belong to the six officials of governance, education, rites, administration, punishment and affairs respectively. The second is called “zhishu” (“直属”), that is, six heads of government have direct management of their own sixty government offices; The third type is called “leishu” (“类属”), which refers to each government in the same line of business is headed by the highest-ranking or most important official. The fourth type is called “fushu” (“府属”), that is, all the members of each government belong to this government.