better. For it, too, was organised on the principle of dividing the power among many rather than concentrating it into the hands of a few.
In the capital two great bureaus shared the responsibility for administration. The grand secretariat which stood at the head in the Ming Dynasty was now the lesser of the two, having been transformed into an imperial court of archives with four secretaries, two Manchus and two Chinese, two assistant secretaries, a Manchu and a Chinese, and ten assistants. Its duty was to secure information of all that was happening throughout China that through it the head of the state might be in touch with the subordinate governing bodies.[1]
Above it stood the Manchu council of state. Originating as a military council, the latter had developed into a privy council which took precedence over the grand secretariat.[2] Daily, between the hours of four and six in the morning, its meetings were held to transact affairs of state. Its membership ordinarily consisted of five ministers who held office in some of the executive departments. While the grand secretariat was a means of communication, this body was the highest source of authority under the emperor.
The executive department consisted, as in the earlier dynasties, of six boards, each headed by two presidents and four vice presidents, half of them Manchus and half Chinese. In addition, the boards of revenue, war, and punishments had superintendents. These six boards were: (1) The Board of Civil Office, with four bureaus, directing the civil service of the empire; (2) The Board of Revenue, with fourteen departments, having control of the territorial government and the revenues; (3) The
