Abstract:

During the period of Qin and Han dynasties the change in the power of a prime minister set a precedent of variety about the chancellor system in China. In form, the change was a circulation from a single chancellor system to a shared power by shangshu(imperial secretaries) inside the imperial court and sangong(three dukes)outside the court, and then again to a single chancellor system. In essence, however, there was a process from centralized to decentralized, from outside to inside, and in the end shifting to the imperial power. This change had something to do with the current political situation and the guiding ideology in government apart from the development and improvement of the feudalistic centralization of state power and imperial power and the conflict between imperial power and chancellor power.

Key words: the period of Qin and Han dynasties prime minister's power, change