Qing Dynasty State System

Timeline

1. 1644–1650Forbidden City, Beijing · BeijingAfter the Qing army entered the passes, Dorgoni during his regency continued Ming institutions, establishing the Six Ministries as the core administrative organs, implementing the Manchu-Han dual appointment system, setting up the Inner Three Colleges to assist in governance, and establishing the initial bureaucratic framework of the Qing after the conquest.
2. 1651–1660Forbidden City, Beijing · BeijingIn the eighth year of Shunzhi (1651), the Shunzhi Emperor formally assumed personal rule, purged Dorgoni's partisans, and restored direct imperial adjudication. He expanded the substantive authority of Han Chinese officials in the Six Ministries and the Grand Secretariat, and formally instituted a dual-track system in the Six Ministries with one Manchu and one Han president each. The Court of Colonial Affairs expanded its functions to systematically govern the Mongol tribes, Tibet, and other frontier regions. During this phase, the central and local official systems were largely finalized.
3. 1661–1799Forbidden City, Beijing · BeijingThe reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong further evolved the institutional foundations laid by Shunzhi: Yongzheng established the Grand Council (1729) to replace the Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers, making it the supreme organ through which imperial power directly controlled state operations, bringing the Qing system to its apex form.