Origins of the Ming Grand Secretariat

Timeline

1. 1380–1398Forbidden City, Nanjing · Jiangsu ProvinceAfter Zhu Yuanzhang executed Hu Weiyong, he abolished the Central Secretariat and the chancellorship; the Six Ministries reported directly to the emperor, while Hanlin scholars and palace Grand Secretaries served as advisors and drafted edicts on imperial orders, laying the institutional groundwork for the later Grand Secretariat.
2. c. 1402–1410Wenyuan Pavilion, Beijing · Beijing MunicipalityThe Yongle Emperor promoted Xie Jin, Huang Huai, Hu Guang, and others into the Wenyuan Pavilion, where together with Yang Rong, Yang Shiqi, and other former Eastern Palace officials they participated in state affairs; the process of drafting rescripts on memorials and issuing vermilion endorsements gradually became standard in the early 1400s, establishing the embryonic Grand Secretariat.
3. c. 1440–1620Beijing · North ChinaAfter the Zhengtong era, the rank of Grand Secretaries gradually rose, the distinction between chief and deputy Grand Secretaries emerged, and rescript drafting became the core link in processing memorials from across the empire; the Grand Secretariat evolved from a secretarial advisory body into the actual center of assisting government.