Six Ministries of the Yuan Dynasty

Timeline

1. c. 1260–1270Dadu · DaduAfter Kublai Khan established the capital at Dadu, he set up the six ministries of Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Works under the Central Secretariat, each with a president and vice-president, inheriting the Jin system while employing Mongol, Semu, and Han officials, forming a pluralistic central administrative framework.
2. 1301–1310Dadu · DaduUnder Chengzong and Wuzong the Six Ministries routinely handled appointments, taxation, and judicial matters; the Ministry of Revenue dealt with fluctuations in the paper currency system, the Ministry of War coordinated frontier defense with the Bureau of Military Affairs, and memorials from the Six Ministries were forwarded through the Central Secretariat to the emperor, making them the core institutions of daily imperial governance in the 1300s.
3. 1280–1350Central Secretariat · DaduDecrees of the Six Ministries were transmitted to localities through the various Branch Central Secretariats and Branch Censorates; the Ministry of Personnel handled appointments, the Ministry of Revenue supervised taxes, and the Ministry of Works undertook construction, covering the vast Eurasian interior with central directives in coordination with the provincial system.
4. 1368Dadu · DaduAfter the Ming army's northern expedition and the Yuan emperor Shun's northward flight, the Six Ministries organization in Dadu disintegrated with the Yuan regime, and their functions were inherited and transformed by the Ming Six Ministries.