| 內務府 ᡩᠣᡵᡤᡳ ᠪᠠᡳᡨᠠ ᠪᡝ ᡠᡥᡝᡵᡳ ᡴᠠᡩᠠᠯᠠᡵᠠ ᠶᠠᠮᡠᠨ | |
| Internal affairs, domestic affairs withTibet andMongolia, trade, industry, and even published books overview | |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | 1912 |
TheImperial Household Department (traditional Chinese:內務府;simplified Chinese:内务府;pinyin:Nèiwùfǔ;Manchu:ᡩᠣᡵᡤᡳ
ᠪᠠᡳᡨᠠ
ᠪᡝ
ᡠᡥᡝᡵᡳ
ᡴᠠᡩᠠᠯᠠᡵᠠ
ᠶᠠᠮᡠᠨ, Möllendorff:dorgi baita be uheri kadalara yamun) was an institution of theQing dynasty ofChina. Its primary purpose was to manage the internal affairs of theQing imperial family and the activities of theinner palace (in which tasks it largely replacedeunuchs), but it also played an important role in Qing relations withTibet andMongolia, engaged in trading activities (jade,ginseng, salt, furs, etc.), managed textile factories in theJiangnan region, and even published books.[1]
This department was also in charge of the ceremonial and spiritual activities of the Qing imperial household. These activities include the maintenance of the mausoleums of Qing emperors, polytheist worships and posthumous affairs of the royal family (the giving oftemple names andposthumous names).[2]
The department was established before[when?] theManchu-led Qing dynasty defeated theMing dynasty in 1644, but it became mature only after 1661, following the death of theShunzhi Emperor and the accession of his son, who reigned as theKangxi Emperor.[3]
In 1654, the department was temporarily substituted by the Thirteen Yamen (十三衙門) which had similar functions. In 1661, the thirteen yamen were abolished with the re-establishment of the imperial household department.[4]
The department was manned bybooi (Manchu:booi, Chinese:包衣; pinyin:baoyi), or "bondservants", who were selected from the bondservants of the upper threebanners.[5]Booi was sometimes synonymous withbooi aha, which literally means "household person", butaha usually referred to the hereditary and legally servile people who worked in fields, whereasbooi usually referred to household servants who performed domestic service.[6] Thebooi who operated the Imperial Household Department can be divided into roughly four groups:
In total, there were threenirus of the department consist of booi. They areCigu Niru (Chinese niru),Solho Niru (Korean niru) andHoise Niru (Muslim niru) respectively. The demographic composition of the department was thus diverse. Manchu, Han Chinese, Korean and Muslim were cooperating to keep the department functioning. The three nirus of the imperial household department were under the inner three banners out of theEight Banners system.
The central administration of the imperial household department was carried out by its chancery. Under the chancery, there were 7 Si (司), 3 Yuan (院) as well as numerous properties in different regions of China.[8] One Grand chancellor ofsenior second rank to senior first rank was set at the top of the department. To assist the work of the Grand chancellor, there were 37bithesi (Manchu: bithesi,Chinese:筆帖式, Secretaries) one langzhong (senior fifth rank) and onezhushi (senior sixth rank).[9]
Below are some of the many bureaus that were supervised by the Chancery of the Imperial Household Department (Chinese:總管內務府衙門; pinyin:Zongguan neiwufu yamen) inBeijing:
The Seven Si are the main functioning body of the department. Every Si (department) has several Langzhong (郎中), Yuanwailang (員外郎) and Bithesi who were officers that supervise the works of these departments.[10]
By the nineteenth century, the Imperial Household Department managed the activities of more than 56 subagencies.[12][13]
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