From the Sui dynasty to the Qing, the business of central government was divided among the Six Ministries.
Tips
history
The six were 吏部 (personnel), 户部 (revenue), 礼部 (rites and examinations), 兵部 (war), 刑部 (justice) and 工部 (works). Set up under the Sui and Tang, they at first sat under the Department of State Affairs; after the Ming founder abolished the chancellor in 1380 they answered to the emperor directly. The Qing kept them until the reforms of 1906.
memory
Each ministry had a nickname from the six offices of the 周礼: Personnel was the Office of Heaven (天官), then Earth, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, in the same order as the list above.
