'''Chancellor of China''' 丞相 (''Cheng Xiang'') or 宰相 (''Zai Xiang''), was the highest rank in the imperial government in former China after the emperor (685_BC-6_BC, 189-1380). In the Spring_and_Autumn_Period, Guan Zhong was the first person who became chancellor under The_state_of_Qi in 685_BC. The title was once cancelled by Emperor_Ai_of_Han; it was restored under the powerless Emperor Xian of Han, and Dong_Zhuo became the first chancellor in 189. Cao_Cao succeeded him and for a short period, until March_15, 220, the power of Chancellor was greater than that of the emperor. Later this often happened when a dynasty became weak, usually some decades before the fall of a dynasty.
Since the Qin_Dynasty, the office of chancellor was sometimes divided into two positions, the "Left Chancellor"(左丞 ''zuo cheng'') and "Right Chancellor"(右丞 ''you cheng''). The term "Chancellor" (丞相 ''cheng xiang'') often refers to the more powerful "Right Chancellor," while the "Left Chancellor" was known as the vice-Chancellor; the latter was at times called "Rusi Dafu"(御史大夫 ''yushi daifu'', or Great Censor/Censor General, charged with defending against corruption).
During the Sui_Dynasty, the executive officials of the three highest departments of the empire were called "Chancellors" together. In the Tang_Dynasty, the government was divided into three branches: Executive (尚書省 ''shang shu sheng''), Delibration (門下省 ''men xia sheng'') and Policy-making (中書省 ''zhong shu sheng''); the term "chancellor" referred to the head of the ministry (同中書門下二品 or 同中書門下三品 ''tongzhongshu menxia erpin'' or ''sanpin'', respectively) of the executive branch from 643. The Executive Ministry was divided into six sections, Personnel Section (吏部 ''shi bu'', had the power to appoint and dismiss offcials), Population and Financial Section (户部 ''hu bu''), Examination and Foreign Section (禮部 ''li bu''), Military Section(兵部 ''bing bu''), Section for Justice (刑部 ''xing bu'') and Section of Engineering (工部 ''gong bu'').
In the Song_Dynasty, the post of Chancellor was also known as the "Tongpingzhangshi" (同平章事), while the vice-chancellor was known as the "Jijunsi". Some years later, the post of Chancellor was changed to "Prime_Minister" (首相 ''shou xiang'') and the post of vice-Chancellor was changed to "Second Minister" (次相 ''ci xiang''). In the late Southern_Song_Dynasty, the system changed back to the Tang naming conventions.
During the Mongolian Occupation (Yuan_Dynasty), the Chancellor was not the head of the Executive Ministry, but the crown prince was the executive head. After the establishment of the Ming_Dynasty, the post became the head of the Executive Ministry again. The post was abandoned after the execution of the final Chancellor of China, Hu_Weirong, who was accused of treason (though his conviction is still strongly disputed in present times because of a lack of evidence to prove his guilt). Still, appointments of the people who held the highest post in the government were called "Appointment of Prime Minister" (拜相) until 1644.
==List of Chancellors of China==
{{incomplete list}}
===List of Chancellors of Qin Dynasty since 251_BC===
{| border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=2 width=98%
|-----
|'''#'''
|'''Name'''
|'''Took Office'''
|'''Left Office'''
|----- bgcolor=#FFFFFF
|1
|Lü_Buwei
|251_BC
|246_BC
|----- bgcolor=#FFFFFF
|2
|Li_Si
|246_BC
|208_BC
|----- bgcolor=#FFFFFF
|3
|Zhao_Gao
|208_BC
|207_BC
|}
===List of other famous Chancellors and (since 1052) Prime Ministers ===
*Guan_Zhong (died in 645_BC)
*Xiao_He (206_BC-193_BC in office)
*Dong_Zhuo (189-192 in office, first chancellor since 3_BC)
*Cao_Cao (200-March_15, 220 in office)
*Zhuge_Liang (221-234 of Kingdom_of_Shu-Han)
*Lu_Yi (244-245 of Kingdom_of_Wu)
*Di_Renjie (691-693, 697-700 in office)
*Zhang_Jiuling (733-736 in office)
*Wang_Anshi (1070-1075, 1076-1085 in office)
*Sima_Guang (1085-1086 in office)
*Zhang_Dun (1086-???? in office)
*Wen_Tianxiang (1236-1283)
*Yan_Song (1481-1568)
*Zhang_Juzheng (1525-1582)
===Premiers after 1644/1911===
* List of Premiers after 1911
==See also==
*List_of_Chinese_people
*List_of_famous_Premiers_of_China
*Imperial_examination
*Chinese_Law
Category:Titles
Category:Positions_of_authority
Category:China-related_lists
Category:Chinese_politicians
Zh:宰相
Ja:丞相