| 中书省 Zhongshu Sheng | |
 Tang seal of the Zhongshu Sheng | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | c. Western Han (202 BC–9 AD) |
| Dissolved | 1380 |
| Zhongshu Sheng | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 中書省 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中书省 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Inner (or privy) secretary's department | ||||||||
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The Zhongshu Sheng (中書省), also known as the Palace Secretariat or Central Secretariat, was one of the departments of the Three Departments and Six Ministries government structure in imperial China from the Cao Wei (220–266) until the early Ming dynasty. As one of the Three Departments, the Zhongshu Sheng was primarily a policy-formulating agency responsible for proposing and drafting all imperial decrees, but its actual function varied at different times. The department traces its origins back to the Han dynasty.