Situ (office) explained

Situ was one of the highest ranking government offices in ancient China. Established in the Western Zhou dynasty, it was originally written as Chinese: 司土, meaning Administrator of Land.^{[1] [2]}

During the Han dynasty, the title became written with the different characters Chinese: 司徒, which is translated variously as Minister over the Masses^[3] or Excellency over the Masses.^[4] It was one of the three most important official posts during the Han dynasty, called the Three Excellencies. The nominal salary for the post was 20,000 dàn (Chinese: 石) of grain.^[5]

The title is the origin of the surname Situ.

See also

• Government of the Han dynasty
• Tai Situpa (Grand Situ)
• Translation of Han dynasty titles

References

Sources

• Book: Bielenstein, Hans . The Bureaucracy of Han Times . 1980 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge, England . 978-0-521-22510-6 .
• Book: de Crespigny, Rafe . Rafe de Crespigny . A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23 – 220 AD) . . . 2007 . 978-90-04-15605-0 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: http://www.guoxue.com/?p=349 . zh:中国古代官制常识 . Guoxue.com . zh . 2010-10-25 . 2013-10-22 .
2. Web site: http://define.cnki.net/WebForms/WebDefines.aspx?searchword=%E5%91%A8%E4%BB%A3%E5%8F%B8%E5%BE%92%E8%81%8C%E5%88%86%E8%80%83%E8%BE%A8 . zh:周代司徒职分考辨 . CNKI . zh . 2013-10-22 .
3. Bielenstein, 207–230
4. de Crespigny, 1221
5. Michael Loewe The Men Who Governed Han China Dictionary of the Qin, Former Han and Xin Periods (2004)