The grand chancellor, also known by its Chinese name as zaixiang 宰相(variously interpreted as counselor-in-chief, chancellor, chief councillor, chief minister, imperial chancellor, lieutenant chancellor, and prime minister) is a generic blanket title identifying the highest-ranking ministers wielding both formal and actual authorities in the imperial Chinese government. Such ministers' titles varied over time and their responsibilities and actual authorities fluctuated widely throughout Chinese history, even within a particular dynasty or within the reign of a particular emperor. During various periods, two or three ministers/titles would be recognized jointly as the grand chancellor at any given point, either exercising authorities in commission with each other or each with authorities over a broad range of functions.
The offices and titles with broad recognition and acceptance as grand chancellor invariably possessed two broad powers:
- The formally conferred authority to make policies and decisions subject to the emperor's reversal/veto (but not to the emperor's pre-approval), and the standing right to participate in the emperor's policy making and decision making on all jurisdictional matters through direct advice (and not merely conveying decisions by the emperor to other ministers)
- The authority to direct and supervise other ministers for implementation
The title grand chancellor have frequently been associated with powerful offices and ministers with one of the two powers but not both. This is most common with the ranking ministers from periods which the offices with both powers were formally abolished and not merely vacant. Such usage are however not broadly accepted. The role of grand chancellor was abolished in a formal sense following the elimination of the office of imperial chancellor (丞相) following the execution of Ming dynasty's Hu Weiyong in 1380. While certain individuals in the following 500 years were conferred with broad executive power comparable to or even exceed those possessed by previous grand chancellors, they were not formally referred as such.
Professor Zhu Zongbin of Peking University outlined the role of "grand chancellor" as one with the power to oversee all jurisdictional matters, the right to decide and to draft edicts with other ministers, and the position of chief advisor to the emperor. This extended even to the ability to criticize the emperor's edicts and decisions. Thus, the grand chancellor served as the emperor's chief of staff and main political advisor, often exercising power second only to the emperor. In practice, the grand chancellor was often a trusted executive aide to the emperor, but during political turmoil or power struggles between the two roles the grand chancellor could also be the emperor's primary political competitor and opponent.
This balance of power means that the relation between grand chancellor (and the scholar-officials they represent) and emperor holds great significance in the Confucian thought of governance and the relation of "lord and subject" (君臣).
"Grand chancellor" can denote several positions. During the Six Dynasties period, the term denoted a number of power-holders serving as chief administrators, including zhongshun jian (Inspector General of the Secretariat), zhongshu ling (President of the Secretariat), shizhong (Palace Attendant), shangshu ling and puye (president and vice-president of the Department of State Affairs).