The Censorate was part of the Chinese bureaucracy that made sure government officials were doing their jobs, during the Qin dynasty.
the civil division, the military division, and the censorate.
A censorate refers to an official body or agency responsible for overseeing and regulating public morality, information, and the suppression of dissenting views or materials. Historically, it is often associated with regimes that enforce strict control over media, literature, and art to maintain ideological conformity. Censorship can extend to various forms of expression, including speech, print, and online content. In modern contexts, the term may also relate to government entities that monitor and restrict information dissemination.
At first, the Ming administration had only one Department, the Secretariat, that controlled the Six Ministries. In 1380, the Hongwu Emperor abolished the Secretariat, the Censorate, and the Chief Military Commission and took personal charge of the Six Ministries and the regional Five Military Commissions. Like the Yuan dynasty, the Ming took over administration of the 13 provinces based on the Yuan division. Later, after the Jurcheon invasion, 4 semi autonomous commands were established. The provinces comprised of 3 bureaucratic divisions, civil, military and surveillance. Within the provinces were prefectures run by a prefect, within which were subprefectures under a subprefect. County was the lowest unit run by a magistrate.