The Nine Courts were nine service agencies in
Imperial China that existed from the
Northern Qi dynasty (550–577) to the
Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Headed by the
Nine Chamberlains, the offices were subordinate to the
Three Departments and Six Ministries. They were mostly ceremonial in nature and held a fair amount of power. During the
Ming dynasty, the heads of the nine court transitioned away from referring to the nine courts, but to the
Six Ministries, the
Censorate, the Office of Transmission, and the Grand Court of Revision. The number of courts was not always nine throughout history.