大理寺自北齊以來即為中央的司法機構。然而歷經各朝的演變，明代承襲宋代先後設置大理司與大理寺。其設置背景係是明太祖推動「仿元復宋」政策下的明證，為了瞭解明太祖時期大理寺的設置背景，須以明代以前的大理寺制度作為探討的對象。自唐以下，大理寺的規模日益宏大，所處理的事務也更加繁重。而宋代也設置大理寺處理司法業務，不過其之後發展卻與唐代迥異，而與明代大理寺制度的發展相似，故本文先述及宋代大理寺的建置過程與職務介紹，再探討明太祖如何從宋代大理寺的發展歷程中汲取經驗，並應用在大理寺的建置與職務分配等方面。探究明開國前後從大理司演變至大理寺的建置過程，分析明太祖在罷設中書省後恢復設置大理寺的過程與轉變，以及解說大理寺在恢復設置後的職掌分工與審案流程。而這個時期大理寺所奠定的基礎，對明清以後司法案件的覆審制度，有其一定的影響性。

The Grand Court of Revision was an agency in the capital since the North Chi dynasty around the 6th century A.D. Through all the periods, the Ming times imitated the regime from the Song dynasty that rebuilds the Grand Court of Revision once again. Ming Taizu established the Grand Court of Revision was the evidence of implementing the policy that the Ming government imitated the Yuan's polity originally and restored the Song's at last. In order to know that the background of restoring the Grand Court of Revision in Ming Taizu times, we should explore the Grand Court of Revision before the Ming times. Especially the Grand Court of Revision in the Song's central government was quite alike in the Ming's central government. In this article, we discovered the Ming Taizu, established the Grand Court of Revision in the Ming's central government before he united the states, until he disband the institute after he controlled all the provinces of China. He also interested in Song's polity when he canceled the institute of the decision making and restored the Grand Court of Revision in the Ming's central government. By the way, the Grand Court of Revision in the Ming Taizu times that established the foundation of the judicial review system in the Ming and Qing times.