宋代堂後官，是指在中書門下政事堂服務中最高職級的吏職人員。元豐官制行，將堂後官更名為都事、錄事，然在一般文書或詔令中，還是將都事、錄事稱之為堂後官。堂後官的職責，在點檢審核各房守當官、主書、主事等吏職人員所處理的各項公文書，然後上呈給郎官押訖；在整個文書處理流程中，居於相當重要的位置，堂後官既是負責處理國家重要行政業務的首席吏職，不管遷轉、薪俸、福利及獎賞方面的待遇，都算是相當的優渥，使得大部分的吏職人員，皆以升遷堂後官作為目標。不過自太祖、太宗以來，就已經覺得吏員升遷者，往往不遵守職業道德規範，易於枉法貪贓，於是訂立優厚的條件，以鼓勵士人擔任堂後官一職。但由於士人以充任吏職為恥的自傲心態，使得這項政策無法有效落實。

　　　　　During the Song dyanasty, the Secretariat Clerk 堂後官 was the highest ranking clerk 吏職 in the Administration Chamber 政事堂 under the Secretariat-Chancellery 中書門下. Although the official title was changed to Office Manager (都事 and 錄事) during the Yuanfeng 元豐 reforms, most documents and protocols continued to use the name Secretariat Clerk. This office played a very important role in the transmission of official documents: its duties included reviewing documents written by scribe assistants 守當官, assistant clerks 主書, and secretaries 主事, and passing them on to the Bureau Director 郎官 for approval. Since this office ranked highest among all clerks and was charged with handling important adminidtrative affairs, the Secretariat Clerk was well rewarded in terms of promotion, salary, benefits, and arards. As such, most clerks aspired to being promoted to this position. However, during their reigns, both Taizu 太祖 and Taizong 太宗 noticed that lower-ranking clerks who were promoted to this position were prone to corruption and tended to ignore or violate the rules of the land. As a result, these emperors offered strong incentives to members of the literati to encourage them to take the post of Secretariat Clerk. Ultimately, this attempt failed to produce any results due to the attitude among members of the literati that being a clerk in the civil service was disgraceful.