Official communications in imperial China, the era which lasted from the 221 BC until AD 1912, required predictable forms and means. Documents flowed down from the Emperor to officials, from officials to the Emperor, from one part of the bureaucracy to others, and from the Emperor or his officials to the people. These documents, especially memorials to the throne, were preserved in collections which became more voluminous with each passing dynasty and make the Chinese historical record extraordinarily rich.
This article briefly describes the major forms and types of communication going up to and down from the emperor.
Edicts, orders, and proclamations to the people
Zhu Xi's letter (1194) instructing a subordinate official on local government matters after he stepped down as Administrator of Tanzhou for reappointment at the imperial court
Under Chinese law, the emperor's edicts had the force of law. By the time the Han dynasty established the basic patterns of bureaucracy, edicts or commands could be issued either by the emperor or in the emperor's name by the proper official or unit of the government. Important edicts were carved on stone tablets for public inspection. One modern scholar counted more than 175 different terms for top down commands, orders, edicts, and such.[1]
Edicts formed a recognized category of prose writing. The Qing dynasty scholar Yao Nai ranked "Edicts and orders" (Zhao-ling) as one of the thirteen categories of prose writing, citing prototypes which went back to the Zhou dynasty and the Book of History. Han dynasty edicts, sometimes actually written by high officials in the name of the emperor, were known for their literary quality. In later dynasties, both emperors and officials who wrote in the emperor's name published collections of edicts.[2]
The history of China features a range of famous edicts and instructions. Here are examples in chronological order:
The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty issued a series of Great Warnings (御製大誥) which informed his people and his bureaucracy of their failings and his instructions to correct them.[4]
Also issued by the Hongwu Emperor, the Instructions of the Ancestor was effectively an edict directed at his descendants.
The Hongwu Emperor also issued the Six Maxims (聖諭六言) which instructed his subjects:
Treat your parents with piety; respect your elders and superiors; live at peace in your villages; instruct your children and grandchildren; make your living peacefully; commit no wrong.[5]
The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty issued the Sacred Edict in 1670 to educate his subjects on Confucian principles.[6] This was to be posted in every village and read periodically to the assembled population. The edict was later expanded upon by the Yongzheng Emperor in 1724 and distributed in Chinese, Manchu and Mongolian languages.
A memorial, most commonly zouyi, was the most important form of document sent by an official to the Emperor. In the early dynasties, the terms and formats of the memorial were fluid, but by the Ming dynasty, codes and statutes specified what terminology could be used by what level of official in what particular type of document dealing with what particular type of problem. Criminal codes specified punishments for mistranscriptions or using a character that was forbidden because it was used in one of the emperor's names. The Emperor might reply at length, perhaps dictating a rescript in response. More often he made a notation in the margin in vermilion ink (which only the emperor could use) stating his wishes. Or he might simply write "forward to the proper ministry," "noted," or use his brush to make a circle, the equivalent of a checkmark, to indicate that he had read the document.[8]
In 1370, the Hongwu emperor established an office to organize the flow of memorials, which could come from both officials and commoners, and this became the Office of Transmission (Tongzheng si). The staff copied each memorial received, and forwarded the original to the emperor. The emperor once severely scolded a director of the office for failing to report several memorials: “Stability depends on superior and inferior communicating; there is none when they do not. From ancient times, many a state has fallen because a ruler did not know the affairs of the people.”[9]
By the height of the Qing dynasty in the 18th century, memorials from bureaucrats at the central, provincial, and county level supplied the emperors (and modern historians) with personnel evaluations, crop reports, prices in local markets, weather predictions, intelligence on social affairs, and any other matter of possible interest.[10]
Folding memorial from an official to the Kangxi Emperor
Memorials were transported by government couriers and then copied and summarized by the Grand Secretariat, which itself had been perfected in the preceding Ming dynasty. They would be copied by clerks and entered into official registers.[11]
This bureaucracy saved the emperor from being swamped with tedious detail but might also shield him from information which he needed to know. The Kangxi Emperor (r. 1672-1722), the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1722-1735), and the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1796) therefore developed a supplementary system of "Palace Memorials" (zouzhe) which they instructed local officials to send directly, without passing through bureaucratic filters. One type, the "Folding Memorial," was written on a page small enough for the Emperor to hold in his hand and read without being observed.[12] The Yongzheng Emperor, who preferred the written system over audiences, increased the use of these palace memorials by more than ten times over his father. He found he could get quick responses to emergency requests instead of waiting for the formal report, or give frank instructions: Of one official he said, “he is good-hearted, hard-working old hand. I think he’s very good. But he’s a bit coarse... just like Zhao Xiangkui, except that Zhao is intelligent.” Likewise a provincial governor could frankly report that a subordinate was “scatter brained.” The emperor could then instruct the official to also submit a routine memorial. Most important, bypassing the regular bureaucracy made it easier for the emperor to have his own way without being restricted by the regulations of the administrative code.[13]
The system of memorials and rescripts, even more than personal audiences, was the emperor's way to shape and cement relations with his officials. Memorials could be quite specific and even personal, since the emperor knew many of his officials quite well. The Kangxi Emperor, for instance, wrote one of his generals:
"I am fine. It is cool now outside the passes. There has been enough rain so the food now is very good... You're an old man -- are grandfather and grandmother both well?"
But sometimes impatience broke through: "Stop the incessant sending of these greetings!" or "I hear tell you've been drinking. If after receiving my edict you are not able to refrain, and so turn your back on my generosity, I will no longer value you or your services."[14] The historian Jonathan Spence translated and joined together memorials of the Kangxi Emperor to form an autobiographical "self-portrait" which gives an feel for the emperor's place in the flow of government.[15]
The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last imperial dynasty in Chinese history. The dynasty, proclaimed in Shenyang in 1636, seized control of Beijing in 1644, which is considered the start of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty lasted until 1912, when it was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution. In Chinese historiography, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The multi-ethnic Qing dynasty assembled the territorial base for modern China. It was the largest imperial dynasty in the history of China and in 1790 the fourth-largest empire in world history in terms of territorial size. With over 426 million citizens in 1907, it was the most populous country in the world at the time.
Throughout Chinese history, "Emperor" was the superlative title held by the monarchs who ruled various imperial dynasties. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was the "Son of Heaven", an autocrat with the divine mandate right to rule all under Heaven. Emperors were worshiped posthumously under an imperial cult. The lineage of emperors descended from a paternal family line constituted a dynasty, and succession in most cases theoretically followed agnatic primogeniture.
The Kangxi Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1722. His reign of 61 years makes him the longest-reigning emperor in Chinese history and one of the longest-reigning rulers in history. He is considered one of China's greatest emperors.
The Shunzhi Emperor was the second emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1644 to 1661. A committee of Manchu princes chose him to succeed his father, Hong Taiji (1592–1643), in September 1643, when he was five years old. The princes also appointed two co-regents: Dorgon (1612–1650), the 14th son of the Qing dynasty's founder Nurhaci (1559–1626), and Jirgalang (1599–1655), one of Nurhaci's nephews, both of whom were members of the Qing imperial clan.
The Yongzheng Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, personal name Yinzhen, was the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper; reigning from 1722 to 1735.
Yinxiang, formally known as Prince Yi, was a Manchu prince of the Qing dynasty. The thirteenth son of the Kangxi Emperor, Yinxiang was a major ally of his brother Yinzhen during the latter's struggle for the succession of the throne. He was made a qinwang during Yongzheng's reign and became one of his closest advisors. He died eight years into the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor and was memorialized with top honours by the emperor. When he died, his title was granted "iron-cap" status and became perpetually inheritable, one of the only twelve such princes in Qing dynasty history.
Zhang Tingyu was a Han Chinese politician and historian who lived in the Qing dynasty.
In the now-abolished Chinese monarchy, various methods had been used to determine succession to the Chinese throne. The Mongol-led Yuan dynasty practiced blood tanistry, or competition among brothers, while the Ming dynasty favored primogeniture, with an emperor succeeded by his eldest son. During the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, an emperor would write an edict to select one of his sons in secret. An emperor could have numerous sons by women of various ranks, so the heir might not be obvious until it was announced.
The Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers, also known as the Council of Princes and High Officials and Assembly of Princes and High Officials, or simply as the Deliberative Council, was an advisory body for the emperors of the early Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Derived from informal deliberative groups created by Nurhaci (1559–1626) in the 1610s and early 1620s, the Council was formally established by his son and successor Hong Taiji (1592–1643) in 1626 and expanded in 1637. Staffed mainly by Manchu dignitaries, this aristocratic institution served as the chief source of advice on military matters for Hong Taiji and the Shunzhi and Kangxi emperors. It was particularly powerful during the regencies of Dorgon (1643–1650) and Oboi (1661–1669), who used it to enhance their personal influence.
The Imperial Clan Court or Court of the Imperial Clan was an institution responsible for all matters pertaining to the imperial family under the Ming and Qing dynasties of imperial China. This institution also existed under the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam where it managed matters pertaining to the Nguyễn Phúc clan.
The history of the Qing dynasty began with the proclamation of the Qing dynasty by the Manchu chieftain Hong Taiji in 1636, but the year 1644 is generally considered the start of the dynasty's rule in China. The dynasty lasted until 1912, when Puyi abdicated the throne in response to the 1911 Revolution. The final imperial dynasty of China, the Qing dynasty reached heights of power unlike any of the Chinese dynasties which preceded it, engaging in large-scale territorial expansion which ended with embarrassing defeat and humiliation to the foreign powers whom they believe to be inferior to them. The Qing dynasty's inability to successfully counter Western and Japanese imperialism ultimately led to its downfall, and the instability which emerged in China during the final years of the dynasty ultimately paved the way for the Warlord Era.
A memorial to the throne was an official communication to the Emperor of China. They were generally careful essays in Classical Chinese and their presentation was a formal affair directed by government officials. Submission of a memorial was a right theoretically available to everyone from the Crown Prince to a common farmer, but the court secretaries would read them aloud to the emperor and exercised considerable control over what was considered worthy of his time. They were used in imperial China as a means of regulating corrupt local officials who might otherwise have escaped oversight.
Events from the year 1668 in China.
Events from the year 1670 in China.
Events from the year 1672 in China.
Events from the year 1673 in China.
Events from the year 1683 in China.
Events from the year 1686 in China.
Events from the year 1687 in China.
References
Citations
↑ Endymion Wilkinson. Chinese History: A Manual. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series Rev. and enl., 2000. ISBN0674002474), pp. 532-533.
↑ William H. Nienhauser. The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), p. 96-97.
↑ Anita M. Andrew and John A. Rapp. Autocracy and China's Rebel Founding Emperors: Comparing Chairman Mao and Ming Taizu. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000; ISBN0847695794), esp. pp. 60-68.
↑ Ssu-Yü Têng, John King Fairbank, ed., China's Response to the West: A Documentary Survey, 1839-1923. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1954), p. 19
↑ Jonathan D. Spence. The Search for Modern China. (New York: Norton, 2nd 1999. pp. 70-71, 87.
↑ Silas H. L. Wu. Communication and Imperial Control in China: Evolution of the Palace Memorial System, 1693-1735. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; Harvard East Asian Series, 1970). ISBN0674148010.
↑ Mark C. Elliott. The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN0804736065pp. 164, 161-162.
↑ Beatrice S. Bartlett. Monarchs and Ministers: The Grand Council in Mid-Ch'ing China, 1723-1820. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991; ISBN0520065913): 48-53.
↑ Jonathan D. Spence. Emperor of China: Self Portrait of K'ang Hsi (New York: Vintage Books, 1975). ISBN0394714113.
Sources
Beatrice S. Bartlett. Monarchs and Ministers: The Grand Council in Mid-Ch'ing China, 1723-1820. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991). ISBN0520065913.
Brook, Timothy (1998). The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Philip A. Kuhn, John King Fairbank, with the assistance of Beatrice S. Bartlett and Chiang Yung-chen, Introduction to Ch`ing Documents (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1993). A syllabus for the study of Qing documents.
Ch. 20 "Official Communications," in Endymion Wilkinson. Chinese History: A New Manual. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Asia Center, Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series. New Edition; Second, Revised printing March 2013; ISBN9780674067158, pp.280–285.
Silas H. L. Wu. Communication and Imperial Control in China: Evolution of the Palace Memorial System, 1693-1735. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; Harvard East Asian Series, 1970). ISBN0674148010.
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