A memorial to the throne (Chinese: 章表; pinyin: zhāngbiǎo) 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.[1]
Under the Han dynasty, generally, the reception of memorials was the responsibility of the Imperial Secretary tasked with overseeing provincial administration. He was generally required to present any formal memorials, but could reject them for improper formatting.[2] Masters of Writing under the Minister Steward then copied and processed these prior to submission to the emperor.[3] Under Emperor An, however, Zhang Heng was placed in charge of reception of the memorials as part of his post as Prefect of the Majors for Official Carriages under the Ministry of Guards.[4][5]
Ming dynasty
During the early Ming dynasty, an Office of Report Inspection was established in AD 1370.
In AD 1375, Ru Taisu, a bureau secretary of the Ministry of Justice, was flogged by the Hongwu Emperor for two harsh comments of his 17,000-character memorial. At the time he was summoned for his punishment, however, the emperor had only gotten to the 16,370th one. Having the remainder read aloud the next day while in bed, the emperor instituted four of Ru's proposals and praised the last 500 characters as a model memorial for all future submissions. Hongwu admitted he had erred in getting angry, but blamed the victim for having forced him to listen to thousands of words before getting to the substance of his request.[6]
Two years later in August 1377, the Hongwu Emperor disbanded the existing Office of Report Inspection and created an Office of Transmission (通政司, Tōngzhèngsī). By the height of the Ming dynasty, codes and statutes had been drawn up specifying the style and diction appropriate for each level of official concerning each type of problem. When petitions arrived in the imperial capital, multiple copies were made of the original by the Office of Transmission. The copies would be filed with the archives at the Office of Supervising Secretaries and the original sent to the emperor.[1] Criminal codes specified punishments for mistranscriptions or violations of the imperial naming taboo.
Replies varied from Ru's flogging in the Hongwu Emperor's presence to personal replies both handwritten and dictated. Most often, emperors or their secretaries would annotate the memorials with vermillion ink, whether "forward to the proper ministry", "noted", or a series of circles. These functioned as checkmarks, indicating that he had read the petition.[7]
Under the Qing dynasty, memorials were received constantly, detailing personnel evaluations, crop reports, local prices, weather predictions, and local gossip at the national, provincial, and county levels.[8] Memorials were delivered by the imperial courier network and copied, summarized, and entered into official registers by the clerks of the Grand Secretariat.[9]
Because this great (largely Han Chinese) bureaucracy might interrupt, conceal, or lose information important to their Manchu rulers, the Kangxi Emperor developed a supplemental system of "Palace Memorials" (Chinese: 奏摺; pinyin: zòuzhé; lit. 'Memorial Fold') in the late 17th century. This system delivered local officials' memorials to him directly and, under various forms, it continued to be practiced by his successors. A "Folding Memorial", for instance, was to be written on pages small enough for the emperor to hold them in his hand and read without being observed.[10] The Yongzheng Emperor was particularly partial to the informal system, which allowed him brevity, celerity, and honesty.[11]
^Wu, Silas. Communication and Imperial Control in China: Evolution of the Palace Memorial System, 1693–1735. Harvard University Press (Cambridge), 1970. ISBN0674148010.
Bartlett, Beatrice. Monarchs and Ministers: The Grand Council in Mid-Ch'ing China, 1723–1820. University of California Press (Berkeley), 1991. ISBN0520065913.
Bielenstein, Hans. The Bureaucracy of Han Times. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge), 1980. ISBN0-521-22510-8.
Brook, Timothy. The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China. University of California Press, 1999. ISBN978-0-520-22154-3.
de Crespigny, Rafe. A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Koninklijke Brill (Leiden), 2007. ISBN90-04-15605-4.
Elliott, Mark. The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China. Stanford University Press (Stanford), 2001. ISBN0804736065.
Wang Yu-ch'uan. "An Outline of The Central Government of The Former Han Dynasty", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1/2 (Jun 1949).
Wilkinson. Chinese History: A Manual.
Yan Hong-sen. Reconstruction Designs of Lost Ancient Chinese Machinery. Springer (Dordrecht), 2007. ISBN1-4020-6459-4.
February 19, 2023
memorial, throne, memorial, throne, chinese, 章表, pinyin, zhāngbiǎo, official, communication, emperor, china, they, were, generally, careful, essays, classical, chinese, their, presentation, formal, affair, directed, government, officials, submission, memorial,. A memorial to the throne Chinese 章表 pinyin zhangbiǎo 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 1 Contents 1 Han dynasty 2 Ming dynasty 3 Qing dynasty 4 See also 5 Notes 6 ReferencesHan dynasty EditUnder the Han dynasty generally the reception of memorials was the responsibility of the Imperial Secretary tasked with overseeing provincial administration He was generally required to present any formal memorials but could reject them for improper formatting 2 Masters of Writing under the Minister Steward then copied and processed these prior to submission to the emperor 3 Under Emperor An however Zhang Heng was placed in charge of reception of the memorials as part of his post as Prefect of the Majors for Official Carriages under the Ministry of Guards 4 5 Ming dynasty EditDuring the early Ming dynasty an Office of Report Inspection was established in AD 1370 In AD 1375 Ru Taisu a bureau secretary of the Ministry of Justice was flogged by the Hongwu Emperor for two harsh comments of his 17 000 character memorial At the time he was summoned for his punishment however the emperor had only gotten to the 16 370th one Having the remainder read aloud the next day while in bed the emperor instituted four of Ru s proposals and praised the last 500 characters as a model memorial for all future submissions Hongwu admitted he had erred in getting angry but blamed the victim for having forced him to listen to thousands of words before getting to the substance of his request 6 Two years later in August 1377 the Hongwu Emperor disbanded the existing Office of Report Inspection and created an Office of Transmission 通政司 Tōngzhengsi By the height of the Ming dynasty codes and statutes had been drawn up specifying the style and diction appropriate for each level of official concerning each type of problem When petitions arrived in the imperial capital multiple copies were made of the original by the Office of Transmission The copies would be filed with the archives at the Office of Supervising Secretaries and the original sent to the emperor 1 Criminal codes specified punishments for mistranscriptions or violations of the imperial naming taboo Replies varied from Ru s flogging in the Hongwu Emperor s presence to personal replies both handwritten and dictated Most often emperors or their secretaries would annotate the memorials with vermillion ink whether forward to the proper ministry noted or a series of circles These functioned as checkmarks indicating that he had read the petition 7 Qing dynasty Edit Memorial to the Kangxi Emperor from the Viceroy of Liangguang about the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou with imperial reply in red 1719 Under the Qing dynasty memorials were received constantly detailing personnel evaluations crop reports local prices weather predictions and local gossip at the national provincial and county levels 8 Memorials were delivered by the imperial courier network and copied summarized and entered into official registers by the clerks of the Grand Secretariat 9 Because this great largely Han Chinese bureaucracy might interrupt conceal or lose information important to their Manchu rulers the Kangxi Emperor developed a supplemental system of Palace Memorials Chinese 奏摺 pinyin zouzhe lit Memorial Fold in the late 17th century This system delivered local officials memorials to him directly and under various forms it continued to be practiced by his successors A Folding Memorial for instance was to be written on pages small enough for the emperor to hold them in his hand and read without being observed 10 The Yongzheng Emperor was particularly partial to the informal system which allowed him brevity celerity and honesty 11 See also EditOfficial Communications of the Chinese EmpireProminent memorialsGreat Rites Controversy Rebellion of Cao Qin Tien Gow Fu Youyi Yang Jisheng Imperial examinationNotes Edit a b Brook 33 Wang 1949 148 149 Bielenstein 1980 9 Crespigny 2007 1049 amp 1223 Yan 2007 128 Brook 32 Wilkinson 534 535 Spence 70 71 amp 87 Wu Silas Communication and Imperial Control in China Evolution of the Palace Memorial System 1693 1735 Harvard University Press Cambridge 1970 ISBN 0674148010 Elliott 161 164 Bartlett 1991 48 53 References EditBartlett Beatrice Monarchs and Ministers The Grand Council in Mid Ch ing China 1723 1820 University of California Press Berkeley 1991 ISBN 0520065913 Bielenstein Hans The Bureaucracy of Han Times Cambridge University Press Cambridge 1980 ISBN 0 521 22510 8 Brook Timothy The Confusions of Pleasure Commerce and Culture in Ming China University of California Press 1999 ISBN 978 0 520 22154 3 de Crespigny Rafe A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms 23 220 AD Koninklijke Brill Leiden 2007 ISBN 90 04 15605 4 Elliott Mark The Manchu Way The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China Stanford University Press Stanford 2001 ISBN 0804736065 Spence Jonathan The Search for Modern China 2nd ed Norton New York 1999 page 70 Wang Yu ch uan An Outline of The Central Government of The Former Han Dynasty Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies Vol 12 No 1 2 Jun 1949 Wilkinson Chinese History A Manual Yan Hong sen Reconstruction Designs of Lost Ancient Chinese Machinery Springer Dordrecht 2007 ISBN 1 4020 6459 4 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Memorial to the throne amp oldid 1104810334, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
