The greatest wish of ancient men in their lives is to pass the title of the scientific research gold list, so that they can walk in peace, gain power and status, and also marry a virtuous wife, take a few small concubines, give birth to a group of children, and enjoy the joy of the world.
In this way, being an official is indeed a particularly cool thing, in addition to the emperor, for men, being an official is the best destination.
However, most people only see the benefits of being an official, but ignore the hardships and hardships behind those officials, and the upper dynasty alone tortures them enough.
Image: Stills of the concubine of the official
1. Pilgrimages of ancient officials
Ancient officials went to the court, just like modern people, and were a daily necessity. The model of the Shang Dynasty is a bit like a large meeting of all the employees of the company, where the emperor gathers the civil and military officials together at a unified time, and then everyone begins to discuss the major affairs of the state, and the officials at all levels report to the emperor or give advice, and then the emperor makes decisions.
However, there are many rules of the Upper Dynasty, and one thing that most people cannot accept is that the time of the Upper Dynasty is too early, probably between five and seven o'clock in the morning.
Five o'clock here is not the time to get up, but the time to reach the court, if there are officials who get up at five o'clock, it is absolutely too late, not to mention that some officials live far away from their homes, they get up earlier.
After getting up, the officials needed to tidy up their grooming, eat something to fill their stomachs, and then walk, ride a horse, or take a sedan to the palace. Everyone waited in line outside the palace, and when the palace gates opened, the officials needed to enter the palace in the order of civilian officials on the left, military attaches on the right, and high and low positions.
Photo: Officials lined up to enter the palace for stills
The time of the dynasty lasted about two hours, and the ministers first gave the emperor a big gift and then reported on the work.
If someone arrives late or leaves early, they will be dealt with strictly according to the crime of trespassing.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, whenever any official did not come to the imperial meeting, for whatever reason, he had to be compulsorily charged a quarter of Feng Lu. By the time of Emperor Suzong of Tang, officials who had been absent from work for 35 days without cause were sentenced to one year in prison.
In the Ming Dynasty, the punishment for absenteeism was more serious, not only to be deducted money, but also to be beaten, if the number of late absenteeism was too much, you had to be careful of your ass. Therefore, the first element of being an official in ancient times was that you must not lie in bed.
In addition, officials must also have relatively strong endurance, starting from getting up at two or three o'clock in the morning, until eight or nine o'clock in the morning, and the interleaved hours cannot sneeze, yawn or lose their minds, otherwise they will be judged as disrespectful by the supervising imperial historian, and they will also be deducted as punishment.
Photo: Stills of Tang Dynasty officials on the dynasty
Second, changes in the etiquette of the Pilgrimage
At the imperial meeting, the etiquette of officials when meeting the emperor is also worth exploring, and with the change of dynasties, the posture of the civil and military officials when meeting the emperor has also undergone tremendous changes.
From "sitting" to "standing", and then gradually evolving into "kneeling", is this a regression of human civilization?
In fact, this is not the case, and the change of etiquette reflects the deepening of the concept of hierarchy and class. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the relationship between monarchs and courtiers was relatively casual, and the courtiers sat on the floor at the court meeting, sitting their butts directly on the bent heels.
Ministers of this period also performed the ritual of bowing down to the emperor, but only expressed respect, and did not mean "high and low". Moreover, if the courtier bows to the monarch, then the monarch must also pay tribute as a thank you, and it is the way of a gentleman to come and go.
In the Han Dynasty, the concept of the supremacy of the monarchy was integrated into etiquette, and the status between the king and the courtiers also underwent subtle changes, and the courtiers of this period needed to sit and kneel, but the monarch did not have to return the salute.
Photo: Stills of the courtiers kneeling in worship
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, chairs were introduced to the Central Plains, and ministers no longer needed to sit on the floor for meetings, but only needed to sit on chairs to hold meetings, which was the happiest period of time for officials.
However, in the Song Dynasty, Song Taizu thought that it was too absurd for courtiers to sit with the emperor, and really did not pay attention to the monarchy. At a court meeting, he pretended not to be able to see the two officials' notes clearly, asked them to present them, and then ordered the guards to secretly remove all their chairs, and the two officials later found that their chairs were gone and did not dare to say a word, and gradually, all the officials stopped sitting on the chairs, and everyone stood on the court.
The Song Dynasty did not popular the ritual of kneeling, and the ministers showed their respect for the king by long marches to the ground. In addition, we can also know through the decrees of the Song Dynasty that kneeling in front of the Song Dynasty is an act of disrespect in front of a temple.
Photo: Song Dynasty officials standing on the upper court stills
It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the imperial court really began to implement the ritual of kneeling, and officials needed to kneel and play things for the emperor when they went to the court, and from then on, kneeling was no longer a sign of respect, but was full of hierarchy, authority, obedience and humiliation.
Zhu Yuanzhang's origins were not good, but instead of understanding the civil and military officials, he humiliated them in every way, so kneeling became the norm during the Ming Dynasty. In the early dynasties, officials had to perform the prostration ceremony before they could report to the emperor, and on other occasions, those of lower rank had to bow to those of higher rank.
Photo: Stills of officials kneeling in worship during the Ming Dynasty
In the Qing Dynasty, the system of kneeling was carried forward, and kneeling appeared on almost all major occasions, and even involved murder cases. The Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing Dynasty set up a military aircraft department, in which all the ministers had to kneel to listen to the training, and if any official was summoned by the emperor for six or seven hours, he had to kneel on the ground for six or seven hours and could not get up.
This is simply a great ordeal, kneeling on the green brick for such a long time, even the strongest legs are estimated to be wasted. It is said that there was a minister who knelt too long and died alive, and this person was Liu Yong's father, Liu Tongxun. The Qianlong Emperor was also saddened by his death for a long time, but he did not abolish the ritual of kneeling.
Officials from high positions of power to ordinary people without any rights are treated equally and do not have any preferential treatment in kneeling. For those highly respected old courtiers, the emperor might also show mercy and take a cushion for them to sit on, but others really don't want to think about it.
Photo: All the ministers of the Qing Dynasty kneeling to listen to the stills of the training
Even Li Hongzhang, the minister of the imperial court, had a lot of experience in kneeling, and he learned the etiquette of kneeling every day. Cao Zhenyong, a university scholar, also knows the way to be an official, and once someone asked him how to become a high official, and he replied: Don't think about showing off any cleverness, just kneel more and prostrate more and talk less.
Some people will wonder, no one can resist kneeling for so long, what if the knee hurts after kneeling for a long time? In fact, the ministers are not stupid, they will pad thick cotton on the outside of the knee, and then wrap it in pants, so that the pain of kneeling for a long time can be relieved a lot.
In the Qing Dynasty, the hierarchy deepened, the boundaries between monarchs and subjects became more and more clear, and the more officials obeyed the emperor, the more they would be favored by the emperor. In this way, talent and ability are not the most important, and loyalty to the emperor is the most important.
But does it really make sense for the emperor to wear away the edges and corners of officials by making them kneel and prostrate, only to end up with their flattery and flattery?
Article author: Dahui
The entire graphic was produced by the team of the Big Cafe Say History Studio!