Introduction:
In the long history of Chinese feudal society, the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty was a very representative political system.
In the process of the evolution of the cabinet system, the feudal imperial power underwent fundamental changes and evolutions.
Therefore, studying the evolution of the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty can not only deeply understand the characteristics of the political system of the Ming Dynasty, but also help us to fully understand the historical process of political changes in feudal society in China.
appear
The emergence of the cabinet system in the Ming Dynasty had a profound impact on imperial power. With imperial power as the core, the Ming Dynasty implemented an absolute feudal monarchy system, with the emperor having the highest power, holding the power of military, financial and personnel appointments and dismissals, and implementing bureaucratic systems such as the "Law of Civility and Military Rites" and the "Six Ministries of Yamen System".
However, until the emergence of the cabinet system broke this traditional bureaucratic system, so that the emperor was no longer the only discretionary decision-maker, which was of great benefit to reducing the pressure of the emperor's work, enhancing the efficiency of government administration, and then improving the management level of the imperial court.
The emergence of the cabinet system also made the emperor no longer a lone leader, but could rely on the assistance of cabinet members to jointly undertake national affairs.
In this way, on the one hand, the emperor can handle state affairs more calmly, and on the other hand, cabinet members can also use their own expertise and ability in handling state affairs, thereby improving the executive power of the government.
For example, during the Hongwu Dynasty, with the strengthening of centralized power, the emperor's workload in dealing with state affairs became more and more, and gradually formed the image of "forgetting to sleep and eating", which was a huge test for physical health and mental stress.
The Ming emperor founded the East Factory in the seventeenth year of Hongwu, and the cabinet members undertook the tasks of drafting and implementing important edicts, so that the emperor could get more rest time, and also greatly improved the efficiency of government implementation.
The emergence of the cabinet system also played a positive role in the reform of the bureaucratic system. The Ming Dynasty practiced a bureaucratic system with the imperial examination system as the core, but with the increasing corruption and magnitudes of the imperial court, the shortcomings of the bureaucracy were increasingly revealed.
In this case, the emergence of the cabinet system gave the emperor more options to elect more competent cabinet members, thus ensuring the efficiency and quality of government management.
For example, when creating a cabinet, the emperor, in order to ensure the competence and loyalty of cabinet members, specifically stipulated: "Those selected for the cabinet must be of good character, loyalty, and able to respond to various contingencies in a timely and rapid manner." ”
In this way, the selection of cabinet members is more fair and transparent, and the credibility and authority of government management are also enhanced.
In addition, the emergence of the cabinet system has also had a certain impact on social and cultural aspects.
Under the constraints of the traditional Confucian and Meng-Meng Way and feudal rites, ancient Chinese society attached importance to the concept of individual self-cultivation and family governance in peace, which was further developed after the emergence of the cabinet system in the Ming Dynasty.
Cabinet members must not only possess the professional qualities of officials, but also have noble sentiments, rich humanistic qualities, and a realm of thought free from distractions.
For example, Tang He and Fan Guan, cabinet members of the Hongwu Dynasty, while presiding over major state affairs, also paid attention to self-cultivation and the promotion of science and culture, put forward the view that "filial piety comes first", and promoted propaganda activities such as "The Two Books of the Emperor and the Ming", which greatly promoted the scientific and cultural prosperity of the Ming Dynasty and laid a good cultural foundation for future generations.
evolution
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet system showed a trend of decentralization and democratization, but it was also influenced by the bureaucracy and imperial power, presenting a complex and changeable situation.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the membership of the cabinet was no longer limited to ministers, but gradually expanded into a "taiban" system composed of representatives sent by various civil and military officials.
The emergence of this system has made the cabinet a more broadly representative body, thus making political decision-making more popular and representative.
In addition, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, institutions such as "Shaosheng" and "Hongxu Temple Secretary" appeared, further strengthening the functions and role of the cabinet.
In the cabinet system in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the functions and powers of the cabinet were clearly defined, and the status and role of cabinet members in political decision-making were also improved.
The duties of the cabinet include deliberating, drafting recitals, and handling official documents of the imperial court, while the handling of internal and external affairs is also extended to national security and military dispatch.
The status of Cabinet members has also improved, and the criteria for selecting Cabinet members are no longer limited to the qualifications of the appointment bureaucracy, but have begun to focus on political competence and aptitude.
However, the development of the cabinet system has also been subject to some constraints and difficulties. First, because the actual ruling power of the Ming emperors had not been fundamentally changed, the cabinet was still limited and controlled by the imperial power in political decision-making.
Due to the existence of bureaucratic groups, especially the existence of the East Factory, the cabinet has also been greatly affected and restricted in terms of personnel appointment and dismissal, policy implementation, etc., so that the trend of democratization and decentralization of the cabinet has been limited to a certain extent.
In addition, there are obvious factional struggles and conflicts of interest among cabinet members, creating a complex and volatile political situation.
strengthen
In Chinese feudal society, imperial power is the core of the feudal monarchy, and the cabinet system is an institutional arrangement that restricts and restricts imperial power. However, during the Ming Dynasty, while the cabinet system was increasingly perfected, the emperor's control over the cabinet was constantly strengthened.
The reasons for the emperor's increased control over the cabinet were manifold. On the one hand, the emperor under the feudal monarchy was the absolute ruler, relying on his own power and status to maintain his own status and authority, and his control over the cabinet itself was natural.
On the other hand, there were often serious conflicts of interests and factions between cabinet members of the Ming Dynasty, which made it inevitable for the emperor to find a balance between cabinet factions and seize power.
At the same time, due to the relatively loose institutional arrangement of the cabinet system, the cabinet was limited in political decision-making and could not fully handle the country's rule, which further strengthened the emperor's control over the cabinet.
The emperor's manifestation of control over the cabinet was mainly diverse, and the emperor tried to grasp the actual power of the cabinet by appointing cabinet members, such as appointing or removing cabinet members according to his own wishes, or simply abolishing the cabinet.
In addition, the emperor tried to monitor the cabinet by grasping the cabinet's issues and documents, and stationing special commissioners and intelligence agencies such as the "East Factory" in the cabinet to monitor and strengthen his control over the cabinet.
The influence of the emperor's increased control over the cabinet was also profound. This trend gradually changed the cabinet from a "deliberative body" to an institution under the direct command of the emperor, losing its due independence and balancing role.
As a result, the efficiency and capacity of the cabinet have declined, making it difficult for political decision-making to proceed smoothly. Due to the emperor's excessive control of the power of the cabinet, the bureaucracy and the scholarly class were extremely dissatisfied with the reform of the cabinet system, which became one of the important factors in the gradual disintegration of feudal imperial power in the late Ming Dynasty.
decline
The cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty reached its peak during the Jiajing period, but with the changes of the times and the influence of various factors, the cabinet system gradually declined. The impact of this decline on the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty was also very far-reaching.
The decline of the cabinet system had a great impact on the political system of the Ming Dynasty, causing chaos and instability in state management. The cabinet was originally an important institution to assist the emperor in handling state affairs, but as the appointment of cabinet members increasingly relied on powerful ministers and eunuchs, many cabinet members colluded with the officialdom aristocracy to form power groups, thus seriously interfering with state management.
For example, during the Wanli period, cabinet member Cao Jixiang and others were controlled by eunuchs, using their power to seek benefits for eunuchs, resulting in corruption in the dynasty and social unrest.
The decline of the Ming cabinet system also had a negative impact on the country's economy and finances. With the loss of independence and authority of the cabinet, the emperor had to rely more on the opinions of his ministers and cabinet members, who often made various selfish proposals for their own benefit, resulting in a worsening of the country's financial situation.
For example, during the Wanli Dynasty, cabinet members Yang Jisheng, Yuan Chonghuan and others looted people's wealth in order to collect commercial taxes, which greatly hindered commercial development and negatively affected the economy of the Ming Dynasty.
The decline of the cabinet system in the Ming Dynasty also had a certain negative impact on the cultural field. As the political status and authority of cabinet members deteriorate, their spiritual strength and cultural consciousness gradually decline.
The cabinet was originally an institution to promote cultural prosperity, but under the interference of eunuchs and ministers, cabinet members lacked independence and creativity, and failed to promote the development of cultural undertakings at that time.
For example, during the Wanli years, most of the cabinet members were insensitive and did not pay attention to the development of the college, and even hindered the development of the college in many aspects, resulting in the stagnation of cultural undertakings.
The decline of the cabinet system in the Ming Dynasty also had a certain impact on society. As the authority of cabinet members gradually disappeared, the trust and support of many officials and the people in the imperial court gradually declined, and serious political instability and social unrest occurred.
For example, during the Wanli period, Yang Jisheng and other cabinet members frequently took the opportunity to slander the emperor in order to achieve their own political goals, which made the contradictions between the government and the opposition increasingly acute and the society unstable, which became more serious in the later period, directly leading to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
Go to pieces
The collapse of the Ming cabinet system was a complex and long-term process. According to historical records, this process gradually accelerated in the middle and late Ming dynasties, reaching a peak in a series of political, economic, and military events.
The reasons for the collapse of the Ming cabinet system were manifold. First, the contradiction between the imperial power and the cabinet system led to the failure of the cabinet.
In theory, the cabinet should be the administrative body of the emperor, but in practice the cabinet became an independent force, competing for the emperor's power. At the same time, there are conflicts among cabinet members, often forming factional fighting.
The shortcomings of the Ming monarchy also caused problems for the cabinet system. Due to its location in the East, the importance attached to Confucianism, and the monopoly of power by the monarch led to the bureaucratic scholars' national political models such as "music politics" and "restraint politics".
In this model, the cabinet lost its real power, which eventually led to the collapse of the cabinet system.
The collapse of the Ming cabinet system had a profound impact on imperial power. First, the Ming emperor lost the support of the cabinet as an administrative body, and the imperial power was gradually weakened.
During the Ming Chengzu period, the cabinet was able to support and replace the emperor relatively smoothly, but there were great changes during the Jiajing period.
Because the Ming Dynasty used a bureaucratic political model, the cabinet's control over the emperor was very limited.
On the one hand, the cabinet was bound by Confucianism; On the other hand, it was unable to truly implement the "recital system" and "restraint politics", resulting in the cabinet being unable to effectively manage and supervise the emperor, and eventually losing control over the imperial power.
Moreover, the collapse of the cabinet system prompted the rise of other powers, making imperial power more decentralized and diluted. In the middle and late Ming dynasties, foreign invasions and economic depressions led to peasant uprisings and the rise of local power.
In the process, the power of the bureaucratic central government gradually declined, and the power of local officials gradually increased, a trend that led to a sharp decline in the emperor's control over the entire country.
At the same time, the central government struggled financially in the late Ming Dynasty, state taxes declined, and the emperor gradually lost control of his parliament, army, and economic activities. This situation greatly weakened imperial power as the basis of state rule.
At the same time, the impact of the collapse of the cabinet system also contributed to the establishment of the Qing Dynasty. In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, the country experienced a serious crisis due to the extravagant pleasures and corruption of the bureaucracy and the gentry class, as well as the frequent occurrence of foreign wars and internal uprisings.
At this time, the Manchus invaded the Central Plains and established their own dynasty in Liaoyang.
The division and decline within the Ming Dynasty allowed the Qing Dynasty to triumph. In the Qing Dynasty, the cabinet system was successfully restored because the emperor no longer took on the day-to-day administrative work, but entrusted it to the cabinet.
Although the late Qing Dynasty began to implement the policy of reform and opening up due to pressure from Western powers, the basic framework of this institutional system has been maintained to this day.
To sum up, the impact of the collapse of the Ming cabinet system on imperial power was profound. It led to the dispersion and dilution of imperial power, while also contributing to the establishment of the Qing Dynasty.
With the collapse of the cabinet system, the control of the central government in the late Ming Dynasty declined sharply, and local power gradually increased, which had a profound impact on maintaining national unity and the stability of imperial power.
Epilogue:
As historians say: "China's ancient political system was formed by centralized states, and although these systems have undergone many changes in history, their essence has not changed." ”
It can be said that feudal imperial power played a crucial role in the historical process of Chinese feudal society. The implementation, development and demise of the cabinet system in the Ming Dynasty also reflected the many complexities and diversity of feudal imperial power in the historical evolution.
Resources:
History of Ming
"Records of Ming Taizu"
Records of the Ming Dynasty