Jia Zhi, a scholar of Zhongshu Province during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, wrote a poem:
"Early Dynasty Daming Palace Presents Two Provincial Staff and Friends"
The silver candle is long in the sky, and the spring color of the forbidden city is clear. A thousand weak willows are weeping, and a hundred flowing warblers are circling Jianzhang. The sound of the sword and the sword followed the jade, and the crown of the robe provoked the incense of the imperial furnace. Gongmu Enbo Phoenix Pond, Chao Chao Dye Han served the king.
This poem describes the situation of the Tang Dynasty officials in the early dynasty: when the sky is not yet light, the officials walk on the long road of the capital, a thousand weeping willows outside the palace gate, the yellow warblers outside the Jianzhang Palace are singing, the officials wearing court clothes are silent, walking on the steps of white jade, they can only hear the sound of the swords and ornaments they wear, the body is dressed properly, and there is the fragrance emitted by the incense burner on both sides, everyone enjoys the grace of the emperor, so it is even more necessary to serve the emperor every day.
This poem fully describes the solemn scene of the Shang Dynasty, and later famous poets Wang Wei and Du Fu both wrote this poem. It can be seen that the early dynasty of ancient China was an important occasion for the emperor and the civil and military officials to concentrate on handling political affairs, and the scene was very solemn and serious, with a set of strict systems and regulations.
The reason why the ancient emperors and civil and military officials called the dynasty "chao" is because it is generally carried out in the early morning, and the dynasty means morning.
Because China was a society that paid attention to etiquette in ancient times, "shangchao" is a very important occasion, and naturally there are a series of behavioral norms and etiquette, called "chaoyi" or "chaoli". There are two kinds of ancient court rituals, one is the daily etiquette of the emperor and the civil and military officials to go to the court every day, including the time, place, dress, who is in front of and who is behind, who speaks first and who speaks later, otherwise so many people will be like the vegetable market. On television, we can see that during the Shang Dynasty, the ministers were very neatly arranged, holding "wat boards" in their hands, and they had to get the emperor's permission when speaking. This is the "ritual of the constant dynasty".
The other is on more important occasions, such as accepting visits from civil and military officials on special holidays, or visiting by foreign envoys. On such relatively large occasions, there are special ceremonies, called "Great Pilgrimage Ceremony" or "Pilgrimage Ceremony", the specifications are higher than the "Pilgrimage Ceremony", and the etiquette is more stringent.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" > the scene of an official ascending to the throne</h1>
In the Qing Dynasty, the officials were in the five-year dynasty, which was equivalent to our morning from five to seven o'clock, so the officials had to get up at three or four o'clock, the sky was not yet light, the officials were groomed, they had to put on formal clothes, and the official clothes sat outside the noon gate and waited. Some families live far away, that basically do not have to sleep overnight, and the senior officials in the imperial court are relatively old, so it is very hard.
When the ministers went to the court, the sky was not yet light, and the faces could not be seen clearly, so it was necessary to examine the "door book", afraid that someone would impersonate them, the "door book" was two feet long, made of bamboo, and the official's name, age and height, and appearance characteristics should be written on it. These are used for face recognition, and if an official is sick today and takes a leave of absence, he will write a "sick" word at the bottom, called "Zhumen Book."
In the absence of transportation at that time, the Shang Dynasty was still quite hard, fortunately, the Shang Dynasty was not a heavenly day, the Han Dynasty was a five-day dynasty, and the Qing Emperor also had a ten-day dynasty, which was determined according to the degree of diligence of the emperor. Emperors like Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong were almost heavenly. Since Tang Xuanzong had Yang Guifei, who was a collection of three thousand favors, he had no psychological government. This has Bai Juyi's verse "Spring supper is bitter and short days rise, and the king does not go early from now on". The Jiajing Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was able to insist on the upper dynasty when he first succeeded to the throne, and later he was able to not go to the dynasty for more than thirty years, which also became a miracle in Chinese history.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="42" > what happens if officials don't go to the court</h1>
During the Tang Dynasty, wages were deducted. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, it was recorded in the Tang Huijiao that "the civil and military attaches to the imperial staff, those who do not see for no reason, take a quarter of Lu", and deduct a quarter's salary as soon as they are deducted.
The Tang Laws stipulate that "officials who do not go up for no reason, and who do not do so, if they disobey because of their leisure, they will be flogged twenty times a day, add one grade in three days, pass a staff for one hundred, add one grade for ten days, stop being punished for one and a half years, and add one class to the officials who are on the verge of being asked", that is, occasional absenteeism, that is, playing the board, absenteeism for a long time, there will also be a sentence of imprisonment, the maximum is one and a half years, if it is an official working in a military town or a border area, then the crime will be added to the first class.
During the Ming Dynasty, the "Great Ming Law" stipulated that absenteeism was only ten times a day, and every three days plus one class was up to eighty times, and when the fight was completed, they had to continue to work.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" > what are the rules for officials to go up to the court</h1>
When officials go to the court, officials must wear this prescribed imperial dress, and different official imperial clothes are different, and those who do not wear them according to the regulations must be deducted from their wages.
When entering the dynasty, they had to take small steps and walk quickly, called "trend", to show respect for the emperor, and in addition, when officials went to the temple, they also had to remove their swords and take off their shoes.
There are many other regulations, such as officials coughing and spitting, unstable steps, loud noises, leaving the position for no reason, even improper wat boarding, eating, etc., these misconduct are written down by the imperial history who is specially responsible for picketing etiquette, and then waiting to be dealt with.
What happens if an official violates the imperial rites? Of course, there are penalties, and even high-ranking officials are no exception. During the Time of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Qixian, the prime minister at the time, was also a famous minister, but Zhang Qixian had a problem, that is, he loved to drink, and sometimes he was informal. On the winter solstice of the third year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song's Xianping Dynasty, the emperor held a court meeting, which was different from the daily upper dynasty, and the emperor chose a special day, and it was more solemn to accept the worship of hundreds of officials on this day. As a result, on such a solemn occasion, the prime minister Zhang Qixian, who was disheveled and shaky, came "a few times on the servant hall", and at first glance he was drunk. At that time, Yushi Zhongcheng immediately impeached him, saying that he had violated the imperial ceremony, and Zhang Qixian explained that because it was too cold, he drank two drinks and resisted the wind and cold and did not expect to get drunk. Of course, he also knew that he had violated the imperial ceremony, and immediately prostrated his head to apologize. The emperor was very angry and said to him, you are the prime minister, like this, how can you be an example of a hundred officials? The imperial court has the law of the imperial court, and I dare not seek personal gain, so you should listen to it! A few days later, the imperial court removed Zhang Qixian from his position as chancellor. It can be seen that even if you become the prime minister and violate the imperial ceremony, you will be severely punished by the law.
During the Tang Dynasty, the famous prime minister Chu Suiliang also violated the imperial ceremony. Chu Suiliang, because he was deeply appreciated by Emperor Taizong of Tang and Li Shimin, became a minister of gu orders, and together with his eldest grandson Wuji, assisted Emperor Gaozong of Tang in Li Zhi. Because Emperor Gaozong of Tang worshipped Wu Zetian, he wanted to depose his original empress dowager Wang. Chu Suiliang was resolutely opposed, believing that Empress Wang was from a famous and prestigious family, and that she had been appointed by the former emperor, and there was no major mistake in not keeping women's morality, so where could she be abolished at will? Later, when he expressed his objections, his words were fierce, and he even threw the wat board to the ground, telling Tang Gaozong that I did not want this wat board and returned it to His Majesty. It means not to dry it, and then to knock this head into blood, which shows the firmness of the attitude. Tang Gaozong was naturally furious, and finally asked someone to drag him out. Dare to argue with the emperor like this, obviously violating the imperial ceremony above the main hall, if this is an ordinary official, it must be punished with a great crime of disrespect. However, the eldest son interceded for him, saying that he was the chancellor of the former emperor, so he was not punished.
The wat board that Chu Suiliang threw was also exquisite, and it was recorded in the Book of Rites that "the wat degree was six inches in two feet, of which Bo was three inches." According to the different official products, the material is also different, there are jade, ivory, and bamboo pieces. In the Tang Dynasty, officials above the five pins held ivory wats, and officials below the six pins held wats made of bamboo and wood. During the Qing Dynasty, as in the TV show, because officials had to bow down, the wat board could not be taken.
What does the wat plate do? In fact, the wat board was used to make a notepad, to record the outline of the official's speech today, or the main points of the emperor's speech. Because the guard plate represents the official position and is to be held by the upper dynasty, it has symbolic significance. Like Chu Suiliang threw the wat board, it meant that this official was also improper and did not do it.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" > the origin of the shang dynasty etiquette</h1>
As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, there are records of the imperial ceremony, according to the record of the "Zhou Lixia ▪ Court ▪ Judges", the work content of the priests is "the position of the righteous imperial ceremony, the braiding of its nobles, etc.", such as the Son of Heaven to face the south, the rest of the ministers, including the three nobles, have their own positions, see the king coming to the court to worship and salute, the king to answer the salute, and then everyone will take their places and begin to listen to the government.
After Qin Shi Huang burned books to pit Confucianism, the "rites" handed down from the Western Zhou Dynasty were also impacted, and when Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, became emperor, Liu Bang was born in the city, had no culture, and did not like to read people, some people wore Confucian hats to see him, and he actually did the "drowning crown" thing. It's about taking off someone else's hat and soaking a puddle of urine in it. It can be seen that Liu Bang was a person who did not look up to the rules of etiquette, and the princes and heroes who followed him were mostly elders and rough, and they understood the etiquette of what monarchs and courtiers, so at first there was no law in the main hall of Han Gaozu.
It is said that once Liu Bang was ready to give these meritorious elders a reward for their merits and deeds, and above the main hall, it was really quarrelsome, Liu Bang thought that Xiao He's merit was the greatest, and he wanted to be made a county waiting, and the other generals were not convinced when they heard it, and they shouted loudly, we charged into the battlefield, not to say that we had experienced hundreds of battles, and the few also fought dozens of battles, Xiao He he played tricks in the rear, biting the pen pole, and there was no meritorious deed, why give him a head merit? As soon as Liu Bang saw that everyone was not convinced, he raised his voice and gave examples to everyone, for example, do you know about hunting? Everyone said they knew, and Liu Bang said, Do you know the hounds? Everyone said they knew, Liu Bang said, when hunting, it is the hounds who hunt the beasts, the people who give orders, you people will only charge into the battle, it is like the hounds, Xiao He is the one who gives orders behind, how can you compare with him? When this group of generals heard that Liu Bang compared them to hounds, they were even more unconvinced, so they shouted loudly and expressed their disobedience, and some even drew their swords, and then cut the pillars on the palace to express their anger. The chaos above the main hall became a mess, and Liu Bang, who did not talk much about etiquette in his daily life, also felt that this was too unorthodox, and he should find a way to rectify it well.
At this time, Shusun Tong appeared, Shusun Tong was originally in the Qin Dynasty to do this doctor, waiting for the emperor's edict, waiting for the emperor's edict, dr. waiting for the emperor to encounter things, the emperor called him to consult, that is, the emperor's adviser. Later, Uncle Sun Tong defected to Liu Bang, because Liu Bang had no culture, nor did he like this Confucian sheng very much, but he did not expect this time to play a role, Uncle Sun Tong saw through Liu Bang's thoughts, and he suggested to Liu Bang, he said that when you fight the world, Confucian Sheng cannot fight, so he has not made much contribution, but now you have won the world, Confucian Sheng can help Your Majesty to keep the world, I am willing to go to the hometown of Confucius before For His Majesty, to find those Confucian students who know etiquette, to help His Majesty formulate a set of "chaoyi", I can put the order in the imperial court in order well.
Liu Bang was still a little hesitant at first, because he had always disliked the Confucian set, and was afraid that he had no culture, and then in case he couldn't learn it, it was very strange and humiliating, so he asked Shusun Tong whether the etiquette of Confucianism was good or not, Shusun Tong was a smart person, hurrying to say, etiquette This thing can be complicated and simple, Xia Shang and Three generations have etiquette, they inherit from each other, but there are changes, are not exactly the same, we can combine the ancient etiquette and the etiquette of the Qin Dynasty, according to today's needs, Work out our own set of etiquette. As soon as Liu Bang heard it, he said everything about this, so he agreed and asked Uncle Sun Tong to try it.
So Uncle Sun Tong went to the territory of the original Lu state, gathered thirty Confucian students who knew ancient etiquette, and worked with them to formulate "imperial ceremonies". Almost done, Shusun Tong asked people to build a grass shed with bamboo poles and thatch on the outskirts of Chang'an. He took these thirty Confucian students, as well as some of Han Gaozu's close courtiers, as well as Shusun Tong's own disciples, a total of more than a hundred people, and began to conduct exercises here for more than a month, and asked Han Gaozu to come and see, and Han Gaozu was very satisfied after watching the exercises. Just soon to October, the Han Dynasty continued the Qin Dynasty calendar, and the year ended in September, starting with a new year in October, that is to say, the Chinese New Year's Eve night of the Han Dynasty is today's lunar calendar September 29, October 1 is the New Year.
At this time, just in time for the New Year, and just when the Changle Palace was completed, Liu Bang asked all the civil and military officials to come to learn the exercises, and on the day of the New Year, they were officially implemented as the etiquette of the court.
According to the records, the court ceremony formulated by Shusun Tong is as follows: On that day, when the dawn was not dawn, all the officials who were more than six hundred stones in the camp, under the guidance of the ceremonial officer, had to enter the square outside the palace in turn, wait for the square outside the palace, call the ministers into the temple, and then bow their heads and walk into the court in turn, standing on both sides of the hall, the military attaché stood to the west, the civilian official stood east, and finally the emperor sat down and came out, at this time the hundred officials shouted "Long live", and then the officials at all levels. He congratulated the emperor on his birthday in turn according to the official products. There were also officials in charge of supervision in the temple, and if anyone was found not to act according to this courtesy, they could directly throw him out.
This pomp and circumstance is relatively different from the scene when the princes and heroes quarreled above the main hall and even drew their swords and pillars, Liu Bang's feelings were simply worlds apart, so Liu Bang said "I know that I am the emperor's precious today", that is, until today, he tasted the taste of being an emperor.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" > the changes in the dynastic instruments of each dynasty</h1>
Since the emperor set the imperial ceremony, this system has also been used by future generations, the so-called "successive dynasties are returned, forever for the norm", of course, there have been changes in the dynasties, such as the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once thought that shouting "long live" with the emperor, too vain, even the emperor can not live ten thousand years, he ordered to change, some people proposed that you can shout like this: Heavenly auxiliary virtue, Haiyu Xianning, Holy Bow Wanfu. Then it was time to practice, and it turned out that this was not easy to shout neatly, or "Long live long live" to be neat and loud, so it still followed the etiquette of long live the mountain.
From the perspective of the entire ancient society, the dynastic ceremonies have changed, and this change also reflects the change in the relationship between the emperor and the official.
In the Han Dynasty, when the dynasty was in the dynasty, the emperor and the ministers were sitting, of course, the Han Dynasty's sitting was on both knees, and then sat on the heels, and there were refreshments and fruits in front of them, the atmosphere was very relaxed, that is, we said sitting and talking, and the prime minister was the most important official, so the emperor needed to perform a big ceremony when appointing the prime minister, so there was a prayer. Moreover, when the prime minister came to the court, the emperor stood up and asked the prime minister to sit down.
During the Tang Dynasty, officials also sat in the upper court. In the Song Dynasty, the emperor was seated, and the officials became standing. This change should start from the Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin after the Chen Qiao Mutiny yellow robes, before the five generations and ten kingdoms of the war is impressive to him, in order to avoid such a situation again, what he has to do is to strengthen the imperial power, maintain political stability. Therefore, after the famous cup of wine released the military power, The Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin moved the chair of the prime minister. At that time, the prime minister was Fan Zheng, he was also the prime minister of the Zhou Shizong era, Zhao Kuangyin did not have bloody storms when he came to power, although he had changed from "Zhou" to "Song" and changed dynasties, but many officials still used the original class of people, at that time, the prime minister, as the most important official, had a chair to sit in the upper dynasty. On this day, Fan Qian had already finished speaking, and sat in his chair, waiting for the emperor to express his attitude, and the emperor suddenly waved to him, pointed to the fold in his hand, and said to Fan Qian: "Come, my eyes are a little dizzy!" The emperor had a question to ask, Fan Qian hurried up, and when the pointing was finished, it was time to return to his seat, he looked back and found that he did not know when his chair had been removed, and then looked at the emperor, Zhao Kuangyin sat idly. At this time, the emperor was sitting alone above the main hall, where did the chair go, Fan Qian did not dare to ask, but without a chair, Fan Qian could only stand next, and from then on, the prime minister "Li Ban" began. From the time the prime minister sat down to the station, it reflected the disparity in the status between the emperor and the officials, before everyone was sitting, and now only the emperor was sitting above the main hall, and the officials were all standing respectfully, so the emperor's authority was clear at a glance. The removed chair was quickly and sensibly asked for early retirement. Since then, the ministers of ancient China have never sat down again when they were in the dynasty. Zhang Juzheng, the famous first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, when he was in power, because he was the emperor's teacher, the emperor, in order to show respect for him, was afraid that he would be tired of going up to the court, and in the summer he sent palace women to fan the fan, and in the winter, he laid felt cloth under his feet, but he could not sit down.
Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang clearly stipulated that when going to the dynasty, officials had to kneel and watch, and when they arrived in the Qing Dynasty, they had to kneel, and when officials went to the court, because the kneeling time was particularly long, the knees could not stand it, so the officials all wore special "knee pads".
Ancient Chinese dynasties and dynasties have strict regulations on the system and etiquette of the upper dynasty, this is because the upper dynasty is a very important occasion, only strict etiquette can reflect the seriousness and ceremony, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the upper court deliberations, and once the officials violate the court ceremonies, they will be punished very severely. The changes in the imperial ceremony in ancient society also reflected the change in the status between kings and subjects.