In 1368 AD, after Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he began to implement the early dynasty system, called "Chang Dynasty Yumen Yi", that is, the imperial gate listened to the government, commonly known as the "Shang Dynasty".
Qing Dynasty along the Ming system, Shunzhi began to implement the imperial door to listen to the government, to the Kangxi Emperor, the imperial door to listen to the government as an emperor to deal with government affairs, its etiquette system has gradually completed. In the Qing Dynasty, the main venue for listening to the government of the Imperial Gate was held at the Qianqing Gate of the Forbidden City or the Qinzheng Hall of the Old Summer Palace.
Dry the door
On the seventh day of the seventh month of the sixth year of Kangxi, Emperor Kangxi, who had reached the age of fourteen, ordered to "bow to the great government". On the same day, he "listened to the government in the imperial and clean doors" and ordered "the future to be normal." The so-called Imperial Dry and Clear Door listens to the government, and it starts from here and becomes customized.
According to the description of the ceremony, the imperial gate during the Kangxi period was held "every day". On the one hand, this is certainly the need to deal with state affairs, and on the other hand, it is also an example for Emperor Kangxi to make diligent government affairs to his ministers, so that they will not be lazy in political affairs.
Schematic diagram of Qianqingmen listening to politics
So, what is the procedure and specific content of the Imperial Gate? Engraved in the 29th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, the "Great Qing Huidian", in the "Ministry of Rites, Listening to the Government", there is a detailed record of the imperial gate listening to the government at that time, and I will not repeat it here.
In the Yongzheng period, the frequency of listening to the government of the imperial gate dropped significantly. Along with the decrease in the number of times the Imperial Gate listens to the government, there have also been great changes in the rules of the question book and the music book.
At that time, the processing procedure of the Yongzheng Dynasty to inscribe this chapter had changed from the original emperor reading first and then issuing cabinet votes to the mode of first submitting cabinet votes and then submitting them to the emperor for approval. In this context, the presentation of this chapter to the emperor by the ministry yamen also lost its earlier significance to a certain extent, because the cabinet knew the content of the inscription before the emperor and gave suggestions on how to deal with it.
In the Qianlong period, the number of times the imperial gate listened to the government has been greatly reduced, and since then, the dynasties have greatly decreased. With the further improvement of the status of the recital, the importance of the inscription of this chapter has become less and less, so the aforementioned Yongzheng Dynasty's system of first sending it to the cabinet for voting and then submitting it to the emperor for review has become more fixed.
Although the content of the question book has gradually become a common event, and the handling of the question book has gradually become a routine matter, the imperial gate has gradually evolved from the original important government affairs to routine official business, and its influence on national government affairs is also weakening. However, because the imperial gate was initiated by the "holy lord" in the early Qing Dynasty, it has been insisted on from generation to generation, and has become a symbol of the emperor's diligence in government affairs. Therefore, as an ancestral system, its significance in rituals and forms far exceeds its actual content.
Forty scenes of the Old Summer Palace are diligent and pro-virtuous
Sometimes the imperial gate listens to the government, and even has become a burden on the Qing Dynasty's monarchs. This lack of important content of state activities can be maintained in the period when the Qing emperor is in his prime, and he is personally in charge, but it is difficult to continue in the later period when the young lord succeeds to the throne.
On December 13 of the ninth year of Xianfeng, "go to the imperial Qianqing Palace to listen to the government"; Four months later, that is, on March 13 of the tenth year of Xianfeng, Emperor Xianfeng, who moved to the Old Summer Palace, "listened to the government in the palace of imperial diligence". This is the last two imperial palace visits of Emperor Xianfeng recorded in the actual record. Five months later, under the threat of the artillery of the British and French forces, Emperor Xianfeng fled to Rehe. There, he spent the last eleven months of his life, never holding a royal gate again.
After the accession of Emperor Tongzhi, the imperial gate listened to the government until the death of the Qing Dynasty and never recovered. In March of the tenth year of Xianfeng, the imperial gate of the Qinzheng Palace of the Old Summer Palace became the final manifestation of this system.
The Forbidden City has a red patent leather folding box
The decline of the "popular" imperial system and the continuation of the "niche" system of emperors receiving military aircraft and the system of ministries and courtyards taking turns reflect the general trend of Qing politics focusing more and more on practical utility and the increasing power of the monarchy. The early dynasty model, which only had a form and did not have much content, was completely stopped in the Tongzhi Dynasty and was not restored until the Qing Dynasty.
[Article Source]
The Development and Decline of the Imperial Gate in the Early Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty
Li Wenjie
[edit]
Fu Huaidong