In the general impression, "memorials" should have appeared very early, but in fact they were unique to the Qing Dynasty. They began during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty and ended in 1912 when the last emperor Puyi abdicated. More than two hundred years. "Memorials" are divided into four categories: memorial memorials, memorial memorials, gratitude memorials, and congratulatory memorials. Among them, memorial memorials are used to report important national events, while the remaining three are used to express loyalty to the emperor and flatter the emperor. .
After the Qing Dynasty entered Guan and took control of the world in 1644, in addition to inheriting the land and wealth of the Ming Dynasty, it also inherited various political systems of the Ming Dynasty. According to the old system of the Ming Dynasty, when the Qing Dynasty first entered the customs, officials reported matters to the emperor. For official matters, they would use the inscription book, and for private matters, they would use the memorial book. However, when the lower-level officials sent the inscription book and the memorial book to the emperor, they had to go through the general affairs envoy and the cabinet. On the one hand, the process was too cumbersome for the Manchu dignitaries who had just entered the customs; on the other hand, it was not conducive to confidentiality, so there was a "memorial".
From the Shunzhi Dynasty to the early years of Yongzheng, "memorials" did not belong to formal official documents. There was no fixed delivery method and writing format. As long as they obtained the emperor's permission, they could be passed down to civil and military officials, gentry, and celebrities. Traders, foot soldiers, monks and Taoists could all write "memorials" to the emperor. At that time, "memorials" were a way for the Qing emperors to secretly understand world affairs. A typical example is Cao Yin of the Kangxi Dynasty. On the surface, he was weaving in Jiangning, but in fact They were Kangxi's cronies, ears and eyes arranged in Jiangnan, and they often wrote "memorials" to Kangxi.
To talk about the people who institutionalized "memorials", we have to mention two people, Emperor Yongzheng and Zhang Tingyu. In 1722, in accordance with the imperial edict of Emperor Kangxi, the fourth elder brother Yinzhen succeeded to the throne. This was Yongzheng. Although Yongzheng became the emperor, there were not many officials under Yongzheng during the princely era. His main rival, Eighth Prince Yinsu, was good at winning over people's hearts and had party members all over the government and the public. Therefore, Yongzheng, who had just ascended the throne, was isolated from his brothers everywhere, and state affairs were difficult to control. There was a problem with uploading and distributing. It was under this circumstance that Zhang Tingyu proposed to institutionalize the "memorial".
After the "memorial" was institutionalized, the first step was to remove the intermediate link between superiors and subordinates. The "memorial" was passed directly between the person who wrote the memorial and the emperor and the emperor's cronies, without a lot of constraints or deception; Secondly, all important matters in the imperial court were issued and discussed through "memorials". For example, the Yongzheng Dynasty's policies such as returning fire to the public and dividing the land into acres were all decided by Yongzheng after repeated consultations through "memorials". This deprived the Baye Party of many The party members controlled the government; in the end, all "memorials" were sealed in a locked leather box made by the palace during the transmission process. Therefore, except the emperor and the person who submitted the memorial, no one could know who wrote the "memorial" and what was written on it. What happened, everything became a secret. During the Yongzheng Dynasty, "memorials" began to be reserved exclusively for officials. Memorials from governors and above were sent directly to the emperor. Memorials from general officials were first sent to the trusted ministers designated by the emperor, which was later called the Military Aircraft Department, and then handed over to the emperor.
The institutionalization of "memorials" during the Yongzheng period can be said to have pushed the feudal imperial power to its peak, and the imperial power was greatly strengthened. On the one hand, the emperor's will can be directly conveyed to all levels of the country's departments and put into effect immediately, which greatly improves administrative efficiency and avoids deception. On the other hand, all "memorials" are kept confidential, so ministers can communicate with each other. Reporting to the emperor confidently and boldly will make the emperor's eyes and ears spread all over the country. The ministers can only be careful in their words and deeds and act loyally to avoid being accused by others. From then on, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty relied on "memorials" to monitor the world and issue orders, and truly managed the affairs of the world under one person.