Oration for Emperor Taizu of Ming

"We often hear the words 'ancestral institutions' in books, films, and television dramas about the Great Ming."

"What on earth were these ancestral institutions?"

"To sum them up in one sentence, they were the rules Zhu Yuanzhang laid down."

"There were many rules, covering everything from institutions, laws, and the organization of government offices to the emperor's words and conduct, standards for officials, and the behavior of those in the imperial harem. Anyone who broke the rules would be cruelly punished; in serious cases, they would be sentenced to death by a thousand cuts, and their entire family would be executed."

"They included the Ancestral Injunctions of the August Ming, the Grand Pronouncements, the Great Ming Code, the Hongwu Ritual Regulations, the Established Rites and Etiquette, the Record of Filial Piety and Benevolence, the Great Ming Code, and Official Duties under Zhu, among others. Of these, the Ancestral Injunctions of the August Ming, the Great Ming Code, and Official Duties under Zhu were the three most important."

"The ancestral institutions Zhu Yuanzhang laid down were enforced with great ferocity in the early years, with lives taken at the slightest provocation. But most of their contents gradually fell apart later on. Giving eunuchs important posts, wearing lavish clothes, establishing a grand secretariat, indulging in fine wine and beautiful women, and so on all violated the ancestral institutions, yet each succeeding emperor came up with more inventive ways to have his fun than the last."

"The ancestral institutions later became a shield. People selectively invoked those that suited their interests and ignored those that did not."

Zhu Yuanzhang: So this was how they used the ancestral institutions I left behind?

"How dare they!" Zhu Yuanzhang swept a sharp gaze over the civil officials of his own court and said in a low voice, "I established the ancestral institutions so that the Great Ming's realm would endure forever, yet the civil officials of later generations dared to use the ancestral institutions I laid down to restrict imperial power. Their audacity knew no bounds!"

The civil officials were terrified. They all fell to their knees and begged forgiveness.

They felt terribly aggrieved. The civil officials of later generations did it, so why are you, Zhu Chongba, taking it out on us?!

"When the Yongle and Wanli emperors were choosing their heirs, the civil officials collectively brought out the ancestral institutions, weeping and shouting, to oppose the emperor's power."

Zhu Di: Should I do something?

"The Wanli Emperor's empress could not bear children. Once, when he went to pay his respects to his mother, he acted on a sudden impulse and did that with one of her palace maids."

"The palace maid became pregnant with a son a few months later, but Wanli thought it was embarrassing that he had slept with a palace maid and tried to deny the child was his. His mother brought out the imperial daily records and said, 'Son, don't think you can run away from this. I'm going to hold this grandson of mine, no matter what.' So the palace maid was given formal status and made Consort Wang, while Zhu Changluo was raised in the palace as the legitimate eldest son and groomed as heir to the throne."

[Chongba was uneducated.]

[Uneducated? I used to think so too, but after watching the video, I think Zhu Yuanzhang wasn't actually wrong. Given the era, and the fact that industry and commerce weren't as developed then as they are now, he favored agriculture and suppressed commerce. The later emperors never changed the policy, and when natural disasters made it impossible to grow grain, they still had to give money to more and more members of the imperial clan. No wonder the Great Ming was poor!]

"The imperial clan..."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di's expressions changed.

Zhu Yuanzhang remembered that Liu Bowen and Tang He had once hinted to him that the imperial clan would grow larger with each generation, but he had paid it no mind.

Now it seemed this really was a major problem!

Zhu Yuanzhang had enfeoffed princes on a grand scale partly to cultivate the imperial clan's strength and partly so his descendants could enjoy good lives. His thinking had been somewhat like that of a small farmer.

Zhu Di had seized the throne through rebellion, and fearing that his other brothers would follow his example, he stripped the princely vassals of their military authority while leaving all their allowances unchanged.

After all, he couldn't make his greed too ugly to behold.

Now, for the Great Ming to endure longer, the imperial clan would have to bear some hardship.

[Policies should change with the circumstances of the time. The ancestral institutions Zhu Yuanzhang established in the early Ming were already completely unsuitable by the middle and late Ming Dynasty.]

[Zhao Kuangyin relieved his generals of military command over cups of wine because of rebellions by regional military governors. Military commanders had too much power, and he had no choice but to suppress them. Zhao Kuangyin didn't make this an ancestral institution, but the Song Dynasty treated it as one by default. The emperors and civil officials did everything they could to suppress military commanders, causing the status of civil officials to rise without limit. The Song Dynasty appeared to lack martial vigor and was beaten in turn by Liao, Jin, Mongolia, and even Western Xia. If Zhao Kuangyin's spirit in heaven could see this, he'd probably weep.]

Zhao Kuangyin: At last, someone understood me!

[An institution is like a fishing net, and those in power are the fishermen who hold it. As time passes, the net grows worn and develops holes. At that point, they should find a new net or mend the holes in the old one so they can continue fishing. If they leave it alone, the net will grow more and more tattered until the day it can no longer be used at all.]

[Different times require different institutions. When a new institution appears, it harms the interests of some people, while others benefit from it. In history, reforming institutions and introducing innovations is called "reform." Those who carry out reforms never come to a good end.]

[The fall of every dynasty throughout history was connected, to a greater or lesser extent, with its failure to carry out reforms in time.]

This comment put most of the emperors on alert.

"Reform is easier said than done!"

In the eyes of those shrewd emperors and officials, the words of the people of later generations made a great deal of sense. A country had to establish new institutions according to its circumstances, as in Shang Yang's reforms.

But that was too difficult. Those who carried out reforms usually died terrible deaths!

Unless the reformer was the emperor, and even then, he had to be an emperor who held firm control over military and political power.

Such emperors were mostly founding rulers and rulers who restored their dynasties.

["Oration for Emperor Taizu of Ming" was a proclamation issued by Mr. Sun Yat-sen on February 15, 1912, the first year of the Republic, when he led civil and military officials to pay their respects at the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum. #Republic of China #Emperor Taizu of Ming]

"Oration for Emperor Taizu of Ming? That government from a later age, the one without an emperor, actually went to pay its respects to Zhu Yuanzhang!"

"Will the government of a later age pay its respects to me?"

The Emperor of Qin, Wu of Han, Taizong of Tang, and other emperors were envious and jealous.

["Oration for Emperor Taizu of Ming" was a proclamation issued by Mr. Sun Yat-sen on February 15, 1912, the first year of the Republic, when he led civil and military officials to pay their respects at the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.]

[The oration was issued chiefly to announce to Emperor Taizu of Ming's spirit in heaven the accomplishments of the Qing imperial house's abdication and the Republic's unification, and to declare Sun Yat-sen's opposition to rule by the Manchu Qing nobility.]

["In former days, when the Song government had lost its order, the Liao and Yuan seized their moment and threw the Central Lands into turmoil, arousing the wrath of gods and men alike. Our Taizu alone rose from among the common folk, drove out the treacherous and cruel, and restored what had been lost. In twelve years, he brought his great undertaking to completion. Yu's realm was cleansed and made bright; its filth was washed away and the stench of mutton banished. The Central Lands have often been subjugated by petty barbarians from the borderlands, but none has equaled Taizu's magnificent achievement in driving them out and restoring the land."]

["His descendants in later generations proved unworthy and could not carry on his martial prowess. They entrusted the government to petty men and, going still further astray, sheltered and nurtured the Eastern Hu, sitting idle as they grew strong. Taking advantage of rebellion and disorder, they stole in and occupied the divine capital. Alas, and yet how glorious! If not for our Taizu's spirit in heaven, how could we have come this far? I once heard that the fortunes of the barbarians last no more than a hundred years, yet the Manchu Qing endured for twice that and more. This was not because Heaven was inconstant, but because circumstances made it so."]

["The republican system has appeared first in East Asia. Though its creation was an undertaking shared by others, the times differed in their swiftness and delay. We sought benevolence and obtained it; what cause have we for complaint? I have also heard that, in former times, men who sought to save the age once climbed this hill to stir the army's resolve. Gazing over the mountains and rivers, they sighed and wept. What once brought sorrow now brings joy. Verdant Jinling, where dragons coil and tigers crouch, is home to this ancient capital; throughout the seas, no voice cries out. Those who came before and after shine alike. We shall forever look up to the example of those who came before, and make it a model for generations to come. We humbly pray that you will accept these offerings."]

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Can this 'republican system' truly let the people live and work in peace and contentment?"

The realm in later generations no longer belonged to his Zhu family, but to all the people.

Such a system could only appear in later generations, not in his Great Ming.

For the Great Ming bore the surname Zhu!

By the same token, the Great Qin bore the surname Ying, the Great Han bore the surname Liu, the Great Tang bore the surname Li, and the Great Song bore the surname Zhao. As emperors who treated the realm as their family's possession, they would not allow the system of later generations to appear in the realms they controlled.

[The Manchu Qing led our Huaxia astray!]

[The Manchu Qing set Huaxia back 300 years!]

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