reading and question answer & debate paper

CHAPTER 4

4.J AND 4.2

In Pei-Kai Cheng and Michael Lestz with Jonathan Spence, The Search for Modern China, A Documentary Collection, 65-70.

Yongzheng's Authority

KANGXl's SACRED EDICT

AND WANG YUPU AND

YONGZHENG'S

AMPLIFICATION

The purpose of Kangxi's sixteen hortatory maxims, each expressed in seven characters, was to lay down an ethical and moral framework for subjects of the Qing state. In 1724, the Yongzheng emperor issued an amplified version of his father's maxims (the Shengyu guangxun) in literary Chinese. An expanded third version (the Shengyu guangxun zhijie) was written in a homely colloquial style by Wang Yupu, a Shaanxi salt com­ missioner, soon thereafter. This latter version was read aloud at yarn en throughout China on the first and fifteenth of each moon.

A full translation is provided below of the original Kangxi maxims, There follow portions of Wang Yupu's vernacular exposition of the Yong­ zheng text for those maxims marked with an asterisk, For the Confucian ruler, well-ordered families and clans were the paradigms of an orderly state and both the Kangxi and Yongzheng versions of the Edict stress this basic principle of Chinese statecraft. It is also worth noting the scorn heaped by Wang Yupu on Buddhist and Daoist practices and folk religion in general. The central government saw its subjects as ignorant and easily misled, It distrusted and feared orthodoxies other than those it imposed and "heterodox" authorities who might extract funds or loyalty from the state's own constituencies.

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4.1 The Sacred Edict of the Kangxi Emperor, 1670

THE SIXTEEN MAXIMS (SHENGYU)

I. Strengthen filial piety and brotherly affection to emphasize human relations. 2. Strengthen clan relations to illustrate harmony.* 3. Pacify relations between local groups to pm an end to quarrels and litigation. 4. Stress agriculture and sericulture so that there may be sufficient food and

dothing. 5. Prize frugality so as ta make careful use of wealth. 6. Promote education to improve the habits of scholars. 7, Extirpate heresy to exalt orthodoxy.• 8. Speak of the law to give warning to the stupid and stubborn.• 9. Clarify rites and manners to improve customs.

10. Let each work at his own occupation so that the people's minds will be settled.

11. Instruct young people to prevent them from doing wrnng. 12. Prevent false accusations to shield the law-abiding. 13. Prohibit sheltering of runaways to avoid being implicated in their crime. 14. Pay taxes to avoid being pressed for payment. 15. Unite the baojia system to eliminate theft and armed robbery. 16. Resolve hatred and quarrels to respect life.

4.2 Wang Yupu and Yongzheng's Amplification of Kangxi's

Sacred Edict, 1724

1. AMPLIFICATION OF MAXIM TWO: STRENGTHEN CLAN RELATIONS TO

ILLUSTRATE HARMONY .

. . . The clan is like the water of a spring which branches into several streams and then dozens of streams as it emerges. But all of these branches originated from the same spring. Ir is also like a tree which grows a thousand branches and ten thousand leaves that all emerge from the same root, A clan whether it is divided into a branch of several dozens of able bodied men or hundreds of men comes from the same body of the same ancestor. The clan members are like the hands, feet, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, and other parts of the ancestor's body; when you put them together they are one body. Just think, if there is a sore on my body or if I sprain my ankle or break my leg, doesn't my whole body feel uncomfortable I If you try to entrap or harm a clan member or insult or cheat him and make him fed uncomfortable, can you imagine that you will

AMPL[FICATION OP KANGX!'S EDICT 167

feel happy? You should treat them as you would yourself. You should look at clan members as part of one hody; if one place hurts then all other places will hurt. If one spot itches, all spots will itch. Only when the blood flows throughout the body will things be as they should be, Therefore, the ancients said: 'To educate the people, filial piety, brotherly affection, harmony, love, willingness to endure for others, and charity are necessary.' When it [the section of the ancient classic the Zhou/i quoted by Y ongzheng) says filial piety, next it says brotherly affection and then it says harmony and that's because clan members are descended from the san1e ancestor. If someone does not want harmony in

his own clan he is unfilial and goes against brotherly affection .. , .

2. AMPLIFICATION OF MAXIM SEVEN: EXTIRPATE HERESY TO EXALT

ORTHODOXY

. . . What is heterodoxy? From ancient times there have been three religions. Besides Confucian scholars there are Buddhist monks and Taoist priests. These latter sects are heretical. All the Buddhist priests talk about is meditation, enlightenment, and becoming a Buddha. They also say: "If one son becomes a monk, the whole clan will ascend to heaven." Just think about it, who has ever seen a Buddha? What is a Buddha? Buddha is in the heart. What is the meaning of chanting the name of the Buddha? It is for the mind to be constantly con­ cerned about the heart. If the heart is good this is Buddha.

fust look at their sutras. The first sutra is the Heart Sutra. All the Heart Sutra says is that the heart should be straight; it should not be twisted or devious. It should be honest and not false and lying. It should be frank and not unclean. If one can cut oneself off from greed, anger, and stupid attachments and be, in all things, like a flower in a looking glass or the moon in water, then all doubts and fears will cease and the heart will be perfect. Therefi>re, Master Zhu Xi of the Song dynasty said: 'Buddhism does not concern itself with anything in the four corners of the universe but is concerned simply with the heart.' This sen­ tence goes to the bottom of Buddhism and expresses it entirely .

. . . All this talk about fasts, processions, building temples, and making idols is invented by idle and lazy Buddhists monks and Taoist priests as a plan for swindling you. But you want to believe them and not only go yourselves to burn incense and worship in their temples but also ask your wives and daughters to go to the temples to burn incense. With oiled hair and powdered faces, dressed in bright colors, they crowd and jostle shoulder to shoulder with these Taoist and Buddhists priests and riffraff. Where the 'practicing goodness' comes in nobody knows, but many vile things are done that provoke anger, vexation,

and ridicule .... , .. As for reciting prayers to Buddha: You say it does good and that by

burning paper, offering presents, and performing services for the release of

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souls, calamity may be averted, sin destroyed, happiness increased, and life pro­ longed. Now just consider, it has always been said: 'The wise and upright are divine.' If someone is a divine Buddha, how can he be greedy for your contri­ butions of silver in order to protect you. And if you don't burn paper money and make sacrifices, and the 'divine Buddha' then gets angry and sends a calam­ ity down upon you, is he not a mean person/ Take the example of your local official. If you attend to your own business and are a good person, even if you don't go to flatter him, he will still naturally regard you with respect. If you do evil and behave in a bullying and presumptuous way, even if you think of a hundred ways to flatter him, he will still be angry with you and get rid of you to spare the people harm. You say: 'If we repeat the Buddha's name we can be rid of our sins.' If you do something evil and break the law and then cry out, 'Your honor,' a thousand rimes in a loud voice when you reach the yamen, will he pardon you/ Every time you do something, you ask several monks and Taoists to chant the sutras and carry out rituals. It is said that chanting the sutras secures peace, averts disaster, and prolongs happiness and life .. Suppose you don't follow the teachings in the Sacred Edict, but instead merely recite it several thousand times or tens of thousands of times, it is unlikely that the Emperor will be so pleased with you that you will be given an official post or rewarded with silver.

... To be perfectly loyal to the Ruler and to fulfill filial duty to the utmost is the whole duty of man and the means of obtaining the blessing of heaven. If you do not seek happiness which is not your lot in life and do not meddle in matters that do not concern you but simply mind your own business) you will enjoy the protection of the gods. Farmers should look after farming. Soldiers should go about their patrols and garrison duties. Each should attend to his own occupation and duties and then the realm will be naturally at peace and the people will be naturally happy. If none of you believe in heretical sects, they will not have to wait to be driven out but will become extinct naturally.

3. AMPLIFICATION OF MAXIM EIGHT: SPEAK OF LAW TO GIVE WARNING

TO THE STUPID AND STUBBORN .

. . . Is it possible that the State could enjoy beating and decapitating people/ It is only because the people do not learn to be good and do not obey instructions that there is no other alternative than to use the penal law to control them. Since in many cases, the people break the law because they do not know it, this book has been compiled to instruct them to be good people and not bad people. For those who do bad, punishment is proportional to the offense, but even should you merely curse someone or take a blade of grass or stick of wood you will not escape the law .

. . . The law contains a profound meaning and was originally drawn up in

YONGZHENG ON THE r,.,fEAN PEOPLB; 169

accordance with human nature. If everyone knew the meaning of the law, they would not break it. There would be nobody in the prisons and few litigations. It follows that it is best to warn people before they break the law and to fre­ quently warn them rather than waiting for them to break the law and then punishing them.

But you are also aware that breaking the law is not good and yet you inces­ santly disobey it. What is the reason for this? It is entirely because you do not understand the law and therefore break it unconsciously. There are even cases of people who to their dying day are unaware of it. Presently the court has called upon its great officials to set in place that great Qing's laws and to orga­ nize statutes and precedents that will be set forth in detail. This is done so that you soldiers and people will understand and obey and so that you will not find yourselves in the situation of having broken the law. It is truly tender care for you that has prompted this.

But people who have grown up in country villages are unavoidably dull and stupid and soldiers who are occupied with military affairs are mostly rough and rude. Both of these groups often break the laws of the land unknowingly. Presently we especially and repeatedly instruct you: if you all understand, you will naturally be afraid of breaking the law ....

. . . Make it your constant practice, by means of the law of the land, to curb and control yourselves, and to admonish others. Those who fear the law, will, come what may, avoid breaking it. Those who dread punishment will surely work to not incur it. If depravity is eliminated, then wrangling will cease. The muddled will be enlightened and the stubbornly evil will be made good. The people will be happy in the fields and the soldiers will be happy in their ranks. If the penal law is not used for several hundred years, will not everyone enjoy peace together?

4.3 YONGZHENG's EDICT ON

CHANGING THE STATUS

OF THE MEAN PEOPLE

From 1723 onward, Emperor Yongzheng issued edicts that successively reclassified "mean" (Jian) households as "common" (liang) households. "Mean" groups had been discriminated against for centuries and were con� fined to narrow occupational niches. One such group were the yuehu or musician households. Members of this group were descended from loyal followers of the Jianwen emperor who were exiled to Shaanxi and Shanxi after Ming emperor Yongle successfully usurped the throne in 1403. The women were subsequently obliged to work as government courtesans and the men were allowed to work only as musicians. The duomin or "lazy

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households" of Zhejiang, who may have been descended from criminals or war captives of the Song dynasty, were not permitted to wear the same clothing as ordinary people and were consigned to jobs such as catching frogs and turtles; exorcising evil spirits; working as go-betweens or as mid­ wives; and carrying sedan chairs. People who belonged to all of these and other like groups were not permitted to take the bureaucratic examina­ tions or enter government service, were harred from marrying commoners, and were obliged to follow strict sumptuary laws.

Although the Kangxi emperor had abolished the "musical households" of Yangzhou during his reign, Yongzheng's reforms were on a far greater scale and completely eradicated the legal basis for discrimination. Some members of these households continued to follow the same professions subsequent to the reforms and continued to be looked down upon, but nevertheless the reforms led to the gradual disappearance of the cruel social distinctions of earlier eras.

The document translated below is one example of the series of edicts through which Y ongzheng abolished the discrimination suffered by the jiamin. It refers to the abolition of the hereditary status of household slaves and retainers in Ningguo and Huizhou prefectures in Anhui in 1727. Y ongzheng believed that the social categories were evil remnants of earlier eras and regimes and sought to manifest the humanity of the Qing throne by wiping them out.

Recently I heard that in the Jiangnan area there are hereditary retainers in the Huizhou prefecture and hereditary bond servants in the Ningguo prefec­ ture. Members of these two groups are referred to in this locality as "mean people." Their household registrations and professions are base and they are regarded almost like the "musical households" and "lazy households." Worse stilt is that if there are two families whose villages and lives are almost identical but one family is the hereditary bond servant or retainer of the other family, then whenever the [superior] family holds a wedding or funeral the other [mean] family must go out and serve them like slaves, If the comportment [of the mean family] is not perfect, everyone can abuse and beat them. Should one ask how or when this system originated, no one has any reliable idea. In actuality, there is not distinction between high and low; these people are merely following an evil custom. This is what we have heard. If people of this sort truly exist, the [mean] status should be abolished and they should become commoners so that they can strive and improve themselves and not be burdened with a base status to the end of their lives or have it placed upon their descendants.