A Study On Local Official Banquet System In Song Dynasty

Banquets are the part of local business.Not only can a normal official banquet enhance the relationship between officials,strengthen the exchange of information,show the atmosphere of festive and peaceful atmosphere,but also reflect on a etiquette for arrival and departed officials or messengers.Official banquets began before the era Shin Huang Ti of the Chin dynasty(221-207 B.C.),but most of those the monarchs reward their subjects.In the Chin and Han dynasty(206 B.C.-220 A.D.),the local official banquets began to emerge,and activities such as “seeing the old officials off and welcoming the news” or “entertaining the guests” had become common,and the central government had made simple rules on local official banquets and their funds.During the Wei-Jin,Northern and Southern dynasty(220-589 A.D.),the local official banquets were developing and perfecting,and the imperial court punished the local officials for their excessive feasting,setting up “Song Gu Zhu Bu” to entertaining other officials for the first time.In the Sui and Tang dynasty(581-907 A.D.),the local official party system had been basically formed.The part of “the public funds”,“Xian Yu” can be used as the local official banquet of special funds.At the same time,the central government had instituted the specific rules for the local official banquet during the festival.In the Song dynasty(960-1279 A.D.),the local official banquet had become a mature institutional form,having provided important experience for the Ming and Qing dynasty and even today.In the Song dynasty,there were various types of local official banquets,including local officials' banquets,or the reception of officials,emissaries,Fan-tribe envoys,soldiers,the royal family,scholars and so on.The local officials' banquets were various forms,including the local officials eat and drink,“seeing the old officials off and welcoming the news”,dining together and the great party.The receptions of officials were the Lu's officials to inspect the local and other officials at all levels.In addition,the Fan-tribe envoys and foreign ambassadors were also important members of the local official banquet.To reward the soldiers,the local governments hold “Xu She” and other ordinary banquets,while the scholars mainly included the past central officials,the famous people in the region,the successful candidates of the national civil service examination held at the imperial capital in former times,the literati and so on.With the frequent development of local official banquets,the Song dynasty made corresponding rules and regulations according to their different types.In terms of attendees,the imperial court stipulated that state and county officials can host and attend official banquets after finishing the own works.However,the demands for the Lu's supervisory officials that they participated in the state's banquets were more stricter,and the serious cases should be punished.But the regulations of feting the emissaries,Fan-tribe envoys and soldiers were relaxed,while the imperial court repeatedly stressed that the local officials gave special treatment to them,in order to promote the harmonious relationship and mobilize the army's enthusiasm for fighting.It also made limitations on that local officials in charge of the service and the emissaries fixed route to the Song dynasty.When the royal family came to the state and county,some local officials would be fawning through entertain and present gifts.Therefore,the central government required that the excessive activities must be thrifty and not disturb the people.Sufficient funds were important conditions to ensure the smooth opening of local official banquets.The sources of funds used for official banquets in the Song dynasty were divided into two parts: legal capital and illegal fund-raising.The most important projects in the legal capital was “Gongshi money”,but when there were deficiency of “Gongshi money”,local officials used to supplement it through,“Xisheng money”,“Buxisheng money”,“local government sealed money”,“Guanshe money” and so on,or applying for the court gave money as a supplement.The local officials paid their own salaries that were also a way to acquire the funds.But when legal money cannot completely meet the needs of the local officials,some officials will use illegal means to obtain funds,such as exploiting the petty officials,plundering the people,illegal business,embezzling public money,etc.,to meet the demand of the enjoyment.Although the Song dynasty had formulated particular regulations and controlled local official banquets,they still failed to prevent the emergence of extravagance and hedonism.Besides,the problems such as the neglect of duty or misappropriation of public funds are also significant.The court had to take measures to govern,including legal sanctions,financial controls and the propaganda of incorrupt government culture.Especially the legal sanction mainly used the means of administrative penalty,having achieved the purpose of effective governance in a certain period.In general,the local official banquet system in the Song dynasty has been quite perfect.It had been influenced by social customs and official customs,forming its own characteristics,such as the continuity and the stage of the system,the difference between institutional and actual implementation,and the regional differences.So there were pros and cons: the positive role of the local official banquet system was to promote the communication between officials,to improve the enthusiasm of military operations,to drive the development of many local industries,to accelerate cultural exchanges between the national and the ethnic,and to improve literature creation and dissemination.The impact influence was that disturbed the officials to affect the efficiency,led to the local extravagance and corruption,undermined the stability of central and local finances,and even caused the problems of exploiting the people seriously.