| During the reign of emperor Shizong,the ruling group had an important change in the use of calamities.In the early stage,Yang Tinghe and other officials made use of calamities to restrict the emperor and succeeded for a time.With the gradual maturity of emperor Shizong in politics,not only the limitation effect of calamities on him tended to be invalid,but became his means to suppress the objectors.After the Great Ritual Controversy,Shizong began to adjust the ruling policies under the warning of calamity,which also played a role in dispelling ancestors’ instruction and the resistance of vested interests.However,some officials criticized Shizong and interceded for the officials who was punished for the Great Ritual Controversy.The comets appeared three times in the tenth and eleventh year of Jiajing,Causing officials to suggest frequently with the help of calamities,which made emperor shizong lost the patience and punished severely the advisers.The warning function of calamities has expired.Since then,the way of calamities’ relief has changed from policies adjustment to religious ceremonies of Taoism,and the "Jiajing New Deal" came to an abrupt end.In this process,the power of interpretation of calamities was transferred from scholar-bureaucrats to the emperor,and the imperial power in the Ming dynasty was further strengthened in ideological level.Contrary to the calamities,it was not until the seventh year of jiajing that the first report of auspicious sign was received.At this time,the ruling class was indifferent to auspicious signs.The precedent of the official’s congratulations on auspicious signs opened in the ninth year of Jiajing,which shows Shizong’s emphasis on auspicious signs and the trend of offering auspiciousness was gradually prevalent.After the thirty-fifth year of Jiajing,ganoderma lucidum became the most important auspicious signs,which was related to Shizong’s pursuit of longevity.The purposes of the members of Imperial Clan,officials,and even civilians to contribute to auspicious signs were different,mainly for their own interests,and some local officials took the opportunity to request relief.The popularity of auspicious signs in Jiajing period was mainly promoted by Shizong,because of the reverence for heaven and the influence of Taoism.In the early period of Jiajing,the questions of the final imperial examination were closely related to reality,and many times mentioned disasters,which showed Shizong’s determination and purpose to adjust his ruling policies.However,after the seventeen years of Jiajing,the main topic was to examine the relationship between monarch and bureaucrats,and there were many criticisms of bureaucrats.The changes of the questions of the final imperial examination not only reflected the sharp political situation of the contradiction between the monarch and the bureaucrats at that time,but also served as a means for Shizong to deter the officers from criticism of the emperor.the candidates tried to reduce the criticism of bureaucrats in countermeasures from various aspects and ease the contradiction between the monarch and the bureaucrats,which had some positive influence.Combined with calamities,auspicious signs and the questions of the final imperial examinations,we can get some new understanding.First of all,Shizong firmly grasped the imperial power in the third year of jiajing,and some later political actions such as the reforms of rite system were not aimed at strengthening the orthodoxy of imperial power.Secondly,in the early period of Jiajing,the adjustments of the governing policy originated from calamities and stopped at calamities,and achieved some results in a short time.Finally,the end of the suggests with the help of calamities,the popularity of auspicious signs and the criticism of officials by the questions of the final imperial examinations shows the improvement of imperial power at the ideological level,which is an important manifestation of the prosperity of imperial power in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. |
