Qingci Composition And The Re-Orientation Of The Confucian Officials In Jiajing Period Of The Ming Dynasty

Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty respected Taoism,and the courtiers who were good at writing Qing Ci were always favored by him.Qing Ci was originally a memorial document used in Taoist ritual activities,but it was also politically related during the Jiajing period.The royal family used this to pray for blessings and disasters to heaven,in order to secure the stability and permanent solidarity.Those who were trusted by Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty for writing Qingci became prominent in the political affairs,which caused some changes in the literati and bureaucratic atmosphere at that time.This change was based on the favor of Gu Dingchen’s contribution to "Buxuci",and later arrived at the end of Jiajing.The courtiers were keen to write Qingci,thinking it was a stepping stone.Xia Yan,Yan Song,Guo Pu,Yuan Wei,Li Chunfang and others successively flattered the emperor by Qing Ci,and entered the cabinet.Therefore,the cabinet courtiers at that time were called "Qing Ci prime ministers".we can see the relationship between Qing Ci and the politics is really close during the Reign of Emperor Jiajing.This research takes positivism as the theoretical basis,and explores Qing Ci’s writing group,content and characteristics through historical materials such as "Ming Shizong Shilu","Ming History" and some collected works of cabinet courtiers,and then discuss the phenomenon of writing the Qing Ci during the Reign of Emperor Jiajing and the changeable ethos of the literati and officialdom.The first part takes Ming Wuzong’s succession to the throne after his death as the starting point,sorts out the situation of Emperor Shizong’s use of Taoism as a religious force while strengthening the imperial power in the process of "great rites" disputes,and analyzes the reasons why Shizong advocated Taoism.In the second part,based on the analysis of the origin and development of Qingci,the author investigates the group,content,characteristics and types of Qingci in Jiajing period.Combining the background of Emperor Shizong’s strengthening of the imperial power and the court officials in writing Qingci,the third part discusses the change of the literati and officialdom in the Jiajing period.During the Jiajing period,some courtiers won the favor of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty by writing Qing Ci,and then made a steady progress in the official career.This kind of fortune encouraged the flattering phoenix who catered to the emperor in the court,and also affected the general atmosphere of bureaucracy and scholar-bureaucrats in that period.The fact behind this situation is the impotence of courtiers in the face of the supreme and increasingly strengthened imperial power.It can be seen that behind the sluggish style of scholar-bureaucrats reflected by courtiers’ writing of youthful poems during the Jiajing period was the trend of political and cultural changes brought about by the heightened imperial power.