The Writing of Illnesses in Cabinet Ministers's Retirement Memorial to the Throne During the Great Ritual in the Years of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty
Ai Qiu-ling-na
Liu Yang
Abstract：Disease writing often appeared in the ancient Chinese retirement memorial to the throne,and a relatively fixed writing template had been formed by the Ming Dynasty,which also conveyed subtle mentality and complex thoughts in different historical contexts.During the Great Ritual period in the years of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty,cabinet ministers such as Yang Tinghe,Jiang Mian,Fei Hong,and Yang Yiqing repeatedly presented memorials to the throne,begging for retirement.In these memorials,the disease writing followed a fixed pattern and routine,expressing the ministers'willingness to reform and their attitude toward the new emperor.Shizong's replies to the disease writing also carried a strong personal touch,offering insights into Shizong's scruples and reliance on the cabinet ministers at the beginning of his reign.The cabinet ministers'memorial to the throne and Shizong's replies together reflect the competition between the chief ministers and the emperor during the shift in scholar-bureacrat tendencies in the years of Jiajing,providing a useful supplement to understanding the relationship between monarchical power and bureaucratic power in antiquity.
Keywords：Disease writingRetirement memorial to the throneCabinet ministersthe Great Ritual
Publication Date：2025-03-20
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：8( 35-42 )