Official communications in imperial China

Official communications in imperial China, the era which lasted from the 221 BC until AD 1912, required predictable forms and means.

These documents, especially memorials to the throne, were preserved in collections which became more voluminous with each passing dynasty and make the Chinese historical record extraordinarily rich.

Or he might simply write "forward to the proper ministry," "noted," or use his brush to make a circle, the equivalent of a checkmark, to indicate that he had read the document.

By the height of the Qing dynasty in the 18th century, memorials from bureaucrats at the central, provincial, and county level supplied the emperors (and modern historians) with personnel evaluations, crop reports, prices in local markets, weather predictions, intelligence on social affairs, and any other matter of possible interest.

[10] Memorials were transported by government couriers and then copied and summarized by the Grand Secretariat, which itself had been perfected in the preceding Ming dynasty.

One type, the "Folding Memorial," was written on a page small enough for the emperor to hold in his hand and read without being observed.

[12] The Yongzheng Emperor, who preferred the written system over audiences, increased the use of these palace memorials by more than ten times over his father.

He found he could get quick responses to emergency requests instead of waiting for the formal report, or give frank instructions: Of one official he said, "he is good-hearted, hard-working old hand.

Most important, bypassing the regular bureaucracy made it easier for the emperor to have his own way without being restricted by the regulations of the administrative code.