Why did the ministers of the Song Dynasty hold a board in their hands when they went to court? What's the use?
Don’t underestimate this "ban board", it has a great background. In historical terms, it is called "Chao Hut", also known as hand board, jade board, etc.
The origin of the Chao Hut can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty, and it was not abolished until the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. It has existed in Chinese history for more than three thousand years.
There is an interesting story about the Chaohu:
Fan Zhongyan, a famous minister in the Northern Song Dynasty, lost his father when he was young, and his mother remarried. He did not want to live in the care of others, so he settled in a temple and studied poetry and books. . Later, he became famous and gained fame.
When he was appointed as the prefect of Suzhou, his mother suddenly died of illness. In order to bury the old man well, he asked a Feng Shui master to select a cemetery. The gentleman chose a Feng Shui treasure land and told Fan Zhongyan that it was a perfect cemetery that could only be found once in a hundred years. Fan Zhongyan did not believe that such a perfect thing could exist in the world, so he asked the Feng Shui gentleman to carefully inspect it for any defects.
As expected, this so-called Feng Shui treasure land has both good fortune and bad luck. The first one buried will have no descendants, and only those buried later will have good fortune. But seeing that the day of mother's burial is coming soon, how can I find time to find a Feng Shui treasure? Mr. Feng Shui came up with a plan for Fan Zhongyan, asking him to find an unmarried death row inmate in the prison, kill him and bury him, and then bury the old lady.
This death row prisoner deserved his crime, and he had no descendants. His body might have been abandoned in the wilderness, but now he can be buried at least, so he is a very suitable candidate.
But it was midsummer at that time, and there was still some time before the Autumn Judgment. But you could not violate the law because of your own selfish desires. Fan Zhongyan refused decisively without even thinking about it. Since there is no one, let me, the Fan family, be the first person to benefit future generations. So Fan Zhongyan buried his mother the next day. As a result, there was strong wind and rain that night, and the mountains collapsed and the ground cracked. Large rocks on the mountain stood up, like the imperial huts in the hands of officials. This was an auspicious sight that had not been seen in thousands of years and foreshadowed the family's descendants for generations to come. If you are an official in the court and become rich and powerful, you are called "Wanhu Chaotian".
As for why the ministers of the Song Dynasty held a piece of Chaohu when going to court, the reasons are nothing more than the following points:
First of all, we need to explain one detail, that is, in the film and television dramas, holding a scepter The people who serve in the imperial court are generally senior and respected officials in the imperial court. Although the technology of the Song Dynasty was a glorious moment in Chinese history, compared with modern times, it was still far behind. It could not be achieved by just taking a recording pen or a tablet.
Therefore, for those ministers who are old and have memory loss, they must be extremely cautious in their words at the emperor's feet. When the emperor was in court in the morning, ministers should not only listen and take notes, but also conceive or remember the content of the advice they were about to give. If the emperor's sudden displeasure affects the psychology of the ministers and their minds go blank, the consequences will be disastrous.
In order to deal with this potential emergency situation, the Chaohu came in handy:
On the one hand, it can easily record the important contents of the emperor's early dynasty, and provide The ministers' next speeches pave the way and serve as a temporary notebook; on the other hand, the government and the public attach great importance to the etiquette of monarchs and ministers. Behaviors such as looking directly at the emperor or looking around are blasphemy against the emperor's authority. If you are not careful, you may face catastrophe.
In this case, the minister holding a piece of Chao Hut in his hand can attract attention very well. When the emperor is speaking, the minister kneels down, eyes fixed on the Chao Hut, and makes notes at the same time. , it can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
As for why in the Song Dynasty, Wat boards were still used instead of lighter paper, there are also historical inheritance factors. In fact, as mentioned above, Chaohu was first born in the Shang Dynasty, and its material was usually bamboo or wood.
With the passage of time, it was not until the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that its true appearance was given in the history books. According to the "Book of Rites", the wat is two feet six inches long and three inches wide in the middle (approximately Fifty centimeters long and ten centimeters wide).
In the Tang Dynasty, with the close exchanges between China and Japan, Chaohu gradually went abroad and traveled across the ocean to this island country that he had never set foot on. Even in today's Japanese film and television dramas, you can still see it. For example, there is a relevant scene in Hayao Miyazaki's animated film "Spirited Away": When Chihiro enters another world, she sees the night The gods took a boat across the river to eat, and the object they held in their hands was the Chao Hut.
In the following hundreds of years, the Chao Hut was still used as an office tool for officials and frequently appeared in temples. Even in the Ming Dynasty, we can also learn from Wu Han's "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" A glimpse can be seen in the book: "Yuanzhang ignored him, Shilu was anxious, got into a bad temper, handed back the Chaohu in person, and wanted to take leave and go home." ?It can be seen that the Song Dynasty, which existed as a transitional period, inherited the traditions of the previous generation. It is not difficult to understand.
In addition, in addition to being an office supplies, the Chaohut is also a symbol of power. The different materials of the Chaohut reflect the rank of officials.
In fact, in the early days, because the etiquette system had not yet been standardized, the monarch did not pay much attention to the form of the imperial edict. As a common item in the government and the public, ministers will replace it with another one after using it in court this time.
However, with the standardization of the etiquette system, the role of the Chaohu is no longer limited to a recording tool, and has gradually been included in the standards of the etiquette system.
In addition to dressing neatly when going to court, officials must also hold court huts made of different materials according to the size of their official positions. In this regard, each dynasty made clear regulations on the corresponding grades of the materials of the Chao Hut.
For example, in the Tang Dynasty, officials of the first to fifth ranks all had a hut made of ivory, also called a jade board. Officials of the sixth rank and below had a hut made of bamboo and wood; In the Song Dynasty, the imperial hut followed the Tang system. Only officials of the fifth rank and above were still qualified to use elephant huts, while officials below the sixth rank could only use bamboo huts. When it developed to the Ming Dynasty, officials below the fifth rank were already qualified to use elephant huts. It is no longer necessary to hold a wat when going to court; in the Qing Dynasty, because the Manchu rulers were used to staying on horseback, it was indeed a bit difficult to suddenly let them hold a wat board. Moreover, in the past tradition of the Manchus, there was no such thing as holding a wat when going to court. custom, so they preferred to stare at the emperor when they went to court, so they chose to abolish the Chao Hut. Since then, the Chao Hut has withdrawn from the stage of history.
Of course, the holders of the Wat Board are not limited to civil and military officials in the government and the public, but can also be Taoist priests among the people. They use jade or ivory boards.
The Jade Emperor that Taoist priests worship is considered by them to be the "Supreme of the Three Realms". Some senior Taoist priests will hold wat tablets at the Dharma assembly, just like ancient ministers meeting the emperor. For example, today's Japan still uses our country's Wat Ban culture when holding Dharma meetings. Both male and female Taoist priests in their country can use Wat Ban.
In addition, the etiquette system also makes relevant regulations on the shape. The wat above the third grade has a straight front and a straight back.
However, no matter how we distinguish it, the Chao Hut cannot be separated from the era background of monarchy and hierarchies, so the Chao Hut has become an indirect symbol of status.