II.8 Palace Memorial XF 10.9.17
II.8 Palace Memorial on the Ratification of Treaties with England and France, XF 10.9.17
By the early eighteenth century, the palace memorial system had emerged as a secret channel of communication between the throne and the upper bureaucracy on matters concerning either the personal relationship between emperor and minister; or on urgent, sensitive matters that required confidentiality.
On the origins and operation of the palace memorial system, see Wu 1970; Bartlett 1979, 1991 (Ch. 1).
Two examples of memorials on sensitive, confidential matters are offered here: Document 8 concerns a crisis in the negotiations between the Qing court and the foreign powers that had occupied Beijing in 1860. The Xianfeng Emperor has fled to the summer capital in Jehol and has left his brother, Yi-xin, to deal with the foreigners. Document 9 (a provincial memorial of 1768) reports on an alleged traitor who has died under interrogation. Sensitive matters aside, the palace memorial system was used increasingly to report on, or request imperial decisions on, relatively minor questions.
The palace memorial was a two-way instrument of communication, because the upward report by an official was personally rescripted (pi 批) in vemilion ink by the emperor, and the rescripted document was promptly returned to the sender, with a command, a comment, or merely an acknowledgment that it had been imperially read). As we find it in the archives, the vermilion-rescripted palace memorial (zhupi zouzhe 硃批奏摺) represents a completed exchange between an official and the throne.
On the parts of a palace memorial, refer to Bartlett 1979. The main parts of Document 8 are as follows:
1) The names of the memorialists. Locate their official positions using MQNAF or by consulting Qian 1980.
2) The introductory statement of the subject, or the reason for memorializing, along with the means of transmission (stated in this case because the memorial was sent by military post at a specified speed, rather than by a personal courier). This introductory statement is enclosed by the phrases 奏為…事 (lines 2-4)
3) The body of the message
4) Internal quotations of other documents or personal communications (such as that enclosed by 面稱…各等語, lines 12-18)
5) The vermilion rescript(s) in the emperor's hand. Besides the rescript that always occurs at the end, there may be vermilion interlinear comments at any point.
6) The date the memorial was dispatched.
Note: A copy of this memorial was included in the documentary history Chouban yiwu shimo (on this source, see "Foreign Affairs" under Reference Guides. Compare the present document with the version there, juan 67:44)
Glossary
奏 - zou - a palace memorial. This ideograph customarily appears by itself, on the front fold of the memorial; note the absence of the memorialist's seal of office, by comparison with the Documents 1 and 2. The palace memorial was, formally speaking, a personal communication: the form emphasizes the official's relationship to the emperor as an individual retainer rather than as the holder of a particular office (though the two functions are obviously not completely separate).
臣 - chen - your minister (Although chen was the standard self-reference of Han officials, many Manchu officials used the term nu-cai ("your slave"), despite imperial instructions to the contrary. See Wu 1967, 51, 71.)
奕訢 - Yixin - personal name of the emperor's brother, the Gong prince ( i.e., the famous "Prince Gong"). Look up the other two officials in Qian 1980 and find their biographies.
奏為 - zouwei - memorialize in the matter of. .. (From here to the shi, 3rd ideograph, line 5) is the introductory statement.. The text proper begins with the next ideograph, qian, an introductory particle that does not require translation.)
英酋 - Yingqiu - English headman
呈出 - chengchu - submit (as a draft of an edict, for the emperor's approval)
偽諭 - weiyu - a bogus edict
恭候 - gonghou - respectfully await (a wishful depiction of the British attitude, but essential in corresponding with the Throne)
宣布 - xuanbu - promulgate
諭旨 - yuzhi - imperial edict. yu is respectfully elevated above the line, though in the previous line it obviously is not.
恭摺 - gongzhe - bowing to the memorial (a ceremonial usage, best rendered as "respectfully. ")
由六百里馳奏 - you liubaili chizou - send by military post at the rate of 600 li per day -- the fastest rate. See Fairbank and Teng 1960.
仰祈聖鑒 - yangqi shengjian - respectfully asking Your Majesty's perusal.
臣等 - chendeng - your ministers (here begins the body of the memorial).
英夷 - Yingyi - the English barbarians
換約 - huanyue - exchange treaties (i.e., the Treaties of Tianjin texts of which had by now been exchanged)
諭旨 - yuzhi - imperial edict. yu is respectfully elevated above the line, though in the previous line it obviously is not.
崇綸，恆祺 - Chonglun - Heng-qi,personal names
是以 - shiyi - For this reason
他意 - tayi - other intentions
切實憑據 - qieshi pingju - firm proof
擬 - ni - to draft (an edict or court letter). Also means to propose a judgment in a court case.
道 - dao - counter for imperial edicts
進呈御覽 - jincheng yulan - submit for imperial inspection
俞允發回 - yuyun fahui - approve and send back (to us). The emperor is at the summer capital in Jehol.
縷晰 - lüxi - state clearly
在案 - zaian - [which is] on file. A common protective phrase indicating that the preceding statement can be documented.
午刻 - wuke - the noon hours (11 am--1 pm)
面稱 - miancheng - stated orally (i.e., face to face with the memorialists. The oral report of Chong-lun et al. is closed off by the phrase ge-deng-yu six lines later.)
佛夷 - Foyi - French barbarians
且稱 - qiecheng - also stated (still an indirect quote of Chong-lun's report)
照其所擬 - zhao qi suoni - exactly as they had drafted it
紮 - zha - to station (troops)
要挾 - yaoxie - demand, extortion
實堪髮指 - shikan fazhi - makes the hair stand on end (with anger)
小節 - xiaojie - small details
他變 - tabian - further incidents (i.e. renewed warfare)
伏思 - fusi - respectfully opine (less colorfully: "It is our opinion that... ")
忽稱 - hucheng - suddenly say (the subject of cheng here is the English).
另易一道 - lingyi yidao - substitute another edict
總緣 - zongyuan - all due to
扼守 - eshou - hold (as a military position)
肆行 - sixing - reckless, outrageous
狂悖 - kuangbei - outrageous behavior
漢奸 - Hanjian - Chinese troublemakers
慫恿 - songyong - egg on
愈出愈奇 - yuchu yuqi - more and more outrageous
*However, the British draft consists largely of "empty words," and its main import is not different from the edict that Prince Gong and his colleagues had previously drafted.
無不批准 - wubu pizhun - (The "eight ideographs" quoted here are evidently quoted from the British draft)
率行 - shuaixing - precipitately
允准 - yunzhun - approve, endorse
輕易之心 - qingyi zhixin - regarding us lightly (Le., contemptuously)
飭 - chi - to order
告以 - gaoyi - tell (the barbarians)
業經 - yejing - already
恩旨 - enzhi - benevolent rescript
爾等 - erdeng - you (barbarians). This is a proposed direct statement to the foreigners.
詞 - ci - phraseology, a document
開導 - kaidao - instruct
饒舌 - raoshe - complain
前擬諭旨 - qianni yuzhi - the edict that was proposed in the previous memorial. It is phrased slightly differently in the next line.
略加潤飾 - luejia runshi - dress it up a bit
佛 - fo - oppose
再生枝節 - zaisheng zhijie - give rise to further incidents
換號式頒 - huanhao shiban - a public proclamation of an imperial edict
棘手 - jishou - troublesome, prickly
驚擾 - jingrao - fearful and perturbed
後患 - houhuan - later disaster
無窮 - wuqiong - endless, open-ended
憤恨 - fenhen - angry
委曲求全 - weiqu qiuquan - do the best possible under the circumstances
苦衷 - kuzhong - bitter duty
鄙俚 - bili - vulgar
教論 - jiaolun - go over, correcting (the language)
壅於 - yongyu - prevent it from coming to Your Majesty's attention
抄錄 - chaolu - copy out (the barbarians' draft)
*IMPERIAL RESCRIPT (zhu-pi)
The vermilion rescript follows (red in the original). Here is a printed version of the imperial calligraphy: 知道了該夷偽諭是否為互換憑據抑係通知各省若僅為互換不妨接收
抑係 - yixi - or is it
通知各省 - tongzhi gesheng - circulate a communique to all provinces
不妨 - bufang - no impediment to
