Imperial Clan Court

The Imperial Clan Court (Chinese: 宗人府; pinyin: Zōngrén fǔ; Wade–Giles: Tsung1-jen2 fu3; Manchu: uksun be kadalara yamun), or Court of the Imperial Clan, was an institution responsible for all matters pertaining to the imperial family under the Ming and Qing dynasties of imperial China.^[1][2] Established in 1389 by the Hongwu Emperor, it was based on previous institutions like the "Court of the Imperial Clan" (Zōngzhèng sì 宗正司) of the Tang and Song dynasties, and the "Office of the Imperial Clan" (Tài zōngzhèng yuàn 太宗正院) of the Yuan Dynasty.^[1]

Under the Ming dynasty, the Court was managed by the Ministry of Rites (Lĭbù 禮部), but it was outside the regular bureaucracy during the Qing.^[3] Under both dynasties, the Court was staffed by members of the imperial clan.^[4] It used regular reports on births, marriages, and deaths to compile the genealogy of the imperial clan (Yudie 玉牒).^[5] The imperial genealogy was revised 28 times during the Qing dynasty.^[6] Qing imperial clansmen were registered under the Eight Banners, but were still under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Clan Court.^[7] Imperial clansmen who committed crimes were not tried through the regular legal system.^[8]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Hucker 1985, p. 531.
2. ^ Rawski 1988, p. 233.
3. ^ Ming: Elman 2000, p. 161. Qing: Rawski 1998, p. 13.
4. ^ Hucker 1998, p. 28.
5. ^ Ming: Farmer 1995, p. 92. Qing: Rawski 1998, pages 12 (marriages) and 75 (births and deaths; compilation of genealogy).
6. ^ Rawski 1998, p. 75.
7. ^ Banner registration: Elliott 2001, p. 88. Jurisdiction: Rawksi 1998, p. 72; Rhoads 2000, p. 46.
8. ^ Wu 1970, p. 9; Lui 1990, p. 31.

Bibliography

• Elliott, Mark C. (2001), The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China, Stanford: Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-3606-5 .
• Elman, Benjamin A. (2000), A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-21509-5 .
• Farmer, Edward L. (1995), Zhu Yuanzhang & Early Ming Legislation: The Reordering of Chinese Society following the Era of Mongol Rule, Leiden, New York, and Köln: E.J. Brill, ISBN 9004103910 .
• Hucker, Charles O. (1985), A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China, Stanford: Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-1193-3 .
• Hucker, Charles O. (1998), "Ming government", in Denis Twitchett and Frederick W. Mote, The Cambridge History of China, Volume 8: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part 2, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 9-105, ISBN 0-521-2433-5 .
• Lui, Adam Yuen-chong (1990), Ch'ing Institutions and Society, 1644-1795, Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong .
• Rawski, Evelyn S. (1988), "The Imperial Way of Death: Ming and Ch'ing Emperors and Death Ritual", in James L. Watson and Evelyn S. Rawski, Death Ritual in Late Imperial and Modern China, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, pp. 228-253, ISBN 0-520=06081-4 .
• Rawski, Evelyn S. (1998), The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions, Los Angeles and Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-21289-4 .
• Rhoads, Edward J.M. (2000), Manchu & Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861-1928, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, ISBN 0-295-97938-0 .
• Wu, Silas H. L. (1970), Communication and Imperial Control in China: Evolution of the Palace Memorial System, 1693-1735, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, ISBN 674-14801-0 .