The origin of "Follow Heaven to carry out the emperor's edict" can be traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties. Qin Shihuang unified the world and was not satisfied with the title of king, so he named himself emperor and called himself "I". His orders were his system. The order was an edict, and the jade seal was engraved with the words "If you are ordered by heaven, you will live forever" to show its legitimacy. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system and gradually established a complete emperor system. Cai Yong of the Eastern Han Dynasty had this discussion in "Doctrine": "Qin Chengzhou was expelled by the Han Dynasty, and he took the title of three emperors with his virtues and meritorious service to the five emperors. The emperor of the Han Dynasty was ordered to do so, and his merits were appropriate, so he did not change it. ...The emperor of the Han Dynasty was called emperor, and he called himself me, and his subjects called him your majesty. His words were called imperial edicts, and the historian recorded the events as above. , later it is called the province. The seal is called the seal. The order is called the policy book, the second is the imperial edict, and the fourth is the imperial edict. The writing format, according to Fan Ye's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty. The First Record of Emperor Guangwu" "In September, Chimei entered Chang'an, and Gengshi rushed to Gaoling. Xinwei, the edict said: "Gengshi was ruined, abandoned the city and fled, his wife was naked, and he wandered around in red. the way. "The text quotes a note on the Han system: "There are four books under the emperor: one is called policy books, the second is called making books, the third is called imperial edicts, and the fourth is called admonitions and edicts. Those who write scripts compile bamboo slips, which are two feet long and half a foot short. In seal script, they start with the year, month and day, and call them emperor to order the princes and kings. Sangong also gave advice in order to avoid sins, but he used official script, using a ruler and a piece of wood, two lines. This is the only difference. The person who made the book had the order of the emperor's system. The text said that the imperial edict was made by the three public officials, all of whom were sealed with seals. The person who wrote the imperial edict, zhao, means to sue, and the text says to sue a certain official [yun], like a story. Those who give admonitions and edicts are called governors and prefects. The text states that there is an edict issued to a certain official. It all imitates this. "From this we can infer that the most important type of edict in the Han Dynasty should begin with a certain day of a certain year, a certain month, a certain emperor... The edicts of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were similar to those of the Han Dynasty, but it is worth noting that the surviving emperors of this period There are many words in the edicts on the throne: "In accordance with the destiny and the time, I accept the instructions given by me. "In "Book of Jin", for example, the imperial edict of Emperor Wu of the third Jin Dynasty on his accession to the throne, and the edict on the accession of Emperor Jin and Yuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the sixth emperor's era all have the above words. The important reason for this is probably that the dynasties changed frequently at that time, and those who became emperors paid great attention to emphasizing Its rule is the destiny of heaven and cannot be stolen by others.

The imperial edicts of the Tang Dynasty are divided into seven categories: book-making, book-making, condolence-making, issuance of imperial edicts, edicts, edicts on matters, and edicts. The form is generally drafted by Zhongshu Sheng (mostly Zhongshu Sheng), and reviewed and promulgated by the Menxia Provincial Department. The review and promulgation of the Menxia Provincial Department has strict regulations. Play it and implement it. Small things will be awarded by the department. " ("Liu Dian of the Tang Dynasty" Volume 8 "Menxia Province" Article "Give Shizhong") Therefore, the first word in the books issued by them is often "menxia". For example, "Su Zong ordered the crown prince to supervise the country's system" begins with "menxia, ??tianxia" The origin..." The words "Destiny" is often found in the emperor's accession edict. For example, the inscription on Dezong's accession to the throne contains "Haotian has a destiny, and the emperor accepts it." " When Suzong came to the throne, he pardoned and said: "I heard that the saints fear the destiny of heaven, and when the emperor serves heaven..." When Shunzong came to the throne, he pardoned and said: "I compile the order of inheritance..."

The edicts of the Song Dynasty succeeded the Tang Dynasty There have been some changes. Similar to the Tang Dynasty, the emperor's edicts in the Song Dynasty, regardless of the size of the matter, "cannot be implemented unless they have been approved by the second government." "Jing Erfu", here the second office refers to the Zhongshu Menxia and the Privy Council). The drafting of imperial edicts is all discussed by the Zhongshu Menxia, ??and then the scholars are ordered to do it. Therefore, the beginning of many important edicts is the same as in the Tang Dynasty, with the title of "Second Master". For example, the imperial edicts of the eight emperors from Song Taizu to Song Huizong in the "Collection of Great Edicts of the Song Dynasty" are all placed at the beginning of the chapter. At the same time, in the edicts stored in the "Collection of Great Edicts of the Song Dynasty", the word " There is also a considerable proportion of edicts starting with "I Shao Ying Jun Ming" or "I Shao Ying Haotian's Destiny Ming". This type of edict was mostly seen in the emperors after Zhenzong. As time went by, they felt more and more great and glorious, so they couldn't bear it. You must declare an edict.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Mongolian was used as the national language, so "those who instruct in the national language are called imperial edicts, and those who speak on behalf of historians are called imperial edicts." ("Preface to the Classics of Classics. Imperial System") ) Both the Mongolian imperial edict and the Chinese imperial edict use the formula "In the power of immortality, Dafuyinhushuli, the emperor's imperial edict". In fact, in the power of longevity, Dafuyinhushuli is Mongolian, which means "God's destiny" . However, at that time, many Mongolian imperial edicts were mechanically translated into Chinese, so many Chinese edicts began with "In the power of the eternal life, great blessings will protect you".

The widespread use of "Fengtian Chengyun Emperor's Edict" should be in the Ming Dynasty. Ming Taizu spared no effort to strengthen the centralization of power. Naturally, this aura of being ordered by heaven and ruling the world is indispensable. Taizu believed that his rule came from the will of God. Volume 1 of Yu Jidian's "Allusions Jiwen" records that Taizu said: "When you see people's words and actions, they all act in accordance with heaven, and you don't dare to do it yourself." Therefore, the beginning of his edict is "inherited by heaven". In the Ming Dynasty, Taizu said Etiquette expressly stipulates that the princes and ministers must write "Fengtian Yongchang" in their official letters, "The Emperor is ordered by Heaven to rule over all directions", "Inherited by Heaven's orders, the emperor and his teacher are in the inner world", and "Fengtian Yongchang" should be used in festival greetings. Calling himself "the successor of the emperor", the first line of the music he uses is "The heaven and earth are full of flowers, and the monarch is beautiful." The first line of the emperor's wedding lyrics is also "I inherit the order of heaven", and the emperor's seal has the emperor "Fengtian's treasure, Fengtian's treasure to carry the great emperor of tomorrow" and so on. The behavior of worshiping heaven and earth among the people is strictly controlled. The "blasphemy" entry in Volume 165 of the Minghui Dian stipulates that if the people privately complain to heaven and worship, it is blasphemy. Xuzhang 70. The imperial edicts of the Qing Dynasty, which was inherited from the Ming Dynasty, usually began with "The emperor's imperial edict was granted by the emperor", followed by the content of the edict, and generally ended with "announcement to the world's salty envoys to hear and know" or "publish to the Chinese and foreign envoys to hear and know the edict." In addition, in the Qing Dynasty, there were also syllables (i.e., writings), which usually began with "Fengtian Chengyun Emperor Zhiyue" and so on. By 1912, with the abdication edict issued by Emperor Xuantong, "Fengtian Chengyun Emperor Zhiyue" finally came to an end. History has turned a new page.