Politics of Powerful Ministers and the Political Competition in Imperial Edict Writing in the Southern Song Dynasty

In the Southern Song Dynasty, a sequence of powerful ministers such as Qinhui, Han Tuozhou, Shi Miyuan and Jia Sidao, controlled the imperial government for a long time. Powerful ministers authorized imperial edict drafters to suppress their opponents with the words of exquisite attack in the imperial edict writing. As the emperor’s spokespersons, drafted to convey the will of the emperor, while the powerful ministers involved in the dispute manipulated the interpretation of the will of the emperor by the imperial edict drafters in order to achieve their own political goals, and even influenced imperial edict drafters’ declaration of state affairs. The political stance of imperial edict drafters determined their political attitude. Although politics of powerful ministers exerted important influence on the writing of imperial edict drafters that cannot be ignored, imperial edict drafters still tried to maintain the political stance of the public opinion. Tripartite Competition of the emperor, the powerful ministers and the imperial edict drafters was neatly illustrated in imperial edict writing, which showed the trend in political culture of the scholar-officials in the Song Dynasty.