Documents And Politics:A Study On “Imperial Pen” In Southern Song Dynasty

Imperial Pen means the words written by the emperor himself.As a special document,it was used to direct political affairs by the emperor in palace.In the traditional administrative system of documents,because of its particularity in drafting,awarding and writing effectiveness,imperial pen has always been focused by scholar-officials.Imperial Pen was faded out in Southern Song Dynasty.However,after investigating,we can see that the imperial pen in the Song Dynasty has its own developing path.In the specific political environment of the Southern Song Dynasty,when the emperors called for the return of the imperial pen to the normal document channels,they were carrying out their own will in different forms.The name of imperial pen showed the characteristics of diversified forms.Analyzing the text features of imperial pen,we can see that different forms of imperial pen had different text attributes in the Southern Song Dynasty.Documents such as Royal Letters,and Imperial Edict etc.,their forms were similar to official edicts.Examining the content of imperial pen,it mainly involves the government,military and civil affairs,covering the main aspects of the country's political life.The use of imperial pen in the awarding and receiving of the throne,selection of officials,command during the military period,exemption from taxes and other aspects is an embodiment of the change of monarchical power in the Southern Song Dynasty.In addition,from historical scene of the Southern Song Dynasty,we know that the authority and power of imperial pen are expanding continuously through examples such as emperor Gaozong of Song's imperial pen controlling the armies,emperor Xiaozong of Song's imperial pen dogmatizing politics,and Han Tuozhou's "borrowing" emperor Ningzong of Song's imperial pen to monopolize power,which reflects the political reality of the promotion of imperial power in the Southern Song Dynasty.So we can understand another aspect of power politics in the Southern Song Dynasty from research on imperial pen.