Chapter 160: New Year's Day Court Congratulation

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Great Ming, was a workaholic. At the time, the state had just been established, and he dared not slack off, working day and night, with his ministers toiling alongside him.

According to the *Collected Statutes of the Ming*, the statutory holidays for Ming officials mainly consisted of three festivals: the Winter Solstice, New Year's Day, and the Lantern Festival. There were few holidays—three days for the Winter Solstice, five days for New Year's Day, and ten days for the Lantern Festival.

Later, three days of monthly leave were added, and together with the eighteen days from the three festivals mentioned earlier, the total annual leave time came to fifty days.

As the year's end approached, from the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month until the twentieth day of the first month, civil and military officials would don auspicious red official robes when attending court. On ordinary days, however, officials were not required to wear red robes to court.

During this period, the Office of Transmission, which managed court deliberations, would also refrain from "reporting matters," and most official business in various departments was postponed. Both inside and outside the court, a festive atmosphere of celebrating the New Year pervaded everywhere.

At the end of the year, Hong Chengchou, the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions, defeated Li Zicheng in Longzhou, Shaanxi. Li Zicheng fled toward Qingyang and Fengxiang in Gansu. The great victory in Shaanxi allowed the court and the country to enjoy a peaceful and happy New Year.

Visiting relatives and friends to pay New Year calls on the first day of the first month is a traditional folk custom, and the imperial palace was no exception. On the morning of the first day of the first month, the court would hold an extremely grand ceremony of congratulatory homage.

On New Year's Eve, the Bureau of Imperial Seals set up the Emperor's throne in the Huangji Hall one day in advance, and placed a treasure table to the east of the throne and an incense table to the south of the marble steps.

The Music Bureau arranged the Zhonghe Shao music (a ceremonial music that only emperors could enjoy) on the eastern and western sides inside the Huangji Hall. These furnishings were all arranged facing south toward north.

On the first day of the first month, at dawn, the Embroidered Uniform Guard laid out the imperial regalia and ceremonial paraphernalia on the marble steps and the courtyard outside the Huangji Hall, set up bright fans inside the hall, and lined up the imperial chariots in the courtyard. At the ceremony, there were four whip-crackers, two on each side, all standing facing north.

The Music Bureau also arranged bands playing imperial music on the eastern and western sides of the marble steps outside the hall, all also facing north. The Ceremonial Office set up two tables, one for documents and one for jade and silk, to the east of the marble steps.

The imperial dragon banners lined both sides of the Huangji Gate. Great Han generals clad in golden armor were arrayed from the courtyard of the Huangji Hall all the way to outside the Meridian Gate, while the Embroidered Uniform Guard was deployed from the marble steps outside the hall to beyond the Huangji Gate.

Two censors tasked with inspecting the deportment of the hundred officials stood to the north of the courtyard outside the hall. Two inner chanters stood inside the hall, and two outer chanters stood to the north of the courtyard. The officials responsible for transmitting edicts and proclaiming memorials were positioned inside the hall, all facing east-west.

Just as the sky began to lighten, the grand New Year's Day court ceremony officially commenced, its scale no less impressive than the enthronement ceremony.

"Dong!"

The drummer of the Music Bureau struck the first roll of the drum—one heavy beat, one light beat, the rhythm shifting from slow to fast and then from fast to slow, the sound swelling from weak to strong and then from strong to weak, finally concluding with a single strike of the bell beside it to end the drumming.

Upon hearing the first drum roll, the hundred officials in formal court attire began to line up outside the Meridian Gate.

Next, the second drum roll began, its rhythm not much different from the first, except that single strikes became double strikes, and it ended with two rings of the bell.

Upon hearing the second drum roll, the hundred officials entered through the left and right side gates, arrived at the eastern and western sides of the courtyard, and stood in solemn silence facing north.

The third drum roll, the "three solemn summons," operated the same way—drumming and bell-ringing, with the beginning and end changed to three strikes each. Upon hearing the third drum roll, the ceremonial officers proceeded to the Huagai Hall, where the Chongzhen Emperor, already dressed in his dragon robe and imperial crown, sat upright upon the throne of the great hall.

Zhu Cilang, likewise wearing the most solemn ceremonial crown and robes that he normally never wore, stood nearby. This kind of attire could only be worn by the Son of Heaven, the Crown Prince, and Princes—similar to what Han dynasty emperors wore in television dramas, with the kind of crown that had bead tassels hanging from it.

Zhu Cilang and Chongzhen wore very similar outfits; one had to look very carefully to tell the difference. Chongzhen's was the twelve-tassel crown with twelve emblem robes, while Zhu Cilang's was the nine-tassel crown with nine emblem robes. The difference was that his robes had three fewer patterns, and his crown had three fewer bead tassels.

The ceremonial officer performed the five-kowtow ritual to Chongzhen, and after finishing the prostrations, solemnly proclaimed in a loud voice: "We beg Your Majesty to grace the Huangji Hall!"

The Chongzhen Emperor gave a light "mm" of acknowledgment and set forth for the Huangji Hall, with Zhu Cilang following closely behind. The Music Bureau band began to play the "Zhonghe music," and the official of the Bureau of Imperial Seals, holding the imperial seal in both hands, walked ahead of Chongzhen, led by the guide officer as the vanguard.

The grand procession arrived before the Huangji Hall. The bright fans inside the hall slowly opened, and the bead curtains were gradually rolled up. The official of the Bureau of Imperial Seals placed the imperial seal upon the treasure table that had been pre-positioned to the east of the throne. At this moment, the Music Bureau band also ceased playing the "Zhonghe music," and everything appeared most solemn.

The four pre-arranged whip-crackers began cracking their whips to announce the time, and the ceremonial officer of the Ministry of Rites shouted: "Take your positions!"

Upon hearing the command, the hundred officials standing on the eastern and western sides of the courtyard immediately arranged themselves into neat formation—just like elementary school students lining up for broadcast exercises upon hearing the principal's whistle.

The ceremonial officer continued to shout: "Bow!"

The Music Bureau band once again began playing the grand music (Shao music), and the hundred officials, facing north toward Chongzhen seated upright on the throne of the great hall, performed the four-kowtow ritual.

After the hundred officials rose, the ceremonial officer then shouted: "Present the memorial!"

Two Supervising Secretaries of the Ministry of Rites approached the document table, guiding the protocol officials who carried, in both hands, a small table bearing the "New Year's Address" through the eastern gate, placing it inside the great hall. At this point, the Shao music ceased accordingly.

The New Year's Address was the Emperor's written statement issued to the entire nation for the new year, equivalent to the New Year's speech of a modern head of state.

Next, the inner ceremonial officer shouted: "Proclaim the New Year's Address!"

The official tasked with proclaiming the address then knelt and prostrated himself on the ground, waiting for the "proclamation." The official in charge of unrolling the document took it up, and the proclaiming official came before the bead curtain in front of the Emperor's throne, reading the "New Year's Address" aloud in a loud voice, while the hundred officials knelt and listened to the "New Year's Address."

When the proclamation ended, the ministers and officials inside and outside the hall collectively knelt and prostrated themselves, shouting "Long live the Emperor!" in thunderous unison.

Afterwards, the protocol officials moved the read "New Year's Address" to the eastern side of the hall, and the outer ceremonial officer shouted: "All officials kneel!"

The "designated congratulatory speaker" representing the hundred officials in offering congratulations to the Emperor—the newly appointed Minister of Rites, Huang Shijun—knelt in the middle of the marble steps and addressed the Emperor: "Your servant, Huang Shijun, Minister of Rites, on this auspicious New Year's Day, when the three yangs usher in renewal and all things are made new, humbly wish Your Majesty the Emperor: may You receive Heaven's blessings and hold fast to the Mandate, may the realm prosper eternally!"

After the Minister of Rites finished these courteous words, the hundred officials rose, the Music Bureau band once again played the grand music (Shao music), and the hundred officials performed another four-kowtow ritual to the Emperor, then rose.

The clamorous music ceased once more, and the edict-transmitting official knelt before the Emperor, requesting the imperial decree from the Chongzhen Emperor.

The Chongzhen Emperor had already drafted the decree two days earlier; now he was merely going through the motions in a perfunctory manner. The edict-transmitting official received the imperial decree, exited through the eastern gate of the hall, came before the marble steps, and stood facing east. He shouted loudly: "The Emperor has an edict!"

The ceremonial officer shouted: "Kneel!"

The hundred officials knelt down once again. Having knelt back and forth several times, who knows how many new robes were worn dirty by the ground.

The edict-transmitting official read the Emperor's decree aloud: "The joy of the new beginning—I share it with you all!"

The ceremonial officer shouted: "Acclaim!"

The hundred officials, kneeling, raised both hands above their heads and shouted: "Long live!"

The ceremonial officer shouted again: "Acclaim!"

The hundred officials shouted "Long live!" once more.

The ceremonial officer shouted yet again: "Acclaim once more!"

The hundred officials shouted "Long, long live!"

When the hundred officials shouted "Long live," everyone present joined in unison, and the sheer force of it could shake heaven and earth!

Zhu Cilang felt the scene was somehow familiar—it seemed he had seen Zhao Gao presiding over court ceremonies like this in the television drama *The Myth* starring Hu Ge, where the character, mispronouncing the two characters of "acclaim," still shouted with all his might.

Next, the Chongzhen Emperor accepted the "New Year greetings" of the hundred officials. Generals who were campaigning abroad or guarding their posts, the Regional Commanders, also brought blessings and congratulatory gifts from the border passes on this day.

Besides the civil and military officials, envoys from the various vassal states of the Great Ming also had to present tribute to the Ming on this day—though by now, the Ming's vassal states were pitifully few.