In 1670, when the Kangxi Emperor of China's Qing dynasty was sixteen years old, he issued the Sacred Edict (), consisting of sixteen maxims, each seven characters long, to instruct the average citizen in the basic principles of Confucian orthodoxy. They were to be publicly posted in every town and village, then read aloud two times each month. Since they were written in terse formal classical Chinese, a local scholar was required to explicate them using the local dialect of the spoken language. This practice continued into the 20th century.
In 1724, the second year of his reign, the Yongzheng Emperor issued the Shengyu Guangxun (; "Amplified instructions on the Sacred Edict") in 10,000 characters. Evidently worried that the seven character lines of his father’s maxims could not be understood by local people, the Yongzheng Emperor's Amplified Instructions explains "Our text attempts to be clear and precise; our words, for the most part, are direct and simple." The prose is relatively easy to understand for those with a beginning understanding of the literary language. The Amplified Instructions was also published in a Manchu translation and then in a combined Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol version.
The Sixteen Maxims
Highly esteem filial piety and brotherly submission to give due weight to social relations (); Behave generously toward your family to promote harmony and peace (); Cultivate peace within the neighborhood to prevent quarrels and lawsuits (); Respect farming and the cultivation of mulberry trees to ensure sufficient clothing and food (); Be moderate and economical in order to avoid wasting away your livelihood (); Give weight to schools and academies in order to honor the scholar (); Wipe out strange beliefs to elevate the correct doctrine (); Elucidate the laws in order to warn the ignorant and obstinate (); Show propriety and tactful courtesy to elevate customs and manners (); Work diligently in your chosen callings to quiet your ambitions (); Instruct sons and younger brothers to keep them from doing wrong (); Hold back false accusations to safeguard the good and honest (); Warn against sheltering deserters lest you share their punishment (); Promptly and fully pay your taxes lest you need be pressed to pay them (); Join together in hundreds and tithings to end theft and robbery (); Free yourself from enmity and anger to show respect for your body and life ().
The village lecturer might point out that #7 the “strange beliefs” included shamanic, Buddhist, and Taoist beliefs which many villagers did not regard as at all strange, though they might agree with the edict on the strangeness of Christianity. They would not need to be told that the mulberry mentioned in #4 was fed to silk worms.
Background
By the reign of the Kangxi Emperor there was a long tradition for the explanation of imperial edicts in popular language. Systematic village lectures began at least as early as the Song dynasty, when Confucian scholars expounded the virtues of cooperation and self-cultivation to neighborhood audiences.
The Hongwu Emperor, founder of the Ming dynasty, wrote the Six Maxims which inspired the Sacred Edict of the Kangxi Emperor,
Be filial to your parents
Be respectful to your elders. Live in harmony with your neighbors. Instruct your sons and grandsons. Be content with your calling. Do no evil.
Printed versions and amplifications
Following the publication of the original edicts, several versions in the Chinese vernacular were published, some with detailed commentaries or illustrations. The most widely popular was the Shengyu guangxun zhijie (Direct explanation of the Amplified Instructions on the Sacred Edict) by Wang Youpu (王又樸 1680-1761), a jinshi scholar and official. Like Yongzheng’s Amplified Instructions, it was meant to be read to the people, but not to be read aloud word for word. It might have been difficult to understand the lecturer if the audience spoke local languages, and for him to elaborate in their dialect.
Wang Youpu not only interpreted the maxims in more understandable language, he explained them with stories and anecdotes. He might begin by saying “Let all of you — scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants, and soldiers — take care in practicing ceremonial deference. If one place becomes good, then many places will become so, and finally the entire realm will be in excellent harmony. Won’t we then have a world in perfect concord?”
Then he might go on: