The Imperial Clan Court or Court of the Imperial Clan was an
institution responsible for all matters pertaining to the imperial family under the
Ming and
Qing dynasties of
imperial China.[1] This institution also existed under the
Nguyễn dynasty of
Vietnam where it managed matters pertaining to the
Nguyễn Phúc clan.[2]
Established in 1389 by the
Hongwu Emperor, it was based on previous institutions like the "Court of the Imperial Clan" (宗正寺, Zōngzhèng Sì) of the
Tang and
Song dynasties and the "Office of the Imperial Clan" (太宗正院, Tài Zōngzhèng Yuàn) of the
Yuan dynasty.[3] Under the Ming dynasty, the Court was managed by the
Ministry of Rites; during the Qing, it was outside the regular bureaucracy.[4] Under both dynasties, the Court was staffed by members of the imperial clan.[5] Imperial clansmen who committed crimes were not tried through the regular legal system.[6] Qing imperial clansmen were registered under the
Eight Banners, but were still under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Clan Court.[7] The Court used regular reports on births, marriages, and deaths to compile the genealogy of the imperial clan (玉牒, Yùdié).[8] The imperial genealogy was revised 28 times during the Qing dynasty.[9]
Elliott, Mark C. (2001), The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China, Stanford: Stanford University Press,
ISBN0-8047-3606-5.
Elman, Benjamin A. (2000), A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
ISBN0-520-21509-5.
Farmer, Edward L. (1995), Zhu Yuanzhang & Early Ming Legislation: The Reordering of Chinese Society following the Era of Mongol Rule, Leiden, New York, and Köln: E.J. Brill,
ISBN90-04-10391-0.
Hucker, Charles O. (1998), "Ming Government", in Denis Twitchett and Frederick W. Mote (ed.), The Cambridge History of China, Volume 8: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part 2, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 9–105,
ISBN0-521-24333-5.
Lui, Adam Yuen-chong (1990), Ch'ing Institutions and Society, 1644-1795, Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong.
Rawski, Evelyn S. (1988), "The Imperial Way of Death: Ming and Ch'ing Emperors and Death Ritual", in James L. Watson and Evelyn S. Rawski (ed.), Death Ritual in Late Imperial and Modern China, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, pp. 228–253,
ISBN0-520-06081-4.
Rhoads, Edward J.M. (2000), Manchu & Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861-1928, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press,
ISBN0-295-97938-0.