tingji 廷寄 and mingfa 明發, secret court letters

Secret court letters (tingji 廷寄, also called jixin 寄信 or jixin yuzhi 寄信諭旨 "letter edicts") were imperial orders issued to high officials of the central or local government that were not made public. The early Qing dynasty 清 (1644-1911) continued the Ming 明 (1368-1644) practice of making all imperial orders public through the Grand Secretariat (neige 內閣), which distributed orders to the relevant institutions. However, this method was not suitable for orders that needed to remain confidential. Additionally, the process through the Grand Secretariat took some time.

The Kangxi Emperor 康熙帝 (r. 1661-1722) therefore began to send confidential orders concerning the duties of high state officials, military affairs, issues of the Censorate or penal matters directly to the institutions involved, with the assistance of central-government officials, princes or Grand Academicians (daxueshi 大學士). In 1729, the Yongzheng Emperor 雍正帝 (r. 1722-1735) established the State Council (junjichu 軍機處) as the main policy-making body. From then on, confidential orders became one of the responsibilities of the members of the State Council.

The formal shape of secret court letters depended on the recipient. The formula "sent in the name of the members of the State Concil" (junji dachen ziji 軍機大臣字寄) was used for orders to members of the State Council acting as Grand Ministers Commander (jinglüe da jiangjun 經略大將軍), Grand Ministers Inspector-General (qinchai dachen 欽差大臣), general (jiangjun 將軍) or Grand Ministers Consultant (canzan dachen 參贊大臣), to Banner commanders-in-chief (dutong 都統) and vice commanders-in-chief (fu dutong 副都統), to Grand Ministers Superintendant-Commander (banshi lingdui dachen 辦事領隊大臣), governors-general (zongdu 總督), provincial governors (xunfu 巡撫), provincial educational commissioners (xuezheng 學政) and Grand Minister Military Administrator (duban junwu dachen 督辦軍務大員). The formula "edict passed on by the members of the State Council" (junji dachen chuanyu 軍機大臣傳諭) was used for Grand Ministers of salt administration (yanzheng 鹽政), customs collectors (guanchai 關差), provincial administration and surveillance commissioners (fan-ni 藩臬) and provincial military commanders (tizhen 提鎮). For very important matters, the formula "secretly sent in the name of the members of the State Council" (junji dachen miji 軍機大臣密寄) was applied.

The first page of the secret letter listed the family names and ranks of the members of the State Council, but only until 1797, after which the summary formula junji dachen ziji was used. The process of preparing a secret letter began with the sovereign's order to write a draft, which was then presented to the ruler as "narration of an imperial order" (shuzhi 述旨). The sovereign would then read and revise the draft, having it sealed by the State Council and dispatched in a closed envelope (fenghan 封函). The envelope was sealed and inscribed with the words "handled by the Grand Council, sealed and sent to a certain place and official to be opened by him only" (banli junjichu fengji mou chu mou guan kaichai 辦理軍機處封寄某處某官開拆) or "instruction transmitted to a designated official at a certain place for opening by him only" (zhuanyu mou chu mou guan kaichai 傳諭某處某官開拆), and depending on urgency — reflecting the distance the letter needed to travel within a day (that is, the speed of delivery along the imperial courier routes). The expedition was organised by the Ministry of War (bingbu 兵部), with corresponding letters inscribed "letter from the Grand Councillors, sent to a certain official, to be opened by him" (junji dachen ziji mou guan kaichai 軍機大臣字寄某官開拆) or titled "Instruction transmitted to a designated official at a certain place for opening by him only".

Only the recipient in person was permitted to read the document. He also had to confirm in his response the time of receipt, the name of the presenter, and how he would handle the imperial order. If the secret letter was addressed to a functionary of the Imperial Household Department (neiwufu 內務府), it was to be dispatched in the name of one of the Grand Ministers Supervisor (zongguan dachen 總管大臣) of the Department.

A similar kind of secret court letter, called mingfa 明發 meaning "lucid disclosure" or mingfa yuzhi 明發諭旨 meaning "edict of lucid disclosure," was used for different purposes, such as imperial inspection tours, visits to the ancestral tombs of the dynasty, discussions on the Classics (jingting 經筵), tax waivers (juanzhen 蠲賑), or awards, punishments, dismissals, and transfers of high officials.