Sacred Edict of the Kangxi Emperor

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.