In ancient times, at least in the era of Tang Yao and Yu Shun, between the emperor and the ministers, all political affairs were discussed face-to-face. In the Qin and Han dynasties, face-to-face dialogue between kings and princes had become an auxiliary means, and the main mode of communication was replaced by a song called "Shangshu". Therefore, at that time, all written materials submitted to the emperor, whether they talked about politics, made suggestions, reported emergency situations, or filed complaints, etc., were collectively referred to as "playing".

What is playing? The original meaning of "play" is "to enter", and it specifically refers to the style that is submitted from the bottom to the top. The book became a "play", which began in the Qin Dynasty, when because of the advocacy of the Legalist statecraft, the content of the play was simple and practical, and lacked literary brilliance. Like Wang Juan (the historical record of birth and death is unknown, Ren Qin Guocheng is between Lü Buwei and Li Si), the language is simple and the narrative is bright; And Li Si's "Song Li Mountain", although it is a report on the progress of the work, there is no superfluous word, only straight to the point! It seems to be concise and to the point, without showing off the pretension of hard work, in fact, all the meritorious achievements, grand projects and amazing results are not only unobstructed, but also vivid. Through these two articles, the political and legal system of the Qin Dynasty, both in form and content, lacked the essential characteristics of gentleness, benevolence, and elegance, which can be glimpsed.

After entering the Han Dynasty, "playing" was also known as "Shangshu", and the content began to favor the Confucian Zhongzheng and elegant, and its principles not only frequently appeared in the middle of excellent works, but also the rhetoric was often elegant and gorgeous. For example, Jia Yi's "On Accumulation and Sparseness", Chao Cuo's "Words and Soldiers", Kuang Heng's "Migrating to the Northern and Southern Suburbs", Wang Ji's "Shangxuan Emperor's Negligence of Gains and Losses", Lu Wenshu's "Shangde Probation Book", Gu Yong's "Saying that Emperor Cheng is away from the sacrificial technique", etc., are not only sincere, but also comfortable in writing. It can be seen that when the style of "playing" developed to the Western Han Dynasty, it was not only fully mastered by everyone, but also able to be used very flexibly. Therefore, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the literati and scholars only had some wonderful ideas and sayings in the mediocre and biased performances. For example, Yang Bing's "Neglecting Micro Lines Due to Wind Disasters", its upright and outspoken words are almost taboo; Chen Fan's "Advice to Reward Internal Favors", its iron words are enough to deaf and deaf; Zhang Heng's "Three Histories of Seeking Harmony and Truth", "The Inconsistencies Described by Sima Qian and Ban Gu on the Article", "Please Ban the Diagram and the Confusion", etc., and his Kuangzheng historical records can be compared and referenced; Cai Yong's "Shangfeng Shi Chen Political Leaders Seven Things", his state affairs suggestions are like pointing out the country. Some works like this are not only because they have profound and elegant knowledge and concepts, but also because they have a clean and upright cultural atmosphere at that time, so they can dare to act so boldly.

In the Cao Wei era, there were many literati, and those who were famous for their performances were still endless. For example, Gao Tanglong (Fu surname Gao Tang Ming, Longzi Shengping Three Kingdoms, Wei Ming Emperor, Shiguan Zhiguang Luxun), Huang Guan's "Teaching Shu", Wang Lang's "Song Yi Save", Zhen Yi's "Concert Invitation Ling Shang Shulang to Do Things", etc., can be called masterpieces of dedication and generosity.

As for the Jin Dynasty, it can be described as many disasters and difficulties, and the Sima court has been in turmoil. During this period, like Liu Song (the character Yaxi Jin Hui Emperor Shi Minister's Shangshu) "In addition to Huainan Xiang in the county", talking about ancient and modern stories can be described as earnest; Wen Qiao (the character Taizhen Eastern Jin Dynasty literati became the emperor when the hussar general) "The Upper Prince Neglected the View of the West Pond Building", exhorting extravagant remarks is particularly pragmatic and sincere. Therefore, the works of both of them belong to the exemplars of loyalty to the country and sincere words.

To sum up, the fundamental characteristics of the essay style are that it has a clear attitude and a fair position, and it must also be honest and determined. The first difficulty in his creation is whether the ideas can always be accessible and whether the analysis is natural and fluent. If we can achieve this level, we must not only have a strong will, but also be able to be pragmatic and truth-seeking; Not only do you need to be knowledgeable, but you also need to be able to draw on the sidelines. The root of it is to integrate the ancient and modern and deliberately simplify the complex, and finally achieve the expected purpose of "writing" in the context of the poor reasoning. This is the value of this type of genre.

There is also a part of the "play", which mainly focuses on reporting and exposing mistakes or crimes, so as to achieve the ideal goal of impartial law enforcement and clean governance. The position of "imperial servant" in the Ji Zhou era was dedicated to supervising and reporting officials who might have fallacies. In the Qin Dynasty, the "imperial historian" not only had to control the laws and regulations, but also monitored, exposed and rectified the discipline at any time. The Han Dynasty's "Imperial History Zhongcheng" was the chief administrator for impeachment and accountability, and also supervised and investigated. Therefore, no matter who is in such a position that requires discernment and needs to fight at any time, not only needs to sharpen his vision and bearing, but also has the ability to write so that he can be concise. Looking at Kong Guang (65 BC-5 AD, the character Xia Qufu, the 14th grandson of Confucius, a minister in the late Western Han Dynasty) impeached Dong Xian, the facts are clear; Lu Cui's accusations against Kong Rong are completely false accusations, and they are purely blamed on others. It can be seen that it is also an impeachment recital, but there is a world of difference between Confucian celebrities and traitors. Therefore, Fu Xian of the Western Jin Dynasty (239-294 A.D., the son of Fu Xuan, a native of Niyang in the northern land of Yu Dynasty, was the crown prince of the horse washing horse Shangshu right Cheng Yu Shi Zhongcheng, etc.), his character is straightforward and vigorous, and the impeachment writing is also profound and merciless; Liu Kui of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (273-333 A.D., the secretary of Pengcheng, Dalian, the secretary of Lang and the champion general Pengcheng), although his personality is grim and not afraid of power, his impeachment twists and turns seem to be broad and shallow. The reason for this gap between the two is that there is a difference in inner ambition and sincerity. The "playing" articles after them are basically compared with each other, but they are updated, supplemented and developed along with specific use cases. However, compared with ancient works, they have not changed much in terms of format and content.

What do you think about the frequent problems of slander, slander, or murder in impeachment transcripts? Needless to say, where armor is made for the safety of the person, bows and arrows are made for the purpose of harming life. Therefore, in terms of purpose, the impeachment recital, which was originally intended to report and accuse, must be written profoundly, sharply, and severely, and this is actually where the duty of responsibility lies. In addition, it is needless to say that there is also a saying in "The Book of Songs, Xiaoya, Xiangbo": "Take the other and cast the jackal." (Throw those who do not keep their duty to jackals, tigers and leopards); In "The Book of Rites: Qu Lishang", it says: "Parrots can speak, and they do not leave birds; Orangutans can speak, and they do not leave beasts; Today's people are rude, although they can speak, they are not the hearts of beasts! (Parrots are still birds even if they can talk, orangutans are still animals if they can talk, and if people are not polite nowadays, even if they can talk, they are just well-dressed beasts.) ）； For example, in "Mozi Non-Confucianism", "Lamb" and "Ben Pig" are used to satirize the stubborn Confucianism; In addition, in "Mencius Tengwen Gongxia", it is like "Yang is me, and there is no king; Mo is both in love and is fatherless. Without a father and a king, he is a beast. The harsh words are impressive. Since there are still such unconcealed words in the "Book of Songs" and "Book of Rites" or the scriptures and treatises of Confucianism or Mohistism, it is inevitable that even if there are contradictory words in the folds used for reporting and exposing. However, according to the truth, if there are mutual belittlement, nitpicking, or meanness in the texts of the literati in the world, especially those who use this to show their self-scolding demeanor and virtue, they have actually lost their righteous posture, let alone elegant charm. Even in a textual genre such as the impeachment recital, if the door of the liturgy is opened, the standard sword of the rules is hoisted in advance, and the paths, procedures, and rules are clearly marked, if there is a transgression, or a red line, the toe must be cut off, if not the leg bone is broken...... If this is the case, why bother to explode foul language, or gnashing teeth and cursing, or insinuating and so on, thus stimulating and promoting the bad style of writing that hides filth and dirt? In fact, when writing an article, the reason why it is required to "set a model and balance and should be bright" (to the effect that; Set an example, unify the rules, and clarify the theme outline. The essence of this is that in terms of "righteousness", we must follow the "classics", and in the "words", we must abide by the "style". If such a style and norms are implemented in the impeachment recital, it is necessary to have the same rigor and rigidity as the Legalists, and also to have the literary embellishment of Confucianism, and then on the basis of not being afraid of power, but also to have the Mohist persistent beliefs, dare to despise all crooked ways and conspiracies, and be able to always adhere to the courage, bearing and vision of being straightforward, concise, and clear. This is the professionalism and personality charm of a court official who is in charge of the impeachment recital.

What is enlightenment? "Kai" means "open", that is, to open, to open, to release. "Shangshu Says Destiny" records: "Enlightenment is the heart, fertile heart, if the medicine is dizzy, the disease is sick." (Roughly speaking: open your heart and warm my bosom like medicine to cure the disease.) The word "enlightenment" here means "to open." Throughout the Han Dynasty, because Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty was famous for the word "Qi", the government did not have such a text style as "Qi". In the Cao Wei period, some correspondence in the court began to be called "Qiwen", and at the end of some of the transcripts, there would be a postscript "Sincerely". Since the Jin Dynasty, the style of "Qi" has become particularly popular, and it has the functions of "table" and "performance". In terms of discussing national affairs, "enlightenment" is like a branch of "playing", and when humbly giving gratitude, "enlightenment" has become the backbone of the "table". Therefore, as a literary style, Qi can be lenient and moderate, concise and clear, and refuse to be exaggerated, which is his characteristic and his basic point. There is also a special and special stipulation in the presentation to the imperial court, that is, it is necessary to maintain a pertinent and accurate text format, which is specifically called "proverbs".

What is it? The original meaning of Yan is to speak out, that is, to speak without bias. "Shangshu Hongfan" has "no bias and no party, the royal road is swinging." (Approximate meaning: The royal road can only be open and unimpeded if it is fair and just.) Therefore, the book, labeled as "prophecy", is intended to remind us of the need to be neutral and not to distort the facts. According to the seventieth chapter of the Book of Han, Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty once had such feelings: "I haven't seen the class students for a long time, and today I heard the rumors again." (I haven't seen Bamber in a long time, and today I'm hearing it again.) Here "gossip" means "to speak out."

During the Han Dynasty, there was also a department and officials who were proficient in music called "Bayi". Their duties, similar to those of the practitioners of "Wenle Zhizheng", would secretly report to the emperor about astronomy, geography, and signs that might indicate good and bad luck in the world, and such a kind of workbook was sealed in a black bag, called "sealing affairs". In addition, according to the "Historical Records: The Biography of Chao Cuo", after Chao Cuo followed Jinan Fusheng to learn "Shangshu", he specially reported the matter to the emperor and called it "cheap". Subsequently, everything that is called "cheap" in the performance is like "sealing things", and it is a secret performance. "Zhou Yi, Jian Hexagram, Xiang 62" said, "The king and the minister are stumbling, and they bow down." (As a minister, I am trembling and struggling, not all for myself.) Therefore, the way to be a minister is to be honest and dare to speak; In addition, "The Book of Rites: The Mean" says that "if its people exist, its political deeds." (Only when loyal and moral people exist, can politics be clear.) Therefore, it is self-evident that as a means of reaching the court, the fundamental request is self-evident.

All in all: there is a company that relies on integrity, and the rectification of discipline must be monitored. The pen is like a cadre, and the ink is dignified like a broken intestine; Scraping bones and poisoning is life, and slander hurts people and cuts off their lives. There are always a few people who are competent to make plans for yin and yang affairs.