From 1705 to 1721, Qing dynasty
The National Palace Museum houses nearly 160,000 Qing memorials (with remarks written in red by the emperors) spanning from the Kangxi era to the Xuantong era. Among these, the Wang Hongxu Miniature Confidential Memorials stand out as the most representative artifact. These items are highly valued by scholars for studying the Qing memorial system and uncovering the bureaucratic and aristocratic corruption and scandals during the late Kangxi era.
The Wang Hongxu Miniature Confidential Memorials consist of 52 small-scale memorials of varying sizes, documenting the correspondence between Wang Hongxu and Emperor Kangxi (reigned 1660–1722). These memorials were produced between 1705 and 1721, with most concentrated between the 1705 and 1708. They originated during Wang Hongxu’s service in the Southern Study, when Emperor Kangxi undertook his fifth southern inspection tour in 1705 and ordered Wang to report all matters in the capital through confidential memorials.
Wang Hongxu (1645–1723), a native of Jiangsu, achieved the title of jinshi in 1673, placing second in the palace examination. Wang’s scholarly talent earned him Emperor Kangxi’s recognition, and his memorials covered a wide range of topics, including bribery, embezzlement of public funds, and financial deficits among officials. One particularly notable account involves the emperor’s fifth southern inspection tour and reports of local officials coercing Jiangnan women into being transported to Beijing. This collection of memorials survived due to an imperial order from Emperor Yongzheng, issued upon his ascension, requiring all such items to be returned to the Qing court. The eight-tiered yellow satin-wood box we see today was used by Wang’s family to deliver these memorials to the palace shortly after his death in 1723.