The Hanlin Academy
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mentaries compiled by themselves on classical and historical work. After the emperor had perused the presented material, they were preserved by the government library.27 Sometimes, the emperor chose to give special audience to his officials, on which occasions the latter had to expound the presented work orally to him.28
The primary aim of these discussions and the presentation of literary work was for the sake of indoctrinating capital officials, particularly the Hanlins, with the right kind of political outlook. This was highly important for the government in an ideological sense, since these officials, being the elite of the scholar-official class, were the moral leaders of a society which laid so much stress on letters. They had gained the highest laurels of literature by winning the Third Degree with distinction and by being admitted into the Hanlin Academy. Scholars aspiring to the higher degrees looked to their literary work as the standard style of expression. In other words, they were in a position to give direction to the literary standard of the Empire. The government was quick to grasp the point that if this comparatively small number of influential scholar-officials were well indoctrinated with the state ideology, the scholars of all provinces would strive to follow suit and extol what the government upheld as good.
However, we should also notice that a thirst for learning the Chinese classics and history also motivated the early emperors in bringing about such literary debates. The discussions and presentation of literary essays also served as a means to help the emperors to master Confucian ideology, used in running government. In this respect, we can easily see the intimacy attained between the emperor and his Hanlin officials. The Hanlins and the emperor, meeting every day, in the long run, influenced each other. The officials were virtually the tools and the mouthpiece of the emperor. Nonetheless, they in turn also exerted an influence, in an often unconscious manner perhaps, over their master, who, hoping to control his people with Confucian ideas, had also to play the role of a Confucian monarch.
The Imperial discussions mentioned above were one aspect of the contact between Hanlins and the emperor. In the capacity of Recorders of the Emperor's Deeds (Chi-chu kuan), Royal Attendants in the Inner Palace (Ju-chih shih-pan kuan), and Personal Followers of the Emperor (Hu-tsung), the Hanlins were inevitably linked with the "Son of Heaven".