Imperial Clan Court

The Imperial Clan Court or Court of the Imperial Clan was an institution responsible for all matters pertaining to the imperial family under the Ming and Qing dynasties of imperial China.^[1] This institution also existed under the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam where it managed matters pertaining to the Nguyễn Phúc clan.^[2]

Imperial Clan Court

Tông Nhân phủ ấn (宗人府印), the great seal of the Nguyễn dynasty's Imperial Clan Court.
Agency overview
Formed	1389
Preceding agency	Office of the Imperial Clan (太宗正院)

Imperial Clan Court
Pre-Ming
Chinese	宗正寺
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zōngzhèng Sì Wade–Giles Tsung1-cheng4 Ssu4
Ming, Qing
Chinese	宗人府
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zōngrén Fǔ Wade–Giles Tsung1-jen2 Fu3
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Tông Nhân phủ or Tôn Nhân phủ
Hán-Nôm	宗人府 or 尊人府
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡠᡴᡠᠨ ᠪᡝ ᡴᠠᡩᠠᠯᠠᡵᠠ ᠶᠠᠮᡠᠨ
Möllendorff	uksun be kadalara yamun

Established in 1389 by the Hongwu Emperor, it was based on previous institutions like the "Court of the Imperial Clan" (宗正寺, Zōngzhèng Sì) of the Tang and Song dynasties and the "Office of the Imperial Clan" (太宗正院, Tài Zōngzhèng Yuàn) of the Yuan dynasty.^[3] Under the Ming dynasty, the Court was managed by the Ministry of Rites; during the Qing, it was outside the regular bureaucracy.^[4] Under both dynasties, the Court was staffed by members of the imperial clan.^[5] Imperial clansmen who committed crimes were not tried through the regular legal system.^[6] Qing imperial clansmen were registered under the Eight Banners, but were still under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Clan Court.^[7] The Court used regular reports on births, marriages, and deaths to compile the genealogy of the imperial clan (玉牒, Yùdié).^[8] The imperial genealogy was revised 28 times during the Qing dynasty.^[9]

A memorial in Peking Gazette 1874 mentions:

The military authorities of the Amoor region report that a gioro (member of the Imperial lineage) named Che-ch'êng, alias Che-kwang, originally borne on the rolls of the blue banner at Peking, but without specific employ, who was transported into penal servitude at the Amoor in 1862, after being implicated in eight different cases of theft and burglary, has now made his escape from custody. Since his transportation, he has already committed the same offence on five occasions; and having been imprisoned lately on a charge of concerted robbery, he managed to break out of jail on the 24th September and get away. Reports have been sent concerning him to the Imperial Clan Court and the Board of Punishments.^[10]