Abstract
It was generally thought that the emperor arbitrarily decided the crown prince. However, looking at the process of succession to the Ming Dynasty, it was confirmed that discussions with bureaucrats had considerable meaning. In this paper, six scenes were selected and analyzed to examine the status of bureaucrats in the process of succession to the Ming Dynasty. Even the emperor Yongle, who is considered a charismatic monarch, listened to the opinions of officials when deciding on a crown prince. And, when the emperor Jingtai changed the crown prince, he had to pay bribes to make officials on his side. As such, the opinions of bureaucrats were important. It was virtually difficult for the emperor to decide a successor on his own, despite the opposition of the bureaucrats. Officials even attempted to change the successor decided by the previous emperor, and were opposed to it. And it was also the bureaucrats who arranged this situation. It can be said that bureaucrats took the initiative when the emperor''s position was empty. It was also the head of the cabinet who controlled the situation in the absence of the emperor. In summary, it would not be too much to say that there was no heir to the throne opposed by bureaucrats in the Ming period. In addition, it was confirmed that the guidelines made by the emperor Hongmu were merely used as a basis for emphasizing the legitimacy of each in the process of succession to the Ming dynasty.
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