At the beginning of the ritual dispute, the position of the Grand Secretarial headed by Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe (1459-1429) was widely supported by the court officials. The reason was that its suggestion of unifying dynastic succession and imperial adoption for Shizong, making him the "son" of the late Emperor Xiaozong (1470-1505). Made perfect reuse to them, that position was strengthened by the reforms introduced by the Enthronement Decree, which was drafted by Yang Tinghe. / However, Shizong increasingly attempted to prevail with his personal will at the expanding of dynastic laws and rituals. His decreased father, the Prince of Xing, was titled "Sovereign Father by Birth" on the recommendations of the Grand Secretariat. In the third year of Jiajing (1524), supported by several junior officials, he wanted to get rid of the term "By birth" in his father's title and address Xiaozong, his adopted father, as "Sovereign Uncle". Two hundred and thirty odd officials gathered and cried at the Zuoshun Gate to protest. Shizong ordered them beaten and imprisoned. / Obviously, the "Great Ritual Controversy" was a great tragedy. It was so not only that protesting officials suffered physically and politically in the aftermath. The more far-reaching historical significance is that it brought about a change of political ethics of great consequences. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) / The "Great Ritual Controversy" (Daliyi) began soon after Emperor Shizong (1507-1566, reigned 1521-1566) succeeded the throne of his cousin, the Wuzong Emperor (1491-1521). The crux of the dispute was Shizong's insistence on paying his deceased father, who never reigned, ever increasing ritual homage. / The replacement of senior court officials caused a change to the political alignment of the court. The status of the grand secretariat and the ministries were badly affected. Court officials in general were no longer cooperating nor unified under the laws or conventional practice. The grand secretaries more and more became the Emperor's personal secretaries, while gaining more power. / This dissertation studies the performance of these officials during and after the dispute to provide better knowledge of this historical episode. It also intends to throw light on the moral spirit of the scholar-officials in the middle Ming. / 胡吉勛. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2005. / 參考文獻(p. 567-586). / Adviser: Hung-lam Chu. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0297. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2005. / Can kao wen xian (p. 567-586). / Hu Jixun.