明代皇帝即位時，照例要頒布即位詔或登極詔。駕崩時，亦照例要頒布遺詔。本文之目的，在探討明代皇帝即位詔及遺詔與明代政權轉移之關係。誰是這些詔飲起草者？起草者是否會藉這些詔令作為政治工具，用它來消除異己或保障同路人，此外，這些詔令的內容是否代青特殊意義，或者都是千篇一律的應景之官樣文章。本文之結論認為，明代皇帝的即位詔及遺詔除明太祖、惠帝及成祖之外，幾乎全出自內閣大學士之手，而且前任皇帝的遺詔及接任皇帝的即位詔皆出自同一人。遺詔的內容，常常只有短短數語，而即位詔極為冗為，最長者有八十一條，長達數萬言。這些即位詔條款的內容，多半是對於前任皇帝流下來的弊端，提出改革的建議，也可以說是新任皇帝的施政方針。但是這些即位詔的內容常常是千篇一律，除少數外，幾乎全是應景的官樣文章。由於內閣首輔大多是遺詔及即位詔的起草人，所以內閣首輔在明代政治上地位的升降也影響了詔令的效力。在明代中葉以前，內閣尚在發展階段，內閣權力不大，遺詔及即位詔對於明代政權的轉移尚未有太大的影響力。但自武宗駕崩至神宗即位期間，內閣權重，遺詔及即位詔遂成政爭的焦點，誰起草遺詔及即位詔，就用它做為利器，消除異己，保障同路人。而自神宗之後，內閣勢衰，權力漸被吏部所奪，遺詔及即位詔就漸漸不那麼重要了。

When the Ming emperor ascends the throne, as a rule, an dict for this occasion will be issued. When the emperor demises, also as a rule, a will is issued. This paper studies the relationship between imperial wills and enthroning edicts and the transfer of emperors' authority by death. Who are they that draw up those edicts and wills? Would they take those edicts and wills as an instrument to get rid of dissidents and protect their fellow-members? furthermore, do these edicts and wills hae any ususual meaning? Or they are simply cliche? The author suggests that, other than T'ai-tsu, Hui-ti, and Ch'eng-tsu, almost all edicts and will are written by the Grand Secretariats. Moreover, the ascending throne edicts and the will of demised emperor are written by the same person. Usually, the wills have only a few lines. The edicts, however, can be as long as tens of thousands of words, pointing out malfeasance in the previous emperor's reign and suggesting improvements to be done. The latter can also be seen as the emperor's new policy. Nevertheless, except for a few, these edicts are mostly cliche. Due to that the leading member of the Grands Secretariatsis usually the one who draws up the edict and will, the ascending and descending of his power slao influence of the power of the edict and will. Prior to mid Ming, because the system of the Grand Secretariats is still developing, its power is limited. The impact of the edicts and wills toward the transfer of authority is not apparent. However, from the death of Wu-tsung to the enthronement of Shen-tsung, the power of the Grand Secretariats becomes more important, edicts and wills become the center of factional strife. Whoever draws up the edict and will, he would take the opportunity to get rid of dissidents and protect his fellow-members. However, after the Shen-Tsung's reign, the power of the Grand Secretariats diminishes and is taken over by the Board of Civil Service. The importance of edicts and wills thus reduces.