In the 23rd year of Meiji (1890), Emperor Meiji 10/0, and the Imperial edict on education issued on October 30th, was drafted by Inoue Yi during the 1 Yamagata Cabinet. Its direct turning point was that during the cabinet period of single county, the revolutionary movement was still a catastrophe for the regime. On February 26th of the same year, the local governors' meeting under the leadership of Yamagata Aritomo, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, passed the resolution of Proposal on the Significance of Moral Cultivation, aiming at correcting the tradition that school education has always focused on imparting knowledge and demanding that the cultivation of moral quality be emphasized. In addition, Emperor Meiji has been very interested in moral education for a long time, and ordered Sakamoto Minister of Science and Technology to formulate basic policies for moral education. But Takeshi Sakamoto failed to promote this work and was replaced. Yamamoto felt that Sakamoto, who was born in the navy, was indifferent to moral education, so he recommended Ji Chuan, Yamamoto's confidant, to succeed him as Minister of Education. Although Emperor Meiji was rather reluctant, Yamagata persuaded the Emperor on the condition of guiding Fang Chuan and obtained approval. After Fang Chuan became Minister of Education, she entrusted Zheng Zheng Nakamura, President of Tokyo Women's Teachers College, to draft the original case of moral education.

Regarding the original case of Nakamura, Yamagata Aritomo expressed strong opposition on the grounds that the original case of Nakamura was religious and philosophical when seeking the opinions of Inoue, the legal director of the Cabinet. He pointed out that Nakamura's draft regards loyalty and filial piety as rooted in "respecting heaven and god" and is accused of being too Christian. Inoue also believes that the teaching edict promulgated by Meiji 12 is too Confucian, so obvious sinology or western learning should be avoided in wording, and some Confucian virtues can be used to build Japanese education on the "legacy of the ancestors of the emperor". The think tank of Shanxian government also thinks that Inoue's opinion should be respected, and Inoue should take the place of Nakamura to draft the language. Inoue gave up the premise that "according to constitutionalism, the monarch does not interfere with the freedom of national conscience" in the original case of Nakamura, and tried to make the original case that excluded religious color. After Inoue's original case was put forward, it was opposed because of the idea of "Education Letters", but Shan Xian's intention of formulating "Education Letters" remained unchanged and he personally participated in the drafting of this article. At the stage of Inoue's original case, the content of education in the future imperial edicts is basically fixed.

On the other hand, Tian Yuan Yongfu, a Confucian scholar closely related to the Emperor, suggested to Meiji the necessity of moral education based on Confucianism. Therefore, in Meiji 12 (1879), a teaching decree with strong Confucianism was drafted. In the same year, the Ministry of Education issued the emperor's instructions on the basic policy of education in the form of "teaching imperial edict", emphasizing that the focus of education is "moral education", which is the "foundation" of Confucius' teaching, and knowledge and talent are the "purpose". At that time, Prime Minister Hirofumi Ito was very dissatisfied when he learned that the task of drafting the "Pope's Order" was given to Yongfu, Tian Yuan. In view of the need to use the emperor's will and Confucian education to quell civil strife, he adopted and carried out this "imperial decree." 1886 (Meiji 19), Wen Xiangsen politely promulgated the Imperial University Order, stipulating that universities were subordinate to national purposes. The government's guidance on educational ideas has been further strengthened.

Historically, Meiji Restoration was considered as the beginning of Japan's modernization. With the introduction of a large number of western academics and systems, western ethics with a Christian background could not be directly implemented in Japan, and the situation at that time was not convenient for the Emperor to directly advocate the enlightenment of Confucianism or Buddhism in China. The promulgation of "Education Letters" is to emphasize and make up for the national moral education that is difficult to be introduced from the west, and it is also a necessary prerequisite to realize the goal of "harmony with souls and different talents". Tian Yuan is an old classmate of Inoue who studied in Kumamoto. After many twists and turns, Inoue's draft was perfected with the help of Tian Yuan Yongfu, a Japanese Confucian scholar who was then an official lecturer, and was approved by Meiji Emperor. It was named Imperial Imperial Letters on Education by Yamagata Cabinet, and was promulgated on June 30th, 2000 (Meiji 23rd) on the eve of the first Imperial Parliament in Japan.

The imperial edict on education ("Education") The Meiji Twenty-three Years published on June 30, 65438 is not a law or legal document on state affairs, because it is regarded as the words of the emperor himself, and it is only signed by the emperor himself, not by the Secretary of State. Inoue Yi advocated that the release format should not be issued directly by the Emperor, but indirectly by the Minister of Education.