The study of the compilation of Mingshi and its lunzan

Abstract

Previous scholars have tended to argue that the compilation of Mingshi was a means by which the Manchu emperors intented to mollify the Ming loyalists. However, although the compilation of Mingshi was preliminarily politically orientated, its nature later changed and the project did not serve this purpose. During the compilation of Mingshi, progress continued to suffer from the lack of official historians, source materials and the disorganization of the Ming Historiographical Institute. Such phenomena were largely due to the attitude of the emperor, which was affected by the political development at that time. When the political situation of the Qing empire became more stable in 1681, the compilation project evolved into a historiographical undertaking. The reasons for the long period of compilation and the rejection of earlier drafts by the emperor were due to the contradictory views held by official historians and by the emperor in their evaluations of Ming history and figures. The final completion and approval of Mingshi was an outcome of the efforts of various groups of people. The long compilation period enabled these different groups to contribute their expertise to the most appropriate parts of the project. Although the emperor possessed no well-defined principle of evaluation, he allowed the project to continue for further revision. As a result, historians were better able to evaluate historical figures and events of the Ming dynasty. Wang Hongxu had deleted the lunzan of earlier drafts. Such a move enabled later historians of the Yongzheng reign to distance themselves from the influence of earlier historians, and to develop their own lunzan. Comparative studies between the lunzan of Mingshi and the commentaries by Emperor Qianlong clearly illustrate that the evaluation principles shown by each were different. Therefore, it is very possible that the finalized version of Mingshi might not have been approved and the revision period would have continued for a longer period if it had not been submitted in the first year of the Qianlong reign. The perfect timing of the submission of Mingshi was a vital factor in the final approval of the completed version.