On the Credibility of Ming History

Any history books, especially those in ancient China, are not recorded by historians alone, and most of them are more or less interfered by those in power. For example, Sima Qian was sentenced by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for telling the truth. Later, with the continuous strengthening of feudal centralization, the monarch's interference in the compilation of historical books intensified. In the Qing dynasty, as you said, the literary inquisition was the best example of the monarch intervening in the editing of history books. Therefore, the contents of China's ancient history books, especially those compiled by the government, should be treated dialectically, and we can't believe them all or all.

History is created by people, but only written by some people.

The historical credibility is not high, but the official history compiled by later generations is better. If you really want to know the history of the Ming Dynasty, besides the history of the Ming Dynasty, you can also have some literary works, as well as some unofficial history and miscellaneous notes.

Moreover, the Qing dynasty entered the customs under the banner of revenge for the Ming dynasty. When they gain a firm foothold, they will say that the Ming Dynasty was wrong, otherwise, the Han people will "fight against the Qing Dynasty and regain their sight" against these foreigners. So the credibility of Ming history should not be too high.

You can read Meng Sen's Lecture Notes on Ming History. Many examples are discussed in the opening chapter. The lecture notes have clear structure and distinct branches. * * * The second part. The first part is a general introduction, which is divided into two chapters: the position of Ming history in historiography and the style of Ming history (with the Ming Dynasty system table). The second part is the main part of this book, which is divided into seven chapters: the founding of the People's Republic of China, the south of Beijing, the capture of the door, the discussion of rites, the Wanli rebellion, the lessons of the two dynasties' chaos to sacrifice to heaven, and the Nanming rebellion. Let's talk about the corresponding events in North Korea. This chapter is divided into sections, such as the third chapter "Seize the Door", which is divided into eight sections: early orthodox politics, folk changes, Jingtai's defense after he ascended the throne, Jingtai's merits and demerits in office, seize the door, Chenghua Dynasty's political situation, Hongzhi Dynasty's political situation, and the study of British constitution and filial piety in three dynasties. The fifth chapter "Wandering in Wanli" is divided into four sections: the juvenile rush period, the drunken dream period, the late period, and the guangzong January with the widow. As you can see, this book is very clear and detailed.

The first part is extremely brief, but it is by no means dispensable. For example, the first chapter "the position of Ming history in historiography" is to discuss the source and credibility of historical materials of Ming history. After reading it, we know that the credibility of the revision of Ming history in Qing Dynasty lies in the relationship between Qing Dynasty and Ming Dynasty itself. "Unless the biographies, biographies and records of the Ming Dynasty are sorted out and supplemented, it cannot be regarded as a history of faith." Therefore, all the places involved in the relationship between Ming and Qing dynasties in the handout are checked with reference to Shilu and North Korea Shilu. Each theory is also based on the History of Ming Dynasty, and is checked and supplemented with reference to historical materials such as Chronicle, Ming Ji and Tong Mingjian. The second chapter, "Style of Ming History", compares the style of Ming history with the history of past dynasties, and it can be seen that the table is the first, the seven-Qing table is the first, the biography is the first, and the eunuch, rogue and toast are the last. From this, we can also see some characteristics of Ming dynasty history. The attached "Ming Dynasty System Table" records the emperors of past dynasties, including the year number, temple number, burial method, mausoleum name and year of accession, which is clear at a glance and even beyond words.