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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 March 2011
Since World War II scholars, Chinese and others, have shown a growing interest in Ch'ing history, results of which have paved the way for the study of contemporary China. They are fortunately afforded facilities for research by a large number of sources housed in various libraries in this country. Of these sources a considerable number consist of records from the Ch'ing imperial archives. Naturally historians and political scientists explore these official documents for details of different aspects of the Ch'ing dynasty. Considering the importance of these official accounts, a critical study of their nature and uses will be helpful to scholars. Although it is almost impossible to thoroughly examine all of these official sources, it is practicable to bring into focus the material for a certain period of that dynasty. The present paper represents such a discussion of the five principal sources for the Yung-chêng period (1723–35), reign of Emperor Shih-tsung, who was the third ruler of the Ch'ing.
1 This campaign was intended not only to maintain public order but also to replace the traditional administrative system for the minority groups by the regular local government.
2 For instance, the Shih-lu for Nurhaci has four editions. For an article in English on this matter, see Fuchs, Walter, “The Personal Chronicle of the First Manchu Emperor,” Pacific Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 1 (march 1936), 78–85.Google Scholar
3 In addition, there are three chapters which cover the Introduction, preface, table of contents, and names of the editorial staff.
4 In the Shih-lu chapters are numbered by leaves. There is an average of 37 leaves for each chapter during the first two months after the emperor's accession; about 31 in 1723; 25 in 1724; 27 in 1725; 32 in 1726 and in 1727; 23 in 1728; 32 in 1729; 23 in 1730; 27 in 1731; 22 in 1732; 16 in 1733; 17 in 1734 and 21 in 1735.
5 See the Manchu names in the decree of the Shih-lu (Tokyo, 1937–1938), Yung-chêng period, ch. 14, pp. 1–2Google Scholar, Dec. 27, 1723, and compare those in the Pa-ch'i (Palace ed., 10 ch., 10 v.) v. 1. Dec. 27, 1723, 22.
6 Cf. Shih-lu, Yung-chêng period, ch. 1, p. 26Google Scholar, Jan. 3, 1723, and Nei-ko (1741 ed., 32 v.), v. 1, Jan. 3, 1723, 20.
7 Examples are given in sections below when I compare the Shih-lu with other sources.
8 For a detailed discussion in English on the coverage of the Tung-hua lu, see Biggerstaff, Knight, “Some Notes on the Tung-hua lu and Shih-lu,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 4, No. 2 (july 1939), 102–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9 The Tung-hua lu for the Kuang-hsü period (1875–1908) was compiled earlier than the Shih-lu of the same period. For a discussion, see Ibid., pp. 113–15. For a specific comparison between the Shih-lu and the Tung-hua lu by Wang Hsien-ch'ien, see Goodrich, L. Carrington, “Korean Interference with Chinese Historical Records,” Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 68 (1937)Google Scholar, footnotes 8 and 12 (30–31).
10 For the information on the jade seal see Chiang Liang-chi, Tung-hua lu (n.p., n.d., 32 ch.), ch. 26, p. 7. Cf. Shih-lu, period, Yung-chêng, ch. 32, june 20, 1725, pp. 10–12.Google Scholar
11 Liang-chi, Chiang, op. cit., ch. 26, p. 7.Google Scholar
12 See Chu-p'i (n.p., n.d., 60), Vol. 3, Memorials of Li Wei-chün, Dec. 28, 1724, 41.
13 For example, in the Shih-lu one finds an entry on an imperial tomb dated March 24, 1730 (see Ibid., period, Yung-chêng, ch. 91, pp. 4–5Google Scholar), but the same information appears in Chiang's work dated one month earlier. (See Liang-chi, Chiang, op. cit., ch. 29, p. 14Google Scholar). In some cases, however, Chiang does provide a complete record which includes the proper year, month and day.
14 For example, the campaign against the minority groups in Southwest China took place in the Yung-chêng period, but Chiang's work carried information on the war even after the accession of Emperor Kao-tsung. For reference, compare Ibid., ch. 32, p. 16, and Shih-lu, period, Ch'ien-lung, ch. 2, october 22, 1735, p. 21.Google Scholar
15 This ratio is based on my manuscript index to the Shih-lu and the Tung-hua Records of Chiang and Wang.
16 For instance, Emperor Shih-tsung granted tax remissions to the people of Kiangsu twice in September of 1728. They appear in two separate entries in the Shih-lu (see Ibid., period, Yung-chêng, ch. 72, september 9, 12, 1728, pp. 6, 11Google Scholar). Wang combined these two entries into one. See Hsien-ch'ien, Wang, Tung-hua lu. (Changsha, Wang's Family ed., 1884–1890, 525 ch.), Yung-chêng period, ch. 13, p. 18.Google Scholar
17 Tsêng Ching (1679–1736) was the scholar who advocated Chinese nationalistic feeling. For in formation on this case, see Hummel, Arthur W., Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644–1912). (Washington, D. C., 1943, 2 v.), II, 747–49.Google Scholar
18 See Hsien-ch'ien, Wang, op. cit., ch. 15, november 27–28, 1729, pp. 43–53Google Scholar. Cf. Nei-ko, v. 24, december 5, 1729, 20Google Scholar. The information does not appear in the Shih-lu, the Pa-ch'i, or Chiang's compilation of Tung-hua lu.
19 For instance, in 1735 a new district was established in Hunan. This information was included in Hsien-ch'ien, Wang, op. cit., ch. 26, september 6, 1735, p. 30Google Scholar, but was left out of the Shih-lu.
20 Cf. Ta-i chüeh-mi lu (Palace ed., 1729, 4 ch., 4 v.), ch. 3, pp. 31–33, 50–59, 60–68.Google Scholar
21 See the preface to Nei-ko, in v. 1.
22 A copy of the Yung-chêng shang-yü in the Harvard-Yenching Library, Harvard University, contains the same material as the Nei-ko. The East Asian Library of Columbia University has a copy of the (Yung-chêng) Yü-chih lu (1728 ed., 10 chüan).
23 See Chu-p'i, preface, pp. 1–2.Google Scholar
24 See n. 4 above.
25 Shih-lu, Yung-chêng period, ch. 98, pp. 14–16, november 5, 1730Google Scholar. Ibid., Ch'ien-lung period, ch. 1, p. 20, Oct. 10, 1735.
26 Ibid., ch. 3, pp. 14–15, Nov. 7, 1735, ch. 4, pp. 37–38, Nov. 23, 1735.
27 For the case of the Chinese scholar, see n. 17 above. For the case of the two princes, see Hummel, , op. cit., II, 926–29.Google Scholar
28 See n. 6 above; Yü-chih lu, Vol. 1, january 20, 1723, ch. 1, p. 9Google Scholar. Besides this, another edict requites 173 words in the Yü-chih lu, 112 in the Nei-ko, and 37 in the Shih-lu. See Yü-chih lu, Vol. 1, ch. 1, 10Google Scholar; Nei-ko, january 13, 1723, Vol. 1, 8Google Scholar; Shih-lu, Yung-chêng period, january 13, 1723, ch. 2, p. 12.Google Scholar
29 Nei-ko, Vol. 14, may 28, 1727, pp. 13–15.Google Scholar
30 For example, there are two decrees about Bannermen's training which are included in the Nei-ko and the Pa-ch'i, but not in the Shih-lu. See Nei-ko, Vol. 30, march 31, 1733, 2, and Vol. 31, december 30, 1734, 1–2Google Scholar; Pa-ch'i, Vol. 10, march 31, 1733, 1, and december 30, 1734, 8–9.Google Scholar
31 The first volume covers a little more than one year from 1722–23; the ninth, the years 1731 and 1732; and the tenth, the years 1733–35.
32 See the preface to Pa-ch'i in Vol. 1.
33 See Ibid., Vol. 8, June 23, 1730, 12–15.
34 For the item, see Ibid., Vol. 5, June 27, 1727, 33–34.
35 For the edict, see Ibid., Vol. 9, June 26, 1732, 8–9.
36 For detailed information on the various editions of the work, see Huang Pei, “Shuo Chu-p'i Yü-chih” (A discourse on the vermilion endorsements and edicts of the Yung-chêng period), Ta-lu tsa-chih (The Continental Magazine), Vol. 18, No. 3 (february 1959), 10.Google Scholar
37 For further external criticism, see “Shuo Chu-p'i Yü-chih,” pp. 9–10.Google Scholar
38 For a detailed analysis of the memorialists, see Ibid.
39 For further discussion, see Pei, Huang, “The Secret-report System during the Yung-chêng Period, 1723–1735,” Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies, New Ser. 3, No. 1 (may 1962), pp. 26–29.Google Scholar
40 See the emperor's statement in Chu-p'i, Vol. 1, preface, p. 1Google Scholar. Some memorials were published in several source works by the Palace Museum of Peking in the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties.
41 For example, see Chu-p'i, Vol. 45, Memorials of Ch'i-cho, Kao, july 18, 1726, 81–82Google Scholar; Vol. 50, Memorials of Tsung-wan, Li, july 9, 1728, 45.Google Scholar
42 For instance, see Ibid., Vol. 5, Memorials of Wei-chün, Li, july 31, 1724, 3–31.Google Scholar
43 Ibid., Vol. 7, Memorials of Chin-ô, Fei, november 9, 1729, 49Google Scholar; Vol. 57, Memorials of Hung-ên, Chao, december 26, 1729, 12.Google Scholar
44 Ibid., Vol. 41, Memorials of Wei, Li, september 11, 1728, 59–61.Google Scholar
45 For example, in one report a local official mistook a Lama for a Westerner; in his endorsement the emperor corrected the mistake and gave the reporter detailed information about the Lama. See Ibid., Vol. 7, Memorials of Chin-ô, Fei, november 9, 1729, 49.Google Scholar
46 See “The secret-report system …,” pp. 17–52.Google Scholar
47 Ichisada, Miyazaki, “Yōsei Shuhi Yushi Kaidai,” (“Notes on Emperor Yung-cheng's Instructions in Red”), Tōyōshi Kenkyū, Vol. 15, No. 4 (march 1957), 365–96.Google Scholar
48 This new publication is Spence, Jonathan D.'s Ts'ao Yin and the K'ang-hsi Emperor, Bondservant and Master (New Haven and London, 1966).Google Scholar