Míngchén jīngjì lù 名臣經濟錄
Records of Statecraft by Famous Officials by 黃訓 (編)
About the work
A 53-juàn Míng-period anthology of statecraft writings — memorials, biographies, xíngzhuàng (career-records), prefaces, and other administrative prose — by senior Míng officials from Hóngwǔ (1368–98) through Jiājìng (1522–66), nine reigns in total. The Jiànwén reign (1399–1402) is deliberately excluded — yǐ gé chú huì zhī yě (to avoid mention of the deletion-of-reigns, i.e. of Yǒnglè’s purge of Jiànwén-era records).
The work was compiled by Huáng Xùn 黃訓 (Jiājìng 1529 jìnshì, Fù dū yùshǐ) of Shèxiàn. The 10 divisions are organized by Míng administrative-bureau structure: Kāiguó 開國 (1 juàn); Bǎozhì 保治 (10 juàn); Nèigé 內閣 (4 juàn); Lìbù (4 juàn); Hùbù (5 juàn); Lǐbù (7 juàn); Bīngbù (13 juàn); Xíngbù (3 juàn); Gōngbù (5 juàn); and a joint Dūcháyuàn + Tōngzhèngsī + Dàlǐsì division (1 juàn). The first two divisions are arranged chronologically; the four bureaus LìLǐBīngGōng are sub-divided into the four sī (sub-bureaus) of each board; Hùbù is sub-divided into 13 administrative categories (maps-and-records, land-and-tax, gěicì, huángcè, túntián, marriage, grain-shipment, salaries, salt, tea, exam-quotas, and relief); Xíngbù into four (statute, discussion-memorial, tízòu, miscellaneous discussion). The result is one of the most administratively-coherent Míng-period statecraft anthologies.
Tiyao
Míngchén jīngjì lù, 53 juàn, edited by Huáng Xùn of the Míng. Xùn from Shèxiàn, Jiājìng jǐchǒu (1529) jìnshì, served to Fù dū yùshǐ. — This work collects the statecraft-words (jīngshì zhī yán) of the famous officials of nine reigns from Hóngwǔ to Jiājìng; the Jiànwén reign omitted out of avoidance-of-the-deletion. Divided into 10 divisions: Kāiguó (1 juàn), Bǎozhì (10 juàn), Nèigé (4), Lìbù (4), Hùbù (5), Lǐbù (7), Bīngbù (13), Xíngbù (3), Gōngbù (5), Dūcháyuàn + Tōngzhèngsī + Dàlǐsì together (1) — each division has its sub-categories. Kāiguó and Bǎozhì are organized by chronology. LìLǐBīngGōng are each sub-divided by their four sī. Hùbù sub-divides by 13 administrative categories: Túzhì, Tiántǔ, Fùyì, Gěicì, Huángcè, Túntián, Hūnyīn, Liángyùn, Lùfèng, Yánfǎ, Cháfǎ, Kèchéng, Zhènxù. Xíngbù sub-divides into four: Lǜlì, Lùnzòu, Tízòu, Zálùn. The two boards’ various sub-bureaus are organized by region with no single dedicated unit, hence by category instead. Nèigé has no sub-categories — being above all the bureaus. The Dūcháyuàn etc. likewise have no sub-categories, the volume of contents being small. — In Yǒnglè of the Míng, Huáng Huái et al. were commanded to compile the Lìdài míngchén zòuyì, stopping at the Yuán; though the categorization is vast and not without redundancy, the planning-and-discourse of two thousand years stands out and may be examined. This work continues from where the Lìdài leaves off. — The contents include: Táo Ān 陶安’s biography, Liú Jī 劉基’s xíngzhuàng, Jiǎn Yì 蹇義’s mùzhì, Lǐ Dōngyáng’s niánpǔ — combined records of words-and-deeds; the Hànfǔ, Zhàofǔ, Shí Hēng, Cáo Jíxiáng disturbances — with running records of the events of the time; further such pieces as Xiè Duó 謝鐸’s yān yòng bǐxiàng shuō and Qiū Jùn’s Dàxué yǎnyì bǔ — with side material extending to miscellaneous prose. To the point of taking extracts from books rather than pure memorial-pieces — therefore the title is simply “jīngjì lù” (records-of-statecraft); but in fact memorial-pieces account for nine-tenths. — Along with Huáng Huái et al.’s compilation [the Lìdài míngchén zòuyì] this work is contiguous in time-period; sufficient for cross-checking. We now place it in the zòuyì division. — Within: the Húguǎng bēilù and similar items are occasional careless inclusions; perhaps following Zhū Zǐ’s Míngchén yánxíng lù (which excluded Lǚ Huìqīng and Zhào Rǔyú’s Míngchén zòuyì but did not exclude Zhāng Dūn or Qín Huì) — distinguish them and they are usable. — Reverently presented in the second month of Qiánlóng 44 (1779). Chief Editors: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. Chief Collator: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Míngchén jīngjì lù is the principal Míng-period anthology of administrative-statecraft writings, contiguous in time-coverage with KR2f0039 Lìdài míngchén zòuyì (which stops at Yuán). The 53 juàn preserve a substantial corpus of Míng zòuyì and adjacent statecraft-prose (biographies, xíngzhuàng, niánpǔ, prefaces, Dàxué yǎnyì bǔ extracts) organized by Míng administrative-bureau structure — making it both a memorial-anthology and an administrative-history reference. The Sìkù tíyào notes the work’s slight categorial impurity (extracts from books, miscellaneous prose) but defends its inclusion in the zòuyì division on grounds that nine-tenths of the contents are memorial-text. The deliberate omission of the Jiànwén reign — the yǐ gé chú huì zhī yě phrase — is a notable Míng-period editorial-political-decision artefact.
Translations and research
- The work has been digitized in Sì-kù quán-shū electronic editions (Wenyuan Pavilion).
- Brook 1998, “The transmission of state documents,” in Cambridge History of China vol. 8.
- Wilkinson 2018 §65.3.7.
Other points of interest
The administrative-bureau organization (10 divisions matching the actual Míng Liùbù + Nèigé + Sānfǎsī structure) is unusual and methodologically interesting — most pre-Qīng zòuyì anthologies are organized chronologically or by named-author. Huáng Xùn’s structure anticipates the Qīng zhèngshū (administrative encyclopedia) tradition.
Links
- Wikidata: Mingchen jingjilu
- Wilkinson 2018 §65.3.7.