Huangming Tongji And History Books And Historiography In Ming Dynasty

The private compilation of history,especially of the Ming Dynasty,is the most prominent feature of Ming Dynasty historiography,while this process began with Chen Jian’s the Tongji of Emperor Ming,Tongji is a chronicle from Yuan Dynasty to Zhengde 16th Years,Ming Dynasty,which consists of eight volumes in the first part and thirty-four volumes in the second part.This book is mainly written by individual and is made by collecting books from other groups.Although the value of its historical material is not great,it has pioneering significance,and it is one of the most widely spread and influential works in the Ming Dynasty,so it can become a typical case to study the dissemination and development of history books in the Ming Dynasty.Since its publication,Tongji has been widely read.From Jiajing to Wanli,there have been at least a dozen reprints,which are divided into three series of forty-two,fourteen and ten volumes.Fourteen volumes originate from forty-two volumes and ten volumes originate from fourteen volumes.After the mid-Wanli period,there appeared a series of supplements,additions and adaptations,which came to an end at the beginning of Qing Dynasty and became a prominent phenomenon in the dissemination of history books in Ming Dynasty.The popularity of Tongji series is closely related to the prosperity of commercial publishing in the late Ming Dynasty.The developed publishing industry not only provided technical conditions for the wide and rapid dissemination of Tongji,but also greatly expanded the popularity of it and gave birth to a wider readership with its mature business model.In order to attracted readers and met the market demand,the bookstore had adopted various publishing strategies.They not only made the physical objects of the books,but also deeply participated in the establishment of the text order.Similarly,readers’ reading behavior is not only a process of passive acceptance,but also a process of actively participating in the shaping of the meaning of the text.Tongji attracts readers from all walks of life,but their reading emphasis is different.Korea’s rulers and ministers talked about the way of governing the country,worried officials borrowed some good ideas from the world,historians pushed it as the right of allusions in Ming Dynasty,imperial examination students made use of it to prepare for the current affairs,ordinary people could know the evolution of this dynasty.The dissemination and reading of Tongji reflects the historical process of the Ming Dynasty history books moving towards the deep social level in the interaction among compilers,publishers and readers.The basic reason for the popularity of Tongji series is its brief chronicle and precise discussion.The formation of these two characteristics has its academic origin.After the publication of Zizhi Tongjian,because it is so vast and difficult to read,scholars have revised it for convenience to mainly three types:section essentials,category compilation and outline.The reform of Tongjian has led to a new change in the chronology in Song and Yuan Dynasties.At the same time,in order to meet the needs of the students’ examination for the current affairs,a lot of argumentative contents have been added to the chronicle.Furthermore,with the vigorous promotion of scholars in the Song Dynasty,the historiography of statecraft,with the main content of exploring the great production and construction in history,has gradually emerged.Tongji inherits and integrates the above three trends,which not only simplifies the chronicle,but also breaks through the traditional chronological conventions.It is also accompanied by a large number of comments,which are accurate to the past and reflect on the present and analyze the gains and losses.This is an important innovation practice of official historiography.As the first work of privately revising the history of the Ming Dynasty,the completion of Tongji also depends on the lifting of political taboos and the accumulation of authentic documents.We can form a new understanding of the reasons for the transformation of historiography in the mid-Ming Dynasty.Starting from Tongji,looking at the development of historiography since the Song Dynasty,we can see three important trends:independence and self-consciousness of private history;The profound influence of Neo-Confucianism on historiography;The popularization of historiography.All of them started in Song Dynasty and flourished in Ming Dynasty,which reflected the continuity of historiography in Song and Ming Dynasties.