Ming Shi Jiangyi

Author: Meng Sen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: On April 3, 1979, the renowned Chinese historian Gu Jiegang, already 87 years old at the time, wrote in his diary, "There are three books that deserve to be highlighted: 1. Wu Yanshao's Compendium of Qing Dynasty Mongolian, Tibetan, and Hui Dynasties; 2. Meng Sen's Comprehensive Chronicle of Ming, Yuan, and Qing Dynasties; 3. Qian Haiyue's Draft of the Southern Ming History." By the end of 1980, when Mr. Gu passed away, the three books he had long been concerned about not only failed to be "highlighted" but were never formally published. The old man's thoughts turned into a last wish. More than 20 years have passed, and with the passage of time, these three manuscripts have long faded from public view, rarely mentioned. Meng Sen (1869-1938), styled Chensun, known as Xinshi, was from Wujin, Jiangsu. In his early years, he studied abroad in Japan, attending Tokyo Imperial University of Law and Political Science. Upon returning to China, he was elected as a member of the Legislative Yuan of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China in 1913 and wrote political essays to support parliamentary activities. At the same time, he successively published specialized research articles on Qing Dynasty history, which caused a great sensation in the academic circles of the time. In 1929, he was appointed as a professor and lecturer in the Department of History at Nanjing Central University, specializing in Qing Dynasty history. In 1931, he was hired as a professor and chair of the Department of History at Peking University, teaching the history of the founding of Manchuria until the July 7th Incident. Professor Meng Sen's research on Qing Dynasty history mainly focused on the examination of the origins of the Qing ancestors, the clarification of the name "Manchuria," the verification of the Eight Banners system, the examination of the succession of Emperor Yongzheng, and the identification of historical figures and events in the early Qing Dynasty. His contributions to the study of the Ming and Qing dynasties had a profound influence and were hailed by the academic community as the founder of the modern Qing Dynasty history school in China. This time, our publishing house is releasing a collection of Meng Sen's works, which includes his major works such as Pre-Qing Chronicles, Collected Essays of Xinshi, Lectures on the Founding of Manchuria, Lectures on the Ming History, Lectures on the Qing History, and Comprehensive Chronicle of Ming, Yuan, and Qing Dynasties, as well as his scattered essays, which are compiled into Collected Works on Ming and Qing History and Collected Political Essays of Meng Sen, totaling eight volumes.