Ming Dynasty Northern Strategy (Vol. 1 & 2)

Author: (Qing) Ji Liuqi / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-07-01
Features: A historical record of events in northern China during the Ming Dynasty's Wanli and Chongzhen periods. Written by Ji Liuqi of Wuxi in the early Qing Dynasty (1622–). Liuqi, styled Yongbin, styled Tianjiezi, and styled Jiufeng Jushi, was from Wuxi, Jiangsu. The book comprises a total of 24 volumes, starting from the year 1595 when Qing's founding emperor Nurhaci rose in Northeast China and ending in 1644 when Wu Sangui led Qing troops through the Pass. It records events year by year, with particular detail on the Chongzhen era, and the history after Li Zicheng entered the capital is almost arranged day by day. Within each year, events are listed with specific titles in the style of "record of events in their entirety," with most content covering late Ming peasant wars, class contradictions, and ethnic relations. The sources are extensive, and the events are well-organized. Since the book was completed in the early Kangxi era, not long after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, most of the historical records are accurate. However, there are also rumors and superstitious or unreliable accounts. Due to the literary restrictions of the early Qing Dynasty, the book was listed as forbidden and was never published. During the Jiaqing and Daoguang eras, a wooden movable-type edition was published by Ban Songzi in Beijing's Liulichang, but it had been edited and was not the original by Ji Liuqi. Later, there were stone-printed editions by the Library of Integrating Knowledge and lead-printed editions by the Commercial Press, all of which were identical to the Ban Songzi edition. Later, early Qing manuscripts were discovered in Hangzhou and Changshu, which contained over 40 additional entries compared to the common editions. After being punctuated and organized, they were published by the Zhonghua Book Company in 1984.