Historical Records Series

Author: Meng Sen
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: After the Qing Dynasty, there were no historical records about the Qing era. Those who discussed stories often enjoyed recounting Qing-era facts. Moreover, due to the Qing's strict censorship, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the Four Treasuries Project was used as a pretext to threaten, burn, and alter books, leading to the calamity of burning books and burying scholars. After the records of prohibition, their reactionary forces gave rise to countless unfounded and defamatory talks. Regarding the Qing Dynasty, we originally had no particular love or hatred for it. However, the responsibility of those who spread rumors and truths is to correct and clarify, not to follow the crowd and arbitrarily correct discussions about Qing-era history. Occasionally, I mention one incident, without hesitation, listing old theories and elaborating on its origins, not daring to boast of breadth or greed for quantity, hoping to reach a moderate truth. Accumulating several items, I successively published them in response to the invitations of various newspapers. After publishing, I often added and revised them based on my observations and insights.