Ming Veritable Records

The Ming Veritable Records^[1] or Ming Shilu (traditional Chinese: 明實錄; simplified Chinese: 明实录; lit. 'Veritable Records of Ming'), contains the imperial annals of the emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). It is the single largest historical source of information on the dynasty. According to modern historians, it "plays an extremely important role in the historical reconstruction of Ming society and politics."^[2] After the fall of the Ming dynasty, the Ming Veritable Records was used as a primary source for the compilation of the History of Ming by the Qing dynasty.^[3]

The Veritable Records (shilu) for each emperor was composed after the emperor's death by a History Office appointed by the Grand Secretariat using different types of historical sources such as:^[4]

1. "The Qiju zhu (Chinese: 起居注; pinyin: qǐjūzhù), or 'Diaries of Activity and Repose'. These were daily records of the actions and words of the Emperor in court."
2. "The 'Daily Records' (Chinese: 日曆; pinyin: rìlì). These records, established precisely as a source for the compilation of the Veritable Records, were compiled by a committee on the basis of the diaries and other written sources."
3. Other sources such as materials collected from provincial centres and "culled from other official sources such as memorials, ministerial papers and the Metropolitan Gazette."

• History of Ming

Works cited

• Wade, Geoff. tr. (2005). Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource. Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore.

• "Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty, Joseon Dynasty & Qing Dynasty". sinica.edu.tw (in Traditional Chinese). Academia Sinica.
• "Veritable Records of the Ming, Veritable Records of the Qing". history.go.kr (in Korean and Traditional Chinese). National Institute of Korean History.
• Interactive scholarly edition, with critical English translation and multimodal resources mashup (publications, images, videos) Engineering Historical Memory.