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The Mingshi jishi benmo 明史紀事本末 "Historical Events from the Ming Period in Their Entirety" is a history of the Ming dynasty 明 (1368-1644) arranged in thematical chapters (a historiographic style called jishi benmo 紀事本末). The Qing period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Gu Yingtai 谷應泰 (1620-1690) rearranged the official dynastic history of the Ming dynasty, the Mingshi 明史, which is composed of biographies (the so-called jizhuanti 紀傳體 type), into a topic-related shape. Gu had taken part in the private compilation of the histories Mingshigao 明史稿, a draft to the Mingshi, and the Guoque 國榷, books which both attracted a wide readership. Following the model of the Tongjian jishi benmo 通鍳紀事本末, Gu Yingtai wrote a similarly composed history of the Ming dynasty, in 80 juan "scrolls", each dealing with one specific event and its circumstances. The first chapters begin long before the foundation of the Ming dynasty with the rise of Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋, the future Emperor Ming Taizu 明太祖 (r. 1368-1398). The last chapters describe the suicide of the Chongzhen Emperor 崇禎帝 (r. 1627-1644) after the rebel Li Zicheng 李自成 had conquered Beijing. Each chapter has a short introduction and a resumé at the end. Because of its nature the book only deals marginally with economic or social history and rather stresses events and politics. It also tries to circumvene disputes about the Manchu rulers' legitimacy. A third point of critique is that it makes use of popular stories whose historical accuratness cannot be proved. The book nevertheless obtained widespread attention because of its easier approach to history than the official dynastic histories, and it was several times reprinted and is included in the collectaneum Siku quanshu 四庫全書.
There is a 6 juan long supplement to the book written by Gu Yingtai himself. This supplement was written as as an appendix (buyi 備遺) with six chapters talking about the rise of the Jurchens in the northeast and the fights of their Manchu empire with the Ming. Later on, Gu Yingtai again took these chapters out of his book in fear that because of their content, the whole book might be prohibited by the Qing government. The respective chapters were, nonetheless, preserved as a supplement in manuscript form. They contain information about the capital gazette (dibao 邸報), the Ming archives and some information from private sources, and are therefore of great importance for the study of the late Ming period. The appendix is known with its own title of Mingshi jishi benmo buyi 明史紀事本末補遺.
There is a continuation to the Mingshi jishi benmo, the Xu Ming jishi benmo 續明紀事本末 by Ni Zaitian 倪在田.
In 1977 the Zhonghua shuju press 中華書局 published a modern edition, based on the edition of the Zhuyi Hall 築益堂, and enriched by some additional material (buyi 補遺, 6 juan, author unknown, probably Gu Yingtai; bubian 補編, 5 juan, by Peng Sunyi 彭孫貽).
Sources:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰 (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典, vol. 1, p. 910. Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe.
Wang Qiju 王其榘 (1992). "Mingshi jishi benmo 明史紀事本末", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史, vol. 2, pp. 697 f. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe. |
