Minghuang zalu 明皇雜錄

Minghuang zalu 明皇雜錄 "Miscellaneous records of Emperor Ming" is a collection of stories around Emperor Tang Xuanzong 唐玄宗 (r. 712-755) compiled during the late Tang period 唐 (618-907) by Zheng Chuhui 鄭處誨 (jinshi degree 834), courtesy name Tingmei 廷美. He hailed from Xingyang 滎陽 in the prefecture of Zhengzhou 鄭州 (in today's Henan province) and was Vice Minister of Works (gongbu shilang 工部侍郎), then Vice Minister of Justice (xingbu shilang 刑部侍郎), surveillance commissioner (guanchashi 觀察使) of Zhedong 浙東, acting Minister of Justice (jianjiao xingbu shangshu 檢校刑部尚書), and finally military commissioner (jiedushi 節度使) of the military prefecture of Xuanwu 宣武軍.

The book Minghuang zalu is 2 juan long, in some editions plus a supplementary chapter (Bielu 別錄). It was initially classified as "miscellaneous history" (zashi 雜史) before being "downgraded" to a novella (xiaoshuo 小説). The book was finished in 855 and is introduced by a preface written by the author. It includes 37 stories of the youth of Emperor Xuanzong, his reign, and the time of old age, when he had to flee the capital and escaped to Shu 蜀 (Sichuan).

In some stories, worthy ministers and evil favourites are mentioned and vividly described. The stories cannot be used as historiographical sources, but they reveal how the glorious age of the Tang, which was both the apex and a turning point, was viewed by contemporaries and later generations. The golden age was also an age of decay. The stories have a strong narrative character and can be compared with contemporary collections, like the Ci Liushi jiuwen 次柳氏舊聞, Kaitian chuanxin ji 開天傳信記, or Minghuang shiqi shi 明皇十七事.

The book has not survived in full, but the Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Qian Xizuo 錢熙祚 (c. 1800-1844) added fragments of the Minghuang zalu quoted in other books.

The Minghuang zalu is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Mohai jinhu 墨海金壺, Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編 and Shoushange congshu 守山閣叢書.