The rulers of the Qing Dynasty attached great importance to the writing of the history of the Ming Dynasty. However, their focus is not so much on compiling the history of the former dynasty as on their own political interests first.
The Kangxi Emperor was quite clever, and he understood that the country that had never perished since ancient times, so he instructed the Ming officials and ministers to pay special attention to avoid saying too badly about the Ming Emperor, so that after the overthrow of the "current dynasty", the historian would write straight books and fall into an insult for thousands of years!" ①。
The officials in charge of compiling the history of the Ming Dynasty followed this will, writing as little as possible about the dark side of the Ming emperor. However, the tyranny or fainting of many emperors in the Ming Dynasty is difficult to cover up after all; let alone write all about good governance, how to explain the fall of the Ming Dynasty? After racking his brains, he came up with the method of giving the Ming Emperor the point of negligence to the point of negligence, and put the responsibility on the ministers and eunuchs. Listed in the "Biography of the Ming Dynasty traitors" are Hu Weiyong, Chen Ying, Yan Song, Zhou Yanru, Wen Tiren, and Ma Shiying. Linking these figures to the political situation of the time, it is not difficult to find that they are largely a group of scapegoats.
(1): The emperor of the early Qing Dynasty gave many instructions on the ming monarchs and the ming history of the revision. For example, on the twenty-seventh day of the first month of the thirty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1692), he issued an edict to the scholars, etc., "The former compiled the benji and liechuan written by the Ming Dynasty and the Chronicles were submitted in several volumes, and they were carefully approved, and xiong was ordered to give him the school. Xiong Zhi wrote and signed it, and Yu Hongwu and Xuande Benji discussed a lot. Xuande is the lord of the Kaiji, and his merits are prosperous; Xuande is shoucheng xianpai, although the games are different, the achievements are very special, but they are all inspired for a while, and Mo Lie is in the world, for the cause of the king, each of them has done their best. The lord of the Generation of The Emperor is also sharply intent on ruling, reckless day and night, comprehensively managing tens of thousands, and the widows are mian and the period is ascending to the long. If the sages of the previous generation search for gaps and discuss their right and wrong, they will not only have no virtue, they will not have this talent, nor will they have this intention. Since the holy prince of the ancient world could not be arrested, how dare he lightly discuss the previous generation of the Lord? If hongwu and Xuande are praised and written as praises, They can instruct their subjects and write articles calling them beautiful; if they seek to engrave theories deeply, they will not be tolerated by Yuanyi. At the time of its founding, the various ministers of the Civil and Martial Arts had their own merits, and if the facts of the literary ministers were superior to those of the military ministers in the biographies, the discussion was uneven, and it was difficult to believe in the history. The revision of history books, although the history of the minister also served; the ming history was written at the right time, and the slightest lack of coordination was blamed on the decay. ...... He had previously told Xu Yuanwen in the face of this purpose, and Er and others should know about it. ” Two days later (twenty-ninth day), Xuan Ye again told the ministers of the revision of history: "The way of making history is to be impartial and equal, and not to be false and selfish, but to be biased." He specifically mentioned: "After the Noon Dynasty was recorded in the Zhengde Shi record, Yu Yudao obtained an anonymous book of documents, passed on the will and interrogated, and all the officials knelt on the Danqi, and several people died violently at the time, especially the sick. Although the summer moon is hot, why are there so many people who are violent? And the soldiers in each line are wearing a strong and sharp, fighting in the hot sun, and they have not heard of death due to the heat. Oh shit! It is better to believe in books than to have no books, which is enough. "Emperor Wuzong was one of the most absurd emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and Xuan Ye used the practice of being a soldier to deny that those well-treated courtiers of Wuzong were punished with kneeling for too long and could not suffer from heat stroke, which was a metaphor for Fei Lun, and his real meaning was to try to avoid exposing the Ming monarchs. Speaking of the Chongzhen Emperor, his tone was: "Chongzhen's curse is extremely good at government, but if he dies of Ming, he dies of eunuchs, and he does not think so." At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the party disputes, in the court of the courtiers put the feudal territory, the community outside the degree, but with the portal victory or defeat as the thought, do not wait for the wise to know that they will die, but entrust the subversion of the state to the eunuchs, said to be the reason for the use of officials, Ude for the sake of Du Ya? (See Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, vol. 154). On November 21, 56, when he summoned the princes, Manchu ministers, and Officials of the Confucian Dynasty, he made a concluding speech, in which he said: "The previous emperors may have died forever, and the historical theory is thought to be extravagant and self-indulgent, and the color of wine is caused by indulgence. These are all good books and students are ridiculed, and even the pure and perfect king will also pick up flaws. It was dissected by the previous emperors, and the cover was caused by the complexity of the world and the hardships of the world. Speaking of himself, he said: "He is old and has been reigning for a long time, but what will the future generations say?" Moreover, with the current situation, I had to cry bitterly, and Yu Xian wrote myself in an essay, and I was afraid that the world would not know my suffering. (See Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, vol. 275) It can be seen that it is difficult to grasp the bias of the Qing Dynasty's theory of the Ming Dynasty without understanding the tone set by the Qing rulers on the revision of the Ming History.
The above content is extracted from the following figure▼
