After the "History of the Yuan" was written, many people were not satisfied at that time. Xu Yikui of the Ming Dynasty said: There is no "actual record" to rely on for the thirty-six years of Emperor Shun's reign, and there is no reference book, and it is only written on the basis of interviews, I am afraid that the historical events may not be verified. When Ming Chengzu ordered Xie Jin to revise the "History of Yuan", he wrote the book "Correct and Wrong History of Yuan History". Later, Zhu You, who participated in the revision of the "Yuan History", wrote "Yuan Shi Shi Shi Zhi Yuan Shi Yuan Shi Shi Zhi Zhi Yuan Shi
Scholars of the Qing Dynasty further examined and adapted the "History of the Yuan", and achieved fruitful results, such as Tai Yuanping's "Yuan History Manuscript", Wei Yuan's "New Compilation of Yuan History", Hong Jun's "Supplement to the Translation of the History of the Yuan", Tu Ji's "History of Mughal", etc.; and the "Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty" compiled from the "Yongle Canon". These books have made many supplements to the "History of the Yuan", but there are still many omissions. It was not until the late Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty that Ke Shaochen wrote the "New Yuan History" that there was a less satisfactory history book of the Yuan Dynasty.
Ke Shaochen (1850-1933) was a historian of the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, a native of Jiaoxian County, Shandong. During the Guangxu period, he was admitted as a jinshi, and served as the editor of the Hanlin Academy and the general supervisor of the Beijing Normal University. In the early years of the Republic of China, he served as a lecturer for the deposed emperor Puyi and presented himself as an old man; the Beiyang warlord government asked him to preside over some academic institutions, but he refused to undertake anything other than to preside over the revision of the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty." He spent more time in his life studying the history of the Yuan, and his achievements were the greatest.
Ke Shaochen used the new research results of the Ming and Qing dynasties on yuan history. It also absorbed Western materials and books on yuan history, such as the "History of Mongolia" written by the Frenchman Dosan, and conducted systematic research on yuan history. On this basis, it took thirty years to compile the "New Yuan History" in 1920. The following year, Xu Shichang, president of the Beiyang warlord government, ordered that the "New Yuan History" be included in the main history, which was published in 1922. In this way, the "Twenty-Four Histories", which was originally recognized by the state, became the "Twenty-Five Histories". After the completion of the "New Yuan History", Tokyo Imperial University in Japan awarded Ke Shaochen an honorary doctorate in literature. In addition to the "New Yuan History", Ke Shaochen also wrote books such as "Examination of the New Yuan History".
The "New History of the Yuan" is based on the "History of the Yuan", and after considering the profit and loss, it is re-compiled. This is a huge history of the modern era. The book consists of 257 volumes, including 26 volumes of the Benji, 7 volumes of the Table, 70 volumes of the Zhi, and 154 volumes of the Liechuan. The style of the New Yuan History basically follows the old history, but there are some changes. For example, a "Preface" is added before this era to record the history of Genghis Khan, which is similar to the addition of a "Century" before the "History of Jin". Another example is the addition of emperor Yuan Shun's son Zhaozong Ji at the end of this era. The content of the New Yuan History is more substantial than the Yuan History, which complements the Mongolian history before the Yuan Dynasty. When Ke Shaochen revised the New Yuan History, he made use of the Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty and the Supplement to the Translation of the Yuan History. The base of the "Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty" is called "Busy Huolun Nucha Debi Chiyan", Busy Huolun is Mongolia, Nucha is secret, Debi Chiyan is the general book, and together it is the "Secret History of Mongolia". The original book was written in the Wu'er script, which was translated into Mongolian by Chakhan during the reign of Emperor Yuanrenzong and hid it in the palace for outsiders to see. During the Ming Dynasty, it was translated into Chinese, called the "Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty", and qian Daxin of the Qing Dynasty compiled the contents of this book from the "Yongle Canon", which is the only historical material preserved in China in the early Mongolian history. The YuanShi Translation Supplement was compiled by the Qing Dynasty man Hong Jun based on the Persian Rasht's Mongols and the Ilkhanate's Golden History. In this way, it is possible for Ke Shaochen to supplement the "New Yuan History" of the "Yuan History" of the previous deeds of the ancestors. The New Yuan History also supplements a part of the history of the Northern Yuan Period, and the deadline is extended to the eighth year of Emperor Zhaozong's Xuanguang (1378). Many biographies have been added to the "New Yuan History", such as some heroic heroes who refused to surrender the Yuan in the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, especially the leading figures in the peasant uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, such as Han Lin'er, Xu Shouhui, Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youyu, etc. The "New Yuan History" has been passed on to them one by one, detailing their deeds. Figures who played an important role in the history of the Song and Yuan dynasties, such as Xia Gui, also added biographies. Xia Gui was a general of the Southern Song Dynasty, and he surrendered to the Yuan army with the three provinces, six prefectures, and thirty-six counties in Huaixi, leading the song army to rout in its entirety. After entering the Yuan Dynasty, he sold out the interests of the nation in exchange for high-ranking officials such as the Governor of The Government, but the time was short, and he died in only three years. The "History of Song" states that he was an official who demoted the Yuan, and does not give him a biography; the "History of the Yuan" states that he had no deeds in the Yuan Dynasty, nor did it establish a biography for him. Considering his important role in the Yuan-Song Wars, the New Yuan History added the Biography of Xia Gui. The addition of this legend is also of great significance to the education of national integrity to future generations. In addition, the "New Yuan History" records the content of mongolia's management of the western regions from Genghis Khan to Möngke, and the rise and fall of the four major khanates, etc., which are also recorded in detail than the "Yuan History".
The New Yuanshi also corrected the mistakes of the Yuanshi. There are many one-man and two-way transmissions in the "History of the Yuan", such as Su buttai and Xuebutai are originally one person, the finisher and the completer are all one person, Shi Mo is also the same person as Shi Mo Asin, there are two biographies listed in the "Yuan History", and the "New Yuan History" corrects this error. The column biography of the "History of the Yuan" is not arranged reasonably, such as the column biography of Tai Buhua and others at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and then the column biography of Yelü Chucai and others in the early Yuan Dynasty, and the "New Yuan History" has made reasonable adjustments according to the order of the times.
In short, the "New Yuan History" collects the great achievements of Ming and Qing scholars in studying the history of the Yuan, and has made this huge work with the strength of one person, which is indispensable. Li Sichun, a close friend, said in the "Historiography of the Yuan": "His book (referring to the "New Yuan History") has the advantages of both all transformation and detailed preparation. The Chinese Metahistory has Ke Shaochen, just as the collection of hundreds of rivers returns to the sea, and the accumulation of the soil to become the peak. This is a bit of an overflowing statement. However, the "New Yuan History" is indeed an important and valuable reference book for the study of the history of the Yuan Dynasty.
Of course, there are also some deficiencies in the New Yuan History. The biggest disadvantage is that there is no compilation of the "Yiwen Zhi", and the new materials cited in the book are not attributed, so that when future generations study the history of the Yuan, it is deeply inconvenient to use its historical materials. Ke Shaoxiu's "New Yuan History" still cannot get rid of the method of re-repairing the old history of the past, stacking beds and frames, and the volume is voluminous; in addition, there is no "Narrative Example" at the beginning of the book, so that people cannot see the righteous example of his book. In addition, the "Shi Lao Biography" does not make up for the Islamic and Yahweh traditions, and the activities of Marco Polo and others in the Yuan Dynasty are not written, which are the shortcomings of the New Yuan History.