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Precious Admonitions were not intended to circulate widely, but young emperor divided, it is not surprising that Yang Shiqi
were chiefly intended to be ‘revered by the sons and now sought to assert a long-standing personal bond between
grandsons’ of the imperial line, as the Xuande emperor put it. 4 grand secretaries and successive emperors, and to affirm his
Now, in 1443, as one of the leading architects of these own vision of the court.
official accounts of the Ming emperors and their courts, There were, in Yang’s day, few sources of information for
Yang was asserting his right – and his responsibility – to people across the realm about the events and personalities at
record and transmit his own private collection of imperial the Ming court. There is no evidence that the Dibao (邸報) or
pronouncements. He did not indicate the audience for which Capital Gazette circulated in the early Ming, although it did
he was writing, but his invocation of the writings of Ouyang exist in earlier times. Little is known about the Capital Gazette
Xiu and Sima Guang suggest that he intended the work to in Ming times, except for anecdotal evidence, none of which
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contribute to the broader ‘literati’ discourse on the political appears before the late 15th century.
order of the realm. Writing a preface to the work introduced The Court Diary (Qijuzhu 起居注) was established by the
it to a readership and signalled that it was intended for founding Hongwu 洪武 emperor (r. 1368–98), who
circulation. The Record of Imperial Pronouncements was part of a appointed prominent officials to serve as the court diarist. In
large body of material that Yang published at this time. He his own way, he was following previous dynastic precedents.
also published his Record of Memorials and Responses (Zoudui lu He was eager to restore the rites of an idealised antiquity, in
奏對錄), a collection of his presentations at court, and his which history was recorded in real time – his actions and
Record of Compositions on Behalf (Daiyan lu 代言錄), a collection deeds passed down for posterity. He seems to have lost
of edicts and pronouncements that he had drafted for the interest in this practice in his later paranoid years. And there
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emperors over the years. His collection of his own writings, is no mention of the court diary in the Veritable Records after
including poetry, biographies, eulogies, epitaphs and 1382. Although some sources have suggested otherwise,
inscriptions, had been published a little over two years there is reason to be sceptical that the post of court diarist
earlier, in 1440, a vast compilation that confirmed his role as existed until it was formally restored in the late 16th century,
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one of the most prolific writers of the era. In a preface to under the Wanli 萬曆 emperor (r. 1573–1620). Court
Yang’s collected works, Yang’s close colleague Huang Huai records, including the Court Diary, when one existed, were
黃淮 (1367–1449) waxed in superlatives on Yang’s literary indeed used to compile the Veritable Record, but this, as noted
achievements and linked them with the glories of the above, did not circulate.
dynasty itself: In 1402, when the Yongle emperor usurped the throne
In our dynasty, since the Great Ancestor, the August Emperor from his nephew, he sought to rewrite history so that the
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initiated his cultured enterprise, generations of the learned years of the Hongwu reign went down to 1402. But there is
have emerged in splendour! And the writings of Master [Yang] little to indicate that this history was available to anyone
testify to the brilliance of our predecessors, soaring aloft. How beyond the immediate confines of the court. The Record of
many could do that! And during that era, he has matched their Responding to Heaven and Pacifying the Troubles (Fengtian jingnan ji
pace, how many could do that! 奉天靖難記) recounted the events leading up to the
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This chapter examines the Record of Imperial Pronouncements usurpation, and overlaps with the Veritable Records of the
as a new source of information on the imperium that began Yongle reign. This text is often widely believed to have
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to circulate to the world beyond the Ming court in the 1440s. been composed and published in the early years of the
On the one hand, as one of the few documents on this period Yongle reign, as a justification of the usurpation. But there is
in circulation, Yang’s ‘private’ record was highly influential surprisingly little evidence that the text was actually
in shaping the image of the Yongle emperor and his son and composed at that time, and there in fact seems to be no
grandson for the larger reading public. On the other hand, written references to the text before the late 16th century. It
Yang’s work set an important precedent of personal appears in a few private library catalogues in the 17th
narratives by retiring high-level officials in the Ming court. century.
Yang completed his Record of Imperial Pronouncements at a For the broader ‘literati’ public in the early 15th century,
crucial time. The emperor’s grandmother, Empress information on the usurpation of 1402, and indeed, the early
Dowager Zhang 張 (1379–1442), the stabilising force in the history of the dynasty, would not have been readily available
regency, had died two months earlier, an event that Yang in any form. Of course, for public consumption, the Yongle
noted in his preface. The Zhengtong 正統 emperor emperor did produce vast public monuments to attest to the
(r. 1436–49), who had come to the throne at age eight, had validity of his succession. The remarkable Da Baoensi
recently turned sixteen, and was beginning to take over the 大報恩寺 (Great Monastery of Filial Gratitude), with its
affairs of the court for himself. Yang’s generation of court spectacular pagoda, was erected on the edge of Nanjing (see
statesmen were dying off. Yang Rong 楊榮 (1371–1440) had discussions by Marsha Haufler and Clarence Eng in
died two years earlier. Yang Pu 楊溥 (1372–1446) was nearly Chapters 16 and 20 of this volume). And he ordered the
70. Other powerful figures had come to play a more construction of a vast stone stele to attest to his filial piety.
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dominant role at court. The Director of Ceremonial, one of The project had to be redesigned when it became clear that
the most influential positions in the court, was the eunuch the Yongle emperor’s ambitions far exceeded the possible,
Wang Zhen 王振 (d. 1449), a power rival, cultivating an and a smaller (but still immense) version of the stele was
array of important relationships with prominent civil and erected not far from the tomb site of his father on Mount
military officials, and with the emperor himself. With the Zhong. Yongle’s own Veritable Records were delayed by the
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waning power of the regency and the attentions of the wilful early death of his son, the Hongxi emperor. The records

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