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by the whims of the ruler himself. Yang clearly sought to circulated through the realm. Yang’s vision of these rulers
push back against these other forces, drawing on the became the dominant and the most cited one for the rest of
personal authority of his four decades at court, to present a the dynasty. In these accounts the rulers are portrayed in a
narrative asserting that the imperial legacy was a largely flattering light, but they are also cut down to size. They are
civil one. concerned and worried rulers who confide in their trusted
To this end, Yang produced an unofficial ‘private’ record advisors. Yang’s image of the Yongle emperor is particularly
aimed at an audience beyond the court, presenting a ruler striking, for here we are drawn far away from the imagery of
sensitive to ‘literati’ concerns and values. In the recounting the warrior king who contends on the northern steppe, and
of intimate exchanges between the ruler and his secretaries, are closer to a sagely and very human Yongle, widely
Yang seems to have redefined the protocol for disclosure of celebrated as an ideal over the course of the dynasty.
imperial affairs. Thus he found the need to defend himself in
his preface. The Record of Imperial Pronouncements was the first Notes
record of the Ming court compiled for circulation to a 1 Yang Shiqi 1998, 387–415. The preface is on 387–8.
readership beyond it. 2 For an account of the Ming Veritable Records, see Xie Guian 1995
and Franke 1961.
The Record of Imperial Pronouncements was republished 3 On the compilation of the first Ming Precious Admonitions, see Niu
frequently over the course of the dynasty. By the early 16th Jianqiang 2000.
century, it appeared in anthologies like the Collection of 4 See the imperial preface to the Taizong baoxun in Lü Ben et al. 1996,
Illuminations of the Good (Mingliangji 明良集) by Huo Tao 霍韜 53.784.
22
(1487–1540). In the tumultuous years of the Zhengde 5 For an account of Yang Shiqi’s works and their publication, see
Yang Shiqi 1998, 1–3.
(1506–21) and Jiajing (1522–66) reigns, scholars like Yang 6 For an inventory of Yang’s writings, see Li Jinggeng and Huang
Yiqing 楊一清 (1454–1530) cited Yang Shiqi’s work as one of Peijun 2008.
the important sources to learn about the interactions 7 Yang Shiqi 1998, 1.
between ruler and minister, as the Veritable Records were 8 On the career of Wang Zhen, see Hammond 2002. On the politics
of the early Zhengtong reign, see Twitchett and Grimm 1988,
unavailable. In his compilation on the Hanlin Academy, 306–9.
23
the Cantonese scholar Huang Zuo 黄佐 (1490–1566) cited 9 For a study of the Capital Gazette in Ming times, see Yin Yungong
Yang’s Record of Sagely Proclamations as representing an ideal 1990.
age. On the etiquette for submitting memorials, he cited 10 See, for example, Huang Zuo 1560–6, 1.13a–14a.
examples from Yang’s work, indicating that things were 11 For a summary of the historical revisions under the Yongle
emperor, see Chan 2005.
done properly in those days. ‘One can see’, he exclaimed, 12 For a comprehensive study of this text, see Wang Chongwu 1948.
‘how ruler and minister worked together.’ 13 Yang Xinhua and Lu Haiming 2001, 616–17.
24
Yang Shiqi’s work established a significant precedent. By 14 Yang Shiqi 1998, 387.
the end of the 1440s, the court was plunged into chaos with 15 Yang Shiqi 1998, 394.
16 See Ditmanson 1999, ch. 7.
the capture of the Zhengtong emperor at Tumu, the ascent 17 Yang Shiqi 1998, 387.
of his half-brother as the Jingtai emperor and the abrupt 18 MSL Taizong shilu 33.581 (2/7/壬戌) [28 August 1404].
restoration of Zhu Qizhen as the Tianshun emperor in 1457. 19 Yang Shiqi 1998, 400.
In the wake of this tumult, the grand secretaries and other 20 On the machinations of Zhu Gaoxu against his brother, see Chan
1988, 210 and 278.
high court officials in succeeding generations began to 21 Yang Shiqi 1998, 403–4.
publish their own private memoirs, airing their views and 22 For a description, see the prefatory comments by the editors of the
opinions and versions of events at court to an interested Sikuquanshu, e-SKQS 53.18a–b.
reading public. Through works such as Li Xian’s 李賢 23 Yang Yiqing n.d., 18.44a.
25
(1408–67) Daily Record of the Tianshun Reign (Tianshun rilu 24 Huang Zuo 1560–6, 6.7b.
25 For an overview of several of these private narratives that emerged
天順日錄), people learned about the court in narratives that in the 1460s and beyond, see the extensive notes in the ‘Selected
were more boldly divergent from the official narrative of the Bibliography’ of De Heer 1986.
Veritable Records.
Over the course of the dynasty, it was Yang Shiqi’s
portrait of Yongle, along with his son and grandson, that

98 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450