Ming Veritable Records
imperial annals of Ming dynasty emperors
The Ming Veritable Records or Ming Shilu (traditional Chinese: 明實錄; simplified Chinese: 明实录; lit. 'Veritable Records of Ming'), contains the imperial annals of the emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). It is the single largest historical source of information on the dynasty and consists of 2,909 volumes and more than 16 million words in total. According to modern historians, it "plays an extremely important role in the historical reconstruction of Ming society and politics." After the fall of the Ming dynasty, the Ming Veritable Records were used as a primary source for the compilation of the History of Ming by the Qing dynasty.
Historical sources
The Veritable Records (shilu) for each emperor was composed after the emperor's death by a History Office appointed by the Grand Secretariat using different types of historical sources, such as:
"The Qiju zhu (Chinese: 起居注; pinyin: qǐjūzhù), or 'Diaries of Activity and Repose'. These were daily records of the actions and words of the Emperor in court."
"The 'Daily Records' (Chinese: 日曆; pinyin: rìlì). These records, established precisely as a source for the compilation of the Veritable Records, were compiled by a committee on the basis of the diaries and other written sources."
Other sources such as materials collected from provincial centres and "culled from other official sources such as memorials, ministerial papers and the Metropolitan Gazette."
List of books
See also
History of Ming
References
Citations
Sources
Works cited
Further reading
Wade, Geoff. tr. (2005). Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ming Veritable Records” is imperial annals of Ming dynasty emperors. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Ming, Veritable and Records, not as a finished interpretation.
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28772. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1368, 1644 and 2005.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ming Veritable Records” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.