The History of Ming is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the Twenty-Four Histories

Twenty-Four Histories

The Twenty-Four Histories is a collection of Chinese historical books covering a period from 3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century. The whole set contains 3213 volumes and about 40 million words...

 of China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

 from 1368 to 1644, which was written by a number of officials commissioned by the court of Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

, with the lead editor Zhang Tingyu

Zhang Tingyu

Zhang Tingyu was a Han Chinese politician and historian during the Qing Dynasty.Zhang Tingyu was born in Tongcheng in Anhui province. In 1700, he was awarded the highest degree in the imperial examinations and shortly afterwards he was appointed to the Hanlin Academy...

. The compilation started in the era of Shunzhi Emperor

Shunzhi Emperor

The Shunzhi Emperor was the third emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China, which he did from 1644 to 1661. "Shunzhi" was the name of his reign period...

 and completed in 1739 in the era of Qianlong Emperor

Qianlong Emperor

The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...

, though most of the volumes were written in the era of Kangxi Emperor

Kangxi Emperor

The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...

.

One of the main sources for the History of Ming was Ming Shi-lu

Ming Shi-lu

The Ming Shilu , or the Veritable Records of the Ming, contains the imperial annals of Ming dynasty emperors and is the single largest historical source for the dynasty and "plays an extremely important role in the historical reconstruction of Ming society and politics." After the fall of the Ming...

(the "Ming Veritable Records"), i.e. the records of individual emperors' reigns, each of which was compiled soon after the respective emperor's death, based on the daily records accumulated during the reign.

Translations from this work can be found at: The Ming History English Translation Project

See also

• History of the Ming Dynasty
  History of the Ming Dynasty
  The History of the Ming Dynasty covers a period including its rule as the dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty...