A Study Of Political Writing In Late Ming Dynasty And Early Qing Dynasty

In the history of traditional China, the fall and rise of regimes is often accompanied by some significant political and cultural changes. The late Ming and early Qing period is one of these important historical periods. There are many previous studies on the political history of this period, but the study of political writing questions is still not sufficient. From the perspective of image-building and identity of different groups, this study endeavors to make a diachronic investigation on political writing in the late Ming and early Qing period, as well as to explore into the transfer of discourse power, unveiling the historical and realistic factors behind it.With the changes of the political environment and the atmosphere of public opinion, the intelligentsia had been extensively involved in political writing activities since the mid-Ming Dynasty. By compiling a lot of works about the history of Ming Dynasty and describing some important current political affairs, they tried to guide the public opinion. The political writing began to appear the trend of diversification. This trend was clearly reflected in the Donglin Movement in the late Ming Dynasty. Political writing was regarded as a useful mean of political struggle by editors from different political groups. And the image of Donglin Faction was shaped by their political opponents.The Ming-Qing conflict inspired a new wave of political writing. Witnesses presents a chaotic scene of regime change by publishing official and unofficial calls to arms, compiling current-event novels and other different ways. Different regimes consciously used imperial edicts, diplomatic documents and other kinds of political texts to claim their own legitimacy. While fighting on the military battlefield, they also engaged in a fierce battle for monopolizing the discourse power. Besides, there were some relevant records left by different foreign observers which reflected the diversity of identity.In the early Qing period, the emperors were not only interested in the historical events, but also keen to discuss some current political issues with the intelligentsia. They attempted to use the power of political and academic authority to guide the direction of public opinion. At the same time, the early Qing government established Ming History Office and conducted a special examination to enlist excellent scholars for the Ming History project. Finally, the Qing government captured the discourse power from former Ming subjects and consolidated its legitimacy with these efforts. The diversification tendency of political writing had been changed during the early Qing period.