A Study Of The Biographies Of Ningxing In The Official History Of The Ming Dynasty

This thesis focuses on the Ningxing, which are recorded in Biographies ofNingxing, compiled in the Official History of the Ming Dynasty by the officials in theearly Qing dynasty. In the previous research, most scholars only focus on thecharacter of these Ningxing, for instance, they analyze their evil behavior and theirbad effects on the societies. Under such perspective, the Ningxing’ biography tendedto be regarded as the true records of their deeds. This thesis, however, explores theforming process of those history context and figure out the intention of those earlyQing officials.Chapter One illustrates the historical documents about Ningxing before, whichare the essential resources for early Qing historians. The Record of Ming Dynasty,which is written by officials in Ming dynasty, records their deeds. In addition, somehistorical documents written by nonofficial intellectuals provide important resources.What’s more, historians also give different definitions of Ningxing of Ming dynasty,such as Shiqi Wu and Dai Zhang.Chapter Two analyzes the compiling and revising process of the Biographies ofNingxing. This thesis analyzes the background, and searches for the different editionsby the officials in different times, such as Si tong Wang, Hong xu Wang, and Ting yuZhang.Chapter Three compares different versions of Biographies of Ningxing, figuringout the evolutionary process. Si tong Wan regards Ningxing as people who acquiremonarch’s favours and trusts by flattering, whereas Hongxu Wang adds more politicalpower and great harm, including military men, athletes, greedy people, ruthlessofficials, and deceitful alchemists. Under different perspectives, the historical contextis adapted. Tingyu Zhang accepts Hongxu Wang’s revision. And the three contexts aremore and more conciser.The last chapter discusses the intention of the early Qing’s officials. Theyemphasize Ningxing’ evil deeds during the process of compilation. Furthermore, thehistorians criticize the bad policies of Ming dynasty through their critiques ofNingxing, the hazards of Imperial Bodyguard, the disadvantages of the excessivefavorite of the Taoist, the neglect affairs of the state by Ming Wuzong, which warnscontemporary politics in their times.