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Xianzhanglu 憲章錄

Feb 21, 2016 © Ulrich Theobald

Xianzhanglu 憲章錄 "Orders issued by the authorities" is a history of the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) written by Xue Yingqi 薛應旂 (1500-1575, courtesy name Zhongchang 仲常, style Fangshan 方山), author of the chronicle Song-Yuan zizhi tongjian 宋元資治通鑑.

The 47-juan long book is a history of the Ming period down to the Zhengde reign 正德 (1506-1521), and was planned as a sequel to the great chronicle. Yet Xue mainly used unofficial writings for his book, so that the historiographical standards are not sufficient, but the text is described shortly in the bibliography Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要. A 46-juan (fascicle 39 being divided into two parts) long copy is kept in the library of Peking University 北京大學圖書館.

A 20-juan long sequel to this book was written by Wu Ruideng 吳瑞登 (dates unknown). His Liangchao xianzhang lu 兩朝憲章錄 covers the time from 1522 to 1572, which corresponds to the Jiajing 嘉靖 (1522-1566) and Longqing 隆慶 (1567-1572) reigns. It was printed in 1594 and is found in the series Siku quanshu cunmu congshu 四庫全書存目叢書.

A further supplement, Xianzhang waishi xubian 憲章外史續編, with a length of 14 juan and only available in manuscript form, was compiled by Xu Chongxi 許重熙. The preface is dated 1633.

The Xianzhanglu is included in the series Xuxiu siku quanshu 續修四庫全書.

Sources:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, eds. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 1, 898, 900.
Wu Feng, ed. 吳楓 (1987). Jianming Zhongguo guji cidian 簡明中國古籍辭典 (Jilin: Changchun wenshi chubanshe), 403, 669.