The Zhuang Tinglong Case, also known as the Case of Ming History, was a 17th-century case of literary inquisition which took place in China between 1661 and 1663 during the Qing dynasty. The case was about the publication of an unauthorised history of the Ming dynasty – the ruling dynasty in China before the Qing dynasty – by Zhuang Tinglong (莊廷鑨; died 1655), a merchant from northern Zhejiang Province.
The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, was the last imperial dynasty of China. It was established in 1636, and ruled China proper from 1644 to 1912. It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted for almost three centuries and formed the territorial base for modern China. It was the fifth largest empire in world history.
The Ming dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China – then known as the Great Ming Empire – for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last imperial dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng, regimes loyal to the Ming throne – collectively called the Southern Ming – survived until 1683.
Zhejiang, is an eastern coastal province of China. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangsu and Shanghai to the north, Anhui to the northwest, Jiangxi to the west, and Fujian to the south. To the east is the East China Sea, beyond which lie the Ryukyu Islands of Japan.
Zhuang Tinglong (莊廷鑨; died 1655) was a wealthy merchant from Nanxun Town (南潯鎮), Wucheng County (烏程縣), which is in present-day Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. He desired to emulate Zuo Qiuming (556–451 BCE), the author of the Zuo Zhuan, who was also blind like him, by publishing a book of history, specifically on the Ming dynasty. However, he knew little about Ming history, so he decided to start with materials that were already available. He purchased a draft of Ming history, written earlier by Zhu Guozhen (1557–1632). Later, he hired a team of more than 15 scholars from the Jiangnan region, including Wu Yan (吳炎; 1624–1663) and Pan Chengzhang (潘檉章; 1626–1663), to help him edit and build on Zhu Guozhen's work.
Huzhou (help·info) is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzhou to the south, and the provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu to the west and north respectively. At the 2010 census, its population was 2,893,542 inhabitants, of whom 757,165 lived in the built-up area made of Wuxing District as Nanxun District is not being conurbated yet.
Zuo Qiuming, Zuoqiu Ming or Qiu Ming was a Chinese writer and contemporary of Confucius who lived in the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China.
Zhu Guozhen was an official, historian, and scholar of the Ming dynasty.
The book contained a number of inappropriate references to the Ming dynasty, as well as text considered taboo and defamatory to the Qing dynasty. Some examples include: use of era names of the Ming emperors and other Ming titles and forms;[1] denial of the legitimacy of the Qing dynasty; references to the Manchus and Jianzhou Jurchens as "barbarians"; references to the Qing rulers by their personal names.[2]
A Chinese era name is the regnal year, reign period, or regnal title used when traditionally numbering years in an emperor's reign and naming certain Chinese rulers. Some emperors have several era names, one after another, where each beginning of a new era resets the numbering of the year back to year one or yuán (元). The numbering of the year increases on the first day of the Chinese calendar each year. The era name originated as a motto or slogan chosen by an emperor.
The Manchu or Manzu are an ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. They are sometimes called "red-tasseled Manchus", a reference to the ornamentation on traditional Manchu hats. The Later Jin (1616–1636), and Qing dynasty (1636–1912) were established and ruled by Manchus, who are descended from the Jurchen people who earlier established the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in China.
The Jianzhou Jurchens were one of the three major groups of Jurchens as identified by the Ming dynasty. Although the geographic location of the Jianzhou Jurchens has changed throughout history, during the 14th century they were located south of the Wild Jurchens and the Haixi Jurchens, inhabiting modern-day Liaoning province and Jilin province in China. The Jianzhou Jurchens were known to possess an abundant supply of natural resources. They also possessed industrial secrets, particularly in processing ginseng and the dying of cloth. They were powerful due to their proximity to Ming trading towns such as Fushun, Kaiyuan, and Tieling in Liaodong, and to Manpojin camp on the Korean border.
The book was published under the title History of Ming (明書) and contained more than 100 volumes. Li Lingxi (李令皙; died 1663) wrote the preface, while Zhuang Tinglong was credited as the lead writer. Other contributors to the book include: Wu Yan, Pan Chengzhang, Mao Yuanming (茅元銘), Wu Zhiming (吳之銘), Wu Zhirong (吳之熔), Li Tao (李濤), Mao Cilai (茅次萊), Wu Chu (吳楚), Tang Yuanlou (唐元樓; died 1663), Yan Yunqi (嚴雲起), Jiang Linzheng (蔣麟徵; died 1663), Wei Jinyou (韋金佑), Wei Yiwei (韋一圍), Zhang Gao (張篙), Dong Eryou (董二酉), Lu Qi (陸圻), Zha Jizuo (1601–1676) and Fan Xiang (范驤; 1608–1675).
Zha Jizuo (1601–1676) was a Chinese writer and scholar who lived during the late Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty.
Literary inquisition
Zhuang Tinglong died of illness in 1655 shortly after the book was completed. In 1660, Zhuang Tinglong's father, Zhuang Yuncheng (莊允誠), had the book printed and distributed under the title Brief Series of Ming History (明史輯略/明書輯略). In 1661, Wu Zhirong (吳之榮; died 1665), the magistrate of Gui'an County (歸安縣; in present-day Huzhou, Zhejiang), reported the book to Chen Yongming (陳永命; died 1662), the prefecture governor. However, Chen Yongming dismissed the case after accepting a bribe of a few thousand silver taels from Zhuang Yuncheng. As Zhuang Yuncheng refused to bribe Wu Zhirong, the latter made another report – this time to higher authority. The central government in Beijing eventually found out about the book.
Tael or tahil can refer to any one of several weight measures of the Far East. Most commonly, it refers to the Chinese tael, a part of the Chinese system of weights and currency.
Beijing, formerly romanized as Peking, is the capital of the People's Republic of China, the world's third most populous city proper, and most populous capital city. The city, located in northern China, is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of central government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast; together the three divisions form the Jingjinji metropolitan region and the national capital region of China.
Oboi, the regent for the then underage Kangxi Emperor, ordered officials from the Ministry of Justice to go to Huzhou to conduct an investigation. This led to the arrests of multiple individuals associated with the book, including Zhuang Tinglong's family, the publishers of the book, people who possessed copies of the book, and officials who failed to report the book. Wu Zhirong, who bore a grudge against the merchant Zhu Youming (朱佑明), took the opportunity to frame Zhu Youming for being involved. He claimed that the "Zhu" mentioned in "Zhu's original draft" in the book referred to Zhu Youming, when the "Zhu" actually referred to Zhu Guozhen.
Oboi was a prominent Manchu military commander and courtier who served in various military and administrative posts under three successive emperors of the early Qing dynasty. Born to the Guwalgiya clan, Oboi was one of four regents nominated by the Shunzhi Emperor to oversee the government during the minority of the Kangxi Emperor. Eventually deposed and imprisoned by the new emperor for having amassed too much power, he was posthumously rehabilitated.
The Kangxi Emperor, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.
The Three Departments and Six Ministries system was the main central government structure in imperial China from the Sui dynasty (581–618) to the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). It was also used by Balhae (698–926) and Goryeo (918–1392) in Manchuria and Korea, and very likely the Lý dynasty (1009–1225) and the Trần dynasty (1225–1400) in Vietnam as well.
Zhuang Yuncheng was arrested and escorted to Beijing for trial, but eventually died in prison from abuse and torture. Zhuang Tinglong's remains were excavated from his grave and destroyed.[2] In 1663, the arrested people were given various sentences ranging from execution to exile. Tang Dafu (湯達甫) and Li Xiangfu (李祥甫), who published the book, along with bookstore owners Wang Yunjiao (王雲蛟) and Lu Deru (陸德儒), who sold copies of the book, were executed. Zhuang Tinglong's brother, Zhuang Tingyue (莊廷鉞), was executed by lingchi, and the entire Zhuang family were massacred. Li Lingxi and his son Li Rengdao (李礽燾), Zhu Youming and his sons Zhu Nianshao (朱念紹), Zhu Yanshao (朱彥紹), Zhu Keshao (朱克紹) and nephew Zhu Yi (朱繹), were executed by beheading. Zhu Youming's wife committed suicide. The sentencing judge took pity on Li Lingxi's youngest son, who was then 16 years old, and offered to reduce his legal age by one year, thus sparing him from death and sentencing him to exile instead. However, the boy refused and was executed along with his family. Dong Eryou, who had already died by then, had his remains excavated and dismembered into 36 parts. His son, Dong Yuyi (董與沂), was executed. Zhao Junsong (趙君宋), a teacher in Huzhou who reported the book, was also convicted and executed for secretly keeping a copy of the book. Li Jibai (李繼白), an official in charge of Xuyeguan Town (滸墅關鎮) in Suzhou, was executed for purchasing a copy of the book. Other officials such as Hu Shangheng (胡尚衡), Liang Huafeng (梁化鳳) and Zhang Wulie (張武烈) managed to escape persecution by heavily bribing the authorities. Fan Xiang, Zha Jizuo and Lu Qi were saved due to the intervention of Wu Liuqi and were pardoned. Wu Zhirong, who reported the book, received Zhuang Yuncheng and Zhu Youming's family fortunes as his reward.[1][1]
Aftermath
The case was closed on 21 June 1663. The thousands of people who were involved or implicated in the case were rounded up at a military camp in Hangzhou, where they were sentenced. Over 70 people were condemned to death: Zhuang Tingyue, Mao Yuanming, Jiang Linzheng, Zhang Gao, Wei Yuanjie (韋元介), Pan Chengzhang, Wu Yan, Wu Zhirong (吳之熔; not the same person as the Wu Zhirong (吳之榮) who reported the book), Wu Zhiming and others were executed by lingchi. Song Kui (松奎), the General of Hangzhou, and Zhu Changzuo (朱昌祚), the Provincial Governor of Zhejiang, along with their subordinates, were dismissed from office. Cheng Weifan (程維藩), who instigated Song Kui to accept bribes to cover up the case, was executed. Two teachers from Gui'an and Wucheng counties were also executed. Chen Yongming, the prefecture governor of Huzhou, was removed from office and sent to Tai'erzhuang, Shandong. Even after he committed suicide by hanging himself during the journey, his body was sent back to Hangzhou and dismembered. Chen Yonglai (陳永賴), Chen Yongming's brother who was serving as the magistrate of Jiangning County (江寧縣), was executed as well. Wang Zhaozhen (王兆禎) and Li Huan (李煥), teachers in Gui'an County, along with Tan Ximin (譚希閔), Chen Yongming's successor as prefecture governor of Huzhou, were executed by hanging, while their families were exiled to Ningguta (寧古塔; near present-day Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province). The writer Gu Yanwu (1613–1682), who was in Fenyang, Shanxi Province, wrote two poems to describe his grief over the case.
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References
Mote, F. W. (2003). Imperial China: 900-1800. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN0-674-01212-7.
Waley-Cohen, Joanna (2000). "Collective Responsibility in Qing Criminal Law," in Karen G. Turner, James V. Feinerman, and R. Kent Guy (eds.), The Limits of Rule of Law in China, Seattle: University of Washington Press, pp.112–131. ISBN0-295-97907-0.
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