Huang-Ming Zuxun
The Huang-Ming Zuxun (Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Emperor) were admonitions left by the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Chinese Ming dynasty, to his descendants. The text was composed in 1373 under the title Record of the Ancestor's Instructions; this was changed to Huang Ming Zu Xun during the publication of the 1395 edition.
| Huang-Ming Zuxun | |||||||||||
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| Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Emperor | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 皇眀祖訓 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 皇明祖训 | ||||||||||
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| Record of the Ancestor's Instructions | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 祖訓錄 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 祖训录 | ||||||||||
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The book was divided into thirteen sections:
- Preface (箴戒, Zhēnjiè)
- Harem (持守, Chíshǒu)
- Ritual Observance (嚴祭祀, Yán Jìsì)
- Risk management (謹岀入, Jǐn Chūrù)
- National Policy (慎國政, Shèn Guózhèng)
- Protocol (禮儀, Lǐyí)
- Legislation (法律, Fǎlǜ)
- The Inner Chambers (內令, Nèilìng)
- Eunuch (內官, Nèiguān)
- Administration (職制, Zhízhì)
- Guards (兵衛, Bīngwèi)
- Public Works (營繕, Yíngshàn)
- Public Funds (供用, Gōngyòng)
The Preface, composed by Zhu Yuanzhang himself, admonishes his descendants to exert a strict legalist government (legalism being a Chinese school of thought). The work pins the survival on the dynasty principally upon personal austerity and watchfulness both over practical administration of the empire, the niceties of ritual and etiquette on various occasions, and various potential traitors including their relatives, spouses, and officials both military and civil.