Traditional Chinese 皇眀祖訓 Hanyu Pinyin IPA [xwǎŋ mǐŋ t͡sù ɕŷn] | Simplified Chinese 皇明祖训 Wade–Giles Huang-Ming-Tsu-Hsün Traditional Chinese 祖訓錄 | |
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The Huáng-Míng Zǔxùn (Instructions of the Ancestor of the August Ming) 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.
The book was divided into thirteen sections:
- Preface (箴戒, Zhēnjiè)
- Personal Austerity (持守, Chíshǒu)
- Ritual Observance (嚴祭祀, Yán Jìsì)
- Coronations (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)
- The Inner Offices (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. 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.