History of the Yuan

1. Read the publisher's note and contents first to understand the distribution of annals, treatises, tables and biographies, then choose an entry point by interest.
2. Read first the annals of key emperors and treatises such as geography and officials to build a basic framework of Yuan institutions and territory.
3. Read alongside the Secret History of the Mongols, Yuan collected writings or modern Yuan studies to make up for the hasty compilation's omissions.
4. Use the book as a source treasury: consult specific figures or events through the contents and indexes rather than trying to read it all.

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.