Record of Vice Minister Li's Mission to the North

AnonymousThe Commercial Press · ChinaJun 2024

3.7

Word count: 10K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

In the orthodox jimao year, the Oirat prince Buhua and Grand Preceptor Esen, defying the Way of Heaven, invaded the borderlands, and reports arrived daily. At that time the eunuch Wang Zhen was secretly manipulating state power and requested that the Emperor lead a campaign beyond the northern frontier. Wang Zhi, Minister of Personnel, and all the assembled officials strongly remonstrated, but he did not heed them. On the sixteenth day of the seventh month that autumn, the Emperor in person led the six armies forth to punish the rebels, proceeding straight to Datong. He ordered the Earl of Pingxiang to lead troops into battle against the enemy, but they were defeated and fell back to Xuanfu. On the thirteenth day of the eighth month, while passing Mount Jiming, they encountered the foe; he ordered Zhu Yong, Duke of Chengguo, to engage, but he too was defeated. On the fifteenth day they reached Tumu. Esen's forces surrounded them on all sides; in the great battle the army turned its weapons and trampled one another, while the enemy slaughtered freely and detained the Emperor. On the sixteenth day urgent frontier reports flew in; those who fled back to the capital were all wounded and stripped bare. The capital was seized with terror. The Empress Dowager ordered the Emperor's brother to oversee the realm, installed the Crown Prince, and proclaimed it to the empire. On the sixth day of the ninth month, the present Emperor ascended the throne and bestowed upon the Emperor Emeritus his honorable title.

Editor's review

This book records the full course of the Tumu Crisis of the Ming Zhengtong era from the perspective of an eyewitness, tracing it from the Oirat invasion, Wang Zhen's abuse of power, and Emperor Yingzong's personal campaign to the defeat at Tumu, the Emperor's detention, the shock in the capital, and the accession of the regent—clear in outline and compelling in detail. Its account of the march route, the defeat, and the sudden shifts at court is terse and restrained, yet conveys the panic and shock of the moment. As a collated edition of the original Republican-era Commercial Press printing, it preserves the appearance of an early typeset text and is of first-hand value for studying Ming political and military history and understanding the disastrous decisions of sovereign and ministers in the Zhengtong reign. Readers may read it alongside the relevant annals and biographies in the History of Ming to appreciate the differences between a private record and official dynastic history. It is short, suitable as source-reading practice for beginners in Ming history, and equally suited to close reading by those interested in the details of the defeat and the court's response.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Ming history enthusiasts who want an eyewitness perspective on the Tumu Crisis
University students and teachers studying Ming political and military history
Readers who enjoy ancient historical source notes and care about primary documents
Students of literature and history who need a short source text for close-reading practice

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking popular storytelling and modern vernacular explanation
Readers who want a systematic general history of the Ming rather than fragmentary sources
Readers who have difficulty with classical Chinese sources and traditional-to-simplified character conversion

Reading tips

Read the original text once to grasp the sequence of events, then check it against the "Annals of Yingzong, Former Part" in the History of Ming for similarities and differences.
While reading, mark time points and official titles as you go to clarify the march route and changes at court.
Read alongside a map of the Ming northern frontier to strengthen your understanding of geography and the military situation.
After finishing, write a hundred-character summary retelling the causes and consequences in your own words to test your comprehension.

About the publisher

The Commercial Press China · Founded in 1897

"Republic-era Commercial Press Original Editions" refers to original books printed by The Commercial Press during the Republican period, not a separate publishing house. Judging from the 300 titles held in the collection, its publishing focus centers on classical poetry and lyrics, literary appreciation, classic works, military texts, prose and miscellaneous writings, and Eastern philosophy. Representative titles include Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua, Zhong Rong's Shipin, the lyric collections of Xin Qiji and Liu Yong, Sun Wu's The Art of War, and Lü Buwei's Xianshi Lan. Its author resources are mainly classical writers, together with modern scholars such as Li Jingbang and Guo Huaruo, whose collations and annotations are also represented, giving the list a character centered on original texts while attending to annotation and appreciation. Public information on the precise Republican-era catalog and printings is limited; this overview is based only on the titles held in the collection.

版权信息
李侍郎使北錄

FAQ

Is this book a complete monograph on the Tumu Crisis?

It is a short source record of the events in an eyewitness voice, covering from the Oirat invasion to Emperor Yingzong's detention and the capital's response, focusing on the sequence of events before and after rather than being an exhaustive topical study. Readers may treat it as a first-hand record and supplement the background with other histories.

Can I read this book without any grounding in classical Chinese?

The text is terse but still written in classical Chinese and involves Ming official titles, place names, and military terminology. Readers without classical Chinese grounding are advised to prepare a reference work on Ming history or consult a modern annotated translation, checking as they read; otherwise they may get stuck on names and places.

Is the book's attitude toward Wang Zhen and Emperor Yingzong obvious?

The sources show the book states directly that Wang Zhen abused state power and that the assembled officials remonstrated in vain; the narrative itself carries praise and blame but offers no long disquisition. Readers may note where the account is detailed or sparse and how words are chosen to sense the recorder's stance, then compare with official histories to see how the standards of evaluation differ.

Related on WeRead

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.