Since most of us translate primary sources fairly regularly, I’ve decided to make a few things public. None of these are “polished,” per say, but all of them are functional for teaching purposes. This first group of documents, which Maura Dykstra and I worked on together, are intended for teaching students about zhengtong and notions of history. A second set, which I am working on right now, will cover late Ming rebellion and violence.
I should note, that most of these were polished by Maura. Without her notes (usually marked by *), they’d be rather useless.
Feel free to use any of these in teaching. However, these translations are ours, and no sections should be published without our permission.
One final note: There will be errors in these. I’ll edit and re-edit as I use them. These are not translations for anyone to quibble with. If you have a problem with them, edit them for your classes (and add your name under ours). Please don’t fill up my inbox with trivial complaints. Major issues, are of course, welcome to be brought to my attention. If you want to comment, please comment on how you use them in your classes, or, better yet, with names of similar texts you think should make it on to the list.
Set One: Zhengtong and history
Ouyang Xiu, On Zhengtong （正統論）
Shi Jie, On China （中國論）
Zheng Sixiao, Great Discourses on Zhengtong in Ancient and Current Times (古今正统大论)
Fang Xiaoru, (in progress)
Yongzheng emperor, Resolving Confusion with a Discourse on Righteousness 大義覺迷錄