The Southern Account of the Ming Dynasty's Final Years is an important historical chronicle in sixteen volumes, written by Ji Liuqi, an early Qing historian whose courtesy name was Yongbin and whose literary names included Tianjiezi and Jiufeng Jushi. It mainly records the history of the Southern Ming regime and Zheng Chenggong's resistance against the Qing in an effort to restore the Ming. It covers major events from the fifth month of the first year of the Shunzhi reign (1644) through the second month of the fourth year of the Kangxi reign (1665), and is an important primary source for studying southern politics during the Ming-Qing transition.
The work uses a chronological format and seeks to recount the rise and fall of the Southern Ming regime, local resistance against the Qing, and the military and political deeds of figures such as Zheng Chenggong, drawing on firsthand accounts witnessed or collected by the author. Ji Liuqi's sources were exceptionally broad. He quoted extensively from unofficial histories, archives, rumors, memorials, and local gazetteers, giving the work both the documentary quality of an official history and the readability of a popular narrative.
Reading The Southern Account of the Ming Dynasty's Final Years is like witnessing the southern battlefields and tragic songs of loyalty in this turbulent era of Chinese history firsthand: from the establishment of the Prince of Fu's regime and the rise and fall of rebel forces across the country, to Zheng Chenggong's organization of resistance against the Qing and defense of Jiangnan, and finally the Southern Ming's decline and the continuation of its resistance. The book offers historians firsthand accounts for understanding the political, military, and social changes of the Southern Ming regime. It also lets ordinary readers see how individual lives and the fate of the nation became entangled at this turning point in history, making it an indispensable classic source for studying the situation in southern China during the late Ming.
