Veritable Records of the Qing Shizu Emperor: Kangxi

The Veritable Records of the Holy Ancestor, Emperor Ren of the Qing was a chronological history compiled by court diarists during the Qing dynasty. It primarily records Emperor Kangxi's words, deeds, government affairs, and major political events during his reign, from the eighteenth year of Shunzhi to the sixty-first year of Kangxi. The Kangxi court promoted the policy of “honoring antiquity and esteeming literary culture,” printing books on a large scale through institutions such as the Wuying Hall Publishing Office and restoring the court diary system. These measures laid the institutional foundations for compiling the Veritable Records. The book covers historical events such as the suppression of the Three Feudatories and the compilation of the Kangxi Dictionary. Some of its records were cited in the Strategy for the Emperor's Personal Campaign in the Northern Desert as official historical sources. The Veritable Records also includes Emperor Kangxi's criticisms of officials, reflecting the complexity of political struggles in the early Qing dynasty.