Compiling the Yellow Registers in the Great Ming

Historical setting, palace and household life, workplace, the many facets of society, institutional power struggles, the rise and fall of the Ming, meticulous historical research, a microhistorical perspective, battles of wits and political intrigue, the shifting burdens of taxes and labor, the fate of the land reflected in its rivers and mountains

In the fourteenth year of the Hongwu reign, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established the Yellow Registers system to create an "unchanging institution for all generations." These state archives, centered on household registration and land ownership, were regarded as the foundation of the Ming dynasty. They were stored in the imperial archives on Nanjing's Xuanwu Lake, also known as Hou Lake, and carefully guarded by students of the Imperial College. When designing the system, Zhu Yuanzhang devoted himself wholeheartedly to the task. He intended the Yellow Registers, compiled once every ten years, to give him an accurate grasp of the population and wealth throughout the realm, ensure an equitable distribution of taxes and labor, and secure the dynasty for generations to come.