Bamin Tongzhi

Background: From ‘Remote Frontier’ to ‘Cradle of Bureaucrats’ The Ming Dynasty marked a golden era for Fujianese civil officials in the imperial court. According to the Bamin Tongzhi, although Fujian was once considered a ‘remote southeast frontier,’ it had become a ‘Maritime Zou-Lu’ since the Song Dynasty, a place where ‘great scholars emerged one after another.’ With the establishment of the ‘Eight Prefectures’ (Fuzhou, Jianning, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Tingzhou, Yanping, Shaowu, and Xinghua), Fujian funneled a massive number of political elites into the central government. In Putian County alone, the Ming Dynasty produced 181 civil and military Jinshi graduates. This dense output formed an influential ‘Min Clique’ across the Six Ministries and the Hanlin Academy. ...

Background: The Ancestor of Fujianese Literature The Bamin Tongzhi (General Gazetteer of the Eight Min Prefectures) was completed in 1489 (the 2nd year of the Hongzhi Emperor) by the renowned Ming scholar Huang Zhongzhao [1, 2]. Prior to this, although Fujian had local documents such as Minzhong Ji and Sanshan Zhi, most had been lost or were limited to specific regions [2]. During the Ming Dynasty, Fujian governed eight prefectures (Fu): Fuzhou, Jianning, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Tingzhou, Yanping, Shaowu, and Xinghua, hence the name “Bamin” [3]. ...