126。 1   
遼 于 金， 皆 稱 帝。
liáo yú jīn jiē chēng dì
(Liao with Jin, all call emperor)

There were two Tartar dynasties, the Liao and the Jin,2 . . . TL

126a。元    滅    金﹐    絕    宋    世
          
yuán miè jīn jué sòng shì
(Yuan extinguished Jin, finished Song era)

. . . then the Yuan (Mongols)3 wiped out the Jin and thus finished the Song era. TL

126b。
例 中 國﹐ 兼 戎 狄
lì zhōng guó jiān róng dí
(govern middle kingdom, double weapon barbarians)

They governed the Middle Kingdom and the barbarians to the north and east, . . .

126c。
九 十 年﹐ 國 祚 廢
jiǔ shí nián guó zù fèi
(nine ten years, state prosperity used up)

. . . but after 90 years, their rule ended.

127。    
太 祖 興， 國 大 明。
tài zǔ xìng guó dà míng
(Tai Zu rose, state great bright)

A new founder arose and set up the dynasty known as the Da Ming. TL

128。    
號 洪 武， 都 金 陵。
hào hóng wǔ dōu jīn líng
(name Hong Wu capital Jin Ling)

He took the name Hong Wu and made Jinling (Nanjing) his capital, . . . 

129。    
迨 成 祖， 遷 燕 京。
dài chéng zǔ qiān yàn jīng
(until Cheng Zu move Yan Jing))

. . . where it remained until Emperor Cheng Zu moved it to Yanjing (Beijing).

130。    
十 六 世， 至 崇 禎。
shí liù shì zhì chóng zhēn
(six ten generations until Chong Zhen)

The dynasty lasted in through seventeen generation; the last was Chong Zhen.

130a。4
權 閹 肆﹐ 寇 如 林。
quán yān sì kòu rú lín
(power eunuchs unbridled, bandits like forest)

By his time, the power of the eunuchs was unchecked and bandits were as common as trees in a forest.

130b。
李 闖 出﹐ 神 器 毀。
lǐ chuǎng chū shén qì huǐ
(Li Chuang arrived, divine implements destroyed)

Then the rebel Li Chuang arose and the palace was looted and burned; . .
.

130c。
清 太 阻﹐ 膺 景 命。
qīng tài zǔ yīng jǐng mìng
(Qing Tai Zu, received situation destiny)

. . . the founder of the Qing dynasty received destiny's summons . . .  TL

130d。
靖 四 方﹐ 克 大 定。
jìng sì fāng kè dà dìng
(peace four directions, achieved great stability)

. . . and established peace and stability in every direction.5

131 - 136 are omitted; they refer to the decline of the Qing dynasty and the formation of the Republic of China.

Previous Home This is the last of the dynastic histories section.




















1  Starting with line 126, strange things happen in the Internet text. According to Giles (p. 162), line 126 is the first of some continuation lines meant to bring the history up to date. The next three lines of his update are missing from the computer version (and included here as lines 126a-c); lines 127-130 are from the update. Then, completely original lines appear in the Internet version. Line 130 refers to the end of the Ming dynasty in 1628

2 The third, or perhaps fourth, dynasty with the name Jin. Confusingly, some refer to the Qing dynasty as the Later Jin, since it was founded in Manchuria by the same tribe of Tartars.

3 Under the leadership of Genghis Khan's son.

4 The bridging lines 130a-d, come from Phen. These four lines correspond to those given by Giles; some of the triplets are identical in the two accounts but the meanings, in the cases where there are differences, are essentially identical.

5 In reality, the situation is more complicated that it appears in the text. The Qing dynasty was founded by Tai Zu while the Ming empire was still functioning. The complete surpression of the Ming was achieved by his descendants about 20 years after Tai Zu's death. In fact, he probably should not count as a Chinese emperor.