Libu zhi gao 禮部志稿

Libu zhi gao 禮部志稿 "Draft to an official treatise on the Ministry of Rites" is an outline of an official institutional codex for the Ministry of Rites (libu 禮部). It was compiled on imperial order during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) and submitted to the throne in 1620. The 110-juan long book was compiled under the supervision of Lin Yaoyu 林堯俞 (1558-1626), but according to the bibliographic treatise in the official dynastic history Mingshi 明史 the real compiler must have been Yu Ruji 俞汝楫 xxx, who had authored a book called Liyi zhi 禮儀志 (also called Libu zhi shu 禮部志書) with a length of 100 juan.

The book describes the administrative system of the Ministry of Rites, the various offices and their respective duties. The first part (1-6) includes imperial edicts of the whole Ming period concerned with ritual matters, juan 7 gives an overview of the offices. The next part describes the various offices and their functions in detail. These are followed by a table listing the highest officials from the foundation of the Ming dynasty and memorials to the throne concerning state rituals. Fascicles 56-63 include biographies of ministers, and the rest of the book is concerned with rules and regulations for the various departments of the Ministry.

The Libu zhi gao is not only important for its insight into this very crucial central government institution but also because it provides historical information not included in official histories like the "Veritable Records" of the Ming, the Mingshilu 明實錄 or the treatises on ritual matters (Li zhi 禮志) and ritual music (Yue zhi 樂志) in the history Mingshi, or the official statecraft encyclopaedia Ming huiyao 明會典. Some information can not even be found in the state ritual collection Ming jili 明集禮.

Because the Ministry of Rites was responsible for the tributes presented by foreign countries, there is also some information to be found not provided in the geography Xingcha shenglan 星槎勝覽.

The Libu zhi gao is included in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.