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Pingwolu 平倭錄

Jun 11, 2019 © Ulrich Theobald

Pingwolu 平倭錄 "The defeat of the pirates" is a history book written by an anonymous author from the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644). The short book is an account on Ren Huan's 任環 (1519-1558) fight in the East China Sea. At that time, the pirates invaded the coasts of Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. Ren, prefect of Suzhou 蘇州, decided in 1553 to take action. For his success in the war against the pirates, Ren was made vice administration commissioner (buzhengsi canzheng 布政司參政) of Shandong and posthumously awarded the title of Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments (guanglu qing 光祿卿).

The text is enriched by several appendixes, one being a memorial (Qi gui zhong zhi shu 乞歸終制疏), an imperial tomb laudation, a note by Ren Huan's grandson, a collection of some poems and other writings by Ren Huan called Shanhai mantan 山海漫談, and poems written by other persons. The character of the book is therefore quite heterogeneous and does not correspond to high literary standards.

The book was reprinted during the Wanli reign-period 萬曆 (1573-1619) by Weng Xianxiang 翁憲祥 and Shi Jiren 史吉人.

Source:
Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要, 53.