Zhongjielu 忠節錄

Zhongjielu 忠節錄 is a collection of personalities of "loyal conduct" during the foundation of the Ming dynasty 明 (1368-1644) written by Zhang Chaorui 張朝瑞 (jinshe degree 1568), courtesy name Zizhen 子禎, from Haizhou 海州 close to Lianyungang 連雲港, Jiangsu. His highest office was Chief Minister of the Court for Dependencies (honglusi qing 鴻臚寺卿).

His book of 6 juan length is based on earlier collections like Song Duanyi's 宋端儀 (1447-1501) Gechulu 革除錄 and Lang Ying's 郎瑛 (1487-1566) Cuizhongji 萃忠集, and many others. Zhang tried to assemble these biographies and to critically compare the various versions of them. His book brings together the biographies of 163 persons, with an appendix of further 16 individuals. The arrangement follows the ranks of office these persons occupied. The last fascicle includes critical remarks and collations. However, Zhang missed to consult some additional sources like Gao Bi's 高璧 (1484-1548) Youguanglu 幽光錄, Lu Shizhong's 陸時中 (juren degree 1522) Jianwen yishi 建文逸史, Jiang Qing's 姜淸 (b. 1483) Jiangshi mishi 姜氏秘史, Wang Hui's 王會 Yeshi 野史 or Yuan Geng's 袁褧 (1495-1573) Fengtian xingshang lu 奉天刑賞錄, and his book is therefore not an ideal reference work.