Some Rarely Used Chinese Materials for the Study of the Yi Dynasty

Materials abound on the Korean Yi dynasty. In addition to the vast store of official documents and private libraries in the Republic of Korea, collections in Japan, America, and Europe also offer a wealth of information. Chinese sources are especially fruitful, as the Yi dynasty roughly paralleled the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties of China. Scholars in the field have long recognized that the Ming and Ch'ing Shih-lu [Veritable records], the Hui-tien [Precedents of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties], and the tremendous assortment of Ming and Ch'ing manuscripts and private works are indispensable in researching the Yi dynasty. In this research note, I wish to highlight a number of Chinese sources which hitherto had been ignored or misunderstood but which yield considerable information and insight into the Yi dynasty.