Daoism and Ming rulership: on the authenticity of Jiajing's preface to the Scripture of the Three Offices

This article examines Jiajing's (Zhu Houcong 朱厚熜, 1507-67) preface to the Scripture of the Three Offices (Sanguan jing 三 ® 經, hereafter, Scripture). The first section discusses the provenance of Jiajing's preface, and shows that the preface is preserved in the Explanation (Sanguan jing zhujie 三 ® 經註解), an unstudied edition of the Scripture produced in 1876. The second section offers a comparison between the Explanation and Ming editions of the Scripture. Relying on this comparison, the third section examines the role of Jiajing in the text's editorial history. Three aspects of the imperial preface support its authenticity: its description of Jiajing's lost imperial edition; its stance on local religious narratives; and its connection with Jiajing's early scholarly and political concerns. In examining the authenticity of Jiajing's preface, the article discusses the role of Daoist resources in shaping Ming imperial discourses on rulership.