Translations and Annotations of Records of Official Admonition (Jingxinlu)

Records of Official Admonition for Ministers (Renchen Jingxinlu), for short Records of Official Admonition (Jingxinlu), is a book on official admonition written by Wang Yongji in the early Qing Dynasty.Jingxin means to be alert to one's own thoughts, in other words, to have a sense of self-discipline.As Summary of Records of Official Admonition for Ministers, a Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature (Siku Quanshu), indicates that:&quote;As courtiers Tan Tai and Shi Han and Grand Secretariat Chen Mingxia have been executed due to being self-conceited and insolent on account of their abilities, deducing the evil deeds of treacherous courtiers in ancient times for admonishing their courtiers so that they can all know and learn from it.&quote; This book is composed of eight aspects: party-building, fame seeking, seeking private gain, benefiting from profit, arrogance, falsification, affiliation and incompetence, which roughly summarize the main aspects of the maladies in ancient official circles.Xiu Xiaobo, a translator with a history background, has worked for a long time in the research office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.On the basis of proofreading the original text, he annotated and translated this book, trying to make it serve as a warning and reference for the present people, especially the politicians.