Yang Yifan, Textual Research on Zelis in Ming Dynasty, Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, December 2023

As an important form of legislation in Ming Dynasty, zelis (rules and precedents) were mainly used to express the standards and operating rules in the field of economic and financial administration. Due to different natural conditions in different regions and the absence of a unified economic code in the Ming Dynasty, zelis were used by the government to adjust ever-changing social and economic relations in a timely manner, thereby playing an important role in guaranteeing the fiscal revenue of the imperial court and the normal operation of the state machinery. 

This book is the first academic work to comprehensively reveal the features of zelis in Ming Dynasty and demonstrate their origin, categories, contents, development and changes and functions by combining the methods of compilation and editing of scattered documents and manuscripts and textual research. In addition to "preface" and "conclusion", the book consists of five parts: part I: textual research on the evolution of zelis in Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties, Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty; part II: the establishment of the legal system of dianlis (codes and precedents) and the function of zelis in Ming Dynasty; part III: textual research on scattered zelis in Ming Dynasty; part IV: generic textual research on zelis in Ming Dynasty; and part V: the compilation and editing of scattered documents and manuscripts on zelis in Ming Dynasty.