In Chinese history, during the succession of dynasties, many historical records may have been tampered with, deleted, or even destroyed for political purposes such as consolidating the new regime, legitimizing rule, and discrediting the previous dynasty. The following are some typical examples and types of records that may have been tampered with: 1. **Official historical compilation**: - **Shiji and Hanshu**: Although Sima Qian's Shiji tried his best to remain objective, when compiling Hanshu during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, it may have been influenced by the official stance and strengthened the negative evaluation of the previous dynasty, especially the Qin Dynasty, in order to highlight the orthodoxy and superiority of the Han Dynasty. - **The Twenty-Four Histories System**: Each dynasty has its own official history book. When compiling history, the new rulers tend to highlight their own legitimacy and achievements, while downplaying or even discrediting the rule of the previous dynasty, and tampering with or omitting facts that are unfavorable to the new regime. 2. **Selective reporting of event records**: - **Causes of dynasty change**: During many dynasty changes, the specific causes and processes of events such as riots, peasant uprisings, and palace coups were often reinterpreted by the new dynasty. For example, when the Yuan Dynasty fell, the Ming Dynasty described it as "a tyranny leading to civil unrest" in historical records to prove the good governance of the Ming Dynasty. - **Deification or devaluation of heroes**: The new dynasty often deifies important figures of its own dynasty, such as the wise and great deeds of the founding emperor, while devaluing important figures of the previous dynasty, describing them as foolish and tyrannical, in order to establish the moral high ground of the new dynasty. 3. **Destruction of texts and archives**: - **Burning books and burying scholars**: After Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, in order to unify thoughts, he carried out a large-scale burning of books and burying scholars, destroying a large number of classics of the previous dynasty and other schools. Although there is real evidence for this incident, its interpretation by later generations sometimes contains tampering and exaggeration. - **Seizure of property and destruction of archives**: The new dynasty often liquidated officials of the previous dynasty, even searched their homes, and destroyed relevant archives to cut off ties with the previous dynasty and cover up the truth of its change of rule. 4. **Modification of religious and cultural records**: - **Adjustment of religious beliefs**: The new dynasty may discredit or modify the religious beliefs of the previous dynasty to strengthen its own religious legitimacy. For example, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it criticized the Yuan Dynasty's Buddhist policies and emphasized the revival of Confucianism. - **Reconstruction of cultural traditions**: The new dynasty may reconstruct or redefine certain cultural traditions to suit its own political needs, diluting or erasing cultural elements related to the previous dynasty. 5. **Adaptation of local chronicles and folk tales**: - **Revision of local chronicles**: When compiling local chronicles, the new dynasty may reinterpret historical events and figures, omit information that is unfavorable to the new regime, or even fabricate some content to serve political propaganda. - **Evolution of folk tales**: With the change of rulers, folk legends and stories will also be affected, and the original storylines may be adapted to reflect the new political reality, such as turning the heroes of the previous dynasty into villains. **Specific examples**: - **Ming Dynasty replaces Yuan Dynasty**: After its establishment, the Ming Dynasty systematically criticized the Yuan Dynasty, emphasizing the tyranny and bureaucratic corruption of the Yuan Dynasty to justify its actions to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty. In this process, many records about the Yuan Dynasty were recompiled to highlight its negative image. - **Relationship between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty**: After the Qing Dynasty entered the Shanhai Pass, it downplayed or reinterpreted the reasons for the fall of the former Ming Dynasty to varying degrees in order to consolidate its own rule. For example, in the records of peasant uprisings in the late Ming Dynasty, the official history books of the Qing Dynasty may emphasize more on the chaos and destruction of the uprisings, and reduce the positive evaluation of the Ming Dynasty system. - **Historical revision during the Cultural Revolution**: Although it does not belong to the traditional dynasty change, during the Cultural Revolution, many events and figures in Chinese history were reinterpreted and evaluated, and many historical records were modified to meet the political needs of the time. In summary, during the process of dynasty change, various documentary materials such as official historical records, event reports, cultural and religious records, and local chronicles may be tampered with, deleted, or reinterpreted due to the political needs of the new regime. This phenomenon exists not only in China, but also in the historical process of countries around the world.