Shortly after the compilation of the Ming-shih was completed in August 1739, Emperor Ch'ien-lung decreed an edict to compile a "mirror of history" for the Ming Dynasty. The "mirror of history" to be written in the kang-mu style, was compiled with a view to complementing the Ming-shih which was presented in the chi-ch'uan style. The Emperor took an active role in the compilation and with much enthusiasm. Not only did he engage in setting out the outline and scope of the contents, he also required his court historians to show him drafts once every two or three chuan were finished for his comments and amendments. This practice allowed him to closely monitor the progress of the compilation and ensure that the contents of the work were presented to his satisfaction. During the compilation, the various drafts bore different titles. The final product entitled Yu-chuan Tzu-chih t'ung-chien kang-mu san-pien (hereafter San-pien) was a work of twenty chuan and was printed in 1746. The Emperor was at first very satisfied with the San-pien. His court historian Chang Ting-yu even called it the best imperial historical writing produced in China. However, some thirty years later in June 1775, the Emperor ordered that the San-pien be revised. The main objective of this revision exercise was to unify the views and interpretations of the Ming history, and to unify the terminological differences of the San-pien with those other new historical works published under his auspice. Since there were too many official compilation projects launched at the same time, the Emperor did not pay as much attention to the revision of the San-pien. Only after May 1777 was the progress of the revision on track. The revision was finished in early 1782. The San-pien then became a work of forty chuan under the same title, but it took a few years before it was finally published. When the revised version of the San-pien was included in the Ssu-k'u ch'uan-shu, the title was amended to Yu-ting Tzu-chih t'ung-chien kang-mu san-pien.