The Court Diary and Record of administrative Affairs dealt in considerable detail with the public acts of the emperor and of his administration. But there is nothing in the official histories to suggest that any formal record was kept of his personal life and activities in the palace.2 Such a record would have been of move than minor importance, because the ruler spent the greater part of his time in the comparative privacy of his own quarters in the palace, where many important decisions were made on the basis of personal contacts with the imperial entourage.

A short work by the ninth-century writer Li Chün entitled Sungch'uang tsa-lu gives, however, rather circumstantial details of how such a record came to be compiled during the reign of Hsüan-tsung: After Hsuan-tsung had for the second time pacified internal troubles in the Hsien-t'ien period [712–13], …he paid especial attention to the Court Diaries Ch'i-chü chu. During the Hsien-t'ien and K'ai-yuan periods [712–741], Confucian scholars of broad erudition or pure and upright officials were always selected to fill [the posts of diarist]. If there was someone who could perfectly perform these duties, then even after ten or more years he would still wield his brush “by the dragon's head,” clinging to [his duty] and not wishing to be discharged from it, so that although he might be promoted to be Principal Secretary of an important bureau, he would nevertheless continue concurrently to hold his post as diarist.