The Court Diaries were the only official record that was compiled continually throughout the dynasty. We have already seen that they were written by the court diarists, the Ch'i-chü lang and Ch'i-chü she-jen who were part of the emperor's regular retinue. They kept a full record of what went on at the formal court assemblies.

The Ch'i-chü lang are responsible for recording the models provided by the emperor's acts, to fulfill the functions of the Recorder in charge of noting events. The system for recording events is that events shall be arranged by the day, the days organized into months, the months by the seasons, the seasons by the year. They must record the cyclical day for the first days of the month, so as to place in correct order the calendrical succession. They must record the canons and rituals, the words and objects employed, so as to scrutinize institutions, to record promotions, marks of distinction and rewards to encourage the good, and punishments and degradations to give warning to the evil. At the end of each quarter, their record is to be sent for use in the National History Each quarter [their record] is to be made into a scroll and sent to the Historiographical Office.

The Ch'i-chü she-jen is responsible for compiling and recording a historical account of the Emperor's utterances.