黄仁宇致力于明史研究。1964年他在美国密西根大学获得博士学位,其博士论文题目即是“明代的漕运”。1974年,他历时七年完成的学术专著《十六世纪明代中国之财政与税收》由英国剑桥大学出版社出版。七十年代末,他又完成了《万历十五年》一书的写作。同时,他还参加了《明代名人传》(Dictionary of Ming Biography)研究计划, Huang Renyu committed to the history of Ming Dynasty. In 1964 he received a doctorate degree from the University of Michigan, his doctoral thesis entitled “The Ming Dynasty’s water transport.” In 1974, he completed the academic monograph for seven years, “Fourteenth Century Ming Dynasty China’s Finance and Taxation” published by the University of Cambridge press. In the late seventies, he completed the writing of Wanli fifteen years. At the same time, he participated in the “Dictionary of Ming Biography” research project,