Ming Dynasty under the microscope

★ Ma Boyong's brand-new historical documentary, a Ming Dynasty history book worth collecting★ Six little-known Ming Dynasty archives, six long-forgotten stories of people's livelihood★ A vivid handbook for grassroots governance, understanding the true ancient China in detail★ This book is eloquently told, with meticulous writing. Readers can also weave a complex picture of the Ming Empire from detail to detail. - Zhang Hongjie
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This book tells the story of six grassroots political events in the Ming Dynasty hidden deep in the pile of old papers.
The author unearths these long-forgotten stories from a series of rare Ming dynasty civil archives. These archives are a unique wonder in Chinese history, focusing on the political lives of ordinary people in remarkable detail. Here, we witness the simple aspirations of ordinary people, the cunning wisdom of the people, the dirty tactics of clerks, and the subtle balances of power within the officialdom. Countless authentic details reveal a remarkably vivid picture of the political ecology.
These six events focus on a single prefecture, county, or even a single village, chronicling the real political lives of the lowest classes of people: how they rise up in anger to protest unfair taxation; how they initiate lawsuits when their family rights are infringed; how they negotiate with the government when political and commercial interests conflict; and how they profit from falsified household registration records when the imperial court demands them to do so.
"The Scholar Must Die: The Story of the Huizhou Silk Case": During the Wanli reign, an unfair tax policy triggered protracted chaos in Huizhou Prefecture. This situation became a political game involving numerous interest groups, including the rioters, county officials, the prefectural government, the Ministry of Revenue, the Prime Minister, and the Emperor.
"The Choice between Pen and Ash - The Battle to Defend the Dragon Vein of Wuyuan": An economic dispute that lasted for 64 years in Wuyuan County reflects how a county-level official balances the interests of a county on major issues.
"Who Moved My Ancestral Temple? - The Legal Storm of Yangganyuan" tells the story of a dispute over private temple property in She County. Both parties in this eight-year-long lawsuit showcased their strengths and ingenuity, staging a remarkable legal drama of the Jiajing reign.
"Transparency Under Heaven: The Past and Present of the First Ming Dynasty Archives" chronicles the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty Huangce Library, a relatively unknown institution nestled in Houhu Lake (Xuanwu Lake). This book explores the gradual collapse of grassroots governance during the Ming Dynasty.
"A Feast for Clerks: The Case of Petty Official Fraud in Peng County": A lawsuit so small it couldn't be any smaller attracted the bites of countless greedy mosquitoes. The evil of the clerks is vividly portrayed.
"Four Righteous Souls during the Zhengtong Period": How four innocent civilians were dragged into the court struggle.
The author strives to use a calm, restrained, zero-degree narrative to write about the humble, those who were born in obscurity and died in obscurity, conveying their voices lost in the grandeur of history. To understand the Ming Dynasty, to comprehend ancient Chinese politics, one must not only focus on the court but also hear the cries of the grassroots. It is in the experiences of ordinary people that the truest laws lie.

2019-01-01

湖南文艺出版社

Bo Ji Tian Juan

344

9787540488475