An innovative look at how families in Ming dynasty China negotiated
military and political obligations to the state How did ordinary
people in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) deal with the demands of the
state? In The Art of Being Governed, Michael Szonyi explores the
myriad ways that families fulfilled their obligations to provide a
soldier to the army. The complex strategies they developed to manage
their responsibilities suggest a new interpretation of an important
period in China’s history as well as a broader theory of politics.
Using previously untapped sources, including lineage genealogies and
internal family documents, Szonyi examines how soldiers and their
families living on China’s southeast coast minimized the costs and
maximized the benefits of meeting government demands for manpower.
Families that had to provide a soldier for the army set up elaborate
rules to ensure their obligation was fulfilled, and to provide
incentives for the soldier not to desert his post. People in the
system found ways to gain advantages for themselves and their
families. For example, naval officers used the military’s protection
to engage in the very piracy and smuggling they were supposed to
suppress. Szonyi demonstrates through firsthand accounts how subjects
of the Ming state operated in a space between defiance and compliance,
and how paying attention to this middle ground can help us better
understand not only Ming China but also other periods and places.
Combining traditional scholarship with innovative fieldwork in the
villages where descendants of Ming subjects still live, The Art of
Being Governed illustrates the ways that arrangements between
communities and the state hundreds of years ago have consequences and
relevance for how we look at diverse cultures and societies, even
today.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781400888887
Publisert
2017
Utgiver
Vendor
Princeton University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter