The art of being governed : everyday politics in late imperial China / Michael Szonyi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Szonyi, Michael, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

China--Politics and government--1368-1644.

China.

Politics and government.

China--History, Military--960-1644.

History, Military.

China--History--Ming dynasty, 1368-1644.

History.

Genre:

History.

Military history.

Physical Description:

xv, 303 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2017]

Summary:

An innovative look at how families in Ming dynasty China negotiated military and political obligations to the stateHow 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.

Contents:

Part I In the Village

Chapter 1 A Younger Brother Inherits a Windfall: Conscription, Military Service, and Family Strategies 25

Chapter 2 A Family Reunion Silences a Bully: New Social Relations between Soldiers and Their Kin 64

Part II In the Guard

Chapter 3 An Officer in Cahoots with Pirates: Coastal Garrisons and Maritime Smuggling 83

Chapter 4 An Officer Founds a School: New Social Relations in the Guards 109

Part III In the Military Colony

Chapter 5 A Soldier Curses a Clerk: Regulatory Arbitrage Strategies in the Military Colonies 131

Chapter 6 A Temple with Two Gods: Managing Social Relations between Soldier-Farmers and Local Civilians 159

Part IV After the Ming

Chapter 7 A God Becomes an Ancestor: Post-Ming Legacies of the Military System 191.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780691174518

0691174512

OCLC:

983796124