The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996.
Paperback. 8 1/2" X 5 1/2". xi, 290pp. Very mild shelf wear to covers, corners, and edges of pictorial paper wraps. Llight toning to bottom edge of text block. Pages are clean and unmarked. Binding is sound.
ABOUT THIS BOOK:
This book is the first on Chinese eunuchs in English and presents a comprehensive picture of the role that they played in the Ming dynasty, 1368-1644. Extracted from a wide range of primary and secondary source material, the author provides significant and interesting information about court politics, espionage and internal security, military and foreign affairs, tax and tribute collection, the operation of imperial monopolies, judiciary review, the layout of the palace complex, the Grand Canal, and much more.
The eunuchs are shown to be not just a minor adjunct to a government of civil servants and military officers, but a fully developed third branch of the Ming administration that participated in all of the most essential matters of the dynasty. The veil of condemnation and jealousy imposed on eunuchs by the compilers of official history is pulled away to reveal a richly textured tapestry. Eunuchs are portrayed in a balanced manner that gives due consideration to able and faithful service along with the inept, the lurid, and the iniquitous.(Publisher). Very good. Item #11678
ISBN: 0791426882
Price: $30.00