This collection of essays reveals the Ming court as an arena of
competition and negotiation, where a large cast of actors pursued
individual and corporate ends, personal agency shaped protocol and
style, and diverse people, goods, and tastes converged. Rather than
observing an immutable set of traditions, court culture underwent
frequent reinterpretation and rearticulation, processes driven by
immediate personal imperatives, mediated through social, political,
and cultural interaction.
The essays address several common themes. First, they rethink
previous notions of imperial isolation, instead stressing the
court's myriad ties both to local Beijing society and to the empire
as a whole. Second, the court was far from monolithic or static.
Palace women, monks, craftsmen, educators, moralists, warriors,
eunuchs, foreign envoys, and others strove to advance their
interests and forge advantageous relations with the emperor and one
another. Finally, these case studies illustrate the importance of
individual agency. The founder's legacy may have formed the warp of
court practices and tastes, but the weft varied considerably.
Reflecting the complexity of the court, the essays represent a
variety of perspectives and disciplines--from intellectual,
cultural, military, and political to art history and
musicology.
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