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Four Seasons - A Ming Emperor and His Grand Secretaries in Sixteenth-Century China (Paperback)
Loot Price: R1,133
Discovery Miles 11 330
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Four Seasons - A Ming Emperor and His Grand Secretaries in Sixteenth-Century China (Paperback)
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Total price: R1,153
Discovery Miles: 11 530
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This important contribution to imperial Chinese history illuminates
the basic concerns of the Ming state. Eminent scholar John W.
Dardess shows in fascinating detail how Emperor Jiajing and his
grand secretaries managed affairs of state and how personal
ambition and policy differences combined to animate imperial
political life. At the top sat Jiajing, industrious, religious,
knowledgeable, ritually pious, but short-tempered and cruel. His
chief assistants during his forty-six-year reign were his four
successive grand secretaries. First was Zhang Fujing, a hard-minded
bureaucratic fighter and ideologue, life coach to Jiajing during
his youth. Then came Xia Yan, a superb technocrat who was executed
for his part in a major policy dispute. He was followed by Yan
Song, a colossally corrupt machine politician who knew how to
please his ruler. Finally was Xu Jie, a liberal-minded reformer who
put a benign edge on the regime's final years. Drawing on a
treasure trove of the grand secretaries' personal writings, his
narrative brings to life the inner workings of imperial governance,
providing detailed descriptions of the challenging problems and
crises faced by the largest polity on the face of the earth. Richly
researched and engagingly written, this book will be essential
reading for scholars and students of Ming China.
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