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The Art of Being Governed: Everyday Politics in Late Imperial China

Online ISBN:
9781400888887
Print ISBN:
9780691197241
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
Book

The Art of Being Governed: Everyday Politics in Late Imperial China

Michael Szonyi
Michael Szonyi
Harvard University
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Published online:
21 May 2020
Published in print:
27 August 2019
Online ISBN:
9781400888887
Print ISBN:
9780691197241
Publisher:
Princeton University Press

Abstract

How did ordinary people in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) deal with the demands of the state? This book 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. The book 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. The book demonstrates 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. The book 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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