MARC record from Internet Archive

LEADER: 03588cam 2200373 i 4500
001 9925380007701661
005 20190311094606.0
008 170410s2017 njuab b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2017014806
020 $a9780691174518$qhardcover$qalkaline paper
020 $a0691174512$qhardcover$qalkaline paper
035 $a99979532916
035 $a(OCoLC)983796124
035 $a(OCoLC)ocn983796124
040 $aDLC$beng$erda$cDLC$dBTCTA$dYDX$dOCLCO$dOCLCF$dERASA$dYDX$dOBE
042 $apcc
043 $aa-cc---
050 00 $aDS753.2$b.S96 2017
082 00 $a951/.026$223
100 1 $aSzonyi, Michael,$eauthor.
245 14 $aThe art of being governed :$beveryday politics in late imperial China /$cMichael Szonyi.
264 1 $aPrinceton, New Jersey :$bPrinceton University Press,$c[2017]
300 $axv, 303 pages :$billustrations, maps ;$c24 cm.
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$bnc$2rdacarrier
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 245-290) and index.
505 0 $aIntroduction. A Father Loses Three Sons to the Army : Everyday Politics in Ming China -- Part I. In the Village. A Younger Brother Inherits a Windfall : Conscription, Military Service, and Family Strategies -- A Family Reunion Silences a Bully : New Social Relations between Soldiers and Their Kin -- Part II. In the Guard. An Officer in Cahoots with Pirates : Coastal Garrisons and Maritime Smuggling -- An Officer Founds a School : New Social Relations in the Guards -- Part III. In the Military Colony. A Soldier Curses a Clerk : Regulatory Arbitrage Strategies in the Military Colonies -- A Temple with Two Gods : Managing Social Relations between Soldier-Farmers and Local Civilians -- Part IV. After the Ming. A God Becomes an Ancestor : Post-Ming Legacies of the Military System -- Conclusion.
520 8 $aAn innovative look at how families in Ming dynasty China negotiated military and political obligations to the state. How 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.
651 0 $aChina$xPolitics and government$y1368-1644.
651 0 $aChina$xHistory, Military$y960-1644.
651 0 $aChina$xHistory$yMing dynasty, 1368-1644.
947 $hCIRCSTACKS$r31786103130404
980 $a99979532916