The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty

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.

Author: Shih-Shan Henry Tsai
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 11/16/1995
Pages: 290
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.93lbs
Size: 9.06h x 5.89w x 0.71d
ISBN: 9780791426883

About the Author
Shih-shan Henry Tsai is Professor of History and Chairman of Asian Studies at the University of Arkansas.

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