The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty (Chinese Local Studies

by Shih-Shan Henry Tsai

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.

Genres: China, History

290 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

SHIH-SHAN HENRY TSAI is professor of history and director of Asian studies at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of four books, including Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.

(from https://www.washington.edu/uwpress/se...)

Reviews

[DW Rowlands · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fundamentally, this is a history of the role of eunuch-bureaucrats in the Ming state, with the thesis that---contrary to the official histories of the period, which were largely written by their political rivals, the literati-bureaucrats---these bureaucrats largely played a positive role in the functioning of the state.

While my interest in Ming Dynasty eunuch-bureaucrats is largely from a gender studies perspective, I felt that this was a useful book because of Shih-Shan Henry Tsai's effort to break down the still-common myth that eunuchs were inherently venial and cruel because of their hormonal condition. He notes that even literati-bureaucrat commentators acknowledged that their behavior and personalities were not fundamentally different from those of other courtiers, despite their physical differences.

It was also interesting, though a bit horrifying, to realize just how severe the churn of court intrigue was: it seems that almost no one who served the Ming emperors in a high-ranking capacity managed to have a long life that didn't end in exile or execution, more often because of political infighting than actual serious crimes or incompetence.

[suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What kind of society would have eunuch? I was curious so went and found this book. I learned that some eunuchs carried their former parts in a jar to prove they were who they were and that some eunuch from Vietnam designed the forbidden city of Beijing. Spellbinding!

[Sean Cavanaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really dry, but definitely an interesting starting point for studying the Ming dynasty.

I became interested in this topic because King Hu movies always feature an evil Ming eunuch (and many HK films feature eunuch villains, more broadly) and it seemed like an odd enough detail to pick apart as I started exploring the history of China in this era.

This book does a great job contextualizing the role of eunuchs in Ming government and situating their bum rap within the historiography of scholar officials and their motivated depictions of their rivals.

Probably wouldnt recommend unless you want to read someone’s monograph, and it wasn’t always a blast, but I did learn a lot about an interesting topic and look forward to diving deeper into this period.

[Pj Mensel · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting book about an unusual subject. Debunks many things I ve read about EVIL Eunuchs leading to the end of the Ming Dynasty What is interesting is that back then there was a whole class of human beings who had a very specific role in a highly civilized society who could rwach the highest level of power. For those interested in Ming history this is pretty good.

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A follow-up read from '자금성의 노을'- which mentioned how Chosen dynasty in Korea used to send eunuchs to the Ming as tributes.

Chinese eunuchs have notorious reputation for pushing many dynasty towards its decline. The author clearly states that the main hope/goal of the book is to give a fair description of eunuchs employed under the Ming dynasty.

Many of Korean dynasties had eunuchs as palace workers. My understanding is that they employed eunuchs, so the King would be the only male with reproductive ability within the bound of palace. However, it's interesting to note that the extend of eunuchs' role is far extensive in the Ming period.

[Salem Marrero · Rating 4 out of 5]

This serves as a quality history of how Ming bureaucracy functioned with a particular focus on the role of eunuch advisors. Tsai argues that the eunuchs and literati effectively formed a dual-governing system that provided some sort of checks and balances within Ming despotism and that it was this dualism that helped to make the monarchy last as long as it did. He also argues that the worst excesses of eunuchs were as gears of the authoritarian Ming regime and thus were a symptom, not a cause, of the Ming decline.

I've mostly read Qing history before this book but was always curious about the roles of the eunuchs in the imperial state. For me this was a very readable and clear introduction to the Ming and I found Tsai's arguments persuasive.

[MIL]

雖然很想平實的呈現宦官的各種面貌
但歷史畢竟是士大夫寫的，能講好話的資料太少啊~

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eunuchs were vital and central to the functions of the emperors in China. This is one of the first studies of eunuchs. It is an important topic and more research needs to be done.