The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming ChinaThe Ming dynasty was the last great Chinese dynasty before the Manchu conquest in 1644. During that time, China, not Europe, was the center of the world: the European voyages of exploration were searching not just for new lands but also for new trade routes to the Far East. In this book, Timothy Brook eloquently narrates the changing landscape of life over the three centuries of the Ming (1368-1644), when China was transformed from a closely administered agrarian realm into a place of commercial profits and intense competition for status. The Confusions of Pleasure marks a significant departure from the conventional ways in which Chinese history has been written. Rather than recounting the Ming dynasty in a series of political events and philosophical achievements, it narrates this longue durée in terms of the habits and strains of everyday life. Peppered with stories of real people and their negotiations of a rapidly changing world, this book provides a new way of seeing the Ming dynasty that not only contributes to the scholarly understanding of the period but also provides an entertaining and accessible introduction to Chinese history for anyone. |
Contents
Dramatis Personae | 15 |
The Middle Century 14501550 | 86 |
The Last Century 15501644 | 153 |
The Lord of Silver 16421644 | 238 |
Notes | 263 |
Bibliography | 295 |
313 | |
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Beijing boats brick capital Ch'oe Chen Chinese Chubanshe circulation coast commercial Confucian cotton courier stations cultural decade Ding early Ming economy edited elite famine Fujian fuzhi Gazetteer gentry grain granaries Grand Canal Gu Yanwu Guangdong Hangzhou Henan Hongwu emperor household Huang Huangpi Huguang Huian county Huizhou Huizhou merchants Jiangnan Jiangxi Jianwen zaji Jianyang Jiaxing juan kilometers labor land late Ming late-Ming Li's lijia magistrate Manchus mid-Ming Ming China Ming dynasty Ming-Qing Mingdai monasteries moral Nanjing official prefecture production province Qing Quanzhou quoted realm region Reprint rice route rural Shandong Shanghai Shanxi Sheh county silk silver sixteenth century social Song Songjiang South Zhili status Suzhou taels textile Tiangong kaiwu trade village Wang wealth women Wuhu xianzhi Gazetteer Xu Hongzu Xu Xiake Yongle Yongle emperor Yuan Zhang Dai Zhang Tao Zhang Yue Zhejiang Zhengde Zhongguo