Ability and difference in early modern China : a Mongol family at the Ming court / David Robinson, Colgate University, New York.
| Author/creator | Robinson, David M., 1965- author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2025. |
| Copyright Date | ©2025 |
| Description | xiii, 282 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Portion of title | Mongol family at the Ming court |
| Contents | An Age of Decisions -- Dying for his Lord -- The Sovereign's Man -- Educating the Entitled -- Representing the Emperor -- Far From Home -- Patronage, Assessment, and Power -- Holding Against the Storming -- Turning Every Page -- Seizing Fortune. |
| Abstract | "In 1405, a family left their home in the Mongolian steppe and moved to China. Winning recognition for military skill and loyalty at the Ming court, their story demonstrates how the early-modern world's most developed state sought to balance the often-contradictory demands of securing ability and addressing difference"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Abstract | "In 1405, a family left their home in the Mongolian steppe and moved to China. This daring decision, taken at a time of dramatic change in eastern Eurasia, paved the way for 250 years of unlikely success at the Ming court. Winning recognition for military skill and loyalty, the family later known as the Wu gained a coveted title of nobility and became members of the capital elite until the dynasty's collapse in 1644. By tracing the individual fortunes of a single family, David Robinson offers a fresh and accessible perspective on the inner workings of Ming bureaucracy. He explores how the early-modern world's most developed state sought to balance the often contradictory demands of securing ability and addressing difference, a challenge common to nearly all polities. This book demonstrates how the Ming state organized its military forces, makes a distant place and time accessible by tracing the fortunes of an individual family, and explores how an exceptionally powerful state recruited ability while dealing with differences of ethnicity, gender, and profession" -- Adapted from publisher's description. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Issued in other form | ebook version : 9781009601993 |
| Genre/form | Genealogy. |
| LCCN | 2024061371 |
| ISBN | 9781009602020 |
| ISBN | 9781009602013 hardcover |
| ISBN | 1009602012 hardcover |
| ISBN | 1009602020 paperback |
| ISBN | electronic book |
| ISBN | electronic book |