Ming Eunuchs, pt. 1

[JesusA (imported)]

A well-written book which readers of the Archive might want to consider for their personal collections is "The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty," written by Prof. Shih-shan Henry Tsai of the University of Arkansas. The book was published in 1996 by the State University of New York Press (xii, 290 pages). There are 16 black and white illustrations taken from Chinese paintings of emperors and eunuchs. The book is available through Amazon.com, and their current price is $21.50, though they also have used copies listed from $10.00.

The table of contents and section listing is:

1 - Introduction

The Scholar and the Eunuch [the parallel lives of a traditional Confucian scholar and a voluntary eunuch who was castrated as an adult]

New Thematic Approaches

2 - The Demand and Supply of Ming Eunuchs

Historic Origins [in China, with only a couple of comments about the rest of the world]

Foreign Supply of Eunuchs

Domestic Supply of Eunuchs

More Supply than Demand

The Problems of Excessive Castrati [for example, in 1620 nearly 20,000 recently castrated eunuchs swarmed into the capital from the poorest parts of the countryside hoping for palace jobs! Only 1500 were employed by the palace and the army had to be called to quell the uprising of the rest.]

3 - Institutionalization of the Eunuch Agencies

Early Eunuch Establishments

Eunuch's New Haven

Eunuch Agencies Inside the Imperial City

Eunuch Agencies Outside the Capital City

4 - Eunuchs and the Ming Military System

Eunuchs as Military Commanders

The Eunuch Battalions

The Nanjing Grand Commandant

Eunuch Commanders and Ming Bureaucracy

Eunuchs and Tea-Horse Trade

5 - Eunuchs and the Ming Intelligence-Gathering Apparatuses

The Eastern Depot

Successive Directors of the Eastern Depot

The Western Depot

6 - Eunuchs and Ming Diplomacy

Ming Tributary System

The Mongols and the Tibetans

Eunuch Missions to Central Asia

Ming Eunuchs and Chinese-Korean Relations

7 - Eunuchs and Ming Maritime Activities

Eunuchs and the Ming Maritime Trade

Trade with Japan and the Ryukyu Islands

Trade with Southeast Asia

Zheng He's Seven Navigations [Maybe the best short piece yet on Zheng He, his biography and the voyages.]

8 - Eunuchs' Involvement in the Ming Economy

Managing the Imperial Plantations

Eunuchs as Tax Collectors

Eunuchs' Role in the Ming Salt Monopoly

Eunuchs and Ming Mining

Eunuchs as Purchasing Agents and Manufacturing Managers

9 - Miscellaneous Duties of the Ming Eunuchs

Eunuchs and Imperial Seals

Eunuchs and Ming Flood-Control Projects

Eunuchs and Ming Judiciary Reviews

10 - Conclusions

Within the next few days, I will post at least the first sections of Chapter 2 to give a clearer indication of the style and scope of the book.