Ability and Difference in Early Modern China: A Mongol Family at the Ming Court [Paperback]

A fresh perspective on Ming dynasty history, told through the unlikely success story of one Mongolian immigrant family.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.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.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.List of charts; List of maps; Preface; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. An age of decisions; 2. Dying for his lord; 3. The sovereign's man; 4. Educating the entitled; 5. Representing the emperor; 6. Far from home; 7. Patronage, assessment and power; 8. Holding against the storming; 9. Turning every page; 10. Seizing fortune; Conclusion.By untangling the fascinating saga of the Wu family  Mongolian migrants who rose into the Ming elite lS~