Ray Huang > Quotes

“管理我们这样一个大帝国，在许多问题上一定是要生罅隙的。张居正以整饬纪律自居，而实际上他是强迫要求各人保证不生罅隙。申时行用恕道待人，又鼓励诚信，就是期望各人自动地各尽其能地补救罅隙。”
― Ray Huang, 万历十五年

“传统所赋予，超过理智的范围，带有宗教性的色彩，这才使他成为决断人间的最大的权威。”
― Ray Huang, 万历十五年

“他之所以能贵为天子乃是天意，天意能否长久保持不变则在于人和。”
― Ray Huang, 万历十五年

“这时朝廷中的文臣已经分裂为若干派别，彼此间无数的旧恨新仇需要清算，激烈的争论则常常肇始于微不足道的衅隙。”
― Ray Huang, 万历十五年

“The empire was not set up to wage wars, to reconstruct its own society, to conduct a national program of any kind, nor even to improve the standard of living of the populace aside from taking preventative measures against famine. Its purpose was to maintain peace and stability.”
― Ray Huang, 1587: A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline

“It was clear that unless he acted the way the officials wanted, they might not function the way he wanted. This was tantamount to saying that while the bureaucracy was created to carry out governmental functions, the most pressing problem it had to handle was none other than the bureaucracy itself.”
― Ray Huang, 1587: A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline