Sous l'oeil des dragons

History of Imperial China #5

by Timothy Brook

The Mongol takeover in the 1270s changed the course of Chinese history. The Confucian empire-a millennium and a half in the making-was suddenly thrust under foreign occupation. What China had been before its reunification as the Yuan dynasty in 1279 was no longer what it would be in the future. Four centuries later, another wave of steppe invaders would replace the Ming dynasty with yet another foreign occupation. The Troubled Empire explores what happened to China between these two dramatic invasions.

If anything defined the complex dynamics of this period, it was changes in the weather. Asia, like Europe, experienced a Little Ice Age, and as temperatures fell in the thirteenth century, Kublai Khan moved south into China. His Yuan dynasty collapsed in less than a century, but Mongol values lived on in Ming institutions. A second blast of cold in the 1630s, combined with drought, was more than the dynasty could stand, and the Ming fell to Manchu invaders.

Against this background-the first coherent ecological history of China in this period-Brook explores the growth of autocracy, social complexity, and commercialization, paying special attention to China's incorporation into the larger South China Sea economy. These changes not only shaped what China would become but contributed to the formation of the early modern world.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Asia, Medieval, Medieval History, 17th Century

Hardcover

First published October 30, 2010

About the author

Timothy James Brook is a Canadian historian, sinologist, and writer specializing in the study of China (sinology). He holds the Republic of China Chair, Department of History, University of British Columbia.

His research interests include the social and cultural history of the Ming Dynasty in China; law and punishment in Imperial China; collaboration during Japan's wartime occupation of China, 1937–45 and war crimes trials in Asia; global history; and historiography.

Reviews

[Dmitri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the fifth in Harvard's recent series on imperial China. The project spans two thousand years in six volumes, pairing pivotal dynasties (such as Qin and Yuan) with classic eras that followed (such as Han and Ming). A device like this is needed to organize a subject so vast. At over three hundred pages each, it amounts to more than two thousand pages.

It's a lot of reading but as it turns out not nearly enough to thoroughly cover the saga. It is interesting to compare this extended approach to some single volume histories such as Hucker's or Gernet's that make the attempt within a quarter of the text. The greater space allows a fuller range of civic and private life to be shown, an important advantage.

This installment revisits the Yuan dynasty of Kublai Khan and the succeeding Ming dynasty of 1368-1644. It is written by editor Timothy Brook and is a contender for the best book in the collection. It begins with the appearance of dragons, harbingers of cataclysmic change, drawn from imperial chronicles that read like medieval newspaper clippings.

The collapse of the dynasty is attributed by Brook to Little Ice Age climatic disturbances, which correspond with the onset and low point of cold temperatures. Dragons are seen as metaphors for extreme weather, the displeasure of Heaven and disasters for men. Periods of drought and episodes of flooding accompany meteorological anomalies.

Famine followed floods, dams and dykes were destroyed, plagues and pestilence prevailed. The earth shook, toppling cities and homes, diverting rivers and killing millions. Ash and smoke from Japan's volcanoes blotted out the sun and sky. At each instance of disaster sightings of dragons were observed, and concerns were raised about dynastic survival.

As with other volumes in this series there is much more territory traversed. Brook covers Marco Polo and Matteo Ricci, conquests of the Jin and Song, the Great Wall and Grand Canal, the Yellow and Yangtze river regions, civil service exams and administration, census and migration. Economy and ecology, families and religion are not left out.

The dominant mode of this series is thematic and topical, instead of strictly chronological. If you look for a straight forward narrative account of reigns and campaigns it isn't found here. The book accomplishes what is often attempted but seldom achieved, a balance of academic rigor and literary skill. The other volumes in the set are consistently good.

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Troubled Empire is an astonishing book and absolutely different in its writing style from the previous volumes. The fifth volume in this Imperial China history series—it is the first book that used a lot of narrative and personal stories from historical figures. Timothy Brook skilfully weaved metaphorical, personal stories, and even officials’ diaries to explain the plight of the people and the government under two changing dynasties which were established during an important climate change called the Little Ice Age. The main theme of this book, and of which the author will keep referencing, is an environmental disaster caused by a gradual regional cooling prior to the Mongol occupation of China and during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. The author decided to treat the Yuan and Ming in the same category, instead of describing them as two interchanging dynasties, they’re seen as one continuous reign. The result was not a linear history of what caused the Ming to replace the Yuan but a combined history where the author saw the Ming as the successor of Yuan’s policies with some differences in their constitutional tradition.

The Little Ice Age brought about a massive climate change that resulted in catastrophic disasters during the Yuan and Ming periods. Imperial China, being mostly an agrarian empire whose crop harvest was continually hampered and disrupted with constant cold weather and drier climate, began to lose its grip on society as a whole. Consistent chilly weather that resulted in snows and frosts, excessive rainfall that caused floods, droughts followed by locusts, famines, epidemics, and earthquakes were some of the catastrophic disasters in the Yuan and Ming eras. This was the condition with which both the people and the government had to deal with. The government’s inability to dispense steady relief due to inadequate treasuries and lack of grains means some of the unfortunate common folks turned to banditry. After all, it’s easier to raid and pillage rather than to sow and reap under impossible circumstances.

“The following spring, bitter cold caused bamboo to freeze and the Yangzi estuary to ice over. The next winter, snow blanketed the entire delta to the depth of a meter. The harbors on Lake Tai froze, forcing all boat traffic to cease. Animals perished in great numbers.”~Chapter 3: The Nine Sloughs, page 54.

Fortunately, while these particular two reigns were plagued with intermittent disasters, it was also the period where China branched out economically towards broader overseas trade which was the maritime trade in the South China Sea. Thenceforth, despite major agrarian setbacks caused by natural disasters, the economy of Yuan and Ming was commercially prosperous thanks to the abundant offshore enterprise. This commercial prosperity drove many merchant families to be very rich and on par with the gentry society (the literary officials). Buying luxurious things was no longer considered a high-class-based activity since everyone who made a fortune could afford it. The gentry society tried to negate this encroachment from what they considered vulgar rich people with obscure backgrounds by forming an elite connoisseurship society that focused on buying elegant, sometimes rare, luxurious objects.

“Elegance was a tough criterion to master, tough enough to stump the nouveaux riches. It could even be tough enough to put emperors at a disadvantage, which was the point.”~Chapter 8: The Business of Things, page 191.

Collection of calligraphies and paintings of Dong Qichang (1555–1636) in the later period of Ming dynasty. Dong Qichang’s works were seen as one of the hallmarks of elegance.

This is quite a robust description of the Yuan-Ming period of Imperial China. The book is very easy to read despite containing a lot of scholarly information. I absolutely enjoy reading this book. The only criticism I have is: it is not enough. All things considered, the book doesn’t cover the complete history of Yuan and the Ming completely. Even the few emperors that were being discussed at length are because their reign intersected with the environmental catastrophe which was the author’s chosen major theme in this book but the rest of them whose reign didn’t coincide with calamitous years were only mentioned briefly.

[Ozymandias · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written by series editor Timothy Brook and I do wish now that he’d written more since his approach feels more innovative and enlivening than the others. For example, it has a clearly stated thesis: that the Yuan and Ming were united both by more autocratic elements of government and by a general sense of instability and climactic change. The Yuan (Mongols) are usually treated as an aberration and the Ming as a return to form, but he believes they were a lot more similar than people think. This gives him a topic to keep returning to throughout the book.

This volume not only covers a wide range of material, it tells stories. In retrospect I suspect Kuhn was trying to do the same thing and if he was imitating or aping the approach of this one I have a lot more sympathy for his approach – it’s a hard balance to strike. This book starts us off with dragons, a completely bizarre move that makes no sense until you realize their significance – they represent feelings that the world is out of balance. Usually meaning the emperor is going to have trouble. This is part of his contention that the Yuan and Ming suffered rather heavily from natural calamities compared to other dynasties due to what has been called the Little Ice Age. In subsequent chapters he identifies nine sloughs – periods of bad harvests and difficult times. The ties between the emperors and Heaven mean that he can be blamed for any bad weather conditions – bad weather means the world is out of balance. His evidence here is pretty compelling and, again, innovative.

He also takes a uniquely Western look at China. I mean that mostly in a good way. The Little Ice Age is a term developed for global climactic conditions observed in the West. It’s visible in paintings by Brueghel the Elder, among others. So what does Brook do? He looks for examples of snowy weather in Chinese paintings. This is the best use of outside perspectives on Chinese history – accepting and understanding the way the Chinese people think and perceive the world, but seeking out new ways of interpreting them based on the experiences of other cultures of the time. There are a few times this seems slightly patronizing. He probably overfocuses on Marco Polo, particularly in the opening chapter. But it may be that people actually prefer that. It’s certainly more of an introduction to the material than previous books have been.

Later chapters strike the storyteller approach as well. We start and end most chapters by a look at an individual life that defines the era. The section on trade and the South China Sea, for example, tells the story of a silversmith who fled to sea and sailed off to Taiwan to join a foreign crew. We begin the chapter learning about how he got to that state, then we read how sea trade developed under the Ming into a whole new form of commerce, and then we conclude the chapter with the conclusion to his story. It's not taking an entirely narrative focus to these chapters, but it does provide just enough to pull you in.

With previous books in the series I’ve stressed that they’re very useful but largely require an existing background knowledge of the period. With this book I don’t think that’s necessary. Yes, it’s low on narrative and heavy on thematic elements, but the thematic elements paint such a good picture that you get a real feel for what it meant like to live under the Yuan and Ming and what narrative sections we get are small scale and compelling. This is one of the best books in the entire series. There were some later chapters (such as the one on connoisseurs) that didn’t really speak to me, but on the whole the book does an admirable job of drawing your interest and keeping it until you’ve learned something. A very good book.

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

V much enjoyed this, a model on how to introduce a distinct historical moment in a couple of hundred pages; with very well chosen pictures, which is important!

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm most disappointed because I picked up this book to provide more context for She Who Became the Sun which takes place during the change between the Yuan and Ming dynasties. There was very little about the conflict that marked that changeover. In part that was because this book did away with a chronological account of history--which is the other problem.

Not that a history book needs to be chronological, but it lacked any other strategy to unify the book. The closest this had to that was an apparent thesis that despite the obvious differences between the two regimes (one founded by the Mongols, the other the last ethnic Chinese dynasty) that they two regimes fit well together into one unified period. But there was nothing to back that up--in large part because we really don't see enough of other dynasties to determine if that's a reasonable thesis. What we do see is the end of the Jin and Song dynasties when the Mongols conquered them, and the end of the Ming dynasty when they were conquered by those who would become the Qing dynasty.

So, had this book looked at the transition between the Yuan and Ming dynasties then the reader might actually have had a chance to look at whether there was some level of difference or similarity between this period and other periods.

That said, I learned a lot, but probably more because I know so little about Chinese history, and not as much because of how this book was written.

[Zeke Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

*The upper side of 3 and half stars

The Fall of the Yuan Dynasty is one of the more chaotic periods in human history, with as many as thirty million people vanishing from the historical record. Matthew White, in his book “The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History’s 100 Worst Atrocities”, gives a mere paragraph on the number, and, at a guess, divides it evenly in four between flood, famine, bubonic plague, and war.

For as much as I enjoyed Mr. White’s book, I wanted something a little more in depth.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the Emperor Hongwu, is regarded favourably, from what I’ve seen, as the founder of a great dynasty and the one that liberated China from the Mongol yoke, repelled the alien overlords and brought self-rule back to China. I don’t see him that way. I see him as one of the most barbarous mass murders in history, fighting with Tamerlane and Stalin for number 8 on the list.[1]

“...what mattered to [Zhu] was transforming the battered realm he seized from the Mongols into a Daoist utopia, though it all too readily morphed into a Legalist gulag.”

This is a proper history book on the Yuan and Ming Dynasties (collectively 1271-1644) in China, written by (Canadian) Sinologist and historian with a PhD from Harvard and published by Harvard’s press. It’s not necessarily for everyone.

“Zhu himself estimated the number of victims to be 15,000 people. A string of purges followed over the next fourteen years, leading to the further execution of some 40,000 state officials at all levels. The purge of 1380s was the most horrendous bloodbath of civilian violence in human history to that time...”

In this regard, the blunt honesty of Zhu’s despotism (interesting, that word was first used to describe Zhu’s reign), this is an excellent book. It also gives a brief overview of every emperor of the Yuan and the Ming (with much more heavy emphasis on the Ming; I’m given to understand Brook is perhaps the leading authority on Ming China out there today), which I liked as well. And, his final chapter, focusing on the Ming’s final collapse and (briefly) the rise of the Qing, answered many questions I had about Nurhaci and Dorgon, and the rebel bands that briefly established their own dynasties. (It also acknowledges the Zhang He discovery of America theory, and points out the problems with it.)

However, this book does have flaws. Principally being that there was extremely little on the Fall of the Yuan. There was no mention of the Red Turban Rebellion or of Zhu’s courting the White Lotus Societies, and these were central questions that I had and still do. This is not a narrative history, as I’m accustomed to reading. Rather, it covers, chapter by chapter, the various elements of Chinese society during these times. One chapter runs through the climate fluctuations that tormented the dynasties (and ultimately helped to push Nurhaci south), another chapter the maritime trading on the South China Sea. There is a chapter on religious and philosophical beliefs, but again there’s no mention of, for example, the White Lotus.

I wish these questions surrounding the actual establishment of the Ming were answered or explored in more detail. However, despite that objection, this is still a good book.

[1] By my reckoning, it goes something like this:
1.Mao Zedong – 40 million
2.Genghis Khan – 40 million
3.Adolf Hitler – 34 million
4.Hideiki Tojo – 32 million (using a number of 66 million for WWII, about 32 of which was Pacific Theatre)
5.Hong Xiuquan – 30 million
6.An Lushan – 36 million (missing, probably not that many dead)
7.Nurhaci – 25 million
8.Joseph Stalin – 23 million
9.Tamerlane – 20 million
Insert Hongwu where you will.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a history of the Yuan and Ming China, I wouldn't start with this book but I'd definitely make it #2 on the list. It's not because it isn't a 5-star book, that it definitely is. Timothy Brook's books are page-turners; he knows how to tell a story. How can anyone resist a book that describes the arrival of the Jesuits in China as having "surfed the tide of global trade" (p. 234). The reason I would recommend one begin with a more traditional history of Ming China, i.e. one that covers the dynasty chronologically from Hóngwu to Chóngzhēn, is because it makes Brook's approach, which is thematic, a much more enjoyable read. With the work of being introduced to the dynasty's rulers in chronological order done, you can now sit back and enjoy this book as the fascinating history it is.

By including such topics as climate change, famines and plagues, and the recorded sightings of dragons, the chronological historical 'factoids' become logical and all the bits and pieces begin to fit together. The growth of the merchant class is described in terms of the emergence of "goods exceeding any notion of need" (p. 186). If previously you only knew that it was during the reign of the Xuāndé emperor that reign marks first began to appear on imperial ceramics, you can now add to it the discovery that the only emperor out of the 30 Yuan and Ming emperors who can be described as having "sufficiently absorbed the culture of elegance to achieve real skill as a painter" was, not surprisingly, Xuāndé (p. 192).

An excellent bibliography, an extensive index (although when I searched for the entry 'Marco Polo' it wasn't there-although he did appear on pages 24-25), plus a sprinkle of charts and maps are all there as well, together with a handful of delightful stories that keep you turning the pages--shipwrecked runaways, the rat whose nighttime scavenges saved critical pages of Ming history, and how the literati formed their own exclusive circles using meticulously compiled texts that dictated what was 'elegant' as opposed to 'vulgar' and how a specialised tea servant was essential when entertaining. This is a book not to be judged by its title or cover (which might make one hesitate given it is part of Harvard University's series on Chinese history). It is rather a delightful and information-rich volume that anyone interested in Asian history or culture will thoroughly enjoy. Lucky will be those students who find this on a required reading list.

[Ayu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is slightly more personable than any of the authors in the series. This is also the era that covers Kublai Khan and Marco Polo and therefore the most familiar to me.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mongols - ruling as the Yuan dynasty - who overran China and destroyed the Song dynasty, set something of a new course in Chinese history, which was unconsciously continued by the following dynasty, the Ming. Chinese society became more commercially oriented and more tied-in with the "world economy" as it expanded it the 16th and 17th centuries. While there were more good years than bad, China suffered a series of climatological and ecological downturns, which in the end weakened the ruling house and made it easy for the invading Manchus to take over and establish their own dynasty. Timothy Brook ably describes this era of confrontation and change, both narratively and structurally, and helps his cause by occasionally abandoning academic language for a series of anecdotes that bring the subjects at hand much closer to the reader. An excellent introduction to the topic, anyone with an interest in early modern China should read this book.

[Jaymee Goh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the Yuan and Ming dynasties that takes into account the environmental changes of the time. Brooks starts off with a great chapter on dragon spotting, rather like that professor who starts the lecture with a fascinating hilarious piece of trivia to ensure student attention, but 100% better.

The scale of subjects covered range from economic overviews considering the wealth of the various classes through catalogs of stuff and political movement reflected in philosophical discourse and religious gestures. This book does the best of academics does, which is to share really entertaining data points alongside nuanced analysis that makes for an engaging, informative, and thoughtful read.

[Marlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I previously read the book on the Qing Dynasty in this series, and I much prefer this one. The Qing one is extremely dry by comparison. I especially love the second half of the book, which focuses on beliefs, objects, and the South China Sea. But I also love the introduction, which discusses historical records of dragon sightings, and how to approach them as a person studying history.

Timothy Brook also wrote a book about "lingchi", translated into English as "death by a thousand cuts", and it's a study of Western perceptions of cruelty in Chinese culture. Definitely gonna have to move that higher on my to-read list, considering the merits of this book.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another author in this series.

Also, another organization of topics. Hits more on the weather and disasters in this time -- it was, after all, the Little Ice Age -- and less on personal life Also, more on material possessions. We have a lot more of them, obviously. And includes several reports of the sighting of dragons.

Features such tidbits as why widow remarriage was more common than not, though proscribed by Confucian rules; the Persian origin of blue-and-white porcelain (which stemmed from the prohibition on eating from gold or silver plates, creating a demand for a new conspicuous consumption outlet) and the Chinese take over of the field; Marco Polo's account; and more.

[Birgitta Hoffmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting introduction into the mindset behind the Ming and Yuan period, quite an eye opener at times.

[Rebecca Pisano · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first foray into the Yuan and Ming dynasties of China. Interesting, broad, encapsulating nearly every cultural facet regarding the Chinese way of life from the 13th-17th centuries.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

People that buy this book should be aware that it is written in the tradition of the French Annales school in history which is "characterized by its interdisciplinary approach, focusing on long-term social and economic structures, and rejecting traditional political and narrative history, " as AI puts it. Themes that Brook has added is Climate change and folklore. According to this school of thought political actions and political change is a mere consequence of the often slow changes that take place within society, and natural conditions and not the other way around.

I have no problems with historians using this approach. in the past scholars have often overlooked what it happening among common man and the impact nature has on society.
My problem is that Brook is following the Annales School so religiously. Most historians today borrow from the Annales School, Brook lives it out. Still the book is given the name The troubled empire. China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Looking at the other book titles in the series they are all named after the various dynasties or lack there of. If this approach was followed through out the series the books should have derived their title from the various climatic periods, spotting of dragons and other aliens periods, or according to the slow societal changes that took place across the various dynasties. Or does the author think that the dynastic periods differ from one another due to the slow societal or sometimes abrupt climatic change that brought about their rise and collapse? If so it would have been interesting with a comparative study of society and climate in the various dynasties.

Another issue I have, is with the Annales School in general. even if society can be slow in terms of change it does not mean that it has a chronological narrative.. Brook's back and forth story telling is almost like a childlike rebellion towards this view. What he hopes to achieve with it I do not know, but it is at times terribly confusing.

Despite telling lots of stories about floods, famines, cold and hot and dragons, dragons and more dragons and many other things, Brook does not go into the same depth in telling what this meant for Chinese society at the time. neither is there any attempt of weaving the stories together. This is yet another result of following the Annales school to the letter. There are many stories, and not the one to rule them all. Unfortunately in Brook's case society is so static that there are hardly any other stories to tell than dragon spotting and how Mother Nature is tormenting the poor Ming Chinese.

Furthermore catastrophes like famine , plagues, war, unrest and other sudden events do trigger societal and political change. And sudden political and societal change may derive from more lingering conditions that have become unbearable, like suppression of people. And even if the emperor or common man's actions do not bring about permanent change , there are still important aspects to them that need to be explained, such as why so many Chinese rallied to support the Ming in order to overthrow the mongols. how did they manage to overthrow them? and how did the Ming organise themselves to hold on to the power the Mongols lost? How did the Chinese themselves view the new dynasty? and many other things. Was the first Ming emperor jut an opportunistic charlatan yarning for power? or was there something more to it? My impression is that he authors demonstrative refusal to put any narrative on the Ming take over is another demonstration of being faithful to his school of thought.


Then there is the fall of the Ming an event Brook finally put some emphasise on, key word, climate change. I am by no means a climate change denier. But I cannot help to notice that all history books about ancient empires nowadays wether they are about the Assyrians, Persians, Hittites, various Bronze Age civilisation or the Ming give climate trouble as the most important reason for their demise. But as the saying goes: if it rains on you it rains on your enemy too. In short, you still need to explain why the situation did not make the invaders weaker too, and why they were able to hold onto the troubled domain the old regime was no longer able to rule.


The author is entitled to his convictions, but for me the Annales approach is much better put to use by the brilliant Indian historian Abraham Early who wrote an epic history of the Mughals, which he divided into two books. The first tels the chronological story of the rulers themselves. The second is about Mughal society while comparing India to earlier periods and other contemporary
societies.

[Erik Champenois · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Troubled Empire" covers the Yuan and Ming dynasties together, which happens at some expense to a fuller treatment of the Ming in particular but still worked out better than I thought it would. Some of the impacts of the Mongol period on the Ming are made clearer by covering both together. For example, traditionally, Chinese successions happened through primogeniture, whereas Mongol successions happened through tanistry (the practice of brothers competing with each other to succeed their father). The Mongol tradition of tanistry was continued by several of the Ming emperors, including the first (Hongwu) and the third (Yongle). Similarly, the Ming was a more autocratic order than the Song dynasty, which was a more natural continuation of the Yuan, and with the Emperor being above the law.

The Ming dynasty itself consolidated under the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, as well as the third emperor, Zhu Di. Zhu Di taking over after a three-year civil war with his nephew. Zhu Di executed tens of thousands of people as part of his coup, ordered the maritime voyages of Zheng He, and dealt both diplomatically and militarily with Mongols to the north and west. His great-grandson Zhu Oizhen (Zhengton), enthroned at the age of eight in 1435, was taken hostage by the Mongols after a disastrous military defeat at Tumu in 1449, again showing how important interactions with the steppe remained long after the end of the Yuan dynasty. Brook summarizes other state crises, but surprisingly has absolutely nothing to say about the Imjin War/Great East Asian War of the 1590s, one of the big gaps of this book. The other gap, disappointing to me given the series otherwise balanced treatment of Chinese literature, was the lack of any coverage of the great classic Chinese novels, most of which were written during the Ming.

One thing that Brook covers very well, however, is the impact of climate and the natural environment on political events. He covers what he calls nine "sloughs" - periods of natural/climate disasters, famines, and upheaval - connected to the Little Ice Age from roughly 1270 to 1715. Noting that Kublai Khan took power at the onset of the Little Ice Age, with the first four decades of the Yuan experiencing drier weather, he then discusses the first "slough" which started the year Temur succeeded Kublai, as well as the sloughs that occurred simultaneous to both the rise and fall of the Ming. While climate isn't considered "the" cause of these events, it is difficult to not see climate as an important contributor.

Thematic chapters cover the economy and ecology, families, beliefs, material objects, and tribute and trade in the South China Sea. In the latter chapter, we start to hear about Westerners nearing China: including the Portuguese in Malacca and eventually Macao and the Spanish in the Philippines. With Europeans attracted to Chinese goods, silver flowed from the New World through the Philippines and made Chinese merchants wealthier than the gentry.

The last chapter covers the collapse of the Ming and the rise of the Manchu, which itself was a confederacy built on an alliance of Jurchen and Mongol tribes. When the Jurchens took over eastern Liaodong in 1618, the Ming struck back with an underfunded military campaign, setting off a series of defeats which, alongside natural disasters, resulted in rising taxes and financial belt tightening. This situation eventually led to 80% of counties stopping to forward any taxes at all by 1644. It also led to significant rebellions and the disintegration of the Ming state. Hong Taiji, the Manchu leader, declared the founding of the Qing dynasty in 1636, and his son, Shizu (Shunzhi) finalized the takeover of the Ming, including the short-lived Southern Ming.

[Peter Allum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combines detail with a broad survey of nearly four centuries of Chinese history.

I started this account of the Yuan (1271-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties perhaps a year ago, suggesting it was no page-turner. That said, it is a thoughtful, elegant survey that I will turn to when I need a refresher on the period.

It is noteworthy for its attention to historical records of climatic shocks, such as the severe droughts and flooding which contributed to famine, banditry, and the eventual downfall of the Ming dynasty. (One wonders, in this connection, how future historians will weave issues of climate change into their analysis of today's political and economic events.) In the absence of summary measures of climate stress in pre-modern China the reader sometimes feels lost in the weeds, hankering for a simple chart of rainfall trends:

"The weather turned wet in the early fourteenth century (1308-1325), fluctuated for a time between extremes of wet and dry, then entered a second dry phase extending from the end of the Yuan through the beginning of the Ming (1352-1374). The first quarter of the fifteenth century was wet, then drought struck in 1426. Except for a few wet interludes in the 1450s and the 1470s, the drought continued past the end of the century...."

The opening chapters, heavy in these climate-related records, were sometimes a slog. But there are then excellent chapters on "Khan and Emperor", "Economy and Ecology", "Families", "Beliefs", "The Business of Things" (very informative on the collecting habits of Ming-dynasty art connoisseurs), "The South China Sea" (where the Chinese authorities swung between either facilitating or banning foreign trade), and "Collapse" (which reviews the multiple factors that undermined the Ming regime).

Overall, an elegant, thoughtful review; excellent for students of Chinese history, less gripping for the casual historian.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not long after Genghis Khan’s demise, his Mongol Empire fractured and his descendants set upon to spread the mongolian yoke all over the place. One of them, Khubilai, focused on China and created the third last chinese dynasty, the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). As foreigners ruling as minorities over huge numbers of chinese majority as their subjects, Yuan’s grip was almost always tenuous. After some climate disasters, the Yuans fell and the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), under the leadership of the hideously ugly Zhu Yuanzhang, rose as the last ethnic chinese dynasty, and the penultimate dynasty which reigned over China, before in turn, fell to another nomadic hordes, the Manchus, who became the last rulers of imperial China in name of the Qing Dynasty. What also made the fell of the Ming interesting was the series of disaster, not very different from what befell the Yuan, became the catalyst for Ming’s downfall.

Although I expected that the contents of this book would be about political history of Yuans and Mings, I can see that it would be a tremendous task to write mostly about those, especially about the Yuans, and the scarcity of historical sources about them. So the author decided to cover both of them in broadest possible way, by telling us many aspects of daily lives under two dynasties, making this book more informative.

What interested me (and bored me the most), was the prolonged period of disasters which fell upon two dynasties, especially the climate-related. The chinese, and most of the world, had experienced tussles with extreme changes in climate, and probably is how the earth works until now. Would be an excellent argument against climate change doom-prophets of today’s world. The thing that bored me was the author’s fascinations of dragons, which appeared on most of descriptions of disasters during the two eras.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid entry in the series, though this one was composed differently than the others. While the first 4 in the series started out with an overview of the period before going into chapters covering various aspects of the dynasty in question, this one started out with a chapter on dragon sightings throughout the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, then went into chapters covering certain topics across both dynasties. It was a welcome break from the format, but still delivered the information one has come to expect from the series.

Books 1-3 had the same author, and books 4-6 have three different authors, none the same as any previous volume in the series. I liked Mr. Brooks style and the way he put this book together. I think with the happenings in China during this period, and the fact that a "foreign power" ruled China for part of the time his set up in this volume worked well. He was able to focus more on the larger events, such as the dramatic shifts in climate, and help the reader understand more about the period. I am definitely looking forward to the final book in this series on The Qing.

[Zhouweiwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why I'm reading these on reverse but here we are. Engaging speculative narratives of the lives of mostly rising middle class elites and officials pepper this history in a way to keep its various perspectives grounded in some loved in experience of the people. All of the arguments (ecological, economic, political) as to Yuan and Ming's rises and falls are convincing i just think I would have appreciated a little more time on Kublai and Hongwu and how they actually succeeded in their efforts.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good overview history of the Yuan and Ming dynasties; two dynasties which I am not too familiar with. The first four chapters were the most interesting to me. I really enjoyed the discussions of climate, dragons, and what the Ming inherited from the Yuan. I will remember the lessons I learned in this book and use them in my future teaching.

[Charlie Ye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timothy Brook’s storytelling remains absolute top-tier. Unfortunately, the 'old master’s' grasp of the Yuan Dynasty pales in comparison to his expertise in the Ming; as a result, the Yuan receives very little coverage in the Yuan-Ming volume. It feels like an 'Enhanced Edition' of The Confusions of Pleasure, but one marred by more errors and shortcomings.

[Bruce Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction to China. It is not just limited to those particular eras, you can see how they bleed through to the present. It is filled with all kinds of unexpected information, like how chopsticks got their name, for example.

[Ewan Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly descriptive work that touches on many fascinating aspects of these dynasties, including locust swarms and furniture and the Emperor's squabbles with the court — all details that contribute to the bigger picture.
This book is at is best when not listing things.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the Yuan and Ming dynasties. There is however a wrong reference of Wu Lien-Teh as Singaporean instead of Malaysian. He was in fact from Penang, the northern island in the Malaysia.

[Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

[Robert Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

informative but boring as shit

[Tomas Kaluzik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dudes just got really unlucky cause the dragons brought rain

[h · Rating 4 out of 5]

my new hyper fixation I devoured it

[Robert Whelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much more engaging and enjoyable than the previous entries in this series. A close look at the Yuan and Ming dynasties including art, literature, economy, weather, the rulers themselves, and belief systems.