Description
Book SynopsisEunuch and Emperor in the Great Age of Qing Rule offers a new interpretation of eunuchs and their connection to imperial rule in the first century and a half of the Qing dynasty (16441800). This period encompassed the reigns of three of China's most important emperors, men who were deeply affected by the great eunuch corruption of the fallen Ming dynasty. In this groundbreaking and deeply researched book, the author explores how Qing emperors sought to prevent a return of the harmful excesses of eunuchs and how eunuchs flourished in the face of the restrictions imposed upon them. We meet powerful eunuchs who faithfully served, and in some cases ultimately betrayed, their emperors. We also meet ordinary eunuchs whose lives, punctuated by dramas large and small, provide a fascinating perspective on the Qing palace world.
Trade Review"Norman Kutcher has written an erudite, ground-breaking and richly documented study that walks us through the community of eunuchs in Beijing as they moved in and out of the Forbidden City, princely households, and the Old Summer Palace in the 17th and 18th centuries . . . Generalists and specialists will discover in Kutcher's study many other fascinating topics, and these include the personalities of the Qing emperors, the physiology of eunuchs, medical history of castration, and the poignant narratives of eunuch survival and suicide." * China Quarterly *
"Norman A. Kutcher provides an insightful, historically sympathetic analysis of the institution of the eunuch in Qing China by investigating the emperors’ efforts to use and control both this institution and the individual eunuchs’ lived experiences. . . . This book is a significant, important contribution to the scholarship on Qing emperorship and eunuch history." * American Historical Review *
"The interpretive analogy suggested by the author presents a realistic and detailed must-read answer to the question of what it meant to be a eunuch during the Qing." * China Review International *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Preface
Conventions
Conversions
Qing Reigns
Introduction
1. “A Time of Pure Yin”: Forging the Seventeenth–Century Consensus on the Nature of Ming Eunuch Power
2. The Shunzhi Emperor and His Eunuchs: Echoes of the Ming
3. “To Guard against Their Subtle Encroachments”: The Kangxi Emperor’s Regulation of Rank–and–File Eunuchs
4. The Influence of Eunuchs in Kangxi’s Inner Circle
5. Eunuch Loyalties in the Yongzheng Emperor’s Troubled Succession
6. Yongzheng’s Innovative Rules for Regulating Eunuchs
7. The Qianlong Emperor: Shifting the Arc of History
8. Qianlong’s Flawed System of Oversight
9. The World Created by Qianlong and His Eunuchs
Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Glossary-Index
