Troubled Empire: China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties: 5 (History of Imperial China) [Hardcover]

Another fine book in the Belknap Press History of Imperial China. This volume covers the Yuan (Mongol) and Ming Dynasties. As with other books in this series, Brook focuses on major themes rather than a detailed narrative. The three major themes explored by Brook are the development of a relatively powerful state encompassing both North and South China, the stresses imposed by the Little Ice Age, and the increasing integration of China into the emerging global economy. In the course of discussing these themes, Brook includes some useful discussions of demographic history, economic history, social history, and intellectual history.

Brook shows well the continuity of the Yuan and Ming periods. He emphasizes the unification of North and South China that occurred under the Yuan with the accompanying expansion of Imperial authority and particularly the Emperor's power. Despite the claim of the Ming founder to restore traditional Chinese institutions, Brooks shows how the Emperor continued to be the fulcrum of government, sometimes with deletrious results when the Emperor was incompetent, disinterested, or unable to control court politics. The Yuan also established Beijing as the capital, necessitating resuscitation of the Grand Canal, which contributed a great deal towards imperial economic integration and creating the enormous internal market that characterized the dynamic Chinese economy. The achievements of the Yuan & Ming states are particularly impressive in the context of the stresses of the Little Ice Age. Brook documents a number of periods he refers to as sloughs in which climate events and other major stresses produced famines and/or epidemics in China. These events are associated with major political changes, including the fall of the Yuan and the Ming. Also impressive in this context is the increasing integration of the global economy. The enormous Chinese economy and its expanding trade across the South China Sea are complements of the expansion of European economies and the exploitation of the Americas.

Brook's thematic analysis is very successful but this book perhaps suffers from insufficient narrative. The fall of the Ming is covered well but it would have been informative to have more narrative about the Yuan conquest and the fall of the Yuan. The discussion of China's expanding trade and influence in the South China Sea but relatively little narrative or analysis about the Yuan and Ming relations with Inner Asia. There is a good bibliography.

This is the fifth volume of the six volume 'History of Imperial China', written by the general editor of the series, Timothy Brooks. The volumes covers the apparently totally different Yuan (1260-1368) and Ming (1368-144) dynasties, showing, however, very interesting parallels. Brooks does not follow the example of the previous four books by starting with a summary of the political history of the period in question, but starts with dragon spotting during the two dynasties, which stands for unusual wheather phenomena symbolizing trouble for the emperor. Principally, Brooks identifies sudden climate and wheather changes (during the period the little ice age ocurred, resulting in prolonged dry periods) as well as other natural catastrophes, which he names 'sloughs', as one of the major reasons for the fall and rise of the two dynasties.
Apart from this, on the 266 pages of the book (plus succession tables , notes and a 20 p. bibliography) major developments during the covered period in areas like gender and family, economy and ecology, commerce and international trade, belief systems, and arts and crafts are shown, partly from very interesting perspectives (such as from the view of a contemporary art collector).
Overall, the book is written very well, introduces a lot of new and interesting perspectives, and is highly recommendable for everybody interested in the history of China.