Books by Jerome Kerlouegan
Papers by Jerome Kerlouegan
A study of eunuchs in the service of Ming imperial clansmen in the provinces. A little-known aspe... more A study of eunuchs in the service of Ming imperial clansmen in the provinces. A little-known aspect of Ming eunuch culture. Of interest to anyone interested in either eunuchs or Ming princely courts.
Scattered throughout the realm in a great number of provincial courts, Ming imperial clansmen did... more Scattered throughout the realm in a great number of provincial courts, Ming imperial clansmen did not wield political or military power. Some among them therefore used their energies to publish books; indeed, the publishing activities of the Ming princes constitute one of many elements of what can be termed "princely culture." Even though princely imprints formed an insignificant proportion of Ming publications, a large number of them have survived to our day. Based on the examination of approximately 240 such editions, this essay explores the relationships between the princes and the literati who assisted them.
Scattered throughout the realm in a great number of provincial courts, Ming imperial clansmen did... more Scattered throughout the realm in a great number of provincial courts, Ming imperial clansmen did not wield political or military power. Some among them therefore used their energies to publish books; indeed, the publishing activities of the Ming princes constitute one of many elements of what can be termed "princely culture." Even though princely imprints formed an insignificant proportion of Ming publications, a large number of them have survived to our day. Based on the examination of approximately 240 such editions, this essay explores the relationships between the princes and the literati who assisted them.
Scattered thro ughout the realm in a great number of provincial courts, Ming imperial clansmen di... more Scattered thro ughout the realm in a great number of provincial courts, Ming imperial clansmen did not wield political or military power. Some among them therefore used their energies to publish books; indeed, the publishing activities of the Ming princes constitute one of many elements of what can be termed "princely culture." Even though princely imprints formed an insignificant proportion of Ming publications, a large number of them have survived to our day. Based on the examination of approximately 240 such editions, this essay explores the relationships between the princes and the literati who assisted them. It raises questions central to princely publishing: How learned were the princes? What books did they publish? For which audiences and with what objectives? What are the main characteristics of princely publications? Did princes have well-defined publishing strategies? The last section of the essay addresses the heritage of Ming princely publications in the Qing dynasty. This essay will be published in several installments in East Asian Publishing and Society.
Scattered throughout the realm in a great number of provincial courts, Ming imperial clansmen did... more Scattered throughout the realm in a great number of provincial courts, Ming imperial clansmen did not wield political or military power. Some among them therefore used their energies to publish books; indeed, the publishing activities of the Ming princes constitute one of many elements of what can be termed "princely culture." Even though princely imprints formed an insignificant proportion of Ming publications, a large number of them have survived to our day. Based on the examination of approximately 240 such editions, this essay explores the relationships between the princes and the literati who assisted them. It raises questions central to princely publishing: How learned were the princes? What books did they publish? For which audiences and with what objectives? What are the main characteristics of princely publications? Did princes have well-defined publishing strategies? The last section of the essay addresses the heritage of Ming princely publications in the Qing dynasty. This essay will be published in several installments in East Asian Publishing and Society. The bibliography for the whole essay will be published with the last installment.
The essay is based on a corpus of seven books dating from the late sixteenth century and early se... more The essay is based on a corpus of seven books dating from the late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century. These books all provide local officials (i.e., the magistrates) concrete guidelines on how to defend the town they are in charge of (it is implied that this town is walled but has no military garrison to count on for its defense). The resistance against the Wokou (Japanese pirates), in the 1550s, seems to have played a decisive role in the appearance of this specialized literature, which was written having in mind not the Wokou but, rather, the hordes of famished peasants or the poverty-stricken and ready-to-rebel military. The authors, who had only little, if any, military experience, minutely instruct the magistrate how to organize the defense of his besieged town. Their tone is that of emergency – a characteristic of late Ming statecraft literature. These handbooks resurfaced in the nineteenth century, at a time when the Qing in turn were faced with huge internal disorders.
Articles and Chapters in Books by Jerome Kerlouegan
Aventuriers des mers (VIIe-XVIIe siècle), IMA/Mucem, 2016, pp. 118-23
Conference Presentations by Jerome Kerlouegan
我们对明代王府宦官的历史知之甚少。有关明代宦官研究的英文代表作蔡石山的《明代宦官》（1996）对此只字未提。然而，明太祖朱元璋仿照皇宫制度，为每个王府配备了固定数量的内官，行使各种职能。这样，可... more 我们对明代王府宦官的历史知之甚少。有关明代宦官研究的英文代表作蔡石山的《明代宦官》（1996）对此只字未提。然而，明太祖朱元璋仿照皇宫制度，为每个王府配备了固定数量的内官，行使各种职能。这样，可以认为承奉司就相当于皇宫内的司礼监。如同侍奉皇帝的宦官，王府的宦官住在王城内，不同于王官，他们住在王城外。随着王府的不断增多和扩大，朱元璋制定的规章很快就不合时宜了：藩王们需要越来越多的宦官，郡王以下也开始使用宦官。国家试图维持对这些宦官的控制，但亲王们总是擅自招收更多净身之人——原则上这是不合法的。同时，国家还试图使这些宦官也承担法律责任，将之纳入亲王违法范畴。但是最终，出现了与皇宫宦官发展相似的结果：这些王府宦官所行职责远远超过了侍奉妃嫔和充当侍卫。他们主持婚礼和葬礼，管理王府地产，监督器具制造，参与其主人的书籍出版，等等。他们拥有自己的差役。有些宦官唆使宗室成员为非作歹，干预继承，甚至取代其主控制王府。如同他们在北京的同僚，不少王府宦官也很腐败。然而，大部分宦官对其主人尽忠职守，有时历经数十载，在王府内兢兢业业，建功立业。藩王们也对其宠信有加。他们为其向朝廷请求赐封，为其赋诗作文，为其厚葬。一些杰出的宦官还获得王府表彰。这些职位高低不等（有些净身者并无官方职位）的宦官构成了藩王社会的重要群体之一。这是明代宦官文化中一个被忽略的方面。
This paper examines the male imperial and princely in-laws of the Ming dynasty. The policies gove... more This paper examines the male imperial and princely in-laws of the Ming dynasty. The policies governing these two categories of relatives by marriage were based on similar general principles and evolved in the same manner. The paper describes what could be termed ‘waiqi culture’ by considering waiqi (imperial relatives by marriage) as a social group in its own right and combining a wide range of sources (entries from the Veritable Records, epitaphs, legal texts, biji, archaeological findings…). In addition, it attempts to answer the following question: were waiqi insiders or outsiders to the Ming polity?
Waiqi played a prominent role in the early days of the dynasty, when they and the gongchen (the nobility of merit) overlapped to a great extent. They performed tasks that later would be entrusted to provincial governors. Perhaps as a consequence of the high status of the waiqi, early Ming emperors all issued collections of exempla intended for their in-laws.
In the second third of the 15th century, waiqi were gradually marginalised to form an unemployed, state-funded class enjoying multiple, written and unwritten, privileges, namely the immunity to harsh punishments, nobility titles, landholdings, the right to settle down in the capital and access the Palace, etc. To make up for their loss of political and military power, waiqi consolidated their holdings by engaging in economical activities. While waiqi were routinely vilified as profiteers, in practice many different groups wooed them. Textual as well as material evidence clearly demonstrate that, insofar as the woman who made their fortunes had won imperial favour, members of consort clans were part of the imperial elite.
Under the mature Ming system, waiqi’s roles were less important, although certainly not as negligible as it may seem from scholar-officials’ discourse. One of their functions was to perform « imperial » sacrifices of all kinds, in which they were used as substitutes for the princes, none of which were available in the two capitals. Other missions they carried out confirm this. Waiqi were used by the emperors as a pool of men useful in many other ways, especially to counterbalance the power of other groups.
The 1529 abolition of the ennoblement of the waiqi, though not strictly enforced thereafter, did undermine their prestige.
In princely courts, control over the in-laws (consort families plus sons-in-law of the princes, the so-called yibin) became increasingly tight, at least in principle. Like imperial in-laws, princely in-laws enjoyed privileges that could be attractive to « middle-class » local families. But there were also many deterrents. Over time restrictions (non-existent in the early Ming) were made more flexible but on the other hand princely in-laws were more and more considered as ordinary civilians due to budgetary reasons.
A waiqi culture did indeed exist in its own right in the Ming. It shared many commonalities with the gongchen culture. Along with many other groups, the waiqi and the gongchen belonged to what can be termed the « imperial sphere », a sphere by no means confined to the imperial palace in Beijing. The size and weight of this sphere still remain unacknowledged by Ming historians to this day.
This paper uses a case study to invite Ming historians to pay attention to “Ming princely court p... more This paper uses a case study to invite Ming historians to pay attention to “Ming princely court politics,” a notion derived from that of “imperial court politics.” It argues that Ming princely court politics 1) should be studied in the “long durée” (that is, for any princely court, from its foundation to its demise) and 2) were embedded in local society (for the people who made up princely societies were by and large locals) while at the same time not devoid of connections with the Center. The case under study is the assassination of the seventh prince of Chu Zhu Xianrong by his eldest son, the Crown prince Zhu Yingyao, on January, 30, 1545. Over 200 people were involved. After Zhu Yingyao attempted to conceal his crime, and even sent a party to the capital to deliver false memorials and bribe the metropolitan officials, he was eventually sentenced to decapitation (an extremely rare punishment for a prince) and his twenty-six closest accomplices to death by slow slicing. Interestingly, the Huguang governor had first considered keeping the assassination secret. Based on the 41-page memorial by the Board of Punishments summarizing the investigation carried out by the investigation commission dispatched to Wuchang, I first introduce the case. I then argue that Zhu Yingyao was not the mastermind of the plot but, rather, was led astray by his entourage, which was formed by soldiers either from the princely garrison or the Wuchang garrison (the 21-year old Crown prince was even fooled by his own men who took vast sums of money from him). Most importantly, even though at the time this assassination was said to have originated in a quarrel between the prince of Chu and his son over women, far more structural factors were at work at the Chu court. Zhu Xianrong had long been a tyrant (as two incidents in 1539 and 1543 suggest) and his death only laid bare long-standing underground factional rivalries. The paper thus suggests that power in princely courts did not lie where it seemed to. As Satō has shown, in the case of the Chu court in the sixteenth century, one key stake was the control over wealth. In addition, I examine the popular feeling about, and understanding of, the assassination (how did Wuchang residents see it?). Finally, and to come back to the “long durée” methodological requirement, the 1545 “catharsis” started a chain of events that only ended in 1603 with a famous controversy that this time made its way up to the Beijing political scene. In the course of this sequence, Zhu Xianxiu, the prince of Chongyang (and a former protégé of the murdered prince of Chu), and then Zhu Xianhuai, the prince of Wugang, successively emerged as the de facto rulers of the Chu court.
Zhu Mujie (1517-86) was a lower-ranked imperial clansman of the Ming dynasty who achieved fame as... more Zhu Mujie (1517-86) was a lower-ranked imperial clansman of the Ming dynasty who achieved fame as a scholar. A member of the house of Zhou, which seat was in Kaifeng, Zhu Mujie built one of the most important book collections of his time. Surviving manuscript copies of the catalogue list no less than 4,000 titles. Zhu was a notable editor, compiler, writer and publisher, and a prominent figure of the intellectual life in Kaifeng from the 1550s through the 1580s. Through several massive editorial projects he publicized his region. His own works evidence a wide range of interests (most noteworthy were his works in the field of jingxue) while his extensive network of connections at the local, provincial and national levels, with scholars of different generations, suggests that he did meet the requirements for entry into the scholarly world. At the same time, Zhu Mujie also acted as adviser to provincial officials. In his later years, he was appointed the de facto ruler of the house of Zhou and headed the school for the young clansmen of the house. His support of the Court-devised policy aiming at curbing the expenses of the imperial clan earned him deep-seated enmity among his fellow imperial clansmen. On the whole, Zhu Mujie should best be regarded as a scholar who happened to be of imperial blood rather than a scholarly imperial clansman.
This paper focuses on the militia in the Ming. The generic term minbing 民兵 (“civilian troops,” as... more This paper focuses on the militia in the Ming. The generic term minbing 民兵 (“civilian troops,” as opposed to the hereditary professional troops of the weisuo 衛所 garrison system) encompasses that of minzhuang 民壯 (“people’s stalwarts”), even if the two words are sometimes used indiscriminately in the sources. The need for raising militia began to be felt as early as the 15th century to make up for both quantitative and qualitative shortages of the weisuo system (desertions, aging ranks, rigidities of the system, looseness of the weisuo geographical coverage). Minzhuang were institutionalized by the 1494 law, which made the militia service a corvee service, backed up by the lijia system (and thus locally financed). Minzhuang were to obtain convincing results on the battlefield, in particular in the repression of ethnic uprisings in the South or in the mid-16th century war against the Japanese pirates. However, the non-stop attempts at revamping minzhuang in the 16th century clearly reveals that the system was soon afflicted by the same ills as the weisuo : careless updating of the registers (a task that was delegated to yamen clerks, hence the development of a vast corruption network), laxity in training and discipline, desertions (with similar causes), deterioration of the quality of the militia (worthless men posing a threat to public security). The commutation of the militia corvee into a monetary payment only hastened the phenomenon, while laying grounds for a third system : the recruits system (mubing 募兵). Last, minzhuang were diverted from their early mission: they ended up mere yamen clerks, who no longer fulfilled any military role. Those evolutions were predictible because minzhuang had gradually been assimilated to the weisuo system (same universal and compulsory kind of service, same hierarchy, same organization). The long-celebrated yu bing yu nong 寓兵於農 ideal (“give the arms to the peasants”) was never really put into effect. Nevertheless, one should keep in mind that militia were used until the late Ming, alongside weisuo soldiers and mercenaries: the chronological outline weisuo-minbing-mubing is a simplifying one.
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Books by Jerome Kerlouegan
Papers by Jerome Kerlouegan
Articles and Chapters in Books by Jerome Kerlouegan
Conference Presentations by Jerome Kerlouegan
Waiqi played a prominent role in the early days of the dynasty, when they and the gongchen (the nobility of merit) overlapped to a great extent. They performed tasks that later would be entrusted to provincial governors. Perhaps as a consequence of the high status of the waiqi, early Ming emperors all issued collections of exempla intended for their in-laws.
In the second third of the 15th century, waiqi were gradually marginalised to form an unemployed, state-funded class enjoying multiple, written and unwritten, privileges, namely the immunity to harsh punishments, nobility titles, landholdings, the right to settle down in the capital and access the Palace, etc. To make up for their loss of political and military power, waiqi consolidated their holdings by engaging in economical activities. While waiqi were routinely vilified as profiteers, in practice many different groups wooed them. Textual as well as material evidence clearly demonstrate that, insofar as the woman who made their fortunes had won imperial favour, members of consort clans were part of the imperial elite.
Under the mature Ming system, waiqi’s roles were less important, although certainly not as negligible as it may seem from scholar-officials’ discourse. One of their functions was to perform « imperial » sacrifices of all kinds, in which they were used as substitutes for the princes, none of which were available in the two capitals. Other missions they carried out confirm this. Waiqi were used by the emperors as a pool of men useful in many other ways, especially to counterbalance the power of other groups.
The 1529 abolition of the ennoblement of the waiqi, though not strictly enforced thereafter, did undermine their prestige.
In princely courts, control over the in-laws (consort families plus sons-in-law of the princes, the so-called yibin) became increasingly tight, at least in principle. Like imperial in-laws, princely in-laws enjoyed privileges that could be attractive to « middle-class » local families. But there were also many deterrents. Over time restrictions (non-existent in the early Ming) were made more flexible but on the other hand princely in-laws were more and more considered as ordinary civilians due to budgetary reasons.
A waiqi culture did indeed exist in its own right in the Ming. It shared many commonalities with the gongchen culture. Along with many other groups, the waiqi and the gongchen belonged to what can be termed the « imperial sphere », a sphere by no means confined to the imperial palace in Beijing. The size and weight of this sphere still remain unacknowledged by Ming historians to this day.
Waiqi played a prominent role in the early days of the dynasty, when they and the gongchen (the nobility of merit) overlapped to a great extent. They performed tasks that later would be entrusted to provincial governors. Perhaps as a consequence of the high status of the waiqi, early Ming emperors all issued collections of exempla intended for their in-laws.
In the second third of the 15th century, waiqi were gradually marginalised to form an unemployed, state-funded class enjoying multiple, written and unwritten, privileges, namely the immunity to harsh punishments, nobility titles, landholdings, the right to settle down in the capital and access the Palace, etc. To make up for their loss of political and military power, waiqi consolidated their holdings by engaging in economical activities. While waiqi were routinely vilified as profiteers, in practice many different groups wooed them. Textual as well as material evidence clearly demonstrate that, insofar as the woman who made their fortunes had won imperial favour, members of consort clans were part of the imperial elite.
Under the mature Ming system, waiqi’s roles were less important, although certainly not as negligible as it may seem from scholar-officials’ discourse. One of their functions was to perform « imperial » sacrifices of all kinds, in which they were used as substitutes for the princes, none of which were available in the two capitals. Other missions they carried out confirm this. Waiqi were used by the emperors as a pool of men useful in many other ways, especially to counterbalance the power of other groups.
The 1529 abolition of the ennoblement of the waiqi, though not strictly enforced thereafter, did undermine their prestige.
In princely courts, control over the in-laws (consort families plus sons-in-law of the princes, the so-called yibin) became increasingly tight, at least in principle. Like imperial in-laws, princely in-laws enjoyed privileges that could be attractive to « middle-class » local families. But there were also many deterrents. Over time restrictions (non-existent in the early Ming) were made more flexible but on the other hand princely in-laws were more and more considered as ordinary civilians due to budgetary reasons.
A waiqi culture did indeed exist in its own right in the Ming. It shared many commonalities with the gongchen culture. Along with many other groups, the waiqi and the gongchen belonged to what can be termed the « imperial sphere », a sphere by no means confined to the imperial palace in Beijing. The size and weight of this sphere still remain unacknowledged by Ming historians to this day.
Chapters 116 to 120 (pp. 3557-3660) present, by chronological order, all the princely houses (or principalities) that existed in the Ming (chapter 116 starts with those forebears of Ming Taizu who were made princes by him posthumously). Nearly three of these five chapters deal with the Ming founder’s twenty-six sons and their offspring. Loyalist princes of the mid-seventeenth century, who of course do not enjoy any separate section in the Mingshi, are dealt with under their house of origin. They are not called emperors but only “regents” and their era name is qualified “illegitimate”. As specified in the compilers’ introduction, only a few princes below princes of the first rank (qinwang) are introduced (they are those who stood out for their good deeds). The place devoted to each princely house, and within each princely house to every single qinwang, is uneven, of course, but all the qinwang of the dynasty are at least listed. Overall, emphasis is laid on the early and middle periods, most likely because of the lack of sources covering the late Ming (a word is said, however, on the end of each princely house). Secondly, the compilers do not depart from a manichean viewpoint (the “good” and the “bad” princes). The story told here includes succession struggles, princely rebellions, the good deeds of princes, but economical, cultural or ritual matters are also touched upon in passing. The general viewpoint, however, remains one from the “centre” and definitely not the princely courts. Sometimes the narrative intersect more largely with the national political history, and in this case, cross-checking against other chapters of the Mingshi proves necessary. The final “eulogy” stresses what was the main problem with the imperial clan in the mature Ming system : denied any role, it became a parasitic class (Ming men were already very much preoccupied by this).
Useful complementary sources to these biographies are the genealogical charts of the same Mingshi (chapters 100-104), the Fanxian ji (biographies of princes compiled by an imperial clansman around 1600, a pro-princes source), and biographies of princes in other histories of the Ming dynasty such as Mingshan cang, Zuiwei lu or Mingshu. Note that imperial clanswomen are the subject of yet another chapter (chapter 121).