Ability and Authority in the Context of Crisis and Conflict
The Mid-Fifteenth Century
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21877925 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David M Robinson (0000-0001-8466-088X, Colgate University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 286-300 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Chinese History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2059-1632 • E-ISSN: 2059-1640 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/jch.2024.37 |
| OpenAlex | W4414362285 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
The Ming dynasty’s survival depended on locating and employing men with the ability to direct military forces, and contemporary observers were deeply concerned with the nexus of command, troop morale, and dynastic fighting capacity. This essay focuses on the years following the Tumu Crisis of 1449, a time when dynastic authorities were particularly alive to issues of military ability, and it draws on the perspectives of two men, the Minister of War, Yu Qian 于謙 (1398–1457), and another more junior official, Ye Sheng 葉盛 (1420–72). The essay offers a snapshot of how military ability was defined, cultivated, assessed, and rewarded. Further, it suggests that, read carefully, the writings of Ye Sheng and Yu Qian not only offer insight into the views of elite civil officials but also shed light, however faint and wavering, on military labor and working conditions for those who fought and commanded for a living
Civil–military relations · Elite · Historical Economic and Legal Thought · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |