Negotiated Power: The State, Elites, and Local Governance in Twelfth- to Fourteenth-Century China
The internal dynamics driving the relationship between the state and local society during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties has both captivated and baffled scholars. In this book, Sukhee Lee posits an alternative understanding of the relationship between the state and social elites in the middle period of Chinese imperial history. Directly challenging the assumption of a zero-sum competition between the power of the state and that of local elites, Negotiated Power shows in vivid detail how state power and local elite interests were mutually constitutive and reinforcing. It was precisely the connectedness of social elites to the state, as well as the presence of the state in local life, that was essential to the rise of a self-conscious local elite society during this period. In probing the historical trajectory of Mingzhou prefecture (today’s Ningbo), Lee makes extensive use of local gazetteers from the Southern Song and the Yuan dynasties, and the abundant literary collections that still survive from this area, including some 280 epitaphs written for Mingzhou people of the time.
1119370690
Negotiated Power: The State, Elites, and Local Governance in Twelfth- to Fourteenth-Century China
The internal dynamics driving the relationship between the state and local society during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties has both captivated and baffled scholars. In this book, Sukhee Lee posits an alternative understanding of the relationship between the state and social elites in the middle period of Chinese imperial history. Directly challenging the assumption of a zero-sum competition between the power of the state and that of local elites, Negotiated Power shows in vivid detail how state power and local elite interests were mutually constitutive and reinforcing. It was precisely the connectedness of social elites to the state, as well as the presence of the state in local life, that was essential to the rise of a self-conscious local elite society during this period. In probing the historical trajectory of Mingzhou prefecture (today’s Ningbo), Lee makes extensive use of local gazetteers from the Southern Song and the Yuan dynasties, and the abundant literary collections that still survive from this area, including some 280 epitaphs written for Mingzhou people of the time.
49.95 In Stock
Negotiated Power: The State, Elites, and Local Governance in Twelfth- to Fourteenth-Century China

Negotiated Power: The State, Elites, and Local Governance in Twelfth- to Fourteenth-Century China

by Sukhee Lee
Negotiated Power: The State, Elites, and Local Governance in Twelfth- to Fourteenth-Century China

Negotiated Power: The State, Elites, and Local Governance in Twelfth- to Fourteenth-Century China

by Sukhee Lee

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$49.95 
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Overview

The internal dynamics driving the relationship between the state and local society during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties has both captivated and baffled scholars. In this book, Sukhee Lee posits an alternative understanding of the relationship between the state and social elites in the middle period of Chinese imperial history. Directly challenging the assumption of a zero-sum competition between the power of the state and that of local elites, Negotiated Power shows in vivid detail how state power and local elite interests were mutually constitutive and reinforcing. It was precisely the connectedness of social elites to the state, as well as the presence of the state in local life, that was essential to the rise of a self-conscious local elite society during this period. In probing the historical trajectory of Mingzhou prefecture (today’s Ningbo), Lee makes extensive use of local gazetteers from the Southern Song and the Yuan dynasties, and the abundant literary collections that still survive from this area, including some 280 epitaphs written for Mingzhou people of the time.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674417144
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 09/15/2014
Series: Harvard East Asian Monographs , #371
Pages: 362
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Sukhee Lee is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.

Table of Contents

List of Maps, Tables, and Figures ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Elites, Locality, and the State 22

The Rise of Mingzhou and Its Elites in the Southern Song (1127-1279) 24

"Elite Dominance" in Mingzhou? 36

The State and Family Strategy 50

Regional and Translocal Marriage Networks of Mingzhou Elites 60

Conclusion 83

Chapter 2 Local Governance in Southern Song Mingzhou 86

Local Defense and Security 87

Building Local Infrastructure 97

Accommodating Elite Participation 107

Financing Local Governance 125

Dealing with Local Interests 135

Comparison with the Northern Song (960-1126) 145

Conclusion 148

Chapter 3 Cooperation and Tension: Revisiting Local Activism 151

Official Schools in Local Society 153

Community Drinking Ceremony 166

Community Charitable Estate 174

Visions of "Righteousness" (yi) 178

Conclusion 196

Chapter 4 The Yuan Transformation: The State and Elites under Alien Rule 202

Elites under the Confucian Household System 204

Mingzhou Elites, Old and New 216

Marriages in Yuan Mingzhou 226

Managing Local Governance 232

Negotiation Redefined: The State and Elites under Alien Rule 244

Conclusion 259

Conclusion 164

Appendixes

1 Burial Site in a County Different from County of Residence 275

2 Translocal Marriages in Southern Song and Yuan Mingzhou 281

3 Extant Biographical Sources for Officials Who Served in Southern Song Mingzhou 307

4 Mainrenance of Official Schools in Southern Song Mingzhou 311

5 Inscriptions on Official Schools in Yuan Mingzhou 315

Abbreviations 319

Bibliography 321

Index 339

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