Eunuch 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 (1644–1800). 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.
Norman A. Kutcher is Professor of History and Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence in the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. He is the author of Mourning in Late Imperial China: Filial Piety and the State.
“Norman A. Kutcher takes the eunuch establishment seriously by treating it as a central institution of government. Eunuch and Emperor in the Great Age of Qing Rule is an important book: it is by far the best study of Chinese eunuchs to date (in any language) and a major contribution to our understanding of the court politics and central government of the Qing dynasty.”—Matthew Sommer, Professor of Chinese History, Stanford University
“Kutcher makes the eunuchs a topic not of curiosity, titillation, or cultural subversion, but of economy, statecraft, and ideology. He reminds historians that court edicts are not reportage; his case study of the eunuchs shows that policy in the early and middle Qing period was far more negotiated, far more tentative, far more subject to intervention by interest groups than we might believe.”—Pamela Kyle Crossley, Charles and Elfriede Collis Professor of History, Dartmouth College
“The wide range of sources used by Kutcher makes for a compelling narrative of eunuchs coming from all levels of popular society and serving at all levels of the imperial government. We learn, for the first time, why they were essential for the inner and outer courts to function.”—Benjamin A. Elman, Professor Emeritus of East Asian Studies and History, Princeton University
“Kutcher’s study of palace eunuchs and emperors provides fascinating glimpses of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Qing court life, revealing persistent tensions in the master-servant relationship that challenged the social order.”—Evelyn S. Rawski, Distinguished University Professor Emerita of History, University of Pittsburgh
344 pp.6 x 9Illus: 12 b/w figures, 1 map
9780520297524$75.00|£63.00Hardcover
Jul 2018