"Robinson builds a superb case for arguing that the rebellion occurred because of the breakdown of these patronage networks [of palace eunuchs].... The book is already a valuable first contribution to the task of understanding how 'China was not a model of social harmony'." --China Review International 9 (2002)

"Adds importantly to the scholarship in the field of Chinese later imperial history. I predict that this book will be warmly welcomed in the field, among Ming specialists and among scholars of broader comparative interests." --Frederick Mote, emeritus professor of Chinese history, Princeton University

"My understanding of the nature of the state, the structure of the emperorship, the role of the military and the place of force, the texture of society, and the ways that educated people thought about problems was profoundly improved by reading this book. It is of very high scholarship indeed." --Arthur Waldron, University of Pennsylvania

"An ambitious and, for the most part, successful effort to develop a more nuanced understanding of middle Ming history and society. It will become an important component of the ongoing debates about civil society and the nature of power in late imperial China. Robinson is a careful and insightful researcher and future works from his pen will be eagerly awaited." --Journal of Asian Studies, August 2002

"A welcome addition to a more realistic view of Ming China" --Journal of Asian History 36 (2002)

On a spring afternoon in 1509 a local bandit found himself in the emperor's private quarters deep within the Forbidden City and in the presence of the Son of Heaven himself. This bizarre meeting was the doing of the eunuch Zhang Zhong, the emperor's personal servant and companion. In time court intrigue between competing palace eunuchs would lead to the death of this bandit-turned-rebel, setting off a massive uprising that resulted in China's largest rebellion of the sixteenth century. To understand how this extraordinary meeting came about requires a consideration of the economy of violence during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Here, for the first time in any language, is a detailed look at the role of illicit violence during the Ming.

Drawing on court annals, imperial law codes, administrative regulations, private writings, and local gazetteers, David Robinson recreates in vivid detail a world where heavily armed highwaymen and bandits raided the boulevards in and around the Ming capital, Beijing. He then convincingly traces the roots of this systemic mayhem to economic, ethnic, social, and institutional factors at work in local society.

David Robinson is assistant professor of history at Colgate University.