1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910827659503321

Autore

Davis Richard L.

Titolo

From warhorses to ploughshares : the later Tang reign of Emperor Mingzong / / Richard L. Davis

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Hong Kong : , : HKU Press, , [2014]

©2014

ISBN

988-8313-16-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (237 p.)

Disciplina

951.018

Soggetti

China History Five dynasties and the Ten kingdoms, 907-979

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Acknowledgments -- Preface -- People and places -- Royal passage -- Political events : the Tiancheng reign, 926-930 -- Political events : the Changxing reign, 930-933 -- Institutions, reforms, and political culture -- Volatile periphery -- Epilogue -- Chronology of events for the reign of Mingzong.

Sommario/riassunto

Mingzong (r. 926-933) was the most illustrious emperor of the Five Dynasties, and one of the most admired of China's middle period, the Tang to Song. A warrior of Shatuo-Turk ancestry, he ascended the throne of the Later Tang on the heels of a mutiny against his adopted brother, thus sparing his dynasty an early death. Mingzong's brief reign came to be heralded by historians as the "Small Repose"--a happy convergence of peace and prosperity. He marshaled a cluster of eminently able courtiers, men who balanced Confucian charity against the military discipline demanded in a time of transition. These years were marked by trade with bordering states, frenzied diplomatic activity, and a succession of defections from states to the north. Mingzong wisely eschewed military conflict, except as a last resort. Conservative in moral and legal matters, he introduced radical economic reforms that included deregulation of traditional monopolies and timely changes to the tributary system. Drawing extensively on primary sources, including Mingzong's spirited correspondence with his officials, this political and cultural biography brings to life a charismatic emperor who was held up as a model ruler by succeeding generations.