Perpetual Happiness [Paperback]

Shih-Shan Henry Tsai (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0295981245 | ISBN-13: 978-0295981246 | Publication Date: August 16, 2010

The reign of Emperor Yongle, or 'Perpetual Happiness' - which began with civil war and a bloody coup, and saw the construction of the Forbidden City, completion of the Grand Canal, and consolidation of the imperial bureaucracy - was one of the most dramatic and significant in Chinese history. In 1368 Yongle's father, the Buddhist monk Zhu Yuanzhang, led the rebels who reclaimed China from the Mongol-ruled Yuan dynasty and reigned for 30 years as Emperor Hongwu, establishing the Ming dynasty. But Yongle (Zhu Di, 1360-1424) did not directly succeed his father; the throne first passed briefly to Yongle's nephew, Emperor Jianwen, whom Yongle drove from the palace (and possibly murdered) in 1402. The strong, centralised, autocratic government set up by his father and developed by Yongle - which concentrated power in the emperor, his eunuch assistants, and the scholar-advisors of the Grand Secretariat - lasted for more than two centuries. Yongle moved China's capital from Nanjing to Beijing in 1421, where he constructed the magnificent Forbidden City, in which twenty-three successive emperors would reside. He rebuilt the Grand Canal, directly linking the new capital to the fertile Yangzi Delta and facilitating grain shipments for Beijing's burgeoning population. He relentlessly pursued expansion of China's territory into Mongolia, Manchuria, and Vietnam, and sent the admiral Zheng He on six voyages - each employing more than sixty vessels - to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, establishing contact with places as distant as Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and Somalia in Africa. As an expression of his wish to emulate the sage-kings of Chinese antiquity, Yongle sponsored numerous literary projects, the most ambitious of which was "The Grand Encyclopaedia of Yongle" (Yongle dadian), a compendium of 11,095 volumes on all fields of knowledge. Beginning with an hour-by-hour account of one day in Yongle's court, Shih-shan Henry Tsai presents the multiple dimensions of Yongle's life in fascinating detail. Tsai examines the role of birth, education, and tradition in moulding the emperor's personality and values, and paints a rich portrait of a man characterised by stark contrasts. Synthesising primary and secondary source materials, he has crafted a colourful biography that enhances our understanding of imperial China in general and the early Ming dynasty in particular. "Perpetual Happiness" will captivate all who enjoy historical biography, and will be of interest to specialists in history and Asian studies. Shih-shan Henry Tsai is professor of history and director of Asian studies at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of four books, including "Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty".

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A skillful biography of a figure who might be called China's Peter the Great. The son of the founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) removed the capital to Beijing, built the Great Wall, finished the Grand Canal, and made the court bureaucracy even more powerful and efficient, all the while encouraging exploration abroad (and putting down rebellion at home). Yongle was the force behind construction of the Forbidden City, home to himself and the 22 later emperors." - Vancouver Sun "A colorful historical biography of one of the most revered emperors of China and a vivid portrait of life during the Ming dynasty. Scholar Tsai's lively writing will infect even non-scholarly audiences with his own evident enthusiasm for his subject." - Publishers Weekly "Perpetual Happiness offers not only a view of a usurper who ushered in a cosmopolitan era in the Ming dynasty but also a description of the empire - its government, its economy, and its relations with foreigners. Tsai's biography yields perspective on the life and times of the most renowned of the Ming emperors, with considerable attention devoted to the country he sought to shape." - Morris Rossabi "Yongle traveled with an entourage of government officials and courtiers and logistical personnel that make American presidential trips look puny - and the Emperor always took with him 10,000 cavalry soldiers and 40,000 foot soldiers. Yongle, in short, never did anything in a small way." - Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times

From the Back Cover

"Yongle traveled with an entourage of government officials and courtiers and logistical personnel that make American presidential trips look puny--and the Emperor always took with him 10,000 cavalry soldiers and 40,000 foot soldiers. Yongle, in short, never did anything in a small way." -- Nicholas D. Kristof, (New York Times) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (August 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295981245
• ISBN-13: 978-0295981246
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #733,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly Readable Look at Emperor Yongle, April 4, 2002

By 

Shogun Len "tokieyasu" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Perpetual Happiness (Paperback)

Shih Shan Henry Tsai has done something that Jonathan Spence has not been able to do: write a book that people can read and understand. No offense to Spence, I know he is considered the man for Chinese history, but maybe he is a better speaker than writer, because I can't get through any of his books and I have a strong background in Chinese History.

Professor Tsai has taken primary and secondary sources about the second Ming Emperor or third depending on how you look at it and turned it into a interesting, well written, little book. The book is only about 200 pages and it is a quick read, but at the same time highly informative.

I did not know much about the Ming Dynasty or Emperor Yongle before reading this book, but now I do. To me a good history book is one where you learn things you did not know before, and this book did that.

I recommend this book highly to anyone who enjoys Chinese history. And if you want to read a more modern history of China look at Mandate of Heaven by Orville Schell.

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A boring history book, November 11, 2006

By 

Wakeforest - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perpetual Happiness (Paperback)

I am a historian specializing Chinese history. I am very disappointed by the author's work. Comparing to Jonathan Spence's books and Ray Huang's book on Ming history, this book is very boring and lack of deepness. The author has made a great effort to gather a lot of details but they are so fragmental. The author fails to contextualize Yongle and his time, making Yongle so isolated in the Ming history. Those long citations easily put readers into sleep. As an academic book, it lacks a special perspective and has no argument. As a text book, it's hard to attract students because there is no story.