Ray Huang’s book 1587: A Year of No Significance :: essays research papers

The surname of Ray Huangs book 1587 A Year of No logical implication The Ming Dynasty Decline suggests that this book is a work based on a single year in which little occurred. But in reality, Huangs look at the events of 1587 demonstrate the complex workings of the leadership during the lessen of the Ming dynasty, giving the reader an insight into the societal structure, the governmental process, and the mistakes that occurred systematically to sharpen the progression towards the seemingly inevitable downfall. Though nothing of historical significance occurred during the year 1587, Huang is able to demonstrate the way in which the existing nicety and the smaller, more systematic elements of political leadership can be silent within the context of a seemingly unimportant period of time. Chapter 1 The Wan-Li Emperor, begins by explaining the major premise of the work The concept of looking at a single year in the floor of the leadership of mainland China and evaluating the im plications for down the stairsstanding other aspects of story, including the decline of the Ming Dynasty. In this initial chapter, Huang provides an anecdotal history of some of the events that occurred, and includes within it a discussion of the set up of the leadership, the repercussions that occurred in the event of certain actions, including the prospects of an audience with the emperor. Huang reviews these issues as he mete outs that actions taken by the Wan-li emperor, who was only twenty-four in 1587 and who had been a veteran of ceremonial proceedings, and considers his history as an element of understanding the progression of leadership. Huang outlines to reconstruction of the court under Wan-li came into power at the death of his father and the seemingly insignificant actions taken by the emperor, from his marriage to the redecorating of the court. Within the scope of this discourse, Huang is able to disclose the excesses of the emperor, and consider the implications o f the bureaucratic system that he devised as an extension of this excess (13).