内容简介

1587, a Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline (Chinese: 萬曆十五年; pinyin: Wanli Shiwunian) is Chinese historian Ray Huang's most famous work. First published by Yale University Press in 1981,[1] it examines how a number of seemingly insignificant events[which?] in 1587 might have caused the downfall of the Ming dynasty. The Chinese title, meaning "the fifteenth year of the Wanli era", is how the year 1587 was expressed in the Chinese calendar: the era name of the reigning Chinese emperor at the time, followed by which year of his reign it was. Major figures discussed in the book besides the emperor are Grand Secretaries Zhang Juzheng and Shen Shixing, official Hai Rui, general Qi Jiguang and philosopher Li Zhi. Although Huang had completed the manuscript by 1976, no publisher would accept it at first, as it was not serious enough for an academic work, but was too serious for popular non-fiction. The work has been translated into a number of different languages: Chinese, Japanese, German and French.

作者简介

Ray Huang (Chinese: 黃仁宇; 25 June 1918 – 8 January 2000) was a Chinese historian and philosopher. He was an officer in the Nationalist army and fought in the Burma campaigns. He earned a Ph.D in history from the University of Michigan, worked with Joseph Needham and is a contributor of Needham's Science and Civilisation in China. Huang taught in the U.S., and is best known in hi...

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精彩摘录

第一章：万历皇帝P5贵妃郑氏和王氏之争——谁也没有想到，这一小小的插曲，竟是一场影响深远的政治斗争的契机，导致了今后数十年皇帝与臣僚的对立，而且涉及了整个帝国。6皇帝的常服则是青色或黑色和龙袍，上缀绿色的滚边。71498年，当时在为的弘治皇帝几乎用央求的口气央求大学士同意免朝一日，因为当夜皇宫失火，皇帝彻夜未眠，神思恍惚。[明朝前期，皇权并没有达到顶峰，或者，难道说，到了明朝，皇权正式开始“符号化”？]8正德皇帝，个性极强。嘉靖皇帝，前二十年算得上尽职，后来专心于修坛炼丹。在位达四十五年之久，仅次于万历。9万历登基之时，高贵的仪表。声音发自丹田，深沉有力。——早熟的君主。年幼的万历——尊敬的人只有两个：张居正和冯保（宦官）。13从本朝创业之君开始，就形成了如下观念，即普天之下，莫非王土，不需要有专门的皇室庄园的收入，以供宫廷开支之用。宫廷所需的物品，来自全国税收中划出来的一大部分实物。皇家的开支可以不受限制，官员们却只能在极度节俭的原则下生活[明朝官员俸禄最低，但贪官最多。]，更不必说宦官宫女。所以，本朝的官员、宦官的法定薪给都十分微薄。宦官的收入——掌管皇家的各个仓库（质量检验）——贿赂——使得劣质物品变成优质——损害最大的就是京军。16张居正在人事任免之中起着决定作用。本朝有一个习惯，以气节自许的大臣，如果遭到议论攻击，在皇帝正式表明态度之前，自己应该请求解职归田，以示决不模棱两可，尸位素餐。17本朝的君主制度与历朝有一点不同。以前各个王朝，凡君主年幼，必定有他的叔父、堂兄这样的人物代为摄政，而这恰恰为本朝所不能容许。按照规定，所有皇室的支系，包括皇帝的叔父、兄弟以至除皇太子以外的儿子，一到成年就应当离开京城到自己的封地，谓之“之国”[这是贯彻明朝始终的制度？还是只在开朝时候？　]。之国就是就藩，其居于各省，有极为富丽闳大的王...

——引自章节：全书各章

当一个人口众多的国家，各人行动全凭儒家粗浅而又无法固定的原则所限制，而法律又缺乏创造性，则其社会的发展，必然受到限制。即使是宗旨善良，也不能补助技术之不及。

——引自第219页