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Ming China As a Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, and Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620 Weicong Duan Washington University in St

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Ming China As a Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, and Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620 Weicong Duan Washington University in St Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations Arts & Sciences Winter 12-15-2018 Ming China As A Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, And Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620 Weicong Duan Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds Part of the Asian History Commons, and the Asian Studies Commons Recommended Citation Duan, Weicong, "Ming China As A Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, And Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620" (2018). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1719. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/1719 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts & Sciences at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY Dissertation Examination Committee: Steven B. Miles, Chair Christine Johnson Peter Kastor Zhao Ma Hayrettin Yücesoy Ming China as a Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, and Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620 by Weicong Duan A dissertation presented to The Graduate School of of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2018 St. Louis, Missouri © 2018, Weicong Duan Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................... v Abstract of the Dissertation .......................................................................................................... vii Introduction Rethinking the “Military Revolution”: The Transformation of Ming Politics in the Gunpowder Age .............................................................................................................................. 1 The “Military Revolution” Debate .............................................................................................. 3 The Transformation of Ming China in the Early Stages of the Gunpowder Age ....................... 7 Sources and Approaches ........................................................................................................... 11 Outline of the Chapters ............................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 1 Early Ming Politics: Court and State in the Gunpowder Age ..................................... 17 The Rise of the Ming Dynasty in the Early Stages of the Gunpowder Age ............................. 20 The Establishment of the Inner Court and the Political Control of Gunpowder Weapons ....... 24 Reorganization of the Central Government during Zhu Yuanzhang’s Reign ........................... 29 Gunpowder Weaponry in the Civil War (1399-1402) .............................................................. 32 Yongle: Integration of Gunpowder Weaponry with Cavalry in the Northern Campaigns ....... 37 Yongle: The Vietnam Campaign and Innovations in Gunpowder Technology ........................ 41 The Yongle Emperor and his Military Eunuchs ........................................................................ 46 The Yongle Emperor and Confucian Officials ......................................................................... 49 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 51 Chapter 2 Funding a Gunpowder State: Inner-Outer Court Contestation over Land Tax Commutations ............................................................................................................................... 53 Large-scale Commutations of Land Taxes during the Zhengtong Reign ................................. 58 Fixing Commutations of the Grain Tax for the Palace Treasury .............................................. 65 Tax Commutations for the National Silver Vault ..................................................................... 68 Factors for the Varied Commutation Rates of the Tribute Grain Tax for the National Silver Vault .......................................................................................................................................... 70 Commutations Rates of the Land Taxes in the Age of Silver ................................................... 78 ii Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 81 Chapter 3 Masters of Both Pen and Sword: The Rise of Dufu Officials in the Middle Ming Period ............................................................................................................................................ 84 The Early Participation of Civil Officials in Local Military Management ............................... 89 Dufu Officials after the Battle of Tumu .................................................................................... 96 The Ups and Downs of Dufu Officials in the Tianshun Period (1457-1464) ......................... 103 Royal Grants of Nobility and Heritable Military Posts to Civil Officials ............................... 106 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 109 Chapter 4 Court and Frontier: The Hami Crisis and the Inflow of Ottoman Muskets .............. 111 The Ambiguous Role of a Frontiersman, Sayyid Ḥusain ........................................................ 112 Hami and the Purges of Civil Officials (March, 1527 - April, 1528) ..................................... 116 The Great Ritual Controversy and the Purges ......................................................................... 122 The Flow of Ottoman Muskets in Central Asia ...................................................................... 124 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 130 Chapter 5 No Longer the Inner Court’s Monopoly: New Gunpowder Technology, Frontiers, and State Finance ............................................................................................................................... 132 Building the Ming Great Wall on the Frontiers ...................................................................... 133 Western Cannons and the Building of New Frontier Fortifications in the Jiajing Period ...... 142 Western Cannons on the Frontiers .......................................................................................... 147 The Division in the Central Finance in a New Phase of the Gunpowder Age ........................ 162 The Commercial Tax and Further Divisions in Central Finance in the Wanli Period ............ 164 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 170 Conclusion Rethinking Ming Politics in the Gunpowder Age .................................................. 172 References ................................................................................................................................... 178 iii List of Tables Table 1 The Amount of the Commutations for the Capital Granary (1511) ................................ 66 Table 2 The Ming Emperors ....................................................................................................... 176 Table 3 Weights and Measures ................................................................................................... 177 iv Acknowledgments This work would not have been possible without the great support of my supervisor and teacher, Steven Miles, who not only encouraged me to follow my curiosity and passion, but also kept me on the right track with my research. As a teacher and mentor, he has taught me, by his example, what a good researcher and instructor should be. I was also lucky to receive intellectual inspiration from my teachers and committee members. Christian Johnson, Peter Kastor, Hayrettin Yücesoy, and Zhao Ma have prepared me to look at a big picture and ask new questions. I also owe a great deal of gratitude to a number of friends, especially Di and Chaoxiong, for listening and lifelong friendship. Nobody has been more important to me in the pursuit of this project than the members of my family. I owe my greatest thanks to my husband, Jingjing, for his unconditional support and care, and to my son, Maoqi, who is the pride and joy of my life. Weicong Duan Washington University in St. Louis December 2018 v Dedicated to my mom. vi Abstract of the Dissertation Ming China as a Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, and Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620 by Weicong Duan Doctor of Philosophy in History Washington University in St. Louis, 2018 Professor Steven B. Miles, Chair This dissertation explores the transformation of Ming China in the gunpowder age. Focusing on the relation between military technology, politics, and fiscal administration, it closely traces the change of the Ming state in association with the gunpowder revolution. Two aspects of institutional
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