Omens and the Ming emperor – Tale of Two Melons: Emperor and Subject in Ming China

This 141-page book is an evocative book about the relationship between the Ming emperor and his subjects, the ambiguity of omens and the long memory of the Ming bureaucracy.

A farmer finds in his field two melons joined at the stem. He brought it to the Emperor as a sign of auspiciousness of Imperial rule. He and his family were richly rewarded. Yet several years later, the farmer and his brother were executed by the court. This is a case study of these events that took place in 1372.

I read this book in 2014.

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