Art, Politics, and Palace Eunuchs in Ming China, 1368-1644

This is the first in-depth analysis of the place of the Ming palace eunuchs in the social history of Chinese art, examining the intricate intersections of art, politics, and palace eunuchs in the Ming dynasty. In addition to articulating the elite eunuchs' roles as important power brokers in the political arena, this monograph offers a balanced view of Ming eunuchs, with evidence of their accomplishments as book authors, editors, and compilers, poets, calligraphers, and art collectors, the Confucian scholars' typical literati pursuits. By exploring both the positive and negative roles that palace eunuchs played in the Ming's visual culture, this book reveals that Ming palace eunuchs, as supervisors of both the imperial art collection and the imperial art academy, and as powerful art collectors themselves, made various significant impacts on the contemporary art criticism, art market, and art-collecting patterns. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, Sinology, and Chinese studies.

Scarlett Jang is the Professor Emerita of Art History at Williams College, USA.

Introduction 1. Political Eunuchism and Related Phenomena in the Ming 2. Talented Castrati in the Imperial City 3. Taijian and the So-called Ming Imperial Painting Academy 4. Taijian and Imperial Art Production 5. Emperors, Palace Eunuchs, and the Imperial Art Collection 6. The Ruthless Eunuch Art Plunderers 7. Two Outstanding Eunuch Art Collections in Fifteenth-Century China 8. Social Class and the Politics of Taste