Subject: 親王 qīnwáng prince as military commander
Culture: Chinese
Setting: Ming empire, China 15-17thc
Evolution: ... > 1420 Ming qīnwáng
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Clunas/Harrison-Hall eds. 2014 p26 (Craig Clunas, "A second founding: Ming China 1400-1450" p18-43)
"By Ming law, instituted as unchangeable by the founder, those sons not designated as crown prince and heir were established as qinwang ('Princes of the Blood') and granted extensive estates far from the imperial capital, on which they were sent to live. Princes were thus simultaneously removed from the centre of imperial power while serving to validate and exemplify that power throughout the vast empire. The Hongwu emperor had anticipated his sons acting as 'a fence and a screen' for the original imperial capital of Nanjing, commanding extensive military forces destined primarily for defence against the defeated but still formidable Mongols. yet, paradoxically, the entrusting of military power to close relatives was in itself a feature of Mongol rule, and one of many ways in which the organizational structures, as well as the charisma, glamour and style of the descendants of Chinggis Khan (c.1162-1227), continued to be meaningful to early Ming rulers."
"[T]he general disorder that characterized life during the Ming Dynasty, an era when banditry was an issue even in relatively peaceful years, began to erode the ideological walls separating civil and military virtues. Increasingly China’s landed gentry took an interest in military matters, both to preserve their states and the nation as a whole. All of this led to a well-documented revival of the notion of “scholar warriors” and a general consensus that something was needed to strengthen society as a whole. Given this alignment of social forces, it is not a surprise that martial arts gained popularity and were increasingly codified in the late Ming."
Costume
* Clunas/Harrison-Hall eds. 2014 p68 (Jessica Harrison-Hall, "Courts: Palaces, people and objects" p44-111)
"Ming princes, their wives and children represented an imperial presence in the region and their costumes echoed those of the emperor. The princes received salaries and luxury gifts from the emperor to maintain their palaces and staff. Costumes and jewellery were strictly governed by imperial sumptuary laws. Certain fabrics, colours and designs were reserved for court costume to identify the wearer as a member of the imperial household. An imperial edict issued in 1403 banned the general populace from wearing certain fabrics such as gold embroidery, figured gauzes, brocaded damasks and other fine silks. They were also forbidden from wearing particular colours, such as yellow, which was reserved for the court. All early Ming emperors were painted in yellow official robes decorated with dragons for their imperial portraits. As a representative of the emperor in the regions, princes wore yellow dragon robes, too; Prince Huang of Lu, for example, was buried with several yellow silk robes bearing dragon motifs. Both Ming court dress and the court dress of Joseon Korea were influenced by Mongol formal costume. For official duties princes wore jewelled crowns, or official hats, ornate jade, or bejewelled gold belts, as well as dangling sets of jade pendants."
*5000 years of Chinese costumes 1984 p156
"The ordinary dress for men in the Ming Dynasty was chiefly the robe, its features being: large lapel, right opening, broad sleeves, and long enough to cover the knees. Materials used for noblemen's ordinary dress were mainly silk and satin, embroidered with patterns. Brocade was also used.
"Motifs on the robes invariably symbolized luck and fortune, the most common being circular forms of a Chinese character such as shou '壽' (long life) surrounded by round clouds and bats, meaning 'five bats upholding long life' ('bat' in Chinese is '蝠', pronounced as fu, a homonym of '福' (good fortune)). This design was particularly popular during the last years of the Ming Dynasty and the early part of the Qing Dynasty, and it was used not only on costumes, but also on household utensils and architectural decorations.
"The use of the 'baoxiang flower' for adornment on ordinary dress was another trait of men's wear. The baoxiang flower was a symbolic pattern in the shape of a lotus, evergreen plants or peony, but, by means of variations and exaggerations and when threaded with branches and leaves, the pattern was refined into a costume design that was at once graceful and lively. Patterns of this sort were very popular and there are numerous descriptions of them in historical records. They have also been found on items that have been dug up and preserved."
Saber
* Clunas/Harrison-Hall eds. 2014 p154 f132 (David Robinson, "Wu: The arts of war" p112-155)
"The early Ming court received armour and imported sword blades ... as part of gift exchanges with the Ashikaga court of Japan. In June 1433 a Japanese embassy arrived in Beijing bearing tribute, including horses, armour and swords. This delegation was led by the Chinese monk Ryushitsu Doen. As a result of this and other exchanges, the designs of some early fifteenth-century Chinese swords were influenced by Japanese blade design. Pirates (wakō), a mixture of Japanese, Korean, and Chinese crews, blighted Ming marine activities, while relations with the Japanese court fluctuated between being cordial and frosty."
"The existing corpus of Ming poetry provides ample evidence that Japanese swords were highly sought after by even civilian collectors and gentlemen. Much has been written about the quality of these blades. Yet in China they were appreciated just as much for the luxury of their mountings. Hundreds of thousands of other swords found their way into the hands to Imperial government [SIC], and very likely the military, through the highly regulated tribute system. Japanese trade delegations would bring tens of thousands of swords with them, even though official trade regulations limited the number of swords that tribute missions were supposed to provide. Initially lavishly finished Japanese swords were seen as luxury items. Yet when Japanese merchants realized how much they could be sold for, they began to import many times the desired limit. In an attempt to dissuade them, the Chinese government began to cut the price that they were willing to pay for imported blades. Yet the Japanese responded by exporting even larger numbers of more utilitarian, mass produced weapons, to maintain their profit margins (necessary to pay export taxes to the Japanese government)."
* Sprague 2013 p60-61
"China also imported sabers from Japan, which resulted in that some parts of the sword changed to reflect this foreign influence. These changes were particularly noticeable with respect to the hand guard, which, in Japan, had assumed a disk shape (unlike the cruciform shape, technically, called a 'cross-guard,' commonly used in China). This small guard was thought to provide greater protection to the swordsman's hand against the cuts of an enemy's weapon. This grip was large enough to accommodate about a hand and a half, or one full hand and two or three fingers of the second hand. The sword in this period was therefore primarily a one-handed weapon. By contrast, the Japanese katana had a longer grip, which served as an extension of the tang for the purpose of moving the point of percussion to its proper place in the one-third of the blade nearest the tip. (A pommel on the Chinese swords helped adjust the point of percussion and balance of the blade). The Japanese swords could therefore accommodate two hands easier, and became much sought-after commodities considered luxury items. More than 75,000 Japanese swords were exported to China."
Sword
* Bennett 2018 p68
"By the late Tang period, the jian flourished as a weapon of enormous symbolic importance, synonymous with high office and command. It continued to function in this capacity until the end of the imperial era. Such swords denoted superior military or social rank, and would signify the power of their owners during formal processions, at court occasions, or during ceremonies.
"Thus, a jian came to be regarded as a highly prized object. During the Ming dynasty, for example, these swords were sought after as collectible pieces of historical and artistic merit, and gentlemen scholars would use them to decorate their libraries and studies. From the imperial level downwards, the commissioning and gifting of jian could bestow coveted favour or demonstrate respectful tribute, reinforce an alliance or friendship between rulers, and provide a platform for artistic patronage and cultivation of taste."
* Bennett 2018 p70
"As weapons, swords seem to have played a comparatively minor role on the battlefield for Ming forces, who placed greater reliance on cannon, muskets, and staff weapons like the halberd and glaive. Yet despite the fact that it was apparently archaic in nature for the time, this jian is clearly a high status object with a purpose."
* Clunas/Harrison-Hall eds. 2014 p152 (David Robinson, "Wu: The arts of war" p112-155)
"Swords were not only weapons but indicated, by their quality and craftsmanship, both the rank and power of the owner. [....] The sword would have been suspended from the waist using the two loops on the right side of the scabbard."
