Book description
In 1728 a stranger handed a letter to Governor Yue calling on him to
lead a rebellion against the Manchu rulers of China. Feigning
agreement, he learnt the details of the plot and immediately informed
the Emperor, Yongzheng. The ringleaders were captured with ease,
forced to recant and, to the confusion and outrage of the public, spared.
Drawing on an enormous wealth of documentary evidence - over a
hundred and fifty secret documents between the Emperor and his agents
are stored in Chinese archives - Jonathan Spence has recreated this
revolt of the scholars in fascinating and chilling detail. It is a
story of unwordly dreams of a better world and the facts of
bureaucratic power, of the mind of an Emperor and of the uses of his mercy.
Jonathan D. Spence, Sterling Professor of History at Yale University,
is the award-winning author of a remarkable body of work on Chinese
culture and history, including THE SEARCH FOR MODERN CHINA, GOD'S
CHINESE SON and THE CHAN'S GREAT CONTINENT.
