''1587, a Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline'' () is the most famous work of the Chinese

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

Ray Huang Ray Huang (; 25 June 19188 January 2000) was a Chinese-American historian and philosopher who was an officer in the National Revolutionary Army and fought in the Burma Campaign. In 1964, Huang earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of M ...

. First published by

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

in 1981, it examines how a number of seemingly-insignificant events in 1587 might have caused the downfall of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. The Chinese title, meaning "the fifteenth year of the Wanli era", is how the year 1587 was expressed in the

Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ��曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ��曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar ��曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...

; it is the

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year o ...

of the reigning

Chinese emperor ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heaven ...

at the time, followed by the year of his reign. Major figures discussed in the book besides the emperor are Grand Secretaries

Zhang Juzheng Zhang Juzheng (; 26 May 1525 – 9 July 1582), courtesy name Shuda (), pseudonym Taiyue (), was a Chinese politician who served as Senior Grand Secretary () in the late Ming dynasty during the reigns of the Longqing and Wanli emperors. He rep ...

and

Shen Shixing Shen Shixing (1535-1614) was a Chinese politician of the Ming dynasty born in Changzhou County, South Zhili (present-day Suzhou). Due to Zhang Juzheng's help, he was appointed the Ministry of Rites, Minister of Rites and afterwards Ministry of Perso ...

, the official

Hai Rui Hai Rui (海瑞; ''Hǎi Ruì'' ; 23 January 1514 – 13 November 1587), courtesy name Ruxian (汝贤), art name Gangfeng (刚峰), was a Chinese scholar-official of the Ming dynasty, remembered as a model of honesty and integrity in office. A p ...

, the general

Qi Jiguang Qi Jiguang (, November 12, 1528 – January 17, 1588), courtesy name Yuanjing, art names Nantang and Mengzhu, posthumous name Wuyi, was a Chinese military general and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for leading the defense on the ...

, and the philosopher

Li Zhi Li Zhi may refer to: *Emperor Gaozong of Tang (628–683), named Li Zhi, Emperor of China *Li Ye (mathematician) (1192–1279), Chinese mathematician and scholar, birth name Li Zhi *Li Zhi (philosopher) (1527–1602), Chinese philosopher from the M ...

. Although Huang had completed the

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

by 1976, no publisher would accept it at first, as it was not serious enough for an academic work but was too serious for popular non-fiction. The work has been translated into a number of different languages:

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, and French.

Adaptations

''1587'' was adapted into a play by the

Zuni Icosahedron Zuni Icosahedron is a Hong Kong-based international experimental theatre company. Founded in 1982, Zuni is one of the nine major professional performing arts groups subsidised by the HKSAR government and has produced more than 190 original produc ...

director Mathias Woo, which premièred in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 1999. The second production was in 2006, after Woo and the ''

Towards the Republic ''Towards the Republic'', also known as ''For the Sake of the Republic'' and ''Zou Xiang Gong He'' (), is a Chinese historical television series first broadcast on CCTV in China from April to May 2003. The series is based on events which occurred ...

'' screenwriter Zhang Jianwei ( 張建偉) had rewritten the script by adding a considerable amount of

Kun opera Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...

and other elements. There was a third run in 2008.

References

External links

The Book
on

Review
by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

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專訪﹕《萬曆十五年》編導胡恩威香港演繹萬曆十五年的傳奇
1981 non-fiction books 20th-century history books History books about the Ming dynasty Yale University Press books 1587 in China {{china-hist-book-stub