Early career
Li graduated ''Remonstrance
Over the following years, Li addressed a series of letters to the emperor detailing the horrendous acts that the mining commissioners had committed and how these unpunished crimes reflected poorly on the throne's ability to maintain order in the state. Li Sancai introduces one of his most famous remonstrance's by posing a question towards the throne asking how Wanli could let people commit these crimes in his name: "Where do things stand now? Not only do You not give them clothes to wear, You take their clothing as Your property; not only do You not give them enough to eat, You take their food as Your property." :et Your Majestythink about it a moment in the calm in the night and in the comfort of His palace: can His wise heart stand uch things or is it impossible? Stay in peace, or is it impossible? Your servant knows that He cannot tolerate it, that He cannot remain in peace. There are the desires of one man, but there are also those of the multitude f his subjects Your Majesty loves pearls and jade but the people equally love to be warm and well fed. Your Majesty loves he idea that his descendants will succeed him forten thousand generations, but the people are equally attached to their wives and children. How can Your Majesty wish for His gold to pile up to the Pole Star yet prevent the people from keeping in reserve a single bushel of chaff? How can He want to assure His children and grandchildren a future of a thousand and ten thousand years yet prevent the people from foreseeing in the morning what will happen in the evening? Read the documents of the past: has the court ever issued such directives, the Empire ever presented such a sight, without there being rebellion?
Differences between Li Sancai and The Donglin Faction
While Li and the Donglin both came together over their opposition towards Wanli's tax policy, they differed slightly in why they opposed it. Li objected to the policy on a pragmatic level, even admitting in the beginning that the state had an obligation to defend its interests in Korea and thus had a right to enact additional taxes on the people in order to pay for the war. In contrast to this many of Li's supporters viewed the Donglin opposition primarily as a philosophical movement. Li's pragmatic and empathetic attitude, which allowed him to see the situation from the state's point of view, is important because much of the criticism directed against Wanli's mine tax policy was from a purely philosophical stance that did not leave room for any other perspectives. Even though Li was strong willed and opinionated few other Donglin remonstrators would admit that the state had a legitimate taxing the people the way it did.Miller, Harry. "Newly Discovered Source Sheds Light On Late Ming Faction: Reading Li Sancai's Fl! Huai Mao Cao." Ming Studies 2003.1 (2003): 126-40. Web. pg. 131References
*Delmas-Marty, Mireille, Pierre-Etienne Will, and Naomi Norberg. ''China, Democracy, and Law: A Historical and Contemporary Approach''. Leiden: Brill, 2012. Print. *Geng, Yunzhi. An Introductory Study on China's Cultural Transformation in Recent Times. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. *Miller, Harry. State versus Gentry in Late Ming Dynasty China, 1572–1644. New York City: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print. *Miller, Harry. "Newly Discovered Source Sheds Light On Late Ming Faction: Reading Li Sancai's Fl! Huai Mao Cao." ''Ming Studies'' 2003.1 (2003): 126–40. Web.Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sancai, Li Year of birth unknown 1624 deaths Ming dynasty government officials Donglin partisans People from Tongzhou