1/46 - Ming Dynasty 1566 大明王朝1566 - Eng Subs 英文字幕 - Super HD 超高清

Adolf Goebbels
Published on Nov 19, 2023
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Ming Dynasty 1566 (大明王朝1566)

Release date: 2007
Director: Zhang Li

A vivid study of bureaucracy and corruption in imperial China.

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyED3III7lHMXbM4pd-YX6VW1JBkm4e0V

Historical background of the show: the Ming Dynasty was founded in 1368. The reigning emperor, Jiajing, was the 12th in the line. The emperor was known for being a faithful adherent to Taoism, and spent more time pursuing immortality than ruling. The imperial court was at this time controlled by Yan Song and his son, alongside the eunuchs.

1: The Forbidden City was constructed in the Ming Dynasty at its current location in Beijing. The Meridian Gate (Wumen) was the main gate to the palace complex.

2: Caning (廷杖) was a form of corporal punishment performed exclusively on government officials and carried out at the Meridian Gate. Only a few dynasties in history had codified physical chastisement for its officials. Ming was one of them. Caning was administered by the Eastern Depot, a branch of the Ming secret police, manned by eunuchs.

3: The Grand Chamberlainery (司礼监), in charge of recording and issuing imperial decrees, consisted of the most powerful eunuchs in the palace. The Grand Chamberlains had power comparable to that of the highest court officials.

4: The Inner Council or Grand Secretariat (内阁) was composed of the most powerful officials of the Ming Dynasty: the Grand Secretaries (大学士). The decisions made by the Inner Council were passed down and executed by the Six Ministries (Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Works). The Inner Council was led by the Head Secretary, in this case, Yan Song.

5: The two capitals were Beijing and Nanjing. For a list of the provinces see here.

6: The Foreign Trade Commission (市舶司) was a major source of income for the Ming empire. Despite the silk road being blocked in the west, trade still occurred in high volume by sea from ports such as Canton. The number of ports that stayed open constantly fluctuated during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. What is certain is that foreign trade, while lucrative, was also heavily restricted by the government.

7: Built originally in the Sui Dynasty, the Grand Canal connected Hangzhou to Beijing and was one of the greatest feats of infrastructure in imperial China.

8: To be exact, the area referred to is 南洋, literally “south ocean.” In Ming, this referred to island nations in the vicinity of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, all of which were tributaries of China.

9: Here is the original text to the poem written by Li Ao: 练得身形似鹤形，千株松下两函经；我来问道无余说，云在青天水在瓶。To be frank I have no idea how to translate it or what it means. But like many Tang Dynasty poems it is probably more about the imagery than the content.

10: On weights and measures: A stone (石, pronounced dan) is 100 liters of rice, or about 60 kg. It’s pretty confusing since the picul (担, also pronounced dan) is a measurement of weight and is also about 60kg. These are used interchangeably sometimes. The imperial tael (两) is 37.5g. One tael of silver would only be worth $17 USD today. However the purchasing power of silver was much higher during Ming. A middle-class family could live on ~20 taels of silver for a year. Woven fabric and silk are measured in Pi (匹 ) which, here I translated as “bolt.” In reality a Pi is 40 Chinese feet (尺) or ~12 meters, which is shorter than a bolt of fabric today (40-100 yards).

Full annotations with links: https://dinnermonologues.wordpress.com/2018/09/10/ming-dynasty-1566-english-captions-and-annotations/