Presented By: Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies
LRCCS Noon Lecture Series | The Work and Authority of the Ming Doorman
Sarah Schneewind, Professor of History, University of California, San Diego
This event is in-person only
Although Ming doorkeepers were usually lowly men, often bondservants, a reading of both literary and other sources through the lens of the sociology of daily work reveals that they could wield power over high-ranking people in the context of their workspace. Their employers had to leave certain decisions up to them and had to trust them with delicate information about the household. Their working experience suggests that the term “social status” may not really help historians understand the societies of the past.
Sarah Schneewind holds the post of Professor of History at UC, San Diego. Her earlier interest in state-society relations is represented in two scholarly monographs, Community Schools and the Ming State (2006, Chinese translation 2019) and Shrines to Living Men in the Ming Political Cosmos (2018, Chinese translation 2022); and a micro-history, A Tale of Two Melons: Emperor and Subject in Ming China (2006, Chinese translation forthcoming). Her commitment to teaching resulted in an open-access textbook, An Outline History of East Asia to 1200. She is now abandoning both Ming politics and teaching. Her new interest in people’s working lives has led first to a manual of occupational sociology for historians, also open-access, The Social Drama of Daily Work: A Manual for Historians.
If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at chinese.studies@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
Although Ming doorkeepers were usually lowly men, often bondservants, a reading of both literary and other sources through the lens of the sociology of daily work reveals that they could wield power over high-ranking people in the context of their workspace. Their employers had to leave certain decisions up to them and had to trust them with delicate information about the household. Their working experience suggests that the term “social status” may not really help historians understand the societies of the past.
Sarah Schneewind holds the post of Professor of History at UC, San Diego. Her earlier interest in state-society relations is represented in two scholarly monographs, Community Schools and the Ming State (2006, Chinese translation 2019) and Shrines to Living Men in the Ming Political Cosmos (2018, Chinese translation 2022); and a micro-history, A Tale of Two Melons: Emperor and Subject in Ming China (2006, Chinese translation forthcoming). Her commitment to teaching resulted in an open-access textbook, An Outline History of East Asia to 1200. She is now abandoning both Ming politics and teaching. Her new interest in people’s working lives has led first to a manual of occupational sociology for historians, also open-access, The Social Drama of Daily Work: A Manual for Historians.
If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at chinese.studies@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
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