A selection of 7 papers, early drafts of which were originally presented at the Research Conference on Ming Government held in 1965 at the University of Illinois under the sponsorship of the Committee on Studies of Chinese Civilization of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Ming Biographical History Project Committee of the Association for Asian Studies.

Contents: Introduction -- The transition from Yuan to Ming. Deterioration of Mongol control ; Rebellions of the 1350s and 1360s ; The rise of Chu Yuan-chang ; Expulsion of the Mongols -- Organizing the new dynasty. Continuing military operations ; Creation of the Ming government ; T'ai-tsu's administrative policies, personnel, domestic administration, foreign relations and defense ; The quality of T'ai-tsu's reign -- T'ai-tsu's legacy: the mature Ming autocracy. Dynastic disruption and restoration ; Limited decentralization of authority ; Eunuch power and its abuses ; Imperial power: its limits and effects.

The traditional Chinese state in Ming times (1368-1644) / Charles O. Hucker.
"In ... slightly different form this essay was prepared as a contribution to a conference on political power in traditional China ... held at Laconia, New Hampshire, in September, 1959".
Includes bibliographical note. Title also in Chinese: Mingdai zhengzhi kao 明代政治考.