The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern and Western Depots of the Ming Dynasty

Uncovering the Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern and Western Depots, the Ming's terrifying secret police! With the emperor's approval and indulgence, the Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern and Western Depots, these secret police organizations, grew unchecked. Combined with the centralization of power reaching its height during the Ming, this made it the period in Chinese history with the most numerous and powerful secret police agencies. Under the old political system, the emperor was not isolated from the people he ruled. On the contrary, his position was always on the brink of danger. Beneath the sacred throne of imperial dignity, a volcano was forever brewing, ready to erupt. To protect their rule, emperors had no choice but to devise every means of repression. Public criminal laws, military academies, and courts were not enough, and were not always convenient to use. They also needed special organizations, prisons, and investigators to create an atmosphere of terror and keep watch over every suspicious person. In the Ming Dynasty, the organizations tasked with these special missions were the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern and Western Depots. As the representatives of the Ming Dynasty's “secret police politics,” these three agencies have long remained poorly understood in terms of their histories and functions. Taking a rigorous and impartial approach to history and drawing on authentic historical sources, this book offers a detailed account of how the three secret police agencies developed and evolved. It delves into the truth hidden beneath the terrifying political façade of the Ming's Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern and Western Depots, and lays bare the many contradictions and failings of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the reasons for its rise and decline.