| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 107.4

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 107.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Asia

Jonathan D. Spence. Treason by the Book. New York: Viking. 2001. Pp. xvi, 300. $24.95.

This well-crafted book is about a famous incident that began in 1728 during the Yongzheng emperor's reign when a local teacher from Hunan named Zeng Jing relayed a secret letter via his disciple to the governor general of Shanxi province in Xi'an. Zeng alleged that, to gain the throne, the emperor had ruthlessly murdered his father and several of his brothers in power struggles in Beijing. Time was ripe for overthrow of the dynasty, Zeng thought. He appealed to Yue Zhongqi in Xi'an to lead a revolt against the Manchus and thus add honor to his ancestor Yue Fei, who in the twelfth century had fought against Jurchen invaders, the forebears of the current rulers. 1

Spreading a wide net, the emperor's officials captured the motley crew involved and tracked down every possible rumor and bit of classical scholarship that might have been the source of Zeng Jing's charges. The Yongzheng emperor publicly used the incident to overawe Zeng with his moral legitimacy and to put the rumors concerning his succession to rest. Zeng in turn gained his life, for a time, and returned to Hunan to live comfortably and thereby provide proof of the emperor's clemency. When the Qianlong emperor took power in 1735, however, he immediately set in motion proceedings to have Zeng executed for the licentious charges against his father. . . .

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