Ming Studies is the journal of the Society for Ming Studies, a non-profit academic organization devoted to the dissemination of knowledge about the Ming period in Chinese history (1368-1644). The society brings together scholars from North America, Europe and Asia, and convenes annually in conjunction with the Association for Asian Studies. Panels and roundtable discussions are regularly organized or supported. The Society also produces occasional research monographs and technical materials for Ming scholars.Appearing twice a year, Ming Studies presents news of the field and book reviews along with significant articles of current scholarship on all aspects of Chinese society from the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries. All articles are peer-reviewed, and should present original, innovative research and interpretation, making substantial contributions to the state of the field. Ming Studies occasionally devotes special issues to particular themes, often deriving from conferences or other collaborative research and scholarly activity. Recent examples have included work on the Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang, the sixteenth century scholar-official Wang Shizhen, and Discourses on Disorder in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century China. Preface to Volumes 85–86 ArticlesPublic Discourse and Private Sentiment: Ritual Controversies, Ritual Authority, and Political Succession in Ming and ChosŏnYiming HaPages: 4-29AbstractIn this article I explore the issue of ritual authority in the Ming and Chosŏn through a comparison of the Great Rites Controversy and the Injo Rites Dispute which occurred a century later. I argue that Ming Taizu created an alternative source of ritual authority predicated on natural emotions through his changing of the national mourning code. By utilizing this source of ritual authority, Shizong and his allies undermined the ritual authority of the classical texts and Neo-Confucian commentaries cited by their opponents and in doing so not only won the conflict but also increased the ritual authority of the emperor vis-à-vis the bureaucracy. In Chosŏn, on the other hand, both sides argued along Song Neo-Confucian lines and rejected Ming ritual authority. Nonetheless, the lack of an alternate source of ritual authority that King Injo could rely upon led him to turn to the Ming for support in a calculated political move to end the dispute in his favor. Humanity may Triumph over Heaven. Wang Tingxiang’s Natural Philosophy in its Historical ContextKanghun AhnPages: 30-61AbstractThis paper examines Wang Tingxiang’s natural philosophy within its historical context. Wang left numerous accounts on natural phenomena in which he sought to discover the causes or hidden mechanisms of the processes he uncovered. To this end, he first had to radically deconstruct the so-called correlative thinking that perceives a fundamental connection between humanity and the natural world. Wang deemed this worldview a critical blockage of his scholarly aim and instead articulated his empirical stance as an alternative pathway. In this sense, he emphasized the sensory data gathered from direct observations as the only legitimate source of natural knowledge. With such data, aided by the human faculty of thinking, one could eventually uncover the principles that underpin natural phenomena. Further, it is crucial to understand why and in what context Wang proposed this empirical stance. To answer this question, I highlight the environmental crisis associated with the Little Ice Age that resulted in numerous natural disasters during Wang’s time. In order then to overcome such disasters, Wang emphasized the accurate understanding of natural phenomena so that people could predict future outbreaks of such disasters, thereby preventing the (re)occurrence of potential harms. Although Wang’s worldview enjoyed little to no popularity in his time, a similar empirical strand re-emerged and garnered greater attention as the environmental crisis grew more severe during the seventeenth century. Is the Pursuit of Self-Interest Really Selfish? Li Zhi’s Challenge to some well Established Categories for a New Anthropological ConceptPaolo SantangeloPages: 62-133AbstractSelf-motivation and self-interest are the main themes of Li Zhi’s discourse, worth attention not only for moral implications but also because they are the basis for the construction of a new self, the premise of a renewed anthropological idea of the individual. The article reexamines some of Li Zhi’s ideas that locate the motivation issue in a person able to keep freedom, autonomy and tolerance, and imply his exploration of questions such as human nature, self-cultivation, autonomy and happiness. Li Zhi's construction of the self, based on desire, spontaneity and authenticity, implies the centrality of the same self, the search for happiness, and the consequent basic motivation of human behavior, and the refusal of morality that ignores innate self-interest. Li’s individualistic model claims the priority of free private space for each individual, and yet is framed in a holistic cosmic and social vision. Li Zhi redesigns values such as authenticity, autonomy, inner freedom, and heart-mind. InterviewInterview with Scholars of the MingTian Yuan Tan & Wilt L. IdemaPages: 134-143 Ming NewsNational/International ConferencesPages: 144-155