Parting Ways: Daoism, Politics, and the Ming Book in Zhu Quan’s Letter to Yongle

In the “Epistle” (“Shang tianfu shenyin jiashu” 上天府神隱家書), the Prince of Ning Zhu Quan 寧王朱權 (1378–1448) presents the book Shenyin 神隱 (Divine Hermitage) to Yongle (Zhu Di 朱棣, 1360–1424). The “Epistle” is the first document to announce Zhu Quan’s transition to the status of divine author True Lord from the Southern Pole. This article argues that the letter must be interpreted as a political act. Its three sections examine the letter in terms of its materiality, context, and purpose. It demonstrates that the letter is the means by which Zhu Quan attempts to bring carefully crafted claims about his alleged competence as an imperial preceptor into reality. In so doing, it reexamines the relevance of Daoism for Ming political culture.