Blog: Why Were Chinese Imperial Families Prone to Killing Each Other?

Editor’s note: Throughout Chinese history, imperial families were some of the fiercest battlegrounds. Emperors stopped at nothing to hold on to power. At the instigation of wily courtiers, they might have even executed their kin without batting an eyelid. Li Jingkui says that economically speaking, this has to do with the logic of contract theory — there was no neutral arbiter in leadership transitions. Without a third party to oversee the proceedings, family members were often subjected to the tyranny of the “lion king.” But under those circumstances, could anyone else other than the emperor have held court?