This is a study of landholding, taxation and social structure in one
county of central China that became famous in the Ming and Ch'ing
periods for producing great officials and remarkable intellectual
traditions. The primary aim of the author is to investigate the
composition, organisation and economic basis of the local elite, in
particular the role played by large kinship groups and among her sources
are local gazetteers and lineage genealogies. The importance of the book
is that it looks at the elite in a local context, rather than focusing
on the national elite of top degree-holders and officials. As an
in-depth case study of the history of elite families and lineages,
social structure and social mobility and also economic history in one
locality over five centuries or so the book, is unique and will be of
interest to anthropologists as well as sociologists and historians.