Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. Contents VII
3. List of Illustrations IX
4. Acknowledgments XI
5. Introduction 1
6. PART ONE. The Setting
7. 1. The Land: Its Settlement, Use, and Appreciation 9
8. PART TWO. The Pressures of Change
9. 2. Managing the Local Wealth 47
10. 3. The Demography of Family and Class 79
11. 4. Patrilineal Groups and Their Transformation 112
12. 5. Pathways to Ming Government 139
13. PART THREE. T'ai-Ho Literati in the Wider World of Ming China
14. 6. Colleagues and Protégés: The Fifteenth-Century World of the T'ai-ho Grand Secretaries 173
15. 7. Cutting Loose: The Provocative Style of Yin Chih (1427-1511) 196
16. 8. Philosophical Furors 215
17. Conclusion and Epilogue 247
18. Notes 255
19. Bibliography 297
20. Index 311