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Acknowledgments This work has benefited from the suggestions and insights of many people, none of whom bears any responsibility for its shortcomings . Jonathan Spence, Conrad Totman, and Beatrice Bartlett all devoted a great deal of time and energy to directing the research and writing of the early versions of this work. Conversations with and comments from Bin Wong, Ken Pomeranz, David Kelley, Yu Ying-shih, Dan Markwyn, Valerie Hansen, Jane Kate Leonard, and the anonymous readers of the manuscript helped me refine the overall direction of the book. I owe a special note of thanks to Monica Yu for her help in extracting the dynamic reality of Qing river engineering from the abstruse language of bureaucratic documents. Naomi Igra did splendid work on the maps. Funding for research was provided by the Committee for Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University. Additional funding came from the China Times Cultural Foundation. I am deeply indebted to the staff of the Palace Museum Archives, particularly Ms. Wang Ching-hung and Mr. Chang Pi-te, and the staff of the No. One Historical Archives, especially Mr. Zhu Deyuan. I would also like to thank Professor Wei Qingyuan and Ms. Yang Xueping for their support during my stay at People’s University. ix ...

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