The Art Of Doing Good: Charity In Late Ming China

"[Smith] convincingly proves that charity was a vibrant motivation for many in [the Ming] period." Chinese Cross Currents "Few if any equals in the scholarly studies of the actual working of local politics in late imperial China." -- Joseph McDermott Journal Of Chinese Studies "This is an extraordinary book which, in addition to adding a wealth of detail on life at the local level to the existing literature on the late Ming, also offers sophisticated analysis of the diaries on which it is largely based." -- Andrea Janku Bltn Of Sch Of Oriental & African Stds "This volume raises a great number of relevant questions with regard to China today." -- Andre Laliberte, translated by Jonathan Hall China Perspectives "The book adds... to our understanding of charity in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century China, but also to our broader grasp of Ming society." Chinese Historical Review "An extraordinary book." -- Andrea Janku Bltn Of Sch Of Oriental & African Stds "A contribution to the study of premodern China's social elite ... the book deepens our understanding of gentry identity." -- Helen Dunstan American Historical Review "An important, well-researched book that fills a void left by the lack of similar publications on this topic." -- V. J. Symons Choice