ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project began its life at Harvard University under the supervision of Michael Szonyi and with advice from Peter K. Bol, Ian Jared Miller, and Paul Warde. It grew by leaps and bounds at the Yale Program in Agrarian Studies, where I was hosted by James C. Scott and K. Sivaramakrishnan, and during two visiting fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science at the invitation of Dagmar Schäfer and Shih-Pei Chen. During its awkward adolescence, I was greatly aided by insights from Paul S. Sutter and Andrew Berzanskis at the University of Washington Press, and from two anonymous reviewers. I am astounded to find it now approaching maturity.

Over the years, I have acquired many other debts. In some ways, this book still feels like my half of a conversation with John S. Lee, one that started after Michael Szonyi’s seminar on late imperial China more than ten years ago. At Harvard, Javier Cha, Sakura Christmas, Tarryn Li-Min Chun, Devon Dear, Maura Dykstra, Devin Fitzgerald, Huan Jin, Macabe Keliher, Angela Huizi Sun, Eric Schluessel, and Wen Yu were important intellectual companions. My path as an environmental historian was decisively influenced by seminars with James L. Watson and Ling Zhang. My research trips were funded by generous grants from the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and the Frederick Sheldon Travelling Fellowship. During my fieldwork in China, I learned a great deal from Zhang Weiran, Liang Hongsheng, and Li Pingliang. Chris Coggins was also kind enough to invite me on another research trip with him and his students. At Yale, I benefited from the insights and companionship of Anthony Acciavatti, Luke Bender, and Sabine Cadeau. At Max Planck, I learned from conversations with Kathlene Baldanza, He Bian, Qun Che, Desmond Cheung, Gregory Scott, and especially Aurelia Campbell and Joseph Dennis. My colleagues in the St. John’s University history department have been exceptionally supportive, with particular thanks to Shahla Hussain, Susie Pak, Nerina Rustomji, and my predecessor Jeffrey Kinkley. Lillian M. Li started me down the path toward Chinese history and remains a key adviser.

Several sections in this book have been particularly influenced by individual conversations. Devin Fitzgerald referred me to the rare book whose images are featured on the cover and in chapter 7. Feedback from David Bello and Micah Muscolino forced me to clarify and strengthen several major claims. The opening anecdote is based on suggestions from Jonathan Schlesinger. Comments from Peter Perdue and Valerie Hansen made me take chapter 2 back to the drawing board. Early elements of chapter 3 were influenced by He Bian; I received insight on a later draft from Dorothy Ko, Chuck Wooldridge, and Madeleine Zelin at the Columbia Modern China Seminar. Chapter 4 was heavily influenced by Maura Dykstra and Joseph McDermott. Chapter 5 was informed by conversations with Meng Zhang and revised with key feedback from Ling Zhang. Chapter 7 owes a great deal to Aurelia Campbell. I also learned a huge amount at “The Wood Age in Asia,” a conference I co-organized with Bradley Camp Davis, Brian Lander, John S. Lee, and K. Sivaramakrishnan and funded by the American Council of Learned Societies and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. There and elsewhere I benefited from discussions with Karl Appuhn, John Elijah Bender, Tristan Brown, Yuan Chen, Fabian Drixler, David Fedman, Stevan Harrell, Kuang-chi Hung, Jung Lee, Joanna Linzer, Robert Marks, Pamela McElwee, Nancy Lee Peluso, Larissa Pitts, Holly Stephens, and Faizah Zakaria.

Finally, I must thank my family, without whom none of this would have been possible. My grandparents, Betty and Wally Miller Sr. and Bob and Vi Fogle Uretz, have been enormously supportive of my education, and this book is dedicated to them. My parents, Jane and Wally Miller, and their partners, Allan Horowitz and Christina Smith, have helped in too many ways to count. My in-laws, He Guomian and Xiao Wenjia, have provided both insight and support. My children, Rye and Kai, have been constant sources of inspiration (and distraction) and accompanied me on more than a few brainstorming “trips to the park.” Most of all, I want to thank my wife, Evelyn, for all the patience, prodding, and persistence it took to bring this to fruition.

Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own, as are any remaining mistakes.