ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For their help in gathering the source materials for this book, I am indebted to Hoyt Purvis, my student Takashi Yasuda, and my brother Wen-ching. I also had the advantage of relying upon the works of fellow Ming scholars who have done detailed research in various aspects of history. In particular, I wish to acknowledge my debt to Edward L. Dreyer and Chu Hung for information on early Ming politics, Edward L. Farmer on early Ming legislation, Shang Chuan on anecdotes about Yongle’s childhood, and Terada Takanobu on Yongle’s campaign maps. As usual, my son Rocky was my first editor and critic and has modified my prose, clarified my thought, and given me his unstinting support. I am grateful to Beverly Butcher, who spent five hot summer weeks reading the entire manuscript and gave me some invaluable suggestions. I also wish to thank University of Washington Press acquiring editors Michael Duckworth, who found two very able and thoughtful readers to help me improve my manuscript, and Lorri Hagman, who painstakingly copyedited it.

Throughout the project’s duration, colleagues and friends in Asia, America, and Europe have provided inspiration, encouragement, and assistance. They include Chang Tsun-wu, Chen San-jing, Ena Chao, Hsiung Ping-chen (all at Academia Sinica in Taiwan), Tom C. Kennedy, Bill F. Tucker, Cheng Yungchang, Tan Tianxing, Paul Holbo, Dan Ferritor, Carl Jacobson, Robert G. Finlay, Doug Merwin, Shaun Tougher, and Harry Lamley. I owe much to Ing-chang Jong for teaching me how to use Chinese software, Jenny Xu for proofreading pinyin transliteration, and Kimberly M. Chenault for printing several different drafts of the manuscript. I also wish to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to several dozens of my students who signed up for summer tours with me to study the Yangzi River (1986), the Silk Road (1988), Mongolia and Manchuria (1995), and Tibet and Nepal (1999). Last but not least, I want to thank my physician daughter Shirley Tsai for regularly monitoring my health during the course of my writing this book.

I am also grateful to the National Palace Museum of Taiwan for permission to use photographs of several items from its Ming collection. Research was conducted with the aid of a Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Special Research Assignment from the University of Arkansas, and a grant from the Walton Family Charitable Foundation.