Cities of Jiangnan in Late Imperial China

Linda Cooke Johnson is Associate Professor in the Department of History at Michigan State University. She is the author of The Great Scheme for Commercial Intercourse: The Chinese, the British, and the Opening of Shanghai, and The Creation of a Pre-Colonial Port City: Shanghai 1730-1850.

• Illustrations Preface Introduction: City and Region in the Lower YangziWilliam T. Rowe 1. Heaven on Earth: The Rise of Suzhou, 1127-1550Michael Marme 2. Late Ming Urban Reform and the Popular Uprising in HangzhouSusumu FumaTranslated by Michael Lewis 3. Urban Society in Late Imperial SuzhouPaolo SantangeloTranslated by Adam Victor 4. Yangzhou: A Central Place in the Qing EmpireAntonia Finnane 5. Shanghai: An Emerging Jiangnan Port, 1683-1840Linda Cooke Johnson Appendices Notes Glossary Bibliography

"This book creates a strong cumulative sense of what cities in this region were like socially and culturally in addition to showing the cities' economic and political functions. That is, the chapters, in combination with the editor's preface and William T. Rowe's introduction, add up to a very strong, coherent work. There is a wealth of detail and a number of lovely anecdotes as well as a very serious concern for larger social science issues like regional economic geography, 'internal colonialism,' and the relationship between urban development and civic and political consciousness."Some portions, like Susumu Fuma's account of the political career of Ding Shiqing, are absolutely riveting. Others like Antonia Finnane's portrait of Yangzhou culture are wonderfully evocative. But in every case, even when rather complex and demanding (of the reader) arguments are being made concerning economic or administrative issues, the writing is clear, forceful, and rewarding. The authors have not only provided new case studies but have done so through an admirable up-to-date survey of the relevant literatures on such subjects as Chinese urban history and comparative urban development." — David Strand, Dickinson College