Evelyn S. Rawski is University Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, coauthor of Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century (1987), and coeditor of Harmony and Counterpoint: Ritual Music in Chinese Context (1996), Death Ritual in Late Imperial and Modern China (California, 1988), and Popular Culture in Late Imperial China (California, 1985).

• List of IllustrationsList of TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPART ONE: THE MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE QING COURT1. The Court Society PART TWO: THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE QING COURT2. The Conquest Elite and the Imperial Lineage 3.Sibling Politics 4. Imperial Women5. Palace ServantsPART THREE: QING COURT RITUALS6. Rulership and Ritual Action in the Chinese Realm7. Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism at Court8. Private RitualsConclusionAppendix 1. Names of Qing Emperors and the Imperial AncestorsAppendix 2. Imperial Princely RanksNotesBibliographyGlossary-Index

"This book is of immense importance to the China field. Evelyn Rawski makes the greatest contribution we can expect from a superior scholarly work: to offer bold conceptual arguments while providing solid groundwork for generations of future researchers." -Susan Mann, author of Precious Records "Rawski's study represents a landmark beginning for a new historiography of China: here is an interior view of an imperial China far more complex and multicultural than previously known." -Dru Gladney, author of Ethnic Identity in China"