Victor Cunrui Xiong is Professor of History at Western Michigan University, USA. His recent publications include From Peasant to Emperor: The Life of Liu Bang (2018) and Luoyang: A Study of Capital Cities and Urban Form in Premodern China, 1038 BCE to 938 CE (2016).

Kenneth J. Hammond is Professor of History at New Mexico State University, USA. His recent publications include The Sage Returns: Aspects of the Confucian Revival in Contemporary China (2014) and Pepper Mountain: The Life, Death and Posthumous Career of Yang Jisheng (2007).

Introduction Part I: Early Imperial China (Qin-Five Dynasties) Section 1 The Qin-Han Empire 1. The Qin Dynasty, Charles Sanft 2. The Western Han, Liang CAI 3. The Eastern Han, Rafe de Crespigny Section 2 The Six Dynasties 4. The Three States (Three Kingdoms), Michael Farmer 5. The Jin and the Sixteen States, Kawamoto Yoshiaki 6. The Southern and Northern Dynasties, Andrew Chittick Section 3 The Sui-Tang Empire and Five Dynasties 7. The Sui Dynasty, Victor Cunrui Xiong 8. The Tang Dynasty I (618-756), Seo Tatsuhiko 9. The Tang Dynasty II (756-907), Antony DeBlasi 10. The Five Dynasties, Peter Lorge Part II: Late Imperial China (Song-Qing) Section 4 The Age of Song, Liao, and Jin 11. The Northern Song, Yongguang HU 12. The Southern Song, Robert Foster 13. The Khitan-Liao and Jurchen-Jin, Valerie Hansen Section 5 The Yuan and Ming Empires 14. The Yuan Dynasty, Michael Carl Brose 15. The Ming Dynasty(pre-1521), Peter Ditmanson 16. The Ming Dynasty (post-1521,) Harry Miller 17. Yuan-Ming Culture, Kenneth J. Hammond Section 6 The Qing Empire 18. The Qing Dynasty (pre-1800), Yang-wen ZHENG 19. The Qing Dynasty (post-1800), Nancy Park 20. Qing Culture, Richard Smith