Mandarins and Heretics: The Construction of "Heresy" in Chinese State Discourse by Junqing Wu (review)

emperor’s 嘉靖 (1522–66) anti-Buddhist measures, as well as the diminished influence (and slashed stipends) of local principalities. This matter warrants attention, because the mid-sixteenth century truly marks the end of the social order that followed the Mongol invasion. Fourth, one would like to know more about Daoist clergy who did not belong to the Quanzhen order but still filled vital roles in Shanxi religious life. At the Cangshan shrine, for example, literati supplied no fewer than five stelae for the resident Daoists in the 1631–44 period, suggesting that clergy commanded considerable respect (p. 250, n. 105). Finally, as the site of north China’s pre-eminent Buddhist site, Mount Wutai, and home to many large, extremely expensive Ming principalities, Shanxi was special, and one wonders if the local histories of other north China regions took similar trajectories in the 1200–1600 epoch. Such questions aside, this work charts new territories in late imperial religious and social history. It employs many epigraphical collections only recently published or rarely used. It has useful maps, charts, and photographs. Wang writes in lucid, succinct prose, and her forceful conclusion synthesizes ably the book’s arguments and compares instructively her results with the social landscapes of south China. Her astute, path-breaking study deserves the attention of all late imperial historians and will be read and discussed for many years to come.