Forming the Early Chinese Court: Rituals, Spaces, Roles by Luke Habberstad (review)

A better English rendering would be: “Since I grew up in a prestigious family, I could not help but have a haughty disposition, and so I viewed things in the world as being beneath (my) notice.” This is a minor problem. The writing in the book, with only a handful of exceptions, is well formed, clear, and concise. Chiu’s book is a valuable introduction in English to a heretoforesomewhat-overlooked but important genre of late imperial folksong. The case she makes on the hybridity of Manchu society during the Qing dynasty will add much to the ongoing debate on Sinification of the Manchus.