Ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ruefully I Recall That On

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ruefully I recall that on two separate occasions two different American colleagues told me that there is “a place in Heaven” for those who publish bibliographical and historio- graphical studies of research fields in which they have worked, because it saves so much effort on the part of future investigators. In the course of preparing this monograph I have come to understand, through many frustrations, why that “place” surely is even more underpopulated than Heaven as a whole. And many times I have worried that work on this tome would send me thither—more likely to “the other place” than to Heaven— before it was finished! Regardless of which place reviewers may consign me to, the ministrations of hosts of angels—both individual and institutional—have been indispen- sable blessings. Chief among those haloed, winged beings have been the numerous librarians who have patiently and expertly ministered to my special bibliographical needs. Day to day at my home institution was Thomas H. Lee 李學博, then head of the Indiana University Libraries East Asian Collection, who benignly listened to my prayers and lamentations and proceeded—in collusion with his able assistant, Shelby Chen 陳冬蘭—to work miracles in getting the information or material I needed. Wen-ling Liu 劉雯玲, then in Cataloging, “rushed” things for me more often than I can remember. A fine representa- tive at IU of the usually unsung heroes in East Asian interibrary loan services is Ron Luedemann. And Tae-min (Kim) Park 朴(金)泰敏 in Serials repeatedly took time from her normal duties to help me with the correct citation of Korean works. Elsewhere in North America, Ma Tailoi 馬泰來, past curator of the University of Chicago East Asian Library, Martin Heijdra at the East Asian Library of Princeton Uni- versity, Timothy Connor, then at the Harvard-Yenching Library of Harvard University, and Mi Chu Wiens of the Chinese Section, Asian Division, of the Library of Congress were especially helpful. Also much appreciated are the staffs of the East Asian collections of Columbia University and the University of Michigan. In East Asia, although my research in primary sources of the Ming-Qing conflict began at the Research Institute for Humanistic Studies of Kyoto University, most of my work subsequently was done in libraries located in the various parts of China—Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the People’s Republic of China. I am deeply grateful for all the good service, special consideration, and extraordinary assistance I have received from the directors and staffs of the precious old-book collections in those institutions. My most sustained early work was at the Academia Sinica in Taipei—to some extent in the Library of the Institute of Modern History but mostly in the Fu Sinian Memorial Library of the Institute of History and Philology, where my friends Su Tongbing 蘇同炳 and Yu Shouyun 余壽雲, now retired, often responded to my needs. Also, of course, I liberally took advantage of the excellent services offered by the National Central Library in Taipei, where the director of the Center for Chinese Studies, then Liu Xianshu 劉顯叔, was of stalwart service to countless foreign scholars. And at the Library of the National Palace Museum, then-director Wang Jinghong 王景鴻 was unfailingly hospitable, and ix the renowned scholar of Manchu and early-Qing sources, Chuang Chi-fa 莊吉發, generously shared his knowledge with me, as with many other visiting specialists. In the People’s Republic, the personnel of the Rare Books Reading Room of the National Library of Beijing always quietly allowed me to call up numbers of books far beyond the stipulated limit and bent over backward to facilitate my copy requests. The former head (now retired) of the rich old-books collection at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Cui Jianying 崔建英, kindly welcomed me and imparted some of his great knowledge of rare Chinese books in response to my queries. Colleagues and librarians at the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences actually provided me with personal desk space in the Xie Guozhen Memorial Collection and made me feel like one of their own. Very helpful, also, were the scholars and staff personnel of the First Historical Archives of China, not only in retrieving materials but also in advising me about bodies of documents and explaining their provenance. For access to the wonderful rare books collection at Beijing University, I am most indebted to Shen Naiwen 沈乃文, whose helpfulness and expertise are fully matched by his good cheer. My work at the Library of Beijing Normal University was made maximally efficient by the cooperative and well-prepared Old Materials Reading Room staff. And my visits to the scenic Capital Library, though regrettably few, were aided by the old-materials specialist there, Guo Ya’nan 郭亞南. Outside the capital, I have worked mostly in Shanghai, where my best “library angel” was Wu Ge 吳格, the true scholar and gentleman who heads the Old Materials Section of the Fudan University Libraries. In particular, if he had not made available to me, at an early point in my 1991–92 research sojourn, prepublication drafts of certain parts of the Zhongguo guji shanben shumu 中國古籍善本書目, many of the most valuable entries in part two of this monograph simply would not be there. And if the personnel in charge of the Rare Books Section of the Shanghai Library had not magnan- imously allowed me to literally “use the back door” to their collection, and had not simply brought the books on my long list as fast as I could take them, I never would have been able to accomplish one-tenth of what I did there. During renovation of the usual quarters of the Rare Books Division of the Zhejiang Provincial Library, when that division formally was closed, the staff cleared a desk for me in their small work space high on the peninsular ridge overlooking West Lake in the stone vault where a manu- script copy of the Siku quanshu 四庫全書 is housed. Their good-natured acceptance of my intrusion, as well as the initiative they took in introducing me to some unique items, will always be remembered. Very gratifying, also, were my research experiences in Shenyang, where I was assisted both expertly and with warm hospitality by the directors and staffs of the Liaoning Provincial and Shenyang City Libraries, the Liaoning Provin- cial Archives, the Shenyang Palace Library and Archives, and the Liaoning University Library. Similarly accommodating were the scholars and staffs of the Old Materials and Special Collections divisions of the Nanjing Library, the Ming-Qing History Research Office and the Library of Nankai University, the Hangzhou University Library, the Library and the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, the History Department of Sichuan University, and the Fung Ping Shan Library at the University of Hong Kong. Equally important have been the services of many individual scholars, who have given generously of their time and energy and shown confidence in my work by arrang- ing convenient local accommodations for me, standing as my sponsor within their respec- x tive institutions, and providing crucial introductions to holders of the keys to special knowledge and resources. Early in my perfumation by the camphor-scented halls of Chinese old-book repositories, the late, venerated Ch’ü Wan-li 屈萬里 enabled me to live on the grounds of the Academia Sinica in the Nankang suburb of Taipei and become the first non-Chinese Visiting Scholar of the Institute of History and Philology. “In town,” Ruaan Jy-sheng 阮芝生 of the History Department, National Taiwan University, always attended to my best interests—including my interest in fine Chinese teas. In Shanghai, Zhu Weizheng 朱維錚 of the History Department, Fudan University, never failed to take time from his extremely busy professional schedule to assist me in all manner of things, large and small. In Beijing, Lin Teijun 林鐵鈞 and Huang Aiping 黃愛平 of the Qing History Research Institute of the Chinese People’s University; Yan Chongnian 閻崇年, director of the Manchu Studies Institute of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences; Wang Zhonghan 王鐘翰 of the Central Minorities Institute; Chen Zuwu 陳祖武 and Yang Zhen 楊珍 of the Qing History Research Office, History Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and Zhao Shiyu 趙世瑜 of the History Department, Beijing Normal University, over the years have been both effective facili- tators and good friends. In Hangzhou, I was always able to rely on wonderful colleagues at Hangzhou University—former president Shen Shanhong 沈善洪 and Professors Cang Xiuliang 倉修良 and Xia Guiqi 夏瑰奇—now all retired. For arrangements in Shen- yang, I am indebted to Xie Zhaohua 謝肇華, then deputy director of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, and to the late Sun Wenliang 孫文良 of the History Department, Liaoning University. In Chengdu, I was ably hosted by Ran Guangrong 冉光榮 of the Sichuan University History Department and the Sichuan Minorities Research Institute. Lü Zuoxie 呂作燮 of the History Department, Nanjing University, was both a conscientious adviser and an enthusiastic guide to historical sites around Nanjing. And my stopovers in Hong Kong were made convenient and inexpensive through the unfailing hospitality of Chiu Ling-yeong 趙令揚, then chair of the Department of Chinese, the University of Hong Kong, Betty Wei 魏白蒂, then head of Liberal Arts and Interdis-ciplinary Studies at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, and Ho Koon-piu 何冠彪 and his wife, Clara Wing-chung Ho 何劉詠聰, of the University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University, respectively. During extended stays in the PRC, the following institutions served as my formal hosts: the Qing History Research Institute of the People’s University of China; the History Departments of Nanjing University, Hangzhou University, and Fudan University; the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.

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