This book is written as a counter to the “depersonalization” of rural China so commonly seen in other historical portrayals of the land. This book is about the immense turmoil during the transition to the Qing Dynasty, told through one county, through the lives of the Chinese people who were so directly affected by the morals and customs of the time period.

Chapter one, The Observers, begins by demonstrating the accuracy of the local historian; Feng K'o-ts'an, who compiled The Local History of T'an-ch'eng in 1673. The descriptive context of the Local History encapsulates the reader’s attention to understand and literally project themselves into people's lives of the period. The records of the earthquake of 1668, the White Lotus rising of 1622, and rebels risin

The Chinese people of the time were apparently ill tempered as we learn in chapter four, The Feud; this is not surprising considering the enormous amount of stress and anxiety the people of the time experienced. The Ts'ui and Wang family created some of the most vicious violence in the community according to P'u Sung-ling's testimony. Ts'ui’s persistence and tenacity helped to rid the community of the parasitic Wang gang as we learn later in the story of T'an-ch'eng. The battle that Mr. Spence mentions in the beginning of the story is finally revealed in chapter four. The vivid depiction of strategy in the battle by Mr. Spence would intrigue most readers.

Because of the Legal Code in the county, widows alone had a little chance to inherit a deceased husband's property. Mr. Spence's vivid use of P'eng's story opens the reader’s eyes to the degree of cruelty which relatives of deceased husband's were treated. The tree brothers of the deceased killed the only descendant son, Lien, after an unsuccessful attempt to get woman P'eng married. The law would have allowed the tree brothers to inherit the property if woman P'eng had remarried, or if there was no son to receive the property. In the trial of the murder, Ch'en Kuo-hsiang, describes the extremely harsh punishment one could receive in T'an-ch'eng county to restore justice.

In the final chapter, The Woman Who Ran Away, the reader is confronted with a dilemma; to choose sympathy for woman Wang’s position or to reason her death as part of the culturally accepted practices. At this time of Confucianism thinking Chinese culture warranted: "the highest standards were demanded and claimed. This was even truer for women than for men" (p. 99). Women were expected to possess “charity, courage, tenancy, and unquestioning acceptance of the prevailing hierarchy - unto death if necessary" (p. 100). According to Chinese beliefs of the time a wife's loyalty was especially of most importance to the husband. The story continues and the reader is presented with woman Wang, who ran away with another man, from her husband, Je

Some topics in this essay:
P'u Sung-ling's, Land T'an-ch'eng’s, Legal Code, Local History, Moreover Jen, White Lotus, According Chinese, Woman Ran, Ming China, Ch'en Kuo-hsiang, woman wang, death woman, local history, death woman wang, white lotus rising, today’s standards, tree brothers, p'u sung-ling's, lives chinese, women expected, chinese people, t'an-ch'eng county,