Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Concubines and servants in the general populace -- The dimension of human trafficking -- The path of a concubine -- Domestic servants, office attendants, and apprentices -- Imperial consorts and servants -- Booi elite and harangga -- Ming serving-women -- Qing serving-women and eunuchs -- Ritual canon and imperial harem -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: The ming imperial harem -- Appendix B: The Qing imperial harem -- Appendix C: the Ming six bureaus -- Appendix D: Simplified plans of Ming-Qing palace and Beijing -- Bibliography -- About the author
Summary
Concubinage and Servitude in Late Imperial China is a survey of the institutions and practice of concubinage and servitude in both the general populace and the imperial palace in Ming-Qing China, focusing on an examination on political and socioeconomic history through the lives of this particular group of distinct, yet associated, individuals
