R. Kent Guy's comprehensive study concentrates on the governorship system during the reigns of the Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong emperors, who ruled China from 1644 to 1796. He uses the records of governors' appointments and the laws and practices that shaped them to reconstruct the development of the office of provincial governor and to examine the histories of governors' appointments in each province. R. Kent Guy is professor of history at the University of Washington.