1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline (1982) by Ray Huang is a winner of the American Book Award for History.
It narrates the lives of seven prominent officials in 1587 during the reign of the young Wan Li emperor. The synopsis of this book by Yale University Press is excellent. See below:
From the year 1587, we move to 1768, the reign of the Chien Lung emperor.
Soulstealers: The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768 by Philip A. Kuhn (1990) won the 1990 Joseph Levenson Prize of the Association for Asian Studies.
By focusing on the fear that gripped the common people and the official prosecution of the soulstealers, we see 18th-century China as events unfolded.
We next move to the year 1774, where Susan Naquin narrates the White Lotus rebellion that broke out in the autumn of 1774.
Shantung Rebellion: The Wang Lyn Uprising of 1774 is first-class scholarship. It is gripping and yet scholarly.
LWH, Saturday, Chinese New Year 12th day, 28 Feb 2026