Writing, publishing, and reading local histories in Ming China

This dissertation is a case study in the history of the book in Ming China. I look at why people compiled gazetteers, how much they cost to produce, and how they were financed, printed, distributed, and read both inside and outside the communities that produced them. Although books are the entry point for this study, examining their production provides insights into various questions in Chinese social, cultural, and administrative history.; Chapter one explores the purposes and politics behind the compilation of one sixteenth century gazetteer. I read the gazetteer as a whole and in conjunction with thirty lineage genealogies to show that the compilers were members of an extended family who wrote the gazetteer as a public genealogy of their family.; Chapter two brings to light new evidence of the per-page cost of producing a book in Ming China, labor and materials costs, and financing methods. I show that funds for publication of gazetteers came from non-governmental as well as governmental sources and that there was a range in the degree of official involvement in their production.; Chapter three examines the editing, printing, and distribution of local gazetteers. I use notes written by a gazetteer editor and publisher to examine technical and social issues related to the production process. I reconstruct movements of Ming printing craftsmen and the geographic distribution of the printing industry by taking advantage of the fact that gazetteers were produced in identifiable locales. I also review possible distribution methods and argue that many gazetteers were printed "on demand" from blocks that were stored in private homes, schools, and yamens.; In chapters four and five I use individual readings of gazetteers to reconstruct local and translocal readership. Communities of local readers included people constructing lineage organizations who used local gazetteers to establish ancient family connections; people interested in relative family status in local society; and people involved in property disputes who used gazetteers to advance their claims. Communities of translocal readers included book collectors, travelers, and government officials.