Ts`ao Yin and the K`ang-Hsi Emperor

In this highly praised book, Jonathan D. Spence recounts the story of Ts'ao Yin, hereditary bondservant to the Manchu emperors. Ts'ao Yin, whose great-grandfather was captured and enslaved by the Manchus and whose descendent wrote Dream of the Red Chamber , China's most famous novel, becomes the focal point of a fascinating study that sheds light on the social and political life of the early Manchu period.