The need for heirs in any traditional society is a compelling one. In traditional China, where inheritance and notions of filiality depended on the production of progeny, the need was nearly absolute. As Ann Waltner makes clear in this broadly researched study of adoption in the late Ming and early Ch'ing periods, the getting of an heir was a complex, even paradoxical undertaking. Although adoption involving persons of the same surname was the only arrangement ritually and legally sanctioned in Chinese society, adoption of persons of a different surname was a relatively common practice. Using medical and ritual texts, legal codes, local gazetteers, biography, and fiction, Waltner examines the multiple dimensions of the practice of adoption and identifies not only the dominant ideology prohibiting adoption across surname lines, but also a parallel discourse justifying the practice.

"Embodying the Institutes of Gaius and the Institutes of Justinian, tr. into English by J. Ashton Cross."--T.p.

All’s fair in war. But what about love? If you liked the Kushiel series or The Priory of the Orange Tree, check out this sweeping epic starring a bisexual warrior princess with a taste for dominance! Valya is a warrior. It is her strong will that holds the steppe, the freest, wildest, most war-like of the provinces of Zem’, and it is her strong sword that defends it from raiders. But now, as a growing demand for Zemnian slaves threatens her people, a call from the Empress in Krasnograd requires Valya to leave her native land behind and take up her other duty, as unpopular heir to the Wooden Throne. In order to save her beloved Zem’ from the enemies both outside and inside its borders, Valya must find out what secrets her sister princesses are keeping, face up to her scandal-ridden past, and woo the son of the woman she hates most in the world. Valya believes that all is fair in war, but in love she’s not so sure. With the fate of her family and her country riding on her shoulders, though, there may not be time for scruples. A continuation of the story begun in the award-winning novels The Midnight Land and The Breathing Sea, The Dreaming Land I: The Challenge is the first installment of the concluding trilogy of this epic saga about the matrilineal world of Zem’, where trees walk, animals talk, and women rule. This subversive blend of high fantasy and literary fiction will appeal to fans of classical Russian literature and contemporary fantasy alike. With discussion questions at end. Reading order of the Zemnian Series: The Zemnian Series: Slava’s Story The Midnight Land I: The Flight The Midnight Land II: The Gift The Zemnian Series: Dasha’s Story The Breathing Sea I: Burning The Breathing Sea II: Drowning The Zemnian Series: Valya’s Story The Dreaming Land I: The Challenge The Dreaming Land II: The Journey The Dreaming Land III: The Sacrifice

Burnbees Revenge is an adventure romance set in Scotland in the late 1600s. Sir Robert McBee is called to the court of King James to discuss the problem of reavers. These raiders have been stealing supplies and damaging property. Sir Robert takes advantage of this time at court to present his homely daughter for marriage. Mistress Marthea McBee is well-educated, a healer, and a beekeeper. Her adventure at court is full of mishaps and sorrow. She returns to Burnbee to rebuild her broken dreams. After several loads of their honey mead are stolen, she is plagued with problems in keeping her clan and land protected. Martin Underhill, David, and Daniel McIe request her aid with a wounded man at arms. They are on their way to court to ask assistance of King James in their fight against the reavers. This brief encounter sparks a romance between Marthea and David. Follow Marthea, David, and friends as they try to protect their lands and clans from the raiders and find the love that they both seek. From Edinburgh to France and back, follow their fate. Mysterious strangers aid them on their journey. The raiders stay a step ahead as they pursue them to the final confrontation. Will love prevail? Will Marthea be able to save Burnbee? Enjoy this story as you race to its conclusion with David and his men.

We have in China the universal worship of ancestors, which constitutes (or did until A.D. 1912) the State religion, usually known as Confucianism, and in addition we have the gods of the specific religions (which also originally took their rise in ancestor-worship), namely, Buddhism and Taoism. (Other religions, though tolerated, are not recognized as Chinese religions.) It is with a brief account of this great hierarchy and its mythology that we will now concern ourselves. Besides the ordinary ancestor-worship (as distinct from the State worship) the people took to Buddhism and Taoism, which became the popular religions, and the literati also honoured the gods of these two sects. Buddhist deities gradually became installed in Taoist temples, and the Taoist immortals were given seats beside the Buddhas in their sanctuaries. Every one patronized the god who seemed to him the most popular and the most lucrative. There even came to be united in the same temple and worshipped at the same altar the three religious founders or figure-heads, Confucius, Buddha, and Lao Tzŭ. The three religions were even regarded as forming one whole, or at least, though different, as having one and the same object: san êrh i yeh, or han san wei i, “the three are one,” or “the three unite to form one” (a quotation from the phrase T’ai chi han san wei i of Fang Yü-lu: “When they reach the extreme the three are seen to be one”). In the popular pictorial representations of the pantheon this impartiality is clearly shown.