On the divisions, rivalries, and procedures of ritual masters, village mediums, and Daoist priests in dealing with malevolent spirits (and on the supernatural in general), Edward L. Davis’s Society and the Supernatural in Song China offered details and reflections.
John E. Wills, Jr., has written a lovely book entitled Mountain of Fame: Portraits in Chinese History, with chapter-length profiles of Yue Fei and Su Shi—under yet another name variant, Su Dongpo. (I respectfully decline to take responsibility for differing name versions in English!) Those familiar with the wonderful fourteenthcentury Outlaws of the Marsh (often called Water Margin in English, and there are other variants of the title) will recognize, with a smile, I hope, an ambush technique involving a ladle, wine, and poison.
There were many more books. I fear to write an essay here instead of acknowledgements. I will add that research and correspondence with those professionally engaged with the period I am researching has always been a pleasure, and this was particularly so for River of Stars.
I continue to be surrounded by talented people committed to the novels I write. My agents are friends: Linda McKnight, John Silbersack, Jonny Geller, Jerry Kalajian. So, too, are my long-time editors Nicole Winstanley and Susan Allison, and this author is aware of how lucky he is in all of these people. Catherine Marjoribanks was again indispensable as copy editor, and Martin Springett provided an equally indispensable map.
In an increasingly interconnected world, my online presence has been mediated by Deborah Meghnagi, who created www.brightweavings.com, and by Elizabeth Swainston, Alec Lynch, and Ilana Teitelbaum, who have sustained and extended it.
Finally, and as always, I am made more than I would otherwise be by some people at the heart of my life: Sybil Kay, Rex Kay (my first reader), and Laura, Sam, and Matthew, for whom, and from whom, all of this emerges.
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