Robert Hymes, "Statesmen and Gentlemen: The Elite of Fu-Chou Chiang-Hsi, in Northern and Southern Sung," (Cambridge University Press, 1987)

Statesmen and Gentlemen is an important study of the way in which, during the twelfth- and thirteenth-centuries, China's ruling meritocracy was transformed into a locally rooted elite whose principal aim was the consolidation of their power, wealth and influence on a local as opposed to a national and dynastic basis. Professor Hymes offers a remarkable picture of the institutional and social changes this process entailed, but he also examines in detail the subtle ways in which the elite's perception of itself and its social role changed and it came to offer powerful support to local self-defence, social welfare, religious cults and temple-building. Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century China Chinese Meritocracy and Local Elite Statesmen and Gentlemen book Social Changes in Song Dynasty China Local Power and Elite Consolidation Elite Support for Social Welfare in China Chinese Religious Cults and Temple Building Institutional Transformation in Song China Local Self-Defense in Chinese History Elite Perception and Social Role in China Local Influence vs. National Authority Elite Wealth and Power in Song Dynasty Social Structure in Medieval China Bob Hymes Columbia University East Asian Studies Podcasts Chinese History Podcasts Early Modern History Song Dynasty History