For their patience, advice, and concern in bringing this project to completion, I want to record my deep gratitude to Jennifer Banks (Senior Editor), Piyali Bhattacharya (Editorial Assistant), Susan Laity (Manuscript Editor), and Margaret Otzel (Editor) of Yale University Press, and express my warm thanks to Suzie Tibor for her thorough art research, Gavin Lewis for his expert and insightful editing, and Anne Salloom for proof reading. The anonymous reviewers also deserve warm thanks for their thoughtful insights and constructive criticisms that helped improve the text at many points. As always, for her acute insight and endless support I owe to my wife, Ivy Sui-yuen Sun, a debt that can never be fully repaid, or even adequately expressed.