Joe P. McDermott is Emeritus professor at St John's College at University of Cambridge and has a broad interest in Chinese social, economic, and cultural history, mainly during the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties (1000-1700). This recent interest derives from his study of the exceptionally rich historical records of the Huizhou area of southern Anhui Province, the home of south China's richest merchants during the Ming and Qing dynasties.