Inquires into modes of manuscript production, the purposes for which texts were produced, and the ways in which they were actually used

Li Feng is professor of early Chinese history and archaeology at Columbia University. David Prager Branner is retired as a professor of Chinese at the University of Maryland. The other contributors are Anthony Barbieri-Low, William Boltz, Constance Cook, Lothar von Falkenhausen, David Pankenier, Matthias Richter, Adam Smith, Ken-ichi Takashima , and Robin Yates.