Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- Surnames, Given Names, Styles and Titles -- The Records From Yinwan and the Administration of Donghai -- The Commandery and Kingdom of Donghai -- The First Steps to Office -- The Office of Imperial Counsellor (Yushi Dafu 御史大夫 and the case of Ni Kuan 兒寬 -- Military Titles and the Command of the Armed Forces -- The Tables of the Shiji and the Han Shu: Forms and Contents -- The Tables of the Shiji and The Han Shu: Forms and Contents -- The Nobilities of Western Han -- The Honours Paid to the House of Zhou and to Kongzi -- The Kingdoms (Zhuhouwang Guo) Of Western Han -- The Investiture of Three Kings in 117 BC: a Controversial Decision -- The Mandate of Heaven -- The Wu Xing: Concept and Theory -- The Wu Xing: Practice and Application -- Imperial Decrees and Orders -- Imperial Sovereignty -- The Emperors and the Powers That Lay Behind the Throne -- List of Works Cited -- Emperors of Qin, Western Han, Xin and Eastern Han -- Principal Officials of the Central Government -- Index.

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How were prominent figures in the formative stages of China’s imperial government affected by changes in the theory and practice of government and its institutions? Calling on documentary evidence, some found only recently, Dr. Loewe examines local administration, the careers of officials, military organisation, the nobilities and kingdoms, the concepts of imperial sovereignty and the part played by the emperors. Special attention is paid to the anomalies in the historical records; tabulated lists of officials and other items summarise the evidence on which the chapters are based. Historical change and intellectual controversies are seen in the growth and decay of organs of administration, in the careers of individual men and women and the personal part that they played in shaping events.