ABSTRACT
The English version of Mr. Gu Cheng’s original book The Hidden Land: The Garrison System and the Ming Dynasty has been finally completed and will be published soon. It is a translation project presided over and translated by Professor Ning Ping and her team, and edited by American expert of the Ming study, Roger V. Des Forges. At this delightful moment, Professor Ning Ping asked me to share with the readers a few words regarding the book since I have been engaged in the research of the garrison system in the Ming dynasty for nearly twenty years and have witnessed the whole process of the birth of the English version; in addition, I organized and edited the Chinese version of the book for its publication in 2012. Thus, I readily agreed to give my views. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to commemorate my late doctorial supervisor, Mr. Gu Cheng, for his thoughtful and meticulous guidance for my studies, thank Ning Ping and her team for their diligent and painstaking translation, thank Roger for his industrious and rigorous edition and share my understanding of this book with the readers.
