The research for this book was begun in Singapore in 1970. I remain particularly grateful to the University of Singapore for granting use of its facilities, including an office provided by the History Department. The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and Josef Silverstein, who was then the director, were most helpful. Sharom Ahmat, R. Suntharalingam and Eunice Thio helped break the monotony of the task with companionship and good conversation. Yen Ching Hwang shared his considerable knowledge of Ch'ing relations with the Malaya Chinese during two brief but profitable lunch hours.

In Providence, Rhode Island, several friends read parts of the original draft. Joseph Cheng was indispensable in matters of translation and the excitement he always displayed in the project kept the author going when progress was inevitably slow. Jerome B. Grieder, Eric Widmer and Michael Y. M. Kau made helpful suggestions. The greatest debt of all is owed my adviser and mentor, Professor Lea E. Williams of Brown University, who taught me Malay and gently persuaded me to follow his pioneering footsteps in the study of the Chinese in Southeast Asia.

The Late Ch'ing Reform Workshop at Harvard University in the summer of 1975 provided the stimulus needed to begin the process of converting a dissertation into a monograph. Paul A. Cohen and Linda Shin, among many others, were most encouraging.