Now available again, this pioneering work examines one of the most controversial periods in Chinese history: the relationship between the Chinese civil and military authorities and the British trading community in southern China on the eve of the Taiping Rebellion, one of the most calamitous events in Chinese history. Wakeman shows how prevailing rural discontent, urban riots, secret-society activity, and the imbalance of class and clan affected the mechanisms of regional power and gentry control, demonstrating the progression of rebellion and the historical inevitability of revolution.