Sarah Allan is Lecturer in Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. Her previous books include The Heir and the Sage: Dynastic Legend in Early China; Legend, Lore and Religion in China: Essays in Honor of Wolfram Eberhard on his Seventieth Birthday (edited with Alvin P. Cohen), and Oracle Bone Collections in Great Britain (with Li Xueqin and Qi Wenxin).