Victor Cunrui Xiong is professor of Chinese history at Western Michigan University. He is the author of Sui-Tang Chang’an: A Study in the Urban History of Medieval China (Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 2000), Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty: His Life, Times, and Legacy (SUNY, 2006), and A Historical Dictionary of Medieval China (Scarecrow, forthcoming in 2009). His A Thorough Exploration in Historiography (an annotated translation of the 8th century Chinese masterpiece Shitong) will be published by University of Washington Press. He was the editor of the academic journals Early Medieval China (1994–1999) and Chinese Historians (1995–1999).