But there could be no doubt that greatness was seated within; greatness was passing, hidden, down Bond Street, removed only by a hand's-breadth from ordinary people who might now, for the first and last time, be within speaking distance of the majesty of England, of the enduring symbol of the state which will be known to curious antiquaries, sifting the ruins of time, when London is a grass-grown path and all those hurrying along the pavement this Wednesday morning are but bones with a few wedding rings mixed up in their dust and the gold stoppings of innumerable decayed teeth.

There were also in this city certain Sangleyes who had settled down there to sell their merchandise, so that they remained there from one year to another.

All the cases I will examine come from P'u-t'ien district. Until the early Sung, P'u-t'ien was part of Ch'üan-chou prefecture; in 983 a new prefecture, Hsing-hua Commandery (Hsing-hua chün), was established with P'u-t'ien as the prefectural capital. The district is located on the lower reaches of the Mu-lan River, the principle river system between the Chin River of Ch'üan-chou to the south and the Min River of Fu-chou to the north. No doubt because of their proximity to the latter, which had been the social, cultural, and political heart of Fu-chien for many centuries, most of the elite kin groups in P'u-t'ien claimed to be collateral branches of prominent Fu-chou kin groups who had settled in P'u-t'ien no later than the early T'ang. Collectively the P'u-t'ien elite claimed the most ancient pedigree among the Min-nan elite. It is, therefore, not surprising that they claim the oldest genealogical tradition as well.

“You're pretty good at this game,” Lee said.¶ “Got an Elo rating over twenty-six hundred.”¶ “Elo? What's that?”¶ “The FIDE uses it to rank players.”¶ “FIDE?”¶ “Fédération Internationale des Échecs,” Cam said, speaking in an exaggerated French accent.