Chaffee's thoroughly researched and in-depth study of the history of the Sung imperial clan is much more than a chronological account of 300 years of emperors, though it is that too...Here Chaffee illustrates how the Chao family of Sung emperors incorporated the entire imperial clan into the political mainstream, though within carefully delineated parameters. The result was an exceptionally loyal army of supporters that enabled both the Northern and Southern Sung dynasties to avoid political challenges common to most monarchies. Although the Sung was unique in this, the practice influenced both Ming and Ch'ing ruling houses. Extensive footnotes and a detailed genealogical list showing the exact relationship of some 700 Chao family members make this an exceptionally useful resource for understanding the unique makeup of the Sung royal family.
-- A. Wittenborn Choice

In his Branches of Heaven, the first monograph in any language on the uppermost layer of the [Sung Chinese] elite, [Chaffee] makes another substantive contribution to institutional and social history...This study walks us through three hundred years that witnessed thirteen generations of growth and the eventual demise of the lineage of Chao K'uang-yin (T'ai-tsu), a military official who had seized power from the Later Chou and founded the Sung dynasty in 960...This fascinating window into one lineage has much to offer not only to social history but also to historiography...Chaffee is a master of details and technical information. He has meticulously coded and reconstructed the lives of some six hundred clansmen during the course of three hundred challenging years of Sung rule...Chaffee's solid scholarship will blaze the trail for other studies of imperial lineages within and beyond Chinese social history.
-- Jennifer W. Jay Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies

Chaffee's account of the activities of clan members in the maritime economy and society of thirteenth-century Ch uan-chou is perhaps the richest part of his narrative. He skillfully weaves together social, economic, political, and cultural history in this last section of the book and achieves a compelling depth here that may be possible because of fortuitously preserved sources…Chaffee has ventured into an area of investigation that has social as well as political ramifications, expanding our knowledge of family in the Sung while providing insight into the inner workings of the imperial government and meaning of emperorship.
-- Linda Walton American Historical Review