Dr. Hsieh has presented us with a study of social adaptation of significant scope and detail. We learn not only about the history of change and adaptive process in the development of a community over many decades, and the forces that created a distinctive syncretistic culture, but also about the way real human beings-the people of P'uli-adapted to all these circumstances. We also learn how irrigation-a key resource technology-played a crucial role in this process of behavioral adaptation.