19世纪和20世纪之交，不少西方探险家、学者、传教士和旅行家怀有各种目的，开始来到中国西部边疆地区。他们寻求考古发现，以西方人文科学的方法对当地的社 会和风土人情进行观察、记录。约瑟夫·洛克 Joseph F.Rock (1884 - 1962) 也是其中之一，他不仅以性格孤僻、勤于笔耕著称，他是唯一一位在中国西南边疆地区长期生活和考察、一生大部分时间生活在云南的西方人。他在云南丽江纳西地区的活动、他对青海阿尼玛卿山地区的动植物学考察、他把卓尼版藏文大藏经《甘珠尔》《丹珠尔》带去美国、他对四川木里藏族地区的探险以及民国时期和西南地区各路人马的直接接触和交往，都是轰动一时而且长期为后人所津津乐道的事迹。 斯蒂芬妮·萨顿编著的这本《苦行孤旅》是唯一一本用洛克的日记、书信以及对当事人的采访等一手资料写成的传记。

Focusing on the Ming (1368-1644) and (especially) the Qing (1364-1912) eras, this book analyzes crucial moments in the formation of cultural, regional, and religious identities. The contributors examine the role of the state in a variety of environments on China's "peripheries," paying attention to shifts in law, trade, social stratification, and cultural dialogue. They find that local communities were critical participants in the shaping of their own identities and consciousness as well as the character and behavior of the state. At certain times the state was institutionally definitive, but it could also be symbolic and contingent. They demonstrate how the imperial discourse is many-faceted, rather than a monolithic agent of cultural assimilation.