This monograph has traced how the changing language of honor and shame helped to articulate and justify the transformations of Chinese society between the Warring States and the end of the Han dynasty. This role was made possible by the fact, demonstrated by previous studies, that the honor–shame discourse justified the actions of diverse and potentially rival groups, that groups thus formed often furthered significant social changes, and that honor was particularly important to motivate actions for a public good by people who are not formally part of the state. Over the centuries of early China, the formally recognized political order was intertwined with groups articulating alternative models of honor, groups who both participated in the existing order (without formal recognition) and whose visions of what was truly glorious facilitated the transition to subsequent political structures.