Great Perfection tells the story of the Ba people and of the Li family in particular. Engaging the most recent scholarship in Western, Chinese, and Japanese languages (including archaeological and ethnic publications), the study begins in the mists of prehistory, traces the early history of the Ba, chronicles the rise of the Daoist faith and their role in it, then sets forth in detail a chronicle of the state of Great Perfection.

Central to the work is a translation of all surviving historical records concerning the state, which have been conflated here in an attempt to reconstruct the lost Book of the Lis of Sichuan, a contemporary first-hand source by the state's historian. As the first study in any Western language devoted to the Ba or to the Great Perfection kingdom, this volume breaks new ground in Chinese ethnography and history.

As the first book-length treatment of a Daoist millennial kingdom, it is a major contribution to the history of early Daoism and a significant addition to scholarship on apocalyptic thought worldwide.