Download or read book The Chinese Neolithic written by Li Liu and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-01-06 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book studies the formation of complex societies in prehistoric China during the Neolithic and early state periods, c. 7000–1500 BC. Archaeological materials are interpreted through anthropological perspectives, using systematic analytic methods in settlement and burial patterns. Both agency and process are considered in the development of chiefdoms and in the emergence of early states in the Yellow River region. Interrelationships between factors such as mortuary practice, craft specialization, ritual activities, warfare, exchange of elite goods, climatic fluctuations, and environmental changes are emphasized. This study offers a critical evaluation of current archaeological data from Chinese sources, and argues that, although some general tendencies are noted, social changes were affected by multiple factors in no pre-determined sequence. In this most comprehensive study to date, Li Liu attempts to reconstruct developmental trajectories toward early states in Chinese civilization and discusses theoretical implications of Chinese archaeology for the understanding of social evolution.
Download or read book The Neolithic of Southeast China written by Tianlong Jiao and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading archaeologist Tianlong Jiao takes readers on an archaeological investigation into the patterns and processes involved in the cultural changes on the coast of Southeast China during the Neolithic period. (Archeology/Anthropology)
Download or read book China A History written by Harold Miles Tanner and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 2009-03-13 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A deep and rigorous, yet eminently accessible introduction to the political, social, and cultural development of imperial Chinese civilisation, this volume develops a number of important themes -- such as the ethnic diversity of the early empires -- that other editions omit entirely or discuss only minimally. Includes a general introduction, chronology, bibliography, illustrations, maps, and an index.
Download or read book Chinese Jade written by Jessica Rawson and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Chinese have revered the mystery and magic of jade since ancient times. This authoritative book provides an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of six thousand years of development, from the earliest cultures to the twentieth century. The author describes and assesses the variety of roles and functions, ritual and ceremonial, which jade has played in China. Recent discoveries from hitherto little known neolithic cultures of around 3000 BC have highlighted the extraordinary skills of the craftsmen and the complexity of the cultures that supported them. Other remarkable finds include the precursors of the famous jade suits, which range from jade plaques and shrouds dating from about 900 BC to superb pendants and sword fittings carved for a king buried near Canton in around 122 BC. This catalogue describes over 300 outstanding pieces from Sir Joseph Hotung's collection, which spans the history of jade in China. Drawing upon the very latest archaeological reseach to set jade in its historical and artistic context, this work will stand as a definitive reference for many years to come. In her wide-ranging introduction to the catalogue the author analyses the arguments and sets out new views, supplementing this major essay with a series of shorter introductions to the chronological sections into which the jades of different types, shapes and functions have been divided. The book is fully illustrated throughout with specially commisioned photographs of each piece from the collection, all in color, along with comparative examples from the rich collection of the British Museum.
Download or read book Liangzhu Culture written by Bin Liu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-07 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Liangzhu Culture (3,300-2,300 BC) represented the peak of prehistoric cultural and social development in the Yangtze Delta. With a wide sphere of influence centred near present-day Hangzhou City, Liangzhu City is considered one of the earliest urban centres in prehistoric China. Although it remains a mystery for many in the West, Liangzhu is well known in China for its fine jade-crafting industry; its enormous, well-structured earthen palatial compound and recently discovered hydraulic system; and its far-flung impact on contemporary and succeeding cultures. The archaeological ruins of Liangzhu City were added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in July 2019. Liangzhu Culture contextualises Liangzhu in broad socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and provides new, first-hand data to help explain the development and structure of this early urban centre. Among its many insights, the volume reveals how elites used jade as a means of acquiring social power, and how Liangzhu and its centre stand in comparison to other prehistoric urban centres in the world. This book, the first of its kind published in the English language, will be a useful guide to students at all levels interested in the material culture and social structures of prehistoric China and beyond.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology written by Umberto Albarella and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 865 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Animals have played a fundamental role in shaping human history, and the study of their remains from archaeological sites - zooarchaeology - has gradually been emerging as a powerful discipline and crucible for forging an understanding of our past. This Handbook offers a cutting-edge, global compendium of zooarchaeology that seeks to provide a holistic view of the role played by animals in past human cultures. Case studies from across five continents explore ahuge range of human-animal interactions from an array of geographical, historical, and cultural contexts, and also illuminate the many approaches and methods adopted by different schools and traditions instudying these relationships.
Download or read book The Archaeology of China written by Li Liu and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-30 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Past, present and future "The archaeological materials recovered from the Anyang excavations ... in the period between 1928 and 1937 ... have laid a new foundation for the study of ancient China (Li, C. 1977: ix)." When inscribed oracle bones and enormous material remains were found through scientific excavation in Anyang in 1928, the historicity of the Shang dynasty was confirmed beyond dispute for the first time (Li, C. 1977: ix-xi). This excavation thus marked the beginning of a modern Chinese archaeology endowed with great potential to reveal much of China's ancient history.. Half a century later, Chinese archaeology had made many unprecedented discoveries which surprised the world, leading Glyn Daniel to believe that "a new awareness of the importance of China will be a key development in archaeology in the decades ahead (Daniel 1981: 211). This enthusiasm was soon shared by the Chinese archaeologists when Su Bingqi announced that "the Golden Age of Chinese archaeology is arriving (Su, B. 1994: 139--140)". In recent decades, archaeology has continuously prospered, becoming one of the most rapidly developing fields in social science in China"--
Download or read book ART MYTH AND RITUAL P written by Kwang-chih CHANG and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A leading scholar in the United States on Chinese archaeology challenges long-standing conceptions of the rise of political authority in ancient China. Questioning Marx's concept of an "Asiatic" mode of production, Wittfogel's "hydraulic hypothesis," and cultural-materialist theories on the importance of technology, K. C. Chang builds an impressive counterargument, one which ranges widely from recent archaeological discoveries to studies of mythology, ancient Chinese poetry, and the iconography of Shang food vessels.
Download or read book The Origins of Chinese Civilization written by David N. Keightley and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2022-03-25 with total page 652 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The seventeen contributors to this interdisciplinary volume bring to the study of early China the analytical concerns of archeology, art history, botany, climatology, cultural and physical anthropology, ethnography, epigraphy, linguistics, metallurgy, and political and social history. Readers interested in such topics as the origin of rice or millet agriculture, the origin of writing, the nature of the trie, and the processes of state formation will find much value here. They will find, too, major hypotheses about teh cultural importance of ecogeographical zones in China, Neolithic interaction between the east coast and Central Plains, the remarkable homogeneity of early Chinese crania, and the links between the Hsia, Shang, and Chou dynasties. Relying on recently published archaeological evidence and the insights gained from carbon-14 and thermoluminescent datings, the authors provide original and significant interpretations of the nature of Chinese civilization in its formative stage and the processes by which civilizations form. Since there is little doubt that the complex of culture traits which defines Chinese civilization in the second and fist millennia B.C. developed from a Chinese Neolithic stage, the origin of the Chinese civilization is worth studying not only in its own right but as an instance of the indigenous development of civilizations in general. This volume will appeal to all who are intersted in the genesis of civilization and the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age; it summarizes that state of present knowledge about China and suggests research strategies and hypotheses for the future. Contributors:Noel BarnardK. C. ChangTe-Tzu ChangCheung Kwong-YueWayne H. FoggUrsula Martius FranklinMorton H. FriedW. W. HowellsLouisa G. Fitzgerald HuberKarl JettmarDavid N. KeightleyFang Kuei LiHui-Lin LiWilliam MeachamRichard PearsonE.G. PulleyblankRobert Orr Whyte This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983.
Download or read book Ancient China written by John S. Major and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-09-22 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ancient China: A History surveys the East Asian Heartland Region – the geographical area that eventually became known as China – from the Neolithic period through the Bronze Age, to the early imperial era of Qin and Han, up to the threshold of the medieval period in the third century CE. For most of that long span of time there was no such place as "China"; the vast and varied territory of the Heartland Region was home to many diverse cultures that only slowly coalesced, culturally, linguistically, and politically, to form the first recognizably Chinese empires. The field of Early China Studies is being revolutionized in our time by a wealth of archaeologically recovered texts and artefacts. Major and Cook draw on this exciting new evidence and a rich harvest of contemporary scholarship to present a leading-edge account of ancient China and its antecedents. With handy pedagogical features such as maps and illustrations, as well as an extensive list of recommendations for further reading, Ancient China: A History is an important resource for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on Chinese History, and those studuing Chinese Culture and Society more generally.
Download or read book Scientific Examination of Art written by and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the application of scientific methods to the study and conservation of art and cultural properties. This work addresses scientific topics of broad interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines and attracting up to 250 leadingresearchers in the field.
Download or read book Ancient China written by John S. Major and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-09-22 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ancient China: A History surveys the East Asian Heartland Region – the geographical area that eventually became known as China – from the Neolithic period through the Bronze Age, to the early imperial era of Qin and Han, up to the threshold of the medieval period in the third century CE. For most of that long span of time there was no such place as "China"; the vast and varied territory of the Heartland Region was home to many diverse cultures that only slowly coalesced, culturally, linguistically, and politically, to form the first recognizably Chinese empires. The field of Early China Studies is being revolutionized in our time by a wealth of archaeologically recovered texts and artefacts. Major and Cook draw on this exciting new evidence and a rich harvest of contemporary scholarship to present a leading-edge account of ancient China and its antecedents. With handy pedagogical features such as maps and illustrations, as well as an extensive list of recommendations for further reading, Ancient China: A History is an important resource for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on Chinese History, and those studuing Chinese Culture and Society more generally.
Download or read book Painted Pottery Production and Social Complexity in Neolithic Northwest China written by Ling-Yu Hung and published by British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Limited. This book was released on 2021-08-31 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study focuses on Neolithic period Majiayao-style painted pottery from Northwest China, which is known for its high quality and beautiful décor. While much is known about the pottery, research on the associated Majiayao Culture has previously been limited to cultural histories that emphasize chronology and trait-list classification, leading to a static and simplistic view of past realities. This study instead focuses on the long-overlooked social and economic processes behind the production of these vessels. Attribute and physicochemical analyses of hundreds of ceramic vessels and samples selected from multiple sites in Gansu, Qinghai, and Sichuan provinces are combined with settlement pattern and mortuary analyses of thousands of sites and burials. By synthesizing these data, this study illustrates a positive correlation between regional density of settlement distribution, intensification of pottery production, and degree of social inequality in each phase. Rather than showing a simple linear process of increasing social complexity, however, distinct regional variations in each phase and significant regional fluctuations over time can be seen. The results of this study demonstrate that economic and social patterns related to Majiayao ceramics were far more complex than previously thought.
Download or read book Ancient History of China written by Shelia Hollihan-Elliot and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-09-02 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: China is one of the world's oldest uninterrupted civilizations, and the essential culture and identity of the Chinese people--the Chinese Way--was formed more than 2,000 years ago. This volume chronicles the development of Chinese civilization from Neolithic times, when agriculture revolutionized society, to the early first century A.D., when the Han dynasty's triumph over a usurper firmly established a social and governmental model that would survive into the 20th century. Ancient History of China presents China's important formative legends; relates the story of China's early Bronze and Iron Age cultures; chronicles the chaotic periods of warfare that preceded the unification of the country in the third century B.C.; and introduces such influential figures as the philosopher Confucius and the emperor Shi Huang Di, who built the Great Wall and commissioned the sculpting of a huge terra-cotta army to guard his grave. Students will be fascinated by this fast-moving and informative account.
Download or read book A Companion to Chinese Archaeology written by Anne P. Underhill and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-02-26 with total page 900 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Companion to Chinese Archaeology is an unprecedented, new resource on the current state of archaeological research in one of the world’s oldest civilizations. It presents a collection of readings from leading archaeologists in China and elsewhere that provide diverse interpretations about social and economic organization during the Neolithic period and early Bronze Age. An unprecedented collection of original contributions from international scholars and collaborative archaeological teams conducting research on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan Makes available for the first time in English the work of leading archaeologists in China Provides a comprehensive view of research in key geographic regions of China Offers diverse methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding China’s past, beginning with the era of established agricultural villages from c. 7000 B.C. through to the end of the Shang dynastic period in c. 1045 B.C.
Download or read book The Ch ing lien kang Culture and the Chinese Neolithic written by Richard Pearson and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ancient Chinese Art written by Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 1987 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
