What do you think?
Rate this book
New Approaches to Asian History
Early China: A Social and Cultural History
'Early China' refers to the period from the beginning of human history in China to the end of the Han Dynasty in AD 220. The roots of modern Chinese society and culture are all to be found in this formative period of Chinese civilization. Li Feng's new critical interpretation draws on the most recent scholarship and archaeological discoveries from the past thirty years. This fluent and engaging overview of early Chinese civilization explores key topics including the origins of the written language, the rise of the state, the Shang and Zhou religions, bureaucracy, law and governance, the evolving nature of war, the creation of empire, the changing image of art, and the philosophical search for social order. Beautifully illustrated with a wide range of new images, this book is essential reading for all those wanting to know more about the foundations of Chinese history and civilization.
346 pages, Paperback
First published October 31, 2013
39 people are currently reading
390 people want to read
About the author
Li Feng
152 books9 followersLi Feng (Chinese: 李峰; pinyin: Lǐ Fēng), or Feng Li, is a professor of Early Chinese History and Archaeology at Columbia University, where he is director of graduate studies for the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 9, 2024
Brief overview of the earliest Chinese history. Li Feng (° 1962, a professor of Early Chinese History and Archeology at Columbia University, NY) limits himself to the main points and, in my opinion, sometimes remains a bit too vague. In this way he also avoids the issues in the debate with his Chinese colleagues, who adhere rather closely to a periodization according to traditional dynasties. More in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Read
October 22, 2024In recent decades our knowledge of ancient Chinese history has improved enormously. Along with rising prosperity, the pace of archaeological excavations has also increased markedly. For the Chinese government there is a nationalist agenda behind this: proving that an authentic Chinese civilization manifested itself very early in history as a virtually autonomous development, without outside influence. Thus, official Chinese historiography and non-Chinese, Western academic historiography tend to diverge. Li Feng, American professor of Chinese descent, affiliated with Columbia University NY, sidesteps the thorny issues and sticks to a dry but solid account of archaeological findings.
The added value of this book lies in its focus on the process of state formation. In sometimes rather theoretical passages, Li repeatedly tries to provide an assessment of the stage at which a particular Chinese culture found itself. He more or less follows the classic, neo-evolutionist scheme of Sahlins and Service: band-tribe-chiefdom-state, corrected by Yoffee. For example, he sees the Shang culture (1600-1100 BCE) as an intermediate stage between chiefdom and proto-state. I think this booklet is good as a first introduction, but not really a synthesis. (Rating 2.5 stars)
The added value of this book lies in its focus on the process of state formation. In sometimes rather theoretical passages, Li repeatedly tries to provide an assessment of the stage at which a particular Chinese culture found itself. He more or less follows the classic, neo-evolutionist scheme of Sahlins and Service: band-tribe-chiefdom-state, corrected by Yoffee. For example, he sees the Shang culture (1600-1100 BCE) as an intermediate stage between chiefdom and proto-state. I think this booklet is good as a first introduction, but not really a synthesis. (Rating 2.5 stars)
October 8, 2024
Generally clear and informative, though I often found myself wanting more detail. For example, at one point in the passage on Zhou bronzes, the author mentions that a scribe was asked to keep a record, in bronze, of soldierly misconduct during a campaign for posterity. Disappointingly, this curious little detour ends there—there's no mention of what the misconduct was or even what the scribe actually recorded. The endnotes provide no further information either. It's small details like this that can completely change the tone of a historical commentary.
Another small gripe is the quality of editing. I try not to pedantically nitpick minor errors, but repeated clunky usage of common phrases does a serious disservice to a scholarly text. An example from chapter eight: "although the situation might have varied from state from state, we know that a number of states actually offered tax exemptions for opening peripheral virgin lands under administrative control by the counties." I know exactly what the author means here, but such errors leave a bad taste. That said, the closing chapters on Han dynasty legal and civil administration systems were excellent.
Kvetching aside, I would still recommend this to anyone interested in an archaeologically-driven overview of early China.
Another small gripe is the quality of editing. I try not to pedantically nitpick minor errors, but repeated clunky usage of common phrases does a serious disservice to a scholarly text. An example from chapter eight: "although the situation might have varied from state from state, we know that a number of states actually offered tax exemptions for opening peripheral virgin lands under administrative control by the counties." I know exactly what the author means here, but such errors leave a bad taste. That said, the closing chapters on Han dynasty legal and civil administration systems were excellent.
Kvetching aside, I would still recommend this to anyone interested in an archaeologically-driven overview of early China.
December 3, 2015
Greatly introduced the history of the period. Focused more on the Han Empire because it was needed. I feel I got introductory grasp of Early Chinese history.
November 26, 2016
Early China presents a history of the cultural and political development of China from the advent of agriculture (ca 6,500 BC) through the end of the Han Dynasty in 220 AD. For readers, like me, with minimal knowledge about Chinese history this book is a decent primer. It is dense with dates, names, and archaeological detail but a clear narrative emerges from the beginning of the Warring States period in the middle of the first Millenium BC through the Han Dynasty. The Warring States period spanned several hundred years during which the sole purpose and principle of organization of "city states" was to make war. This is the period that gave Sun Tzu the raw material for the Art of War. This period came to an end when the Qin and then Han Dynasties united China with the latter lasting more than four hundred years.
July 26, 2020
Good if you don't have any (or little) background in Chinese history. Not very useful if you are already familiar with scholarship. A good use of archaeological sources, although I would have liked more citations for written primary sources, especially those in translation. The last few chapters felt less developed/broad/superficial in the earlier chapters, probably a reflection of the increase in material that needed to be covered. They also felt less focused on social and cultural issues than on a political narrative. This is necessary for those without a background but rather repetitive for me.
June 15, 2014
This book is a little dry, but if you're an academic going in and trying to pull out information for your larger work, well gosh, it's pretty darn good.
Like many books that get back to this ancient period, this one will tend to gloss over a bit of the information contained in the Sima Qian sources. Things pretty much start with the Zhou, with just a bit of background before that.
Like many books that get back to this ancient period, this one will tend to gloss over a bit of the information contained in the Sima Qian sources. Things pretty much start with the Zhou, with just a bit of background before that.
August 20, 2015
I found the first half of this book most interesting/useful. Good maps and images.
January 4, 2024
I am not as familiar with China's older history than with its more recent history, and this book served as an excellent and highly recommended primer on early China. Covering the prehistoric period through the Qin and Han dynasties, "Early China: A Social and Cultural History" is a must read for anyone wanting to delve deeply into Chinese history.
After reviewing some of the trends in modern Chinese historiography and archaeology, the early chapters naturally mostly focus on archaeology - describing what we know about the Erlitou and Erligang cultures of ancient China and their potential correspondence to the (either semi-mythical or fully mythical) Xia and (actual historical) Shang dynasties. It's fascinating to read about what modern historians have learned through archaeological digs, royal tombs, bronze vessels, turtle shells, oracle-bone inscriptions, and bamboo writings.
The book then moves on to the Zhou dynasty, China's longest dynasty and one that served as an important model to Chinese kingdoms and dynasties many centuries after its end. A planetary conjunction of five planets in 1059 BC immediately preceded the Zhou conquest of the Shang, and was celebrated as the Zhou's receipt of the Mandate of Heaven. The Zhou dynasty ruled an expansive area through the establishment of a lineage-based network of regional states, which however eventually resulted in the weakening of the center and in the fracturing of authority and conflict between states in the Spring and Autumn (770-481 BC) and Warring States (480-221 BC) periods. It was during the Spring and Autumn period that the lineage-based systems were replaced by administrative/bureaucratic systems and the codification of laws.
Further political and military reforms took place during the Warring States period, enabling states to field significantly larger armies. Most noteworthy, the minister Shang Yang led reforms under the Qin, including a universal ranking system of meritocracy, a thorough taxation system, and universal conscription, enabling the Qin to eventually outpace the other states, which culminated in the conquest of all rival states and the establishment of the Qin empire under Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. The Qin empire was short-lived, however, as it collapsed 15 years later. After a brief period of unrest, Liu Bang/Gaozu inaugurated the Han dynasty, which survived by maintaining power through a hybrid system of uniform rule in the west and through a supervised system of kingdoms in the east (ruled by relatives of the Emperor-and eventually more fully integrated into the Empire). As the author notes, the Han Empire was the most intimately governed area on the planet at the time, with at least ten times the number of officials in service compared to the Roman Empire.
While I found most of the book very interesting, I particularly appreciated the contextualization provided in the chapter on philosophers and the "Hundred Schools of Philosophy" period. Li argues that the main philosophical schools were all to some extent responses to the political dynamics of their time - while Daoism is usually viewed as more metaphysical than political, its emphasis on "no action" also entails that the best government is the one that doesn't govern. Which contrasts with Confucianism, which sees society as a social web where everyone should act their proper part - with Confucius taking the Zhou as a model for the ideal social order. (Mencius, by the way, goes even further than Confucius in locating the people as the source of the king's authority ("people are to be valued most... the ruler least")). From a political perspective, it makes sense that Confucianism, not Daoism, became the philosophical framework and foundation for the Empire. Although, while future Chinese dynasties were ostensibly based on the foundations of Confucianism, they were actually more solidly based on Chinese legalism (as articulated by key figures such as Shang Yang and Han Feizi), which went even further in justifying centralized political authority and bureaucratic rule (and has been characterized as at least comparable to Machiavelli).
I don't want to lengthen my review necessarily, but I do want to say that this book has opened up a whole new world for me - a world that we in the West ought to know much better. In reading this book, I've looked up several primary sources from the period and found too many that are either only available in older and/or partial translations or that are only available for purchase for ~$100+. Compared to the Roman Empire, there are very few primary or secondary books available (in English) on this period for China. Clearly we in the West don't know or understand China very well. With the return of China as a great power - the second greatest power in the world today - perhaps we ought to make better efforts to get to know China's rich and deep history and in the process better understand both China and the world.
After reviewing some of the trends in modern Chinese historiography and archaeology, the early chapters naturally mostly focus on archaeology - describing what we know about the Erlitou and Erligang cultures of ancient China and their potential correspondence to the (either semi-mythical or fully mythical) Xia and (actual historical) Shang dynasties. It's fascinating to read about what modern historians have learned through archaeological digs, royal tombs, bronze vessels, turtle shells, oracle-bone inscriptions, and bamboo writings.
The book then moves on to the Zhou dynasty, China's longest dynasty and one that served as an important model to Chinese kingdoms and dynasties many centuries after its end. A planetary conjunction of five planets in 1059 BC immediately preceded the Zhou conquest of the Shang, and was celebrated as the Zhou's receipt of the Mandate of Heaven. The Zhou dynasty ruled an expansive area through the establishment of a lineage-based network of regional states, which however eventually resulted in the weakening of the center and in the fracturing of authority and conflict between states in the Spring and Autumn (770-481 BC) and Warring States (480-221 BC) periods. It was during the Spring and Autumn period that the lineage-based systems were replaced by administrative/bureaucratic systems and the codification of laws.
Further political and military reforms took place during the Warring States period, enabling states to field significantly larger armies. Most noteworthy, the minister Shang Yang led reforms under the Qin, including a universal ranking system of meritocracy, a thorough taxation system, and universal conscription, enabling the Qin to eventually outpace the other states, which culminated in the conquest of all rival states and the establishment of the Qin empire under Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. The Qin empire was short-lived, however, as it collapsed 15 years later. After a brief period of unrest, Liu Bang/Gaozu inaugurated the Han dynasty, which survived by maintaining power through a hybrid system of uniform rule in the west and through a supervised system of kingdoms in the east (ruled by relatives of the Emperor-and eventually more fully integrated into the Empire). As the author notes, the Han Empire was the most intimately governed area on the planet at the time, with at least ten times the number of officials in service compared to the Roman Empire.
While I found most of the book very interesting, I particularly appreciated the contextualization provided in the chapter on philosophers and the "Hundred Schools of Philosophy" period. Li argues that the main philosophical schools were all to some extent responses to the political dynamics of their time - while Daoism is usually viewed as more metaphysical than political, its emphasis on "no action" also entails that the best government is the one that doesn't govern. Which contrasts with Confucianism, which sees society as a social web where everyone should act their proper part - with Confucius taking the Zhou as a model for the ideal social order. (Mencius, by the way, goes even further than Confucius in locating the people as the source of the king's authority ("people are to be valued most... the ruler least")). From a political perspective, it makes sense that Confucianism, not Daoism, became the philosophical framework and foundation for the Empire. Although, while future Chinese dynasties were ostensibly based on the foundations of Confucianism, they were actually more solidly based on Chinese legalism (as articulated by key figures such as Shang Yang and Han Feizi), which went even further in justifying centralized political authority and bureaucratic rule (and has been characterized as at least comparable to Machiavelli).
I don't want to lengthen my review necessarily, but I do want to say that this book has opened up a whole new world for me - a world that we in the West ought to know much better. In reading this book, I've looked up several primary sources from the period and found too many that are either only available in older and/or partial translations or that are only available for purchase for ~$100+. Compared to the Roman Empire, there are very few primary or secondary books available (in English) on this period for China. Clearly we in the West don't know or understand China very well. With the return of China as a great power - the second greatest power in the world today - perhaps we ought to make better efforts to get to know China's rich and deep history and in the process better understand both China and the world.
June 19, 2017
"The expansion of the Han Empire into Central Asia in the first century BC brought China into sustained contact with other major world civilizations, most importantly Middle Eastern and Indian, and the subsequent introduction of Buddhism to China gave Chinese civilization a totally different dimension, a drastic beginning of a new era. In world history, this shift paralleled the transition from the classical to the Christian West."
"The collapse of early civilization in each regional context posed fundamental questions over which the ancients had wondered and tried hard to answer: Who are we? Why are we here and where are we going? If the early civilization is not the answer to human happiness, then what is it?"
"Confucius' own explanation of 'Rectifying Names' is found in the 'Analects' 12 where he answers the question posed by the ruler of Qi in the following words: 'Let the ruler be ruler, subject be subject, father be father, and son be son.' This certainly is not a word game of names -- rather, he was concerned more with what is referred to by the names, and with whether the reality can properly match what the names require. Thus, if a ruler does not behave like a 'ruler,' and a subject like 'subject,' the state will definitely fall into chaos. In other words, names are a referential system to social political orders, and only the government in which each person does exactly what is required by his name can provide guidance for the people."
"Zhuangzi tells the story of the ruler of Lu who wished to honor a seabird that happened to have stopped at his court. He placed it in the temple, slaughtered a bullock to feed it, and played grand music to entertain it. As a result, the seabird died in three days after its capture ... There are instances that indicate that Nature may be violated by human interference."
"The collapse of early civilization in each regional context posed fundamental questions over which the ancients had wondered and tried hard to answer: Who are we? Why are we here and where are we going? If the early civilization is not the answer to human happiness, then what is it?"
"Confucius' own explanation of 'Rectifying Names' is found in the 'Analects' 12 where he answers the question posed by the ruler of Qi in the following words: 'Let the ruler be ruler, subject be subject, father be father, and son be son.' This certainly is not a word game of names -- rather, he was concerned more with what is referred to by the names, and with whether the reality can properly match what the names require. Thus, if a ruler does not behave like a 'ruler,' and a subject like 'subject,' the state will definitely fall into chaos. In other words, names are a referential system to social political orders, and only the government in which each person does exactly what is required by his name can provide guidance for the people."
"Zhuangzi tells the story of the ruler of Lu who wished to honor a seabird that happened to have stopped at his court. He placed it in the temple, slaughtered a bullock to feed it, and played grand music to entertain it. As a result, the seabird died in three days after its capture ... There are instances that indicate that Nature may be violated by human interference."
November 1, 2025
While one might expect an average book to have average writing and average content, Li Feng manages to accomplish this by presenting great content through really bad writing.
In fact, at the beginning of the book when the author acknowledges the contributions of about 200 people, one may think this might just be the greatest accomplishment in literature ever written. However, this notion is quickly dispelled after a few pages by the realization that, what all those acknowledgements really mean, is that the author was incapable of sticking to a single coherent narrative.
Nevertheless, the range and sheer amount of information presented is certainly impressive, and the detail covered illustrates well the uncertainty and nuance required to interpret history from archaeological findings.
On the other hand, the failure to impose limits of any kind on the scope of social and cultural life forces the author to discuss all aspects of life over a period of several thousand years in around 300 pages - something which is manifestly impossible, even with good writing.
Another curious question is that, with so many contributors, none seem to have noticed that in the finally chapters covering the First Emperor and the Han, the whole purpose of the book (social and cultural history) breaks down completely, being wholly replaced by a very rushed narrative of political history - not dissimilar to reading a very long Wikipedia page on one of those slow days.
In conclusion, this book has the merit of existing, if nothing else.
In fact, at the beginning of the book when the author acknowledges the contributions of about 200 people, one may think this might just be the greatest accomplishment in literature ever written. However, this notion is quickly dispelled after a few pages by the realization that, what all those acknowledgements really mean, is that the author was incapable of sticking to a single coherent narrative.
Nevertheless, the range and sheer amount of information presented is certainly impressive, and the detail covered illustrates well the uncertainty and nuance required to interpret history from archaeological findings.
On the other hand, the failure to impose limits of any kind on the scope of social and cultural life forces the author to discuss all aspects of life over a period of several thousand years in around 300 pages - something which is manifestly impossible, even with good writing.
Another curious question is that, with so many contributors, none seem to have noticed that in the finally chapters covering the First Emperor and the Han, the whole purpose of the book (social and cultural history) breaks down completely, being wholly replaced by a very rushed narrative of political history - not dissimilar to reading a very long Wikipedia page on one of those slow days.
In conclusion, this book has the merit of existing, if nothing else.
September 3, 2023
I'm not very well versed in Chinese history and I felt this book was a good introduction and gave me a much better grasp of the early history of China. I really appreciated the inclusion of maps which is a great help to a westerner as myself. I don't know if it is supposed to be an introduction though as it sometimes feels like the author is debating with other academical historians regarding findings and interpretations, but it wasn't detrimental to my reading experience.
As the focus is on social and cultural history it is generally not written in a long narrative form, although a very broad general narrative of wars and political developments is given. So while the chapters follow a chronological order within the chapters themselves the text can feel a bit disjointed on occasion. Often a a large part of a chapter can be given to some archeological findings and how they can be interpreted within the time period. As someone very interested in philosophy I was happy to see one chapter devoted to discussing philosophers and their ideas.
As the focus is on social and cultural history it is generally not written in a long narrative form, although a very broad general narrative of wars and political developments is given. So while the chapters follow a chronological order within the chapters themselves the text can feel a bit disjointed on occasion. Often a a large part of a chapter can be given to some archeological findings and how they can be interpreted within the time period. As someone very interested in philosophy I was happy to see one chapter devoted to discussing philosophers and their ideas.
January 7, 2025
Though this book could be a bit vague or academic at times, I had a really great time reading it. Just having a physical copie of many of these maps to refer to at a later time alone is something that I'm excited about.
If you have not read other things on some of the periods that this discusses or dont have a familiarity with certain important philosophies like confuscianisim, there are likely going to be parts of this that will be deeply confusing.... or feel like an opportunity to learn more about a subject has been missed entirely.
It's not a great introduction to these subjects, but slme of its tidbits of information and general overview of certain subjects can be invaluable. So if you have a huge interest in these topics, I can certainly recommend this book but definitely not to the average casual reader.
If you have not read other things on some of the periods that this discusses or dont have a familiarity with certain important philosophies like confuscianisim, there are likely going to be parts of this that will be deeply confusing.... or feel like an opportunity to learn more about a subject has been missed entirely.
It's not a great introduction to these subjects, but slme of its tidbits of information and general overview of certain subjects can be invaluable. So if you have a huge interest in these topics, I can certainly recommend this book but definitely not to the average casual reader.
August 7, 2021
Qin was a state and a society of millions of people maximally mobilized for territorial expansion through war--leading to the first unification of previously feudal states into China's first empire. The book of course covers much more than Qin but it's his account of Qin that has kept me up at nights. Feng skirts deep treatment of written sources of extant intellectual trends during the Warring States but that's fine since there are many other books that cover exactly that. His forte is archeology and he shows unusual grasp of the social and cultural milieu. Ordinarily a 4 star but I'm giving it 5 stars for now.
February 15, 2022
I was really excited by the early part of this book, but as it went on I kept running into more & more problems with the writing -- I think perhaps the earlier chapters had more review & editing than the later ones. I am not at all sorry I read it, and I definitely know more about early China (especially the archeological evidence for the earliest dynasties, and how the Zhou slid into the Spring & Autumn period) than I used to, but I wanted lots more about the Qin and Han than this offered.
February 6, 2021
Dreadfully boring until the last two chapters. Points given for it being a good resource for information about the transformation of Chinese borders. Does little to discuss the culture or lives of the people, except for the mention of pottery as supporting evidence. This monograph is one of the reasons that history is seen as boring.
November 9, 2022
Good:
* An introduction to ancient China that covers military conquest, archaeological discoveries, social structure, philosophies and others.
Bad:
* Very shallow and not focused because the book tries to cover many topics.
* An introduction to ancient China that covers military conquest, archaeological discoveries, social structure, philosophies and others.
Bad:
* Very shallow and not focused because the book tries to cover many topics.
April 23, 2020
Excellent thorough introduction to early Chinese history (up to the Han empire).
February 14, 2023
作為早期中國歷史的基礎閱讀之一，整體感覺還是扎實而客觀的。這兩點大概是科普類歷史讀物最為重要的元素之一了。很欣賞作者對於歷史的尊重、對於考古事實與曆史記載的合理結合和謹慎推測，同時對同時地以及上世紀考古界中西方觀點的陳述與適當的個人觀點的展開。儘管在內容上也許文化方面稍有薄弱，但今天能有如此做考古和歷史的態度實在是不易了。值得這個四星。
October 30, 2023
A fine introduction, albeit a quite dry one. Worth the read nonetheless.
January 14, 2020
I chose this particular book because I was looking for more information about the pre-Iron Age Chinese cultures, a time period the other surveys I read treated very cursorily, dedicating a little space to the pre-literate cultures and just a little more to the Shang dynasty, before jumping to the Western and Eastern Zhou and the beginning of recorded history in China. In this the book delivered: the author describes the archaeological record, reconstructed social organization and material culture of the Neolithic Longshan culture, of the Bronze Age Erlitou and Erligang cultures, including their possible identification with the Xia and early Shang dynasty respectively, and finally of the (literate) Shang dynasty. He also focuses on the various styles of pottery and bronze vessels and how the chronological and typological changes match recorded history. I found especially interesting the detailed discussion of the Shang oracle bones, their meaning in the context of the Shang society and what they reveal us about its organization.
This attention to archaeology, social organization, religion and philosophy remains in the following part of the book, dedicated to the Western and Eastern Zhou, the Spring and Autumns and Warring States periods, the Qin Empire and finally the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties, in which he also complements the traditional received history and known texts with the information gleaned from archaeological discoveries since the 1920s to the 2010s which revealed new texts that shed more light on the philosophical currents and the legal system of the Qin and Han Empire.
The downside of this somewhat specialized focus is that the book is maybe a little too light on the political and military side, especially after the end of the Western Zhou dynasty, giving just summaries and highlights of the most significant events and rulers and implicitly assuming that the readers are already familiar enough with the history of China to follow and appropriately contextualise the social and philosophical information in a coherent historical framework.
In conclusion I recommend this book to any reader curious about the first phases of China's history and wanting to know more about fascinating things like ritual bronze vessels, the royal tombs of Anyang or the development of bureaucracy in China, but not if this is their first book on the subject.
This attention to archaeology, social organization, religion and philosophy remains in the following part of the book, dedicated to the Western and Eastern Zhou, the Spring and Autumns and Warring States periods, the Qin Empire and finally the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties, in which he also complements the traditional received history and known texts with the information gleaned from archaeological discoveries since the 1920s to the 2010s which revealed new texts that shed more light on the philosophical currents and the legal system of the Qin and Han Empire.
The downside of this somewhat specialized focus is that the book is maybe a little too light on the political and military side, especially after the end of the Western Zhou dynasty, giving just summaries and highlights of the most significant events and rulers and implicitly assuming that the readers are already familiar enough with the history of China to follow and appropriately contextualise the social and philosophical information in a coherent historical framework.
In conclusion I recommend this book to any reader curious about the first phases of China's history and wanting to know more about fascinating things like ritual bronze vessels, the royal tombs of Anyang or the development of bureaucracy in China, but not if this is their first book on the subject.
October 29, 2015
There are not many accessible english books about the subject of bronze and iron age China. This is a college class textbook. Because of the scientific treatment of the subject, 70% of the book discussed tomb artifacts rather than historiography. As a first edition, this book could use another round of editing.
October 29, 2015
Heavy and academic, but a treasure trove for an ancient Chinese history fan like I am.
Read
November 28, 2017This book was a fast and easy read on early China leading up to the Han Dynasty.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews