Everyday Life in Early Imperial China

Everyday Life

by Michael Loewe

In this lively and accessible account, with illustrations on nearly every page, Michael Loewe gives us a vivid picture of the lives of peasants working the land, the lives of town inhabitants, and the elaborate hierarchy of institutions and civil servants that sustained the vast imperial government. In a new Preface and an updated Bibliography, Loewe calls our attention to the significance of scholarly research and discoveries since the original publication of his classic work.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Michael Arthur Nathan Loewe was a British historian, Sinologist, and writer who authored dozens of books, articles, and other publications in the fields of Classical Chinese as well as the history of ancient and early Imperial China.

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book begins with qualifying statements on its content, stating that the author didn't (at the time of publication, 1968) have authoritative information on the daily life of the non-elite. An amendment to the forward dated 1987 states that, while new evidence had been found and "considerable advances...in the study of Han China" achieved, they decided not to update the book — a missed opportunity, in my opinion.

The book as written presents instead an economic and political survey more often than a narrative of daily life. It's interesting enough, but anyone wanting this information could have it in more updated form in other more recent publications.

[Riq Hoelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good as far as it went, and appears to be accurate, but is not detailed enough for my taste. Main Topics:
Emperor/government
Officials
Occupations/classes
Government force
Army
Writing
Literature
Religion
The Capital
City Life
Trade/communication
Industry/technology
Reading suggestions

[Rooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely not something I would normally read, but picked it up on a whim, and actually really enjoyed it. Imperial Han China is not something I knew anything about, but the book presented the knowledge of the period in an open and easily-digestible fashion, which meant that even I understood it!