Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 China on the Eve of the Historical Period
- 2 Language and Writing
- 3 Shang Archaeology
- 4 The Shang: China’s First Historical Dynasty
- 5 Western Zhou History
- 6 Western Zhou Archaeology
- 7 The Waning of the Bronze Age: Material Culture and Social Developments, 770–481 B.C.
- 8 The Spring and Autumn Period
- 9 Warring States Political History
- 10 The Art and Architecture of the Warring States Period
- 11 The Classical Philosophical Writings
- 12 Warring States Natural Philosophy and Occult Thought
- 13 The Northern Frontier in Pre–Imperial China
- 14 The Heritage Left to the Empires
- Bibliography
- Index
- Map 1 Topography of China
- Map 3.1 Archaeological sites of the Early Bronze Age
- Map 6.1 Archaeological sites of the Western Zhou period
- References
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 China on the Eve of the Historical Period
- 2 Language and Writing
- 3 Shang Archaeology
- 4 The Shang: China’s First Historical Dynasty
- 5 Western Zhou History
- 6 Western Zhou Archaeology
- 7 The Waning of the Bronze Age: Material Culture and Social Developments, 770–481 B.C.
- 8 The Spring and Autumn Period
- 9 Warring States Political History
- 10 The Art and Architecture of the Warring States Period
- 11 The Classical Philosophical Writings
- 12 Warring States Natural Philosophy and Occult Thought
- 13 The Northern Frontier in Pre–Imperial China
- 14 The Heritage Left to the Empires
- Bibliography
- Index
- Map 1 Topography of China
- Map 3.1 Archaeological sites of the Early Bronze Age
- Map 6.1 Archaeological sites of the Western Zhou period
- References
Summary
In their general introduction to the first volume of the Cambridge History of China (The Ch’in and Han Empires), John K. Fairbank and Denis Twitchett, general editors of the series, explained why, when they were planning the series in the 1960s, they had felt obliged to start their coverage with the first empires, omitting earlier developments. After noting the transformation brought about by archaeological discoveries, they wrote:
This flood of new information has changed our view of history repeatedly, and there is not yet any generally accepted synthesis of this new evidence and the traditional written record. In spite of repeated efforts to plan and produce a volume or volumes that would summarize the present state of our knowledge of early China, it has so far proved impossible to do so.
However, by the time that first volume was published (1986), some twenty years after Fairbank and Twitchett had initiated the Cambridge History of China project, the “flood of new information” that they mentioned had already revitalized the study of ancient China. A large number of scholars, both in East Asia and in the West, had been drawn to consider the new archaeological evidence and, in its light, to reconsider China’s traditional written record and many of the historiographical assumptions based there on. In the light of these developments in the field, and with the active encouragement of Denis Twitchett, Cambridge University Press determined to repair the omission, the result being the present Cambridge History of Ancient China.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Ancient ChinaFrom the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC, pp. 1 - 36Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1999
References
, and . Cultural Atlas of China. New York: Facts on File, 1983.
, The Archaeology of Ancient China, 4th ed. (New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1986)
. Le Tai chan: Essai de monographic d’un cube chinois. Paris: Annales du Musée Guimet, 1910.
. Yinxu buci zongshu
Beijing: Kexue, 1956.
. Zhongguo nianli zongpu. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1960.
. “Serials on Chinese Archaeology Published in the People’s Republic of China: A Bibliographical Survey,” Early China
17 (1992):.Google Scholar
and . “Climatic Implications of an 8000-Year Hydrogen Isotope Time Series from Bristlecone Pine Trees.” Science
265 (19 August 1994).Google Scholar
Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978. (2nd printing, with minor revisions, 1985.)
, “A Preliminary Study on the Climatic Fluctuations During the Last 5,000 Years in China,”
Cycles
25 (1974)Google Scholar
Mencius: Translated with an Introduction.
Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970.
, The Chinese Classics, vols. 4–5 (Hong Kong: Lane Crawford; and London: Triibner, 1871–2; 2nd rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1893–4).
, The Chinese Classics, vols. 1–3 (Hong Kong: At the author’s; and London: Trübner, 1861–5)
, , and . “Postglacial Marine Beds in the Coastal and Deltaic Areas in East China.” In Quaternary Geology and Environment of China, ed. . Beijing: China Ocean Press; and Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1985.Google Scholar
. Jianbo yi ji yu xueshu shi.
Taipei: Shibao wenhua, 1994.
. “Settlement Patterns, Chiefdom Variability, and the Development of Early States in North China.” Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
15 (1996):.Google Scholar
, ed. Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide.
Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1993.
. “La chronologie des rois de Ts’i au Ive siècle avant notre ère.” T’oung Pao
25 (1928):.Google Scholar
, “Shilun shiqian Huanghe xiayou de gaidao yu gu wenhua de fazhan,”
Zhongyuan wenwu
1993
Google Scholar
. “He zi yiyi de yanbian” Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology
30 (1959):.Google Scholar
Sources of Western Zhou History: Inscribed Bronze Vessels.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
. He shan ji
3 vols. Beijing: Sanlian, vol. 1, 1963; vol. 2, 1981; Beijing: Renmin, vol. 3>, 1988.
and . “The Fluctuations of Climate, Glaciers, and Sea Level Since Late Pleistocene in China.” In Sea Level Ice, and Climatic Change, ed. . Washington, D.C.: International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 1981.Google Scholar
, , and . “Jiangsu Huai bei diqu xinshiqi shidai renlei wenhua yu huanjing” In Huanjing kaogu yanjiu, eds. and . Beijing: Kexue, 1991.Google Scholar
ed. Sui and Tang China, 589–906, Part I, (Cambridge University Press, 1979).
, The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 3: Sui and T’ang China, 589–906, Part I, ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1979) 7.
, and , eds. The Cambridge History of China. Vol. I: The Ch’in and Han Empires. Cambridge University Press, 1986.
, , and . “Wo guo dongbu disiji haiqin diceng dechubu yanjiu”. Dizhi xuebao (Acta Geologica Sinica)
1981.1:.Google Scholar
, and . “The Late Quaternary Vegetation and Climate of China.” In Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum, ed. , , , , , and . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993.Google Scholar
. “Cong xinshiqi shidai wenhua yizhi kan Hangzhou wan liang an de quanxinshi gu dili” Dili xuebao (Acta Geographica Sinica)
38.2 (1983):.Google Scholar
. “Jiangsu Wujiang xian Longnan yizhi baofen zuhe yu xianmin shenghuo huanjing de chube yanjiu”. Dongnan wenhua
1990.5:.Google Scholar
. “The Relationship Between Environment Changes and Human Activities Since Late Quaternary in North China.” In The Palaeoenvironment of East Asia from the Mid-Tertiary. Proceedings of the Second Conference: Vol. 2: Oceanography, Palaeozoology and Paleoanthropology, ed. . Hong Kong: Center of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1988.Google Scholar
. “The Houwa Site and Related Issues.” In The Archaeology of Northeast China: Beyond the Great Wall, ed. . London: Routledge, 1994.Google Scholar
, ed., Han yu da zi dian. Vols. 1–7 and index. Chengdu: Sichuan cishu and Hubei cishu, 1986–90.
, and . “Sea Level Changes Since the Last Deglaciation and Their Impact on the East China Lowlands.” In The Palaeoenvironment of East Asia from the Mid-Tertiary: Proceedings of the Second Conference. Vol. I: Geology, Sea Level Changes, Palaeoclimatology and Paleobotany, eds. , , , , , , and . Hong Kong: Center of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1988.Google Scholar
. Zhanguo shi. Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin, 1955; 2nd rev. ed., Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin, 1980.
. Zhongguo xian Qin shi libiao. Jinan: Qi Lu, 1987.
et al., “Changes in the Monsoon and Associated Environmental Changes in China Since the Last Interglacial,” in Loess, Environment and Global Change (The Series of the XJII Inaua Congress), ed. (Beijing: Science Press, 1991)Google Scholar
(see too Chu Ko-chen). “Zhongguo jinwuqian nian lai qihou bianqian de chubu yanjiu”. Kaogu xuebao
1972.1:.Google Scholar
- 4
- Cited by