Customer Reviews

The Formation of Chinese Civilization: An Archaeological Perspective

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Huge and heavy! I'm almost tempted to nick a star from my rating of it because of the mechanical stress on my elbows incurred while holding it up to read. It's definitely not a book to read in a few consecutive sessions, and don't even think of trying it on an exercycle, in bed, or on an airplane!

On the other hand, its size is its virtue, in presenting enormous quantities of archaeological and historical informative, based on the most recent excavations, discussed in eight independent chapters by leading Chinese scholars. The chapter titles are the best demonstration of the scope:
1) Early Humans in China
2) The Beginning of Farming
3) The Yangshao Perio: Prosperity and Transformation
4) The Formation of Civilization: Longshan Period
5) The Rise of Kings and the Formation of City-States
6) Society During the Three Dynasties
7) The Eastern Zhou and the Growth of Regionalism
8) The Formation of the Empire by the Qin and Han Dynasties

Most readers interested primarily in Chinese history might be wise to begin with chapter four or five; the first two chapters are a bit of a barrier, being highly technical and addressed to archaeological scholars. The remainder of the book is certainly scholarly, but accessible to ordinary mortals. The central theme of the essays as a whole is the multi-regional origin of Chinese civilization.

Aside from the mass of text such a huge volume can contain, the advantage of the large format is its large photos. This book is a veritable museum of photos of China's ancient cultural treasures: ceramics, bronze sculptures, burial bounty, and above all the best pictures I've seen of the terracotta armies of the Qin Emperor at Qin Shihuang and of the Han Emperor Jang in situ.

If ever you plan a visit to China - or to one of the great collections of Chinese art in the museums of San Francisco, Washington, or New York - a few weeks' reading of this volume will do a lot to make your expedition more fascinating and meaningful.

"The Formation of Chinese Civilization" reviews the archaeology of early China, from the earliest appearance of humans in the Paleolithic era, to the unification of the Chinese state in the Qin and Western Han dynasties. It is one of the volumes in Yale's China series. Organization is chronological, and each chapter is written by a different author. The book is beautifully illustrated, although the photos of museum objects are mostly "window dressing:" this is a book about archaeology, not art history.

Since the authors are all senior Chinese archaeologists, the reader will find authoritative commentary and an orthodox viewpoint throughout the book. Orthodoxy in this case means that the authors all subscribe to the idea that humans originated independently in China, and followed a civilizational development through progressive stages of matriarchy, patriarchy, slave society, etc., per standard Marxist theory. In practice, however, the authors' wide experience and knowledge more than compensate for any lingering ideological difficulties.

Although no one could accuse this book of being undersized, I found that many important topics were only touched on very briefly. Sanxingdui is given only one and one-half columns; only two columns for the Great Wall; the whole discussion of final Qin-Han unification is disappointingly short. In compensation, at least brief mention is made of numerous recent excavations that bear on the questions - of state formation and the development of Chinese civilization - addressed in this book. Some major conclusions are: the multi-regional nature of early China; cultural continuity from earliest times; the importance of religion (shamanism) in culture and politics; and the interplay between lineage (family) and territory in the formation of the Chinese state.

Although hardly for beginners, most serious students of Chinese archaeology will want to read through this volume.

when i brought the item i did not think it would take the whole 3 weeks to get to me, but thankfully my midterm wasn't until later so it was not that big of a deal. Overall the experience was good and the book was in great condition.