Ancestral Landscape: Time, Space, and Community in Late Shang China, Ca. 1200-1045 B.C (China Research Monograph 53) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a work of extraordinary maturity--a well-considered, incisive, careful, yet bold and highly original summation of insights..." -- Lothar von Falkenhausen

"This is a work of extraordinary maturity--a well-considered, incisive, careful, yet bold and highly original summation of insights..." --Lothar von Falkenhausen

Product Details

• Paperback: 209 pages
• Publisher: Institute of East Asian Studies (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557290709
• ISBN-13: 978-1557290700
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #388,329 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the oracle bones tell us about the Shang world, October 12, 2004

By	Kent M. Suarez (Taipei, Taiwan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Keightley, one of the top Western scholars in this field, has produced a must-read with this exploration of everything the oracle bone divination contents can tell us about the lives and environment of the Shang world, including agriculture, time and the calendar, the Shang territory, capital and its environs, foreign relations, and religious life. On each topic, Keightley presents phrases found in the oracle bone inscriptions, directly translated graph for graph into modern Chinese characters, then presents his translation into English, and a discussion. His style is lucid, his scholarship keen. There are eight figures with rubbings of actual oracle bones in the rear, but other than this, all the contents of the divinations are presented only in modern, traditional graphs, which is a bit disappointing for those like me who would very much like to see the oracle bone versions of the graphs for each phrase. Nevertheless, highly recommended.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Possibility, June 25, 2005

By	R. A. Steinbach (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I haven't read this book, but I just wanted to mention that "Sources of Chinese Tradition" compiled by deBary and Bloom has a chapter of about twenty pages by Keightley discussing the oracle bone inscriptions. It might serve as an introduction for those with only a slight interest--especially as "The Ancestral Landscape" becomes harder to buy--and is usually available for pretty cheap. (I have the second edition, so double check to make sure the first edition has this chapter too!)

Thanks