The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC

For too long there has been no up-to-date, general historical introduction to ancient China. This book remedies that deficiency, and does so in a wonderful way!The book is topically organized, with each chapter written by a leading scholar on that topic. The list of contributors reads like a "Who's Who" of contemporary Sinology: K.C. Chang on Chinese "pre-history"; David Keightley on the Shang Dynasty; Hsu Cho-yun on the Spring and Autumn Period; Mark Lewis on the Warring States Period; David S. Nivison (see his _The Ways of Confucianism_) on ancient Chinese philosophy, etc.The general reader should be warned that the scholarship here is sometimes a little intimidating. However, careful reading will be well repaid. As you can see, the price is a real problem. Perhaps it will come out in paperback some day, but I wouldn't count on it happening any time soon.If you are seriously interested in ancient China, hock your wedding ring and buy this book!

I hesitated to do a review of this book. For one thing, I don't feel qualified; I'm not a scholar, but have been interested in Chinese art, history, literature for many years. I should have appreciated the strong archaeological emphasis before picking it up to read. Much of the information was beyond me. Or was it just that I became tired of reading about Bronze dings and such? I read it first in 2009, and then again recently. I got through it. It wasn't fun! But I did it. I especially enjoyed the chapter on Language and Writing, and the chapter on The Classical Philosophical Writings. Reading about the archaeological findings was at first interesting, but then it became so repetitive and detailed that I lost my focus. I gave this book (beautifully bound with nice illustrations) four stars, in part because of the impressive authors/historians who wrote the book. It simply was above and beyond my needs and interests.

Looks like an interesting title, but the book is cheaply bound and the cover detached during shipping.

This is the place to go to learn about ancient China. The articles themselves are by noted scholars, and they provide a very good bibliography for further study.As well, the volume that came to me was delivered quickly and is in excellent condition. I am very happy with it.

The Cult of the Dead in ancient China involved burying vast wealth (and some dogs, horses, elephants, and people) in one's tomb. If you prefer to sink your wealth in good books, here's a pricey but elegant piece of bronze you can show your relatives while they're still alive. I don't know if that way of putting things makes the price any less scary or not!This history consists of fourteen full chapters, plus explanatory introductions on chronology, methods, sources, and environment. Chapters tend to alternate between history and archeology early on, then full chapters on philosophy and art for the Warring States, when richer material is available. Each chapter is, as has been mentioned by other reviewers, written by a scholar who knows his stuff: there is not a dull or useless one in the book.One reviewer objected that the authors failed to sufficiently stress the role of iron in the Zhou renaissance. I don't think the book loses much by that; one can't expect a general narrative to rest on any one hobby horse. (Mine was also sometimes left in the corale.)I probably enjoyed the chapter on language more than some readers might, having taken classical Chinese from William Boltz at the University of Washington. His method was systematic and careful, with an understated wit that seemed appropriate to what was, essentially, a primary school language class for grad students. Students mostly had a background in Chinese or Japanese, or were Chinese, so it seemed strange to be told what each, often familiar, character meant. This approach reminded us how "foreign" classical Chinese is, and that we could not take anything for granted. (Anachronism being especially tempting in a civilization like that of China, where everyone "knows" what things mean -- forgetting that they meant something a bit different in centuries past.) Yet if you take the change seriously, at the end of the day you end up amazed at the continuity.The same, I think, applies to many of the ideas described in this volume: the Shang are long dead, but some of the issues and problems they introduce seem to be live and kicking in modern China.Given the need to study early Chinese through archeology, the prominence the Cult of the Dead takes in this book is not surprising. I was again amazed, though, at the ancient bronzes and other artifacts displayed in this book. What a vast wealth these civilizations buried in the ground! (Fortunately there are lots of illustrations and maps.) I especially loved the "tree" with the monkeys in it. While the authors are obliged to write academically and somewhat objectively, one also naturally feels horror at the extent of human sacrifice. Reading Confucius, Mencius, Mozi, Lao Zi, or Zhuangzi, one can almost forget the cruelty of some of the "sages" to whom they ascribed such humanity -- yet they transformed more than they perhaps understood.Bagley's chapter stood out for me, perhaps because he writes with what seemed like a bit of an "attitude."The chapters on history, leaning on the Classics and other early historical accounts, were probably my favorites, though. I've been reading the Classics directly for the past couple years (with a bit of help from Legge), and improving my vocabulary, then read this as my first really major secondary source. The method seemed to meet my need well: if you haven't yet, read the Confucian and "Taoist" classics, including especially the Book of Poetry and Book of History, first or concurrently, to get the most out of these chapters.If you're interested in ancient China, and can afford its steep price, this book is well worth having. Otherwise, check it out from the library.

I waited a long time to buy this book, being somewhat daunted by its enormous price. When I finally ran across a copy on the used market for a reasonable sum, I picked it up. I could not be more pleased. The quality of the scholarship is sensational, the illustrations are superb. I was especially surprised at the extraordinary volume and quality of the illustrations (albeit all black and white), since I was expecting straight text. There is nothing out there in English that approximates the sophistication, charm, or scholarly depth of this volume. Don't be dissuaded by assertions that it is a difficult read; to the contrary, this is a very accessible and addictive text, even for those with little familiarity in the area of ancient Chinese history.In summary, both the scholarship and the sheer reading pleasure of this book exceed all expectations. One of the best volumes of ancient history I have had the privilege of reading. If you are interested in the subject, you cannot live without this (though I recommend attempting to purchase it used!)