| Contents |
List of maps -- Introduction: The world of the afterlife -- Part I. Building and Dwelling, 3200-1200 BC. 1. The mystery of jade ; 2. A disrupted banquet ; 3. The warrior with the bronze hand -- Part II. The Language of Objects, 1200-700 BC. 4. Sacrifices in a hidden land ; 5. The gift economy at Baoji ; 6. Innovations and heirlooms -- Part III. Converging Cultures, 700-300 BC. 7. The steppe frontier ; 8. Circling south ; 9. The orchestra of Zeng ; 10. A kingdom by design -- Part IV. Conquest on Horseback, 300-221 BC. 11. Catacombs and chariots ; 12. The everlasting army -- Epilogue: Lives long buried -- List of tombs -- List of illustrations. |
| Abstract |
"The three millennia up to the establishment of the first imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC cemented many of the distinctive elements of Chinese civilization still in place today: an extraordinarily challenging geography and environment; formidable infrastructure; a society based on the strict hierarchy of the family; a shared written script of characters; a cuisine founded on rice and millet; a material culture of ceramics, bronze, silk, and jade; and a unique concept of the universe, in which ancestors continue to exist alongside the living. Records of these early achievements and their diverse expressions often lie not in written history but in how people marked the end of their lives: their dwellings for the afterlife. Tombs and the treasures within them are almost the only artifacts to survive from Ancient China; their scale and sophistication rivals their equivalents in Ancient Egypt. Jessica Rawson, one of the most eminent Western scholars of China, explores twelve grand tombs -- each from a specific historical moment and place -- showing how they reveal wider political, dynastic, and cultural developments, culminating in the lavish ambition of the First Emperor's monument, guarded by his army of terracotta warriors. Beautifully illustrated and drawing on the latest archaeological discoveries, 'Life and Afterlife in Ancient China' illuminates a constellation of beliefs about life and death and provides a remarkable new perspective on one of the oldest civilizations in the world."-- taken from publisher description. |
| General note | "Original edition first published by Penguin Books Ltd, London"--title page verso. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Rawson, Jessica. Life and afterlife in ancient China. Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2023] 9780295752501 |
| ISBN | 9780295752365 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 029575236X (hardcover) |
| ISBN | (electronic book) |
| ISBN | (electronic book) |
