Daily Life in Ancient China

Mu-chou Poo is Chair and Professor of History at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests include society and religion in Ancient Egypt and China and comparative ancient history. He is author of and editor of five books, most recently Old Society, New Belief:  Religious Transformation of China and Rome, ca.1st–6th Centuries (2017).

• 1. The stage; 2. Government organization and elite ideology; 3. Social structure and law; 4. Country life; 5. Cities and urban life; 6. Production, consumption, and ideological constraints; 7. Practical technology; 8. Leisure and entertainment, games and festivals; 9. Glimpses of emotional life; 10. Death, burial, and the hope of a happy afterlife; Conclusion: continuation and transformation of life experience; Bibliography; Index.

'… [those] concerned with China's early history, be they first year students or veteran scholars, will be grateful for this clear and concise account of the conditions that affected the conduct of life in China's early empires. Enriched as they have been by the material finds of recent years, thanks to an overview such as this book, they may well be able to place these discoveries in their context, fully conscious of the need to accept both historical and archaeological evidence as aspects of one and the same situation.' William A. Everett, University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory