The author is pioneering a new field, using politically neutral social anthropology and its theoretical constructs to examine Chinese intellectual life. This approach makes this an important work with no lack of sound observations and it should initiate further enquiry. - Bruce Gordon Doar (The China Quarterly, Fall 2005) After extended research in the last nineties, Evasdottire worked out a model, or many patterns of behaviour, of archaeologists, which she illustrates with a great variety of portraits and stories. The result is of the highest interest, and very readable. The book opens new windows to understanding relationships among the Chinese, the ambitions and frustrations of the intellectuals, as well as the personal rewards of hard word and finding one's proper place in society (Chinese Cross Currents, Summer 2005) What stands out in this well-written and most interesting book is the lucidity and straightforward approach of its author. From experience gained as the result of intensive fieldwork, Erika Evadottir has become extremely well acquainted with the archaeology of China, and yet she has kept enough distance from her object of study to give us a confident picture of the field based on an analysis of the facts as well as a creative approach to theoretical speculation. That is why this book is not only worth reading by archaeologists interested in China but also an important contribution to research on intellectuals in China and their attitude towards the Chinese state and society. - Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik, East Asian Studies, University of Vienna (China Review International, vol.12, no.2, Fall 2006)
