Social Memory and State Formation in Early China

Li Min, an archaeologist of early China, is Associate Professor of East Asian Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

• Foreword; 1. Wen Ding: gaging the weight of political power; 2. Frames of reference: multiple classifications of space; 3. Before the Central Plains: the pinnacle of Neolithic development; 4. The Longshan transition: political experimentation and expanding horizons; 5. The rise of the Luoyang Basin and the production of the first bronze Ding vessels; 6. The rise of the Henei Basin and the limit of Shang hegemony; 7. The rise of the Guanzhong Basin and the birth of history; 8. The world of Yu's tracks: a blueprint for political experimentation; 9. Conclusion: the emergence of the classical tradition; Bibliography; Index.

'This book opens a new window to the study of ancient Chinese history. The topic of this book is unique. It does not follow any traditional interpretations in Chinese archaeology, but a combination of processual and post-processual archaeological approaches with new integration of ancient textual records. It addresses a set of questions relating to the origins of Chinese civilization and the rise of dynastic states. These questions have been the central concerns in scholarly discourse, and long been intensively debated. This book takes a new angle to tackle some of the issues, using the latest archaeological findings, anthropological theories, traditional textural information, and analogy with other civilizations in other parts of the world.' Liu Li, Stanford University, California