The Formation of Chinese Civilization

The Formation of Chinese Civilization PDF Author: Kwang-chih Chang
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300093829
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
Paleolithic sites from one million years ago, Neolithic sites with extraordinary jade and ceramic artifacts, excavated tombs and palaces of the Shang and Zhou dynasties--all these are part of the archaeological riches of China. This magnificent book surveys China's archaeological remains and in the process rewrites the early history of the world's most enduring civilization. Eminent scholars from China and America show how archaeological evidence establishes that Chinese culture did not spread from a single central area, as was long assumed, but emerged out of geographically diverse, interacting Neolithic cultures. Taking us to the great archaeological finds of the past hundred years--tombs, temples, palaces, cities--they shed new light on many aspects of Chinese life. With a wealth of fascinating detail and hundreds of reproductions of archaeological discoveries, including very recent ones, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Chinese antiquity and Chinese views on the formation of their own civilization.

The Formation of Chinese Civilization

The Formation of Chinese Civilization PDF Author: Kwang-chih Chang
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300093829
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
Paleolithic sites from one million years ago, Neolithic sites with extraordinary jade and ceramic artifacts, excavated tombs and palaces of the Shang and Zhou dynasties--all these are part of the archaeological riches of China. This magnificent book surveys China's archaeological remains and in the process rewrites the early history of the world's most enduring civilization. Eminent scholars from China and America show how archaeological evidence establishes that Chinese culture did not spread from a single central area, as was long assumed, but emerged out of geographically diverse, interacting Neolithic cultures. Taking us to the great archaeological finds of the past hundred years--tombs, temples, palaces, cities--they shed new light on many aspects of Chinese life. With a wealth of fascinating detail and hundreds of reproductions of archaeological discoveries, including very recent ones, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Chinese antiquity and Chinese views on the formation of their own civilization.

Sources of Shang History

Sources of Shang History PDF Author: David N. Keightley
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520054554
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description


Divination and Prediction in Early China and Ancient Greece

Divination and Prediction in Early China and Ancient Greece PDF Author: Lisa Raphals
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107010756
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 499

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Book Description
This book compares the intellectual and social history and past and present contexts of mantic practices (divination) in Chinese and Greek antiquity.

The Mandate of Heaven

The Mandate of Heaven PDF Author: S J Marshall
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317849299
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
The Mandate of Heaven was originally given to King Wen in the 11th century BC. King Wen is credited with founding the Zhou dynasty after he received the Mandate from Heaven to attack and overthrow the Shang dynasty. King Wen is also credited with creating the ancient oracle known as the Yijing or Book of Changes. This book validates King Wen's association with the Changes. It uncovers in the Changes a record of a total solar eclipse that was witnessed at King Wen's capital of Feng by his son King Wu, shortly after King Wen had died (before he had a chance to launch the full invasion). The sense of this eclipse as an actual event has been overlooked for three millennia. It provides an account of the events surrounding the conquest of the Shang and founding of the Zhou dynasty that has never been told. It shows how the earliest layer of the Book of Changes (the Zhouyi) has preserved a hidden history of the Conquest.

Entangled

Entangled PDF Author: Ian Hodder
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470672129
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
A powerful and innovative argument that explores the complexity of the human relationship with material things, demonstrating how humans and societies are entrapped into the maintenance and sustaining of material worlds Argues that the interrelationship of humans and things is a defining characteristic of human history and culture Offers a nuanced argument that values the physical processes of things without succumbing to materialism Discusses historical and modern examples, using evolutionary theory to show how long-standing entanglements are irreversible and increase in scale and complexity over time Integrates aspects of a diverse array of contemporary theories in archaeology and related natural and biological sciences Provides a critical review of many of the key contemporary perspectives from materiality, material culture studies and phenomenology to evolutionary theory, behavioral archaeology, cognitive archaeology, human behavioral ecology, Actor Network Theory and complexity theory

Head-hunters

Head-hunters PDF Author: Alfred Cort Haddon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Borneo
Languages : en
Pages : 526

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Book Description
Detailed ethnographical study of the Torres Straits Islanders (tour also included New Guinea and Borneo); Chaps. 2 & 3; Brief history of the discovery of the Torres Straits islands - geographical features; physical appearance of Islanders, investigation carried out on natives in experimental psychology; form of government; comments on Miriam language; description of rainmaking ceremony; amusements cats cradles, top spinning; method of cooking; Malu ceremonies - initiation masks associated with ceremonies; clan organization linked to totems; Chap 5; Murray Island oracles - Zogos - the Waiad ceremony; Chap.6; Discussion of the character and social life of Murray Islanders; burial customs mummification, decorated skulls; Chaps. 8 & 9; Mabuiag - intelligence of natives, work standards in fishing, as sailors and in agriculture compared with Murray Islanders and Muralug natives; measurements of skulls including collection from Moa; results of contact with Europeans (including missionaries); economic conditions; genealogical surveys carried out on Murray and Mabuiag; comments on Mabuiag language - no link with Yaraikanna tribe of Cape York; tribal organization, significance and advantages of totemic system; initiation customs concerned with women, on Island of Tut; Pulu Island cave of skulls and ceremonial artifacts; Chap.10; Detailed description of dugong and turtle fishing use of harpoon, and sucker fish; Chap.11; Marriage customs from Mabuiag, Warrior and Murray Islands; legends of paintings on Kirivi; war dance on Muralug; Chap.13; Brief study of Gudang and Yaraikanna tribes - physical appearance - tooth avulsion; use of bullroarer in initiation ceremonies; obtaining of the Ari or personal totem.

Coping with the Future

Coping with the Future PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004356789
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 602

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Book Description
Coping with the Future: Theories and Practices of Divination in East Asia offers insights into various techniques of divination, their evolution, and their assessment. The contributions cover the period from the earliest documents on East Asian mantic arts to their appearance in the present time. The volume reflects the pervasive manifestations of divination in literature, religious and political life, and their relevance for society and individuals. Special emphasis is placed on cross-cultural influences and attempts to find theoretical foundations for divinatory practices. This edited volume is an initiative to study the phenomena of divination across East Asian cultures and beyond. It is also one of the first attempts to theorize divinatory practices through East Asian traditions.

China, 5000 Years

China, 5000 Years PDF Author: Sherman E. Lee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art, Chinese
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description


Ancient Divination and Experience

Ancient Divination and Experience PDF Author: Lindsay Gayle Driediger-Murphy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198844549
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. This volume sets out to re-examine what ancient people - primarily those in ancient Greek and Roman communities, but also Mesopotamian and Chinese cultures - thought they were doing through divination, and what this can tell us about the religions and cultures in which divination was practised. The chapters, authored by a range of established experts and upcoming early-career scholars, engage with four shared questions: What kinds of gods do ancient forms of divination presuppose? What beliefs, anxieties, and hopes did divination seek to address? What were the limits of human 'control' of divination? What kinds of human-divine relationships did divination create/sustain? The volume as a whole seeks to move beyond functionalist approaches to divination in order to identify and elucidate previously understudied aspects of ancient divinatory experience and practice. Special attention is paid to the experiences of non-elites, the perception of divine presence, the ways in which divinatory techniques could surprise their users by yielding unexpected or unwanted results, the difficulties of interpretation with which divinatory experts were thought to contend, and the possibility that divination could not just ease, but also exacerbate, anxiety in practitioners and consultants.

Sumerian Lexicon

Sumerian Lexicon PDF Author: John Alan Halloran
Publisher: Logogram Publishing
ISBN: 9780978642907
Category : Sumerian language
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
With 6,400 entries, this is the most complete available lexicon of ancient Sumerian vocabulary. It replaces version 3 of the author's Sumerian Lexicon, which has served an audience of over 380,000 visitors at the web site www.sumerian.org since 1999. This published version adds over 2,600 new entries, and corrects or expands many of the previous entries. Also, following the express wish of a majority of online lexicon users, it has merged together and sorted the logogram words and the compound words into purely alphabetical order. This book will be an indispensable reference for anyone trying to translate Sumerian texts. Also, due to the historical position of ancient Sumer as the world's first urban civilisation, cultural and linguistic archaeologists will discover a wealth of information for research.