Material culture, power, and identity in ancient China /Xiaolong Wu.

Wu, Xiaolong,

Material culture, power, and identity in ancient China /Xiaolong Wu. - Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, (c)2017. - 1 online resource : illustrations

Includes bibliographies and index.

Cover ; Half-title page; Title page; Copyright page; Dedication; Contents; List of Figures; List of Maps ; List of Tables ; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter One Historical Setting and Approaches to the Study of an Ancient State in Warring States China; Chapter Two Life, Death, and Identity in Zhongshan: Sorting out the Archaeological Evidence; Chapter Three Royal Mortuary Practice and Artifacts: Hybridity, Identity, and Power; Chapter Four Interstate Politics and Artistic Innovation during the Reign of King Cuo; Chapter Five Statecraft and Zhongshan Bronze Inscriptions Chapter Six Funerary Architecture, Kingly Power, and Court PoliticsConclusion; Appendices; Appendix A; Appendix B ; Appendix C ; Appendix D ; Appendix E ; Appendix F ; Bibliography; Index

In this book, Xiaolong Wu offers a comprehensive and in-depth study of the Zhongshan state during China's Warring States Period (476?221 BCE). Analyzing artefacts, inscriptions, and grandiose funerary structures within a broad archaeological context, he illuminates the connections between power and identity, and the role of material culture in asserting and communicating both. The author brings an interdisciplinary approach to this study. He combines and cross-examines all available categories of evidence, including archaeological, textual, art historical, and epigraphical, enabling innovative interpretations and conclusions that challenge conventional views regarding Zhongshan and ethnicity in ancient China. Wu reveals the complex relationship between material culture, cultural identity, and statecraft intended by the royal patrons. He demonstrates that the Zhongshan king Cuo constructed a hybrid cultural identity, consolidated his power, and aimed to maintain political order at court after his death through the buildings, sculpture, and inscriptions that he commissioned.



9781108230995 9781108230070


Electronic Books.

DS747 / .M384 2017