Early China chronology; Map of China; 1. Introduction: early China and its natural and cultural demarcations; 2. The development of complex society in China; 3. Erlitou and Erligang: early states expansion; 4. Anyang and beyond: Shang and contemporary bronze cultures; 5. Cracking the secret bones: literacy and society in Late Shang?; 6. The inscribed history: Western Zhou State and its bronze vessels; 7. The creation of paradigm: Zhou bureaucracy and social institutions; 8. Hegemons and warriors: social transformation of the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC–481 BC); 9. The age of territorial states: warring states politics and institutions; 10. Philosophers as statesmen: in light of recently discovered texts; 11. The Qin Unification and Qin Empire: who were the Terra-Cotta Warriors?; 12. Expansion and political transition of the Han Empire; 13. State and society: bureaucracy and social orders under the Han Empire; 14. Ideological changes and their reflections in Han culture and Han art.

'Early China' refers to the period from the beginning of human history in China to the end of the Han Dynasty in AD 220. The roots of modern Chinese society and culture are all to be found in this formative period of Chinese civilization. Li Feng's new critical interpretation draws on the most recent scholarship and archaeological discoveries from the past thirty years. This fluent and engaging overview of early Chinese civilization explores key topics including the origins of the written language, the rise of the state, the Shang and Zhou religions, bureaucracy, law and governance, the evolving nature of war, the creation of empire, the changing image of art, and the philosophical search for social order. Beautifully illustrated with a wide range of new images, this book is essential reading for all those wanting to know more about the foundations of Chinese history and civilization.

http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/regional-history-after-1500/early-china-social-and-cultural-history?format=PB#bookPeople
'Early China' refers to the period from the beginning of human history in China to the end of the Han Dynasty in AD 220. The roots of modern Chinese society and culture are all to be found in this formative period of Chinese civilization. Li Feng's new critical interpretation draws on the most recent scholarship and archaeological discoveries from the past thirty years. This fluent and engaging overview of early Chinese civilization explores key topics including the origins of the written language, the rise of the state, the Shang and Zhou religions, bureaucracy, law and governance, the evolving nature of war, the creation of empire, the changing image of art, and the philosophical search for social order. Beautifully illustrated with a wide range of new images, this book is essential reading for all those wanting to know more about the foundations of Chinese history and civilization.

The ascendancy of the Western Zhou in Bronze Age China, 1045–771 BC, was a critical period in the development of Chinese civilisation and culture. This book addresses the complex relationship between geography and political power in the context of the crisis and fall of the Western Zhou state. Drawing on the latest archaeological discoveries, the book shows how inscribed bronze vessels can be used to reveal changes in the political space of the period and explores literary and geographical evidence to produce a coherent understanding of the Bronze Age past. By taking an interdisciplinary approach which embraces archaeology, history and geography, the book thoroughly reinterprets late Western Zhou history and probes the causes of its gradual decline and eventual fall. Supported throughout by maps created from the GIS datasets and by numerous on-site photographs, Landscape and Power in Early China gives significant insights into this important Bronze Age society.

本书并非一部西周的通史，甚至也不是西周晚期的通史，而是对西周灭亡这一历史事件的实证性研究。
作者通过探讨西周国家的衰弱和灭亡这一特定的持续历史和地理过程中，地理条件及其政治性建构之间的复杂关系，综合运用考古发现、铭文和文献记录，同时联系地表形态的特征，分析和说明了西周的政治体系是如何并且为何不能经受住时间的考验，从而最终导致了西周国家的解体和王畿的崩溃。