Art, Myth, and Ritual: The Path to Political Authority in Ancient ChinaA leading scholar in the United States on Chinese archaeology challenges long-standing conceptions of the rise of political authority in ancient China. Questioning Marx’s concept of an “Asiatic” mode of production, Wittfogel’s “hydraulic hypothesis,” and cultural-materialist theories on the importance of technology, K. C. Chang builds an impressive counterargument, one which ranges widely from recent archaeological discoveries to studies of mythology, ancient Chinese poetry, and the iconography of Shang food vessels. |
Contents
Clans Towns and the Political Landscape | 9 |
Moral Authority and Coercive Power | 33 |
Shamanism and Politics | 44 |
Art as the Path to Authority | 56 |
Writing as the Path to Authority | 81 |
Access to the Path | 95 |
Other editions - View all
Art, Myth, and Ritual: The Path to Political Authority in Ancient China Kwang-chih Chang Limited preview - 1983 |
Common terms and phrases
Academia Sinica An-yang ancestors ancestral temple ancient China animal designs Archaeology Bernhard Karlgren Book of Odes Bronze Age bronze art bronze ritual vessels bronze vessels Ch'en Ch'i Ch'u Tz'u Chieh Chinese bronzes Chinese Civilization Chinese history chiu ting Chou bronzes Chou dynasty Chou period decorative divination dragons Eastern Antiquities Eastern Chou Eikuli yekuli excavated fei-yi Figure Hai-wai heaven historiographer History and Philology Honan Hsia dynasty Hsü human James Legge Ju Shou Jung Keng K. C. Chang K'ao-ku k'uei king legendary Lo-yang lung Mencius motif Museum myth Neolithic oracle bone inscriptions Pan-p'o Peking political authority pottery prehistoric records River royal rulers shamanistic shamans Shan Hai Ching Shang and Chou Shang bronze Shang dynasty Shensi Shih spirits Sui Hsien symbols T'ang texts Three Dynasties ting-tripods tion tomb Tso Chuan villages Wang Wen-wu Western Wu Liang Tz'u Yellow Emperor Yin-hsü