This review of this very significant reference work is now added about 2 PM on this the 40th day after Beltaine, 2002 CE. This site strives to use the more familiar Wade-Giles system of romanization, though the book itself does not
do so. Apologies for any confusion that may ensue.

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ANCIENT CHINA, ed. Michael Loewe and Edward L.
Shaughnessy, Cambridge U. Press, 1999.

The editors introduce this book by mentioning that when the idea arose for
a multi-volume history of China, some thirty-five years ago, those then
responsible found no way to correlate the varied archaeological and
historical material on the earliest periods and thus the Cambridge History
of China begins with the first imperial dynasties (Ch'in and Han). However,
just recently this difficulty has been surmounted, largely by having four
pairs of chapters as the main core of the text: on the archaeology and the
history of the Shang, Western Chou, Spring and Autumn, and Warring States
Periods. There are fourteen chapters in all, with extra ones devoted to
such topics as the Northern frontier and esoterica during the Warring
States period. The introduction also mentions traditional sources, Western
accounts of ancient China over the past two centuries, ancient Chinese
concepts of time, with charts of traditional reign dates, the geography and
historical climate. 

The first chapter by Kwang-chih Chang is an excellent introduction to the
prehistoric period, including the opinion that there may have been some
local evolution, instead of the series of migrations out of Africa and 
the evidence for Taiwan and the nearby South China coast as the homeland of
the Australo-Polynesian languages. Also, this chapter mentions the apparent
shamanistic remains in Yangshao and other cultural sites. It further notes
the presence of two later Shang characteristics, oracle bones and stamped
earth construction in Shantung, i.e. the east and native, rather than
imported from the west to China. In addition, there is a brief look at
traditional history, including the issue of the Hsia Dynasty, perhaps to be
identified with the Erh-li-t'ou culture.
   
In the second chapter, William G. Boltz examines the development of the
Chinese language and its contact with other languages in the Sino-Tibetan,
Austro-Asiatic and Indo-European families. He says that the Archaic Period,
that of the oracle bone inscriptions, c. 1200-1000 BCE, provides some four
thousand characters, the identification of half of which are either unknown
or uncertain. The Pre-Classical Period, c. 1000-600 BCE has left about the
same number of characters, from both bronze inscriptions and parts of such
texts as the I CHING, with fewer of them unknown. The Classic Period, from
c. 600 to 200 BCE, has left significant textual remains, including some
very literary works. There is reference here to the ideal standard use of
a single column of 22 or 24 characters on each strip of bamboo or wood.

William Boltz continues:

   On first inspection it seems that at no stage of its observable history
   down to the beginning of the Chinese empire does Chinese show any overt
   signs of a productive morphology of the kind we are automatically
   predisposed to think of based on our familiarity with the morphological
   structure of Indo-European languages. p. 91

He considers evidence of morphology within the seemingly isolated
characters, mentions that such morphological processes strengthen the case
for affinity with Tibeto-Burman and states that E.G. Pulleyblank considers
a specific similarity here with Indo-European grounds for possible
Sino-Tibetan/Indo-European cognate relation.

As to pronunciation:

   Numerous twentieth-century scholars, beginning with Bernhard Karlgren,
   trained in the methods of Western comparative and historical
   linguistics and dialectology, have devoted their energies for much of
   the twentieth century to the problem of reconstructing the sound
   systems of Middle and Old Chinese. This has been, and continues to be,
   no small enterprise, and as important as it is for sinological
   research, close to a century of work has gained few results, especially
   for Old Chinese, that can be said to be free from controversy. p. 100

He does mention Sui and Sung rhyming dictionaries and efforts by Ch'ing
philologists to reconstruct Old Chinese from rhyme groups in the Shih
Ching.

   The most suggestive indication that there were in fact texts written on
   bamboo or wooden strips contemporaneous with the Shang inscription texts
   is the appearance of the character llll in the inventory of recognized
   Shang characters, identified with modern llll ce "writing tablet(s)"... 
   The inscription form of the graph is usually understood as depicting   
   several bamboo or wooden strips tied together with a thong, which we
   know from direct archaeological evidence is the form later texts take.   
   p. 107

He states that the Shang graphs already possessed the three attributes of
being zodiographic, multivalent and determinative, and are not
pictographic in the sense of permitting one to perceive meaning from a
realistic appearance. Clan insignia graphs are exceptions comparable to
European heraldic devices.

One minor point is his statement on page 119 that the semantic
determinative "person" added to distinguish the meaning "image" from
"elephant" was less comprehensible than using "bamboo" to indicate
"basket", "rain" to indicate "cloud", or "heart/emotions" to indicate
"shivering". In my opinion, whether one thinks of image in the sense of
dream image or pictorial representation, it is very understandable to
convey this by using "person".   

Robert Bagley's chapter on Shang archaeology is over one hundred pages long
and forms an excellent contrast and comparison to two other works hopefully
soon to be reviewed at this site, Herrlee Glessner Creel's THE BIRTH OF
CHINA (1937) and Kwang-chih Chang's SHANG CIVILIZATION (1980). Bagley
begins by mentioning archaeological attitudes as finds verified traditional 
history and as traditional history then influenced both choice of sites and
interpretation of the archaeological record. Salvage archaeology provided a
wider area and evidence for a more complex reality than that indicated by 
transmitted history.

Robert Bagley next considers large scale use of bronze as definitive of the
first "civilization", and even confusingly dates the Early Bronze Age on
this basis, hence commencing roughly half a millennium later than the term
would normally suggest. There follow a number of pages on different bronze
styles, a reiteration of the cultural complexity of 2nd Millennium China,
and a reference to the diffusion of bronze technology. There is a look at
the Erh-li-t'ou, Cheng-chou, P'anlung-ch'eng sites, Wu-ch'eng and elsewhere,
followed by the major consideration of An-yang (pp. 183-208). There is the
caution that the survival of the oracle bone records creates an imbalanced
view of An-yang society, to say nothing of the wider diverse geographical
area. Among the many pages of archaeological comment, occurs this striking
passage about the jades found in the tomb of Fu Hao:

   But the most startling feature of the assemblage is a diverse group of
   Neolithic jades, some perhaps a thousand years old by the Fu Hao's time.
   They include items from the Shijiahe culture of Hubei, the Liangzhu
   culture of the lower Yangzi region, the Longshan culture of Shandong,
   and the Hongshan culture of the far northeast. pp. 201-202

There is reference to chariots appearing fully formed in the Chinese
archaeological record, suggesting importation from the west. This may be
true, though the following is not only cautionary as supporting Barry 
Raftery's remarks concerning chariots in Ireland (vide p. 106 of PAGAN 
CELTIC IRELAND):

   Buried chariots likely to be as early as Wu Ding's reign are not well
   preserved, little besides their bronze fittings having survived. In
   somewhat later burials excavators have managed to recover complete
   ghosts of chariots, that is, earth casts formed by fine soil that 
   infiltrated the cavities left by the decay of wooden parts. p. 203

There is also reference to lacquer on the wood of chariots. And, the
chapter proceeds with a look at the Middle Yangtze, the Chengtu Plain,
Shantung and the North. Northern bronze artifacts include battle-axes
which stretch deep into Siberia and Russia.

David Keightley's chapter on Shang history is quite disappointing. He
simply mentions the existence of traditional history, states that Ssu-ma
Ch'ien, "Records anecdotes, events, character analyses, and moral
judgements regarding fourteen predynastic ancestors and thirty dynastic
kings..." (p. 233) and turns to what can be deduced from the oracle bone
records and archaeology, notwithstanding the fact there has just been a
hundred page long archaeology chapter.

He does have a genealogical chart on pages 234-235 naming six predynastic
ancestors and the 29 kings, as determined from oracle bone records, and on
page 240 a table of diviner groups that includes reign date estimates for
the last eight kings. On page 237, he writes that we know the names of
more than 120 diviners, grouped into ten major divisions, "On the basis of
their periods of activity, writing styles, divination forms and divination
topics." If he stated relationships, familial, geographic, guild, etc.,
among these diviners, this reviewer missed it.

Also missed, besides details from traditional history, was basic info,
even of the statistical "At least X times during Wu Ding's reign" nature,
on such basic questions as to how many times a divination was conducted
each reign on various topics: troop mobilization, civil and military
appointments, public works, including agricultural projects, etc.    

A far better treatment is accorded by Edward Shaughnessy to Western Chou
history. He outlines the traditional account from the birth of Millet
Lord, through the founding of the city of Qishan, to the transfer of power
in the days of Wen, Wu and Duke Chou, the succession crises, the founding
of colonies over a vast area (though I would be more apt to view this as
the dispatch of governors and troops to outposts), the interesting at this
stage assertion of regional independence even at the time of King Mu (r.
956-918), the lessening of respect for some of Mu's successors, with
indeed King Li forced to retire in 842, though Li's son Hsuan does assume
power in 827, after the death of his father. Mu is of interest, not only
for his military success in the northwest and his problems from the east,
but also for allegedly establishing the first legal code and for his
reputed romance with the Queen Mother of the West.

Edward Shaughnessy draws on the many inscriptions on bronze ritual
vessels, some quite sizeable, to supplement traditional accounts of this
period. The chapter includes some fascinating citations of both kinds of
sources. He proceeds to describe the end of the Western Chou with Hsuan
facing pressures from east and west, as well as succession struggles
within the Chou states, with inauspicious portents at the start of his
successor's (You's) reign (781-771), the tale of the amusing misuse of the
beacon alarm system, the influence of a new consort and her son being
elevated over the original heir, the fall of the western capital and the
death of You, the establishment of his original heir, P'ing (r. 770-720), 
in the eastern capital, and hence the termination of the Western Chou.  

Jessica Rawson's Western Chou archaeology chapter begins by stating the
fixed temporal borders, before and after which archaeological remains in
Shensi are less impressive. During the period there are abundant remains
in the Wei River region and, at its height, as far as Yan (Peking) 1,250
km away, as well as, in places, 850km north to south. She notes that Chou
elites likely lived among local populations with varying cultures and
languages.

Jessica Rawson considers the situation in Shensi just before the overthrow 
of the Shang, with the variety of bronzes and ceramics there, and in
adjacent areas. She examines rich finds in Shensi at the time of the
conquest, including oracle bones. She discusses finds elsewhere, noting
that the secondary capital near Luoyang does not reveal material one would
expect from the references to it in literature and on bronzes. Elsewhere,
the Yan site near Peking is of special interest for the inscription naming
Tai Bao (Shao Gong), a half brother of King Wu.

She turns to the bronzes of the Middle Western Chou period ("rounded,
smooth shapes, without flanges, emphasized by elaborate bird patterns" 
p. 414). She mentions standardization, smaller size, possible relations
with the south, not as yet adequately explored archaeologically, though
the increased use in Shensi of jade and bronze bells suggest southern
influence. She then looks at the later Western Chou period, postulating
rituals, more centrally controlled, now needed to impress by weight and
sound. She mentions the seeming absence of elite Chou burials in Yan and
Luoyang and finds in Jin. The chapter has a hundred pages of text, photos
and drawings. The reader is advised as to the difference between artifact
and inference, her Ritual Revolution, for instance.     

Lothar von Falkenhausen's "The Waning of the Bronze Age" mentions that the
dates 771-481 are not chosen by archaeological considerations, that in
contrast to some efforts to define separate cultures for the different
states mentioned in textual references to the period, "Eastern Zhou
archaeological remains on the whole suggest cultural increasing
convergence." (p. 451) He looks at settlements such as Wangcheng (Royal
City), Qufu, capital of Lu, Jin, capital of Xintian, founded c. 589 and
abandoned in 376, and Yong the Ch'in capital from 677 to 383.

He proceeds to bronze ritual vessels and bells, to Hunan tombs, Jin
cemeteries and then the 21 sq. km. necropolis at Yong, the Ch'in capital.
Curiously, considering the doubt as to Chou origins, he writes, "After 770
B.C., the ancient cradle of the Zhou kingdom in central Shaanxi became the
territory of Ch'in." (p. 486) He mentions Ch'in bronze inscriptions,
possibly as early as Wu Gong (r. 697-678), expressing ambitions to replace
the Chou. Next comes a look at Qufu (Lu) cemeteries and other Shantung
burial sites, followed by sites in the Huai River region. He discusses,
sceptically, the opinion that Qufu evidences burials of the royal Ji clan
and descendants of pre-Chou inhabitants. He turns to the Han River region
and the opinion that Zeng with its important, though early Warring States,
tomb at Leigundun may be the historical Sui.

There follow nearly thirty pages on Ch'u and other southern areas, of
great interest due to assertions the south has not received proportionate
archaeological attention. 

   But there are still no archaeological finds that are unquestionably Chu
   from before approximately 600 B.C. By this time, we find Chu
   established in the water-rich area along the middle Yangzi in
   west-central Hubei. To date, however, it remains unclear whether the
   Chu polity was indigenous to that area or whether (and if so, when) it
   was moved there from further north. p. 514

He mentions Ch'u bronze inscriptions attesting the loyalty of Chu
aristocrats and allied rulers to the Ch'u ruler, styling himself "King",
and meaning it, from at least the mid 6th Century. Yet:

   Archaeological finds show that the burial customs of the Chu elite
   during the Spring and Autumn period conformed in most if not all
   essential respects to those observed elsewhere in the Zhou cultural
   sphere. p. 523

Beyond Ch'u, lies a vast area of cultures with distinctive features, such
as mounded tombs, dating from c. 1250 BCE, in contrast to Zhou vertical
pit tombs.

   Simple earthen mounds are distributed all over the Lower Yangzi area,
   whereas stone-chamber mounds, which apparently evolved from simple
   earthen mounds during the first half of the first millennium B.C., are
   seen only in the area around Lake Tai and in Zhejiang...Other highly
   distinctive types of burial in the area south of the Yangzi include
   megalithic chamber tombs in the coastal areas of southern Zhejiang, and 
   cliff-side tombs in the Wuyishan Mountains of eastern Jiangxi and
   northern Fujian, notable for their boat-shaped coffins. p. 527

He refers to southern ceramics, distinctive bronzes and very high quality
weapons. He concludes the chapter by underlining the quite likely
exaggerated nature of claims for both Western Chou centralization and
later fragmentation, noting the seeming cultural convergence, especially
as suggested for ritual.    

Cho-yun Hsu begins the Spring and Autumn (770-481) chapter by listing some
transformations that then transpired:

   It covers the transition from a Zhou feudal system to a multistate
   system; from the expansion of the Zhou into the Yellow River drainage 
   to the ancient China that spanned the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers and the 
   highlands in the north and the west; from an economy based on manorial
   management to a market economy; and from a family-based society to one
   based upon great social mobility. p. 545

Cho-yun Hsu also speaks of ethics and of intellectuals coming to transmit
the common ideals of a Chinese civilization. The chapter then speaks of
increasing regionalism, impoverishment of nobles and enrichment of
commoners before the beginning of this period. There is mention of the
source material, Ch'un Ch'iu and the more detailed Zuo Zhuan which names
148 states, 15 of them major. There is a listing of Chou and non-Chou
entities and peoples. The sparsely inhabited nature of some places is
mentioned, for instance, that permitting the founding of Zheng by King
Hsuan's younger brother Zheng Huan Gong (r. 806-771). At first, Zheng was
a strong supporter of the Chou monarchy, but in 707 the Chou attacked
Zheng, only to lose. The succession struggles for the Zheng rulership
allowed actual domination, under titular Chou rule, to pass to Ch'i in
Shantung. Ch'i defended the Chou states from invaders, including from the
powerful southern state of Ch'u. Interstate conferences became significant
at this time. Chin replaced Ch'i when struggle for succession of Ch'i's
Huan Kong (d. 643) weakened Ch'i. After a major victory over Ch'u in 632,
Chin received Chou recognition as Pa, which I've seen rendered "Overlord",
though perhaps "Supreme Vassel" is better.    

There seems to have been significant conflict prior to the disarmament
agreement in 579, and that agreement seems not to have lasted more than
four years. Another peace agreement in 546 linited the number of chariots
of each major power. In 506 the southern state of Wu inflicted terrible
losses on Ch'u, but ten years later the king of Wu died invading Yue. His
son, Fuchai, not only defeated Yue, but also made the first attempt to
build a canal connecting the south with the Central Plain. Wu's supremecy
fell before Yue's revenge.

The brief account of this period leaves the reader with the impression
that these generations before the Warring States period were themselves
often quite violent.

Mark Edward Lewis begins the "Warring States Political History" chapter
with a listing of sources and source difficulties, for example, the
destruction of conquered states' annals by the victor, reaching apogee in
the Ch'in Dynasty with the attempt to destroy all the other annals, only to
have Ch'in's own annals partly destroyed when Hsiang Yu burned the Ch'in
capital. There follows a brief description of the more important of the
Warring States: Yan, Qi, Ch'in, Ch'u, and the three thirds of the
fractured Jin (after 424), Wei, Zhao and Hann. He discusses the clash of
clans, such as that resulting in the division of Jin, the centralization
of power within states and the clash of states acting independently;

   The wars of the second period, from the division of Jin in 403 until the
   middle of the fourth century, can be divided into three distinct stages
   of two decades each: (1) that of the alliance of the Jin successor
   states under Wei, (2) that of the conflict between the successor states 
   and the reemergence of Chu, and (3) that of the appearance of Qin on the
   international stage and the career of Wei Hui Hou from 344 B.C. p. 617  

He discusses military reforms and technological advances, including: a
much greater use of large infantry forces, the development of the
crossbow, probably of southern origin, use of auxiliary cavalry, special
siege ladders, bellows blowing smoke into siege tunnels, walls along the
borders, and military specialist commanders, some whose names are
associated with military treatises.

He looks at diplomats, the forging of alliances, the rise of Ch'in, and
the role of scholars, such as the Mohists and the Confucians.

Wu Hung's Chapter Ten, "The Art and Architecture of the Warring States
Period", is some 95 pages long. He mentions the great changes of this time
as cities grew and the rulers of these states sought to demonstrate their
increased magnificence. He mentions the increased prominence of platforms,
terrace pavilions, gates and terraces. He states the lessening of the
importance of bronze in rituals and of traditional ritual itself, though
he describes intricate and artistic bronzes, such as the amazing examples
from Leigundun which include two containers of wine four feet high and
more than three feet wide, and:
 
   the sixty-four bells that transformed 2,500 kilograms of raw copper and 
   tin into the most exquisite set of musical instruments that we know from 
   ancient China. p. 676

Also there's the tree lamp from Zhongshan:

   A bronze lamp from tomb 1 takes the shape of a gigantic tree whose
   individual branches support fifteen lamp holders (Fig. 10.17). The
   spiral dragon climbing the central branch may be the mythological
   Zhulong, literally "Lamp Dragon." Other images on this tree, however,
   are derived from the observed world of nature: birds perch on the tree
   singing, and monkeys reach out toward two men, who stand under the tree
   to feed the animals. p. 689 
    
There's also the development of spirit articles during the period, some
complex and beautifully decorated. there are many-layered grave clothes,
figurines in tombs, silk banners and painted decorations.

David Shepherd Nivison's Classical Philosophical Writings chapter begins
by listing the sources, and their difficulties:

   There is only one finished book, the Lu shi chunqiu (Mr Lu's Spring and
   Autumn [Annals], with a known data of completion (239 B.C.), and it 
   bears the name not of its author but of the patron who engaged the
   nameless persons who actually wrote it. All of the other "books," no
   matter whose name they bear, are obviously layered texts that "grew"
   over centuries or are suspected to have been added to, taken from,
   rearranged, or pieced together after the main author (if there was one)
   died. p. 745

He considers the context of the time of Confucius: awareness of the past 
power of Chou emperors, current conflicting states, increasing prevalance
of non-hereditary officials, etc. Then there's a look at the life of 
Confucius and his role in transmitting the classics. Next comes the times
and book of Mo Tsu (c. 480-390).

   The basic goods in Mozi's consequentialist thinking are three: order
   (absence of conflict between persons, families, cities, states),
   material wealth for the community, and increase in population. p. 761

Then comes an examination of the fourth century, the time of Mencius and
Chuang Tzu, followed by third century Hsun Tsu, by Han Fei, by Lao Tzu, by
Mr. Lu's ANNALS, and by correspondences according to five phases
understanding.

There is more, including Nicola Di Cosmo's chapter on the Northern
Frontier (pp. 885-966). This reference work is highly recommended.


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