The book provides highlights on the key concepts and trends of evolution in History of Imperial Mausoleum in China in China, as one of the series of books of “China Classified Histories”.

Intellectually and visually stimulating, this important landmark book looks at the religious, political, social and artistic significance of the Imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It traces the evolutionary development of the most elaborately beautiful imperial tombs to examine fundamental issues on death and the afterlife in one of the world's most sophisticated civilizations. Selected tombs are presented in terms of their structure, artistic programs and their purposes. The author sets the tombs in the context of Chinese attitudes towards the afterlife, the politics of mausoleum architecture, and the artistic vocabulary which was becoming the mainstream of Chinese civilization.

During the late imperial era (1500-1911), China, though divided by ethnic, linguistic, and regional differences at least as great as those prevailing in Europe, enjoyed a remarkable solidarity. What held Chinese society together for so many centuries? Some scholars have pointed to the institutional control over the written word as instrumental in promoting cultural homogenization; others, the manipulation of the performing arts. This volume, comprised of essays by both anthropologists and historians, furthers this important discussion by examining the role of death rituals in the unification of Chinese culture.

This book presents an archeological interpretation of the history of Chinese civilization. Tracing back from recent history to the distant past, it explores the breadth of Chinese civilization. Using archeological remains and cultural relics as starting points and approaching the cultural dimension from material perspectives, it presents a panoramic view of China’s civilizational continuity, together with its ideological and cultural characteristics. Featuring a wealth of illustrations (including photos of cultural relics and sites, archeological surveys, etc.) and texts written in easy-to-understand language, it offers an engaging read without sacrificing academic quality. The main components of “civilization” are addressed: capital archeology, mausoleum archeology, ritual wares and architecture archeology, as well as written language. The book offers a unique resource for archeology scholars and majors, as well as general readers who are interested in Chinese archeology and history.

The Cambridge History of Ancient China provides a survey of the institutional and cultural history of pre-imperial China.

This study deals primarily with Ch'inan, a village in northern Taiwan whose residents belong to one ethnic group: Hokkien-speaking Chinese whose ancestors made the journey from the southeast coast of mainland China over 200 years ago. It deals almost exclusively with the complex of institutions associated with the care and management of the dead. The book covers the history of Ch'inan, and how the village is organized today, making use of historical records, such as lineage genealogies. Sociological correlates of ancestor worship in ancestral halls and before domestic altars are examined. The darker side of ancestor worship is also explored, in which the dead stand out as dangerous creatures capable of harming or frightening the living. Perspective is then expanded to other parts of Taiwan, to consider how the form of the community affects the cult of the ancestors, how different reciprocal obligations between the living the dead affect ancestor worship, and in what ways people react to the obligations of ancestor worship.

The rise of Qin and the military conquest of the warring states -- The First Emperor and the Qin empire -- Imperial tours and mountain inscriptions -- The First Emperor's tomb: the afterlife universe -- A two-thousand-year-old underground empire.