Dallas Public Library

These bones shall rise again, selected writings on early China, David N. Keightley ; edited and with an introduction by Henry Rosemont Jr

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-320) and index

illustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

These bones shall rise again

bibliography

840267096

David N. Keightley ; edited and with an introduction by Henry Rosemont Jr

SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture

selected writings on early China

This book brings together in one volume many of teh author's seminal essays on the origins of early Chinese civilization. Written over a period of three decades and accessible to the non-specialist, these essays provide a wealth of information and insights on the Shang dynasty, traditionally dated 1766-1122 or 1056 BCE. Of all the eras of Chinese history, the Shang has been a particularly elusive one, long considered more myth than reality. A historian with a keen appreciation for anthropology and archaeology, the author has given us many descriptions of Shang life. Best known for his analysis of oracle bones, he has looked beyond the bones themselves and expanded his historical vision to ponder the lives of those who used them. What did the Shang diviner think he was doing? The temerity to ask such questions and the insights they have provided have been provocative and, at times, controversial. Equally intriguing have been the author's assertions that many of the distinctive features of Chinese civilization were already in evidence during the Shang, 3000 years ago. -- From publisher's website

Archaeology and mentality: the making of China -- Early civilization in China: reflections on how it became Chinese -- What did make the Chinese "Chinese"? Some geographical perspectives -- The religious commitment: Shang theology and the genesis of Chinese political culture -- Late Shang divination: the magico-religious legacy -- Shang divination and metaphysics -- The making of the ancestors: late Shang religion and its legacy -- Theology and the writing of history: truth and the ancestors in the Wu Ding divination records -- Marks and labels: early writing in neolithic and Shang China -- Clean hands and shining helmets: heroic action in early Chinese and Greek culture -- Epistemology in cultural context: disguise and deception in early China and early Greece -- Notes and comments: "There was on old man of Chang'an ...": limericks and the teaching of early Chinese history