Common Sense of Ancient Chinese Culture, edited by Wang Li, published by Zhonghua Book Company

Editor's Recommendations

Do you know the complicated truth about King Wu's conquest of Shang? Do you know the earliest physical object of cats we can see? Do you know that the famous Simuwu Ding has a fake ear? Do you know that Meng Jiangnu's surname is Jiang, not Meng? Do you know that the pants worn by people wearing deep clothes in the Han Dynasty were open-crotch hakama that exposed their buttocks? Do you know what the oldest heart knot looks like? Do you know the truth about the Yellow Emperor's battle with Chiyou? Do you know that the oldest wine bottle appeared 6,000 years ago? Do you know what the word "fishy" in pork originally meant? Do you know how incredible China has experienced three large-scale cooling in the past 3,500 years?

◎A must-read classic. This book is a concise reader of common knowledge about ancient Chinese culture, co-authored by Professor Wang Li and many experts. It has undergone four major revisions in the 46 years since its publication. Today, it is still the most important and comprehensive basic reference book for the public to understand the ancient Chinese culture.

◎The total time span of the compilation and revision of the collectively created book is more than 40 years. Three generations of editors have devoted a lot of effort and have gone through countless trials and tribulations. It is the result of collective creation.

◎New Evidence of Ancient History This revision breaks through the previous pattern. We specially invited sinologists who teach in the United States to take the achievements of the golden age of Chinese archaeology as the starting point, and through the "New Evidence of Ancient History" that combines modern archaeological discoveries with traditional documents, we supplement the latest cultural research results from the perspectives of archaeology and anthropology.

◎Correcting errors and filling gaps This revision, based on the addition of new knowledge, has made precise new interpretations for parts of ancient documents that were not accurately interpreted, citing a large number of archaeological discoveries, correcting the erroneous understandings of the public and even the academic community, and presenting readers with a more interesting and accurate picture of ancient Chinese cultural life.

◎ Carefully arranged This book discusses everything from creation myths to ancient civilizations, with profound content, vivid and concise language, and a combination of carefully selected pictures and little-known picture captions, which brings readers closer to ancient cultural life and thus arouses a strong interest in ancient Chinese culture. It should be pointed out that in order to facilitate readers' reading, the book has cleared the obstacles of words and basic concepts for interested middle school students.

Introduction

The book is divided into 14 parts, including astronomy, calendar, music, geography, official positions, imperial examinations, names, customs, clan system, palaces, carriages, food, clothing, and sundries. It briefly introduces the astronomy and calendar in pre-Qin literature; outlines the division of Chinese territory in successive dynasties; details the ancient political structure and talent selection; makes a detailed analysis of China's disappeared clan system, especially the Zhaomu system; and systematically summarizes the ancient name system and political system from the macro and micro levels. The content involved includes both the lives of ordinary people and the luxury of the upper class. Citing a large number of archaeological discoveries, this book corrects some of the misconceptions of the public and even the academic community, and presents readers with a more interesting and accurate picture of ancient Chinese cultural life.