Image of Death in Ancient China
Bookmark Share

Text

Death in Ancient China

This richly illustrated book provides a glimpse into the belief system and the material wealth of the social elite in pre-Imperial China through a close analysis of tomb contents and excavated bamboo texts.
The point of departure is the textual and material evidence found in one tomb of an elite man buried in 316 BCE near a once wealthy middle Yangzi River valley metropolis. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of cosmological symbolism and the nature of the spirit world. The author shows how illness and death were perceived as steps in a spiritual journey from one realm into another. Transmitted textual records are compared with excavated texts. The layout and contents of this multi-chambered tomb are analyzed as are the contents of two texts, a record of divination and sacrifices performed during the last three years of the occupant’s life and a tomb inventory record of mortuary gifts. The texts are fully translated and annotated in the appendices.
A first-time close-up view of a set of local beliefs which not only reflect the larger ancient Chinese religious system but also underlay the rich intellectual and artistic life of pre-Imperial China.
With first full translations of texts previously unknown to all except a small handful of sinologists.

Availability

No copy data

Detail Information
Series Title
Asian Studies
Call Number
-
Publisher
Brill : https://brill.com/.,
Collation
oer.unej.ac.id
Language
English
ISBN/ISSN
978-90-47-41063-8
Classification
NONE
Content Type
text
Media Type
computer
Carrier Type
online resource
Edition
-
Subject(s)
China
Specific Detail Info
-
Statement of Responsibility
Other Information
Cataloger
-
Source
https://brill.com/display/title/13009
Validator
Suwardi
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
-
Journal Volume
Volume: 8
Journal Issue
-
Subtitle
-
Parallel Title
-
Other version/related

No other version available

File Attachment
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment