Reviews

The general reader as well as the specialist will appreciate the book's clear discussion of many details, including the description of zoomorphic designs. Chang's interdisciplinary interpretive approach and well-balanced illustrations make this book an important addition to the study of China's early civilization. -- Alfonz Lengyel * Archaeology *
This excellent little book offers one approach to an overall treatment of ancient Chinese society within a time span embracing the Three Dynasties... The picture of ancient China which emerges from this brief yet powerful synthesis is strikingly cohesive. -- Leon Vandermeersch * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *
The value of these short essays lies in their cross-disciplinary perspective, in the freshness of some of the ideas, and in the juxtaposition of the elements of the analysis... [They] result in new perspectives on old issues: especially the roles of myth, writing, and marriage patterns in early Chinese political culture. -- Barry Blakely * Asia and the East *