Ancient China A History surveys the East Asian Heartland Region
- the geographical area that eventually became known as China
- from the Neolithic period through the Bronze Age to the early imperial era of Qin & Han up to the threshold of the medieval period in the third century CE For most of that long span of time there was no such place as " China"; the vast & varied territory of the Heartland Region was home to many diverse cultures that only slowly coalesced culturally linguistically & politically to form the first recognizably Chinese empires The field of Early China studies is being revolutionized in our time by a wealth of archaeologically recovered texts & artefacts Major & Cook draw on this exciting new evidence & a rich harvest of contemporary scholarship to present a leading-edge account of ancient China & its antecedents With handy pedagogical features such as maps & illustrations as well as an extensive list of recommendations for further reading Ancient China A History is an important resource for undergraduate & postgraduate courses on Chinese History & those studuing Chinese Culture & Society more generally