Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : early China and its natural and cultural demarcations -- The development of complex society in China -- Erlitou and Erligang : early states expansion -- Anyang and beyond : shang and contemporary bronze cultures -- Cracking the secret bones : literacy and society in late Shang? -- The inscribed history : western Zhou state and its bronze vessels -- The creation of paradigm : Zhou bureaucracy and social institutions -- Hegemons and warriors : social transformation of the spring and autumn period (770 bc-481 BC) -- The age of territorial states : warring states politics and institutions -- Philosophers as statesmen : in light of recently discovered texts -- The Qin unification and Qin empire : who were the terra-cotta warriors? -- Expansion and political transition of the Han empire -- State and society: bureaucracy and social orders under the Han empire -- Ideological changes and their reflections in han culture and han art.