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Excavating the afterlife : the archaeology of early Chinese religion / Guolong Lai.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Seattle : University of Washington Press, 2015Description: 1 online resource (311 pages) : illustrations, mapsContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780295805702
  • 0295805706
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: Excavating the afterlifeDDC classification:
  • 299.5/1 23
LOC classification:
  • DS719
Other classification:
  • online - EBSCO
Online resources:
Contents:
Chronology of early Chinese dynasties -- Maps -- Introduction -- The dead who would not be ancestors -- The transformation of burial space -- The presence of the invisible -- Letters to the underworld -- Journey to the Northwest -- Conclusion -- Glossary of Chinese characters.
Summary: In Excavating the Afterlife, Guolong Lai explores the dialectical relationship between sociopolitical change and mortuary religion from an archaeological perspective. By examining burial structure, grave goods, and religious documents unearthed from groups of well-preserved tombs in southern China, Lai shows that new attitudes toward the dead, resulting from the trauma of violent political struggle and warfare, permanently altered the early Chinese conceptions of this world and the afterlife. The book grounds the important changes in religious beliefs and ritual practices firmly in the sociopolitical transition from the Warring States (ca. 453-221 BCE) to the early empires (3rd century-1st century BCE). A methodologically sophisticated synthesis of archaeological, art historical, and textual sources, Excavating the Afterlife will be of interest to art historians, archaeologists, and textual scholars of China, as well as to students of comparative religions. Art History Publication Initiative. For more information, visit http://arthistorypi.org/books/excavating-the-afterlife Honorable Mention for the 2016 Society for American Archaeology Book Award in the Scholarly Category.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - EBSCO (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (ebsco)993127

Print version record.

Chronology of early Chinese dynasties -- Maps -- Introduction -- The dead who would not be ancestors -- The transformation of burial space -- The presence of the invisible -- Letters to the underworld -- Journey to the Northwest -- Conclusion -- Glossary of Chinese characters.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

English.

In Excavating the Afterlife, Guolong Lai explores the dialectical relationship between sociopolitical change and mortuary religion from an archaeological perspective. By examining burial structure, grave goods, and religious documents unearthed from groups of well-preserved tombs in southern China, Lai shows that new attitudes toward the dead, resulting from the trauma of violent political struggle and warfare, permanently altered the early Chinese conceptions of this world and the afterlife. The book grounds the important changes in religious beliefs and ritual practices firmly in the sociopolitical transition from the Warring States (ca. 453-221 BCE) to the early empires (3rd century-1st century BCE). A methodologically sophisticated synthesis of archaeological, art historical, and textual sources, Excavating the Afterlife will be of interest to art historians, archaeologists, and textual scholars of China, as well as to students of comparative religions. Art History Publication Initiative. For more information, visit http://arthistorypi.org/books/excavating-the-afterlife Honorable Mention for the 2016 Society for American Archaeology Book Award in the Scholarly Category.