Traditions of Exemplary Transcendents by Liu Xiang (79–8 BCE)

Author: Robert Ford Campany

Publication year: 2026

Publisher: De Gruyter

Abstract: 

By the middle of the third century BCE, some people in China had begun to imagine it possible to employ esoteric methods to refashion themselves into posthuman beings with spirit-like capabilities, enhanced bodies, and greatly extended lifespans. Such beings were termed transcendents (xian 仙).

Traditions of Exemplary Transcendents (Liexian zhuan 列仙傳), attributed to the imperial bibliographer Liu Xiang 劉向 (79-8 BCE), is the earliest extant collection of colorful stories about such figures. This volume makes available a critical edition and the first complete, annotated English translation of a text preserving some of the earliest mentions of alchemical, dietary, and medicinal methods of self-cultivation that later became standard in transcendence-seekers’ repertoire of practices.

Through this work we can already glimpse the sorts of engagements with local communities that made the quest for transcendence a matter of keen interest not just to practitioners themselves but to many in Chinese society for centuries thereafter.

【Announcement】 Back to Books — And a New Newsletter

Hello readers,

If you've been following this blog for a while, you may have noticed that things have been quiet around here for the past couple of years.

Life happened, priorities shifted, and I stepped away from blogging for longer than I ever expected. But I'm happy to say: I'm back.

Over the coming months, I'll be sharing news about new book releases and other book-related updates. One important change: the old newsletter system is no longer working, so I've moved to a new platform. If you'd like to continue receiving book news and blog updates, please subscribe to the new newsletter using the sign-up form in the sidebar.

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Thank you for reading and for your continued interest in books. I'm looking forward to sharing new releases and discoveries with you once again.

Happy reading,
Wen-Yi

Convict Politics: From Utopia to Serfdom in Early China (221 BCE – 23 CE)

Author: Liang Cai

Publication date: January 2026

Abstract: 

In this innovative history, Liang Cai examines newly excavated manuscripts alongside traditional sources to explore convict politics in the early Chinese empires, proposing a new framework for understanding Confucian discussions of law and legal practice. 

While a substantial number of convict laborers helped operate the local bureaucratic apparatus in early China, the central court re-employed numerous previously convicted men as high officials. She argues that convict politics emerged, because, while the system often criminalized individuals, including the innocent, it was simultaneously juxtaposed with redemption policies and frequent amnesties in pursuit of a crime-free utopia. This dual system paralyzed the justice system, provoking intense Confucian criticism and resulting in a deep-seated skepticism toward law in the Chinese tradition, with a long-lasting political legacy.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Part I. Criminalizing the Empire:

1. Convict politics and convict economy: administrative space as open prison in local governments

2. Convicts as officials: disparities between philosophical ideals and real-world politics

3. Mutual responsibility system: criminalizing the innocent

4. Brutal perfectionism: criminalizing job performance and collapse of justice

5. Performance legitimacy: absolute liabilities, heavy punishments and collective lies

Part II. A Paralyzed Justice System: 'Creating' Unlawful Commoners via Redemption and Amnesty

6. Redemption: political economy and sacrificed justice

7. Imperial amnesty: correcting the excessive punishment and regaining loyalty

8. Universal amnesty: from Utopian dream to His Majesty's splendor

A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century (3rd Edition)

Author: Charles Holcombe

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Publication year: 2025

Abstract: 

The third edition of this ambitious book begins by asking: What is East Asia? Today, many of the features that made the region distinct have been submerged under revolution, politics, or globalization. Yet in ancient times, what we now think of as China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam had both historical and cultural coherence. 

Thoroughly revised and updated to include recent developments in East Asian politics, with new illustrations and suggestions for further reading, this book traces the story of East Asia from the dawn of history to the modern age. New discussion questions at the end of each chapter encourage readers to reflect, while a glossary, pronunciation guide, and parallel timeline enable a closer engagement with this complex subject. 

Charles Holcombe is an experienced and sure-footed guide who encapsulates, in a fast-moving and colorful narrative, the connections, commonalities, and differences of one of the most remarkable regions on earth.

Link: https://pse.is/96fl74

The Art of Terrestrial Diagrams in Early China

Author:

Michelle H. Wang

Publisher:

University of Chicago Press

Publication date:

November 2023

Abstract:

This is the first English-language monograph on the early history of maps in China, centering on those found in three tombs that date from the fourth to the second century BCE and constitute the entire known corpus of early Chinese maps (ditu). More than a millennium separates them from the next available map in the early twelfth century CE. Unlike extant studies that draw heavily from the history of cartography, this book offers an alternative perspective by mobilizing methods from art history, archaeology, material culture, religion, and philosophy. It examines the diversity of forms and functions in early Chinese ditu to argue that these pictures did not simply represent natural topography and built environments, but rather made and remade worlds for the living and the dead. Wang explores the multifaceted and multifunctional diagrammatic tradition of rendering space in early China.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: the work of diagrams

1  Zhongshan and plans for life after death

2  Fangmatan and the bureaucratization of space

3  Mawangdui and earthly topologies of design

4  Mawangdui and the art of strategy

Coda: tunnel vision

Technological Knowledge in the Production of Neolithic Majiayao Pottery in Gansu and Qinghai

Author:
Evgenia Dammer

Publication Date: 
March 17 2023

Publisher:
British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd

Abstract:
This book is the first comprehensive study of the technological knowledge needed to produce Neolithic Majiayao-style pottery (5300-4000 cal yr BP) which is famous for its painted designs in black and red. It examines the technological choices in the production of fine and coarse Majiayao-style pottery found across three river valleys, all located near the border area of Chinese provinces Gansu and Qinghai. Through macroscopic examination, thin-section petrography and experimental archaeology, this book investigates how the same pottery style was made across this large geographical area. Specifically, the study examines whether similar technological knowledge in pottery production at different places is connected to a yet unknown social knowledge shared by prehistoric communities. This book suggests that shared social knowledge could be the reason behind the wide distribution of this pottery style and its production technology.Seven appendices are available online to download, including primary data, photos, and photomicrographs from macroscopic and microscopic analyses of archaeological pottery and sampled geological material.