Silk Roads, Steppe Roads: History Unearthed from the Tombs of Medieval China

Author: Jonathan Karam Skaff

Publication year: 2026

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Abstract:
Silk Roads, Steppe Roads takes the reader on a journey to three sites in northwestern China and Mongolia to investigate medieval Chinese tombs containing evidence of Eastern Eurasian cultural contacts and exchanges. The construction, artifacts, and texts on paper and stone found at these tombs of the Sui (581–618) and early Tang (618–907) dynasties reveal glimpses of people, rituals, and objects that were in motion on the Silk and Steppe roads until being laid to rest over a millennium ago.

Jonathan Karam Skaff shows how the major transit hubs of the Silk and Steppe roads were particularly active sites of cultural contestation, experimentation, and mutual influence that had an impact on the historical development of China and Inner Asia. Challenging the idealized image of the Silk Road, he also examines travel permits and sales contracts that document the trade of enslaved people over the route.

Innovatively drawing on both textual and archaeological sources, Silk Roads, Steppe Roads shows how Eurasian peoples, despite believing their societies to be unique, spun overlapping and entangled webs of culture.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
A Slave Road? Slaves and Slavers at Turfan
Sogdians or Borderlanders? Part I:
Lives Revealed in Epitaphs
Sogdians or Borderlanders? Part II:
Death Rituals Revealed in Tombs
A Tang Dynasty Ally in Ritual and War:
The Tomb of Pugu Yitu (635–678) in Mongolia
Conclusion

Sekundäre Zentren der Sechs Dynastien: Untersuchungen zu Gräbern am Yangzi-Mittellauf ((Secondary Centres of the Six Dynasties: A Study of Burials in the Yangzi Middle Reaches))

Author: Annette Kieser

Publication year: 2025

Publisher:

Abstract:
Secondary Centres of the Six Dynasties: A Study of Burials in the Yangzi Middle Reaches The Yangzi middle reaches were of central importance for the history of the Six Dynasties (220–589 CE). They formed a densely populated zone of migration and interaction in which social groups other than those in the capital were active. These were contested areas close to the frontiers and, owing to their strategic location along trade and transport routes, of enormous economic, political, and military relevance. Secondary centers emerged here that often competed with the capital Jiankang (today Nanjing). A systematic examination of the material culture of five secondary centres in the Yangzi middle reaches (the present-day cities of Echeng, Wuhan, Xiangyang, Jingzhou, and Changsha) expands and re-evaluates the predominantly text-based picture of this region, long overshadowed by research focused on Jiankang. Based on excavation reports of Six Dynasties burial complexes in these centers, the corpus of finds is analysed and, taking the written sources into account, set in its historical context.

計量的分析を用いた北魏史研究

Author: 大知聖子  (Seiko Ochi)

Publisher: 汲古書院

Publication year: 2025

Abstracct:

本書の特徴は計量的分析を用いて北魏史研究を行う手法にある。計量的分析とは数量を通して現象を捉え、　分析することを意味する。具体的には、定量的分析（量的研究）と定性的分析（質的研究）の両方を用いるが、定性的分析に入る前にまずは定量的分析を行い、史料の特徴を掴むことからはじめている。本書がこのような分析方法を用いる理由は、量的データをエビデンスとして用いない質的研究のみを行った場合、なぜ史料の特定の部分に注目したのか、その妥当性はあるのかという説明が不足している問題があると考えるからである。

本書の第一部では如上の方法で北魏の爵制について分析し、史料に対して定量的分析を加えることの有効性を確認した。しかし、悉皆調査をして量的データを示す場合もそれを視覚化できておらず、特徴量やターゲットの関係性／相関性が分かり難い問題点もあった。そこで第二部では、有用なのにまだ知られていない知見を発見するための情報処理的プロセスである探索的データ分析、その中でもテキスト分析に特化したテキストマイニングを用い、データを数値化・可視化した上で明らかになった特徴語に着目し、質的研究を行った。

Table of Contents:

序文

第一部　北魏の爵制に関する研究

序　章　問題の所在と構成
〔北魏史研究および問題の所在／古代中国における爵制の概要／古代中国における爵制研
究および問題の所在／課題の設定〕

第一章　北魏爵制の概要と民族問題に着目した分析
〔北魏爵制の概要／授爵における有爵者の分析／北魏前期の封土の問題／付表〕

第二章　北魏前期の爵制とその特質――仮爵の検討を手掛かりに――
〔仮爵と正爵の差異／北魏前期爵制の特質／北魏前期の爵位と官品／付表〕

第三章　北魏前期における爵と品の対応の考察――南巡碑を中心に――
〔南巡碑にみられる序列／文成帝期における爵の品と将軍号・官職の官品との関係／北魏
前期における爵の品と将軍号・官職の官品との関係／付表〕

第四章　北魏後期の爵制とその特質――孝文帝の爵制改革を中心に――
〔孝文帝の爵制改革／北魏後期の賜爵の理由および官品との関係／付表〕

第五章　北魏の官と爵の関係
〔北魏の爵と功との関係／北魏の爵と考課制度との関係／北魏の官爵体系／付表〕

第六章　官当制度とその淵源――除名・免官との比較からみた――
〔唐律における除名・免官・官当について／北朝における除名・免官・官当について／魏

晋南朝における除名・免官・官当について／官当制度の本質的淵源／付表〕

終　章　北魏の官爵体系の歴史的位置付けとその展開
〔古代中国における功と爵の関係／古代中国における考課と爵の関係／古代中国における
官と爵の関係〕

補論一　北魏孝文帝の官爵改革およびその後の変質について
〔孝文帝の官爵改革／北魏後期の爵制の変質とその背景〕

補論二　爵保有者の階層にみる両晋・北魏の爵制運用の比較
〔西晋における爵位の傾向／東晋における爵位の傾向／北魏における爵位の傾向／両晋と
北魏の爵保有者の構造および爵制運用の比較／付表〕

第二部　テキストマイニング分析を用いた北魏墓誌に関する研究

第一章　デジタル・ヒューマニティーズと北魏史研究
〔北魏史研究とデジタル・ヒューマニティーズのあゆみ／中国の石刻史料データベース紹介〕

第二章　テキストマイニングによる北魏墓誌の銘辞の分析方法
〔KH Coderを用いた北魏墓誌の銘辞のテキストマイニング分析／中國哲學書電子化計劃の
分析ツールを用いた北魏墓誌研究〕

第三章　新出北魏墓誌目録〔付表〕

第四章　北魏墓誌の銘辞とその撰文――同一銘辞の問題を中心に――
〔北魏墓誌における同一銘辞／同一銘辞を持つ北魏墓誌の真偽について／北魏墓誌の銘辞
および誄の撰文者（書き手）／北魏墓誌の同一銘辞の撰文者について／付表〕

第五章　北魏女性墓誌の特徴語の抽出および語義考証
〔北魏女性墓誌研究と問題点／テキストマイニングを用いた北魏女性墓誌の銘辞の分析方
　法／北魏女性墓誌の銘辞の特徴語／付表〕

第六章　北魏男性墓誌の特徴語の抽出および語義考証
〔テキストマイニングを用いた北魏男性墓誌の銘辞の分析方法／北魏男性墓誌の銘辞の特
徴語／付表〕

おわりに――今後の課題と展望――　　　

《水的思想：中国古代经典中的水》（Chinese edition of 中国の水の思想）

Author: Kunio Hachiya (蜂屋邦夫)

Publication year: 2026

Publisher: 上海古籍出版社

Abstract:
本书从中国思想史的视角，围绕相关典籍，考察中国古人对“水”的思考。全书分为三部分：一是儒家和道家的水思想，儒家部分主要围绕孔子、孟子、五行思想等展开讨论，道家部分主要以老子、庄子、《淮南子》为中心进行讨论。二是诸子书中的水思想，主要涉及《墨子》《荀子》《吕氏春秋》《管子》《列子》《韩非子》《淮南子》《说苑》等典籍。三是经书中的水思想，涉及《周易》《尚书》《诗经》《周礼》《仪礼》《礼记》《春秋左传》《尔雅》等典籍。采取这种形式能使读者欣赏中国水思想万花筒一般的多样景色，读者可以从任何一章开始阅读，了解中国思想的独特发展。

Table of Contents:
前 言 001

第一章 儒家和道家的水思想 001

第一节　儒家的水思想 003

一、 孔子—逝者如斯夫 003

二、 孟子—犹水之就下 016

三、 水与人的关系 021

四、 五行思想与水 026

第二节　道家的水思想 036

一、 老子—上善若水 036

二、 庄子—明镜止水的境界 045

三、 《淮南子》—描写水的第一流文章 053

四、 发现水之美 057

第二章 诸子书中的水思想 063

第一节　《墨子》—战争与水 065

一、 用水攻击意义上的水 066

二、 水灾意义上的水 070

三、 关于水战 072

四、 守城术中的水 075

第二节　《荀子》——水象征着努力、人民和初始 079

一、 努力的持续积累与水 079

二、 人如水，人心如水 083

三、 初始意义上的水 088

四、 天之道与职分的明确 091

第三节　《吕氏春秋》——从水德王朝的理论到水的谚语 095

一、 天地的生成与河川 095

二、 水德的王朝 098

三、 禹和水的关联 101

四、 渡过大河 105

五、 伊尹辅佐商汤王 109

六、 水的谚语 113

第四节　《管子》—统治的原理与河流的管理 118

一、 水是地的血气，人即是水 119

二、 河流的状态与人的性情 121

三、 营建国都的方法 123

四、 各类河流及其管理 125

第五节　《列子》——水的寓言与道的思想 129

一、 驾船的高手 129

二、 游泳的高手 131

三、 道多则人生迷惑 133

四、 循道而行者 136

五、 国氏之盗 138

第六节　《韩非子》——战争的手段和施政的教训 142

一、 晋阳的水攻 142

二、 宋襄之仁 145

三、 水与施政方法 147

第七节　《淮南子》——水思想的宝库 151

一、 水是至高的存在—《原道训》 151

二、 人的本性犹如水—《俶真训》 155

三、 阴、水、月—《天文训》 161

四、 昆仑的灵水—《地形训》 165

五、 至诚和达观 170

六、 救助溺水者的故事 173

七、 以鱼为例 178

第八节　《说苑》—有关统治术的教导 182

一、 知（智）者乐水 183

二、 溺水者的大志 185

三、 河神作祟 188

四、 与船有关的故事 191

五、 孔子的言论 196

六、 越国的使者 200

七、 鱼的故事两则 201

第三章 经书中的水思想 205

第一节　《周易》——与水有关的占卦 207

一、 利涉大川 209

二、 不利涉大川 211

三、 履霜坚冰至 213

四、 水和大地的关系 216

五、 密云不雨 218

六、 水流而不盈 219

七、 濡其尾，濡其首 222

八、 小狐汔济，濡其尾 224

第二节　《尚书》——关于渡河之难的比喻及实情 227

一、 《洪范》中的水 227

二、 渡大河的艰难 230

三、 周公的雄辩 234

第三节　《诗经》——河川成为诗歌的舞台 238

一、 滔滔黄河 239

二、 黄河水清澈吗？ 243

三、 长江和汉水 245

四、 对淇水的思念 248

第四节　《周礼》——川泽和水渠的管理及官职 251

一、 川泽之图 252

二、 川泽的管理 255

三、 整修水渠和农耕作业 260

四、 修筑田间水渠 262

五、 车的制造 266

六、 弓矢的制造 270

七、 祭祀山川 272

第五节　《仪礼》——从士到王的各类仪式 275

一、 玄酒的定位 276

二、 沐浴的重要性 283

三、 对诸神的祭祀 287

第六节　《礼记》——礼的详细规定和理论 290

一、 水与季节 290

二、 水与政治 298

三、 漱口、洗手和净身 301

四、 对沐浴的规定 305

五、 死者沐浴 307

六、 服丧中沐浴 309

第七节　《春秋左氏传》——关于大河、洪水、暴雨和雩祭的记事 312

一、 黄河的重要性 313

二、 向河流发誓 318

三、 洪水及其应对策略 325

四、 关于雨、雪、雹的记录 332

五、 干旱和祈雨 333

第八节　《尔雅》——对水的相关语汇的解说 336

一、 涌流而出的水 337

二、 流动的水 344

三、 河中的居住地—州、渚、沚、坻、潏 348

四、 渡河 357

Women Who Ruled China: Buddhism, Multiculturalism, and Governance in the Sixth Century

Author: Stephanie Balkwill

Publication year: 2024

Publisher: University of California Press

Abstract: 

In the late fifth century, a girl whose name has been forgotten by history was born at the edge of the Chinese empire. By the time of her death, she had transformed herself into Empress Dowager Ling, one of the most powerful politicians of her age and one of the first of many Buddhist women to wield incredible influence in dynastic East Asia. In this book, Stephanie Balkwill documents the Empress Dowager’s rise to power and life on the throne against the broader world of imperial China under the rule of the Northern Wei dynasty, a foreign people from Inner Asia who built their capital deep in the Chinese heartland.

Building on largely untapped Buddhist materials, Balkwill shows that the life and rule of the Empress Dowager is a larger story of the reinvention of religious, ethnic, and gender norms in a rapidly changing multicultural society. The Women Who Ruled China recovers the voices of those left out of the mainstream historical record, painting a compelling portrait of medieval Chinese society reinventing itself under the Empress Dowager’s leadership.

Chengdu Plain Archaeological Survey: Results from 2005-2010 成都平原考古调查: 2005-2010年成果

Editors:
Rowan K. Flad, Joshua Wright, Lin Kuei-chen 林圭偵, Zhou Zhiqing, and Jiang Zhanghua

Publication year: 

2026

Abstract:

The Chengdu Plain Archaeological Survey (CPAS), was an international collaborative archaeological project that took place over the course of five field seasons starting in 2005 under the direction of Rowan Flad (Harvard), Pochan Chen (National Taiwan University), Gwen Bennett (Washington University, St. Louis / McGill), Jiang Zhanghua (Chengdu City Institute of Archaeology) and Li Shuicheng (Peking University). The survey involved a multi-faced archaeological investigation of site locations and landscape use in an area of approximately 350 km2 surrounding two Neolithic walled sites (ca. 2600–1700 BCE): Pi Xian Gucheng (30˚ 54’ 15” N, 103˚ 55’ 25” E) and Yufucun (30˚ 45’ 15” N, 103˚ 50’ 05” E).

Using a combination of surface collection, systematic coring, geophysics and test pits, team members conducted five seasons of investigations and collected thousands of data points useful for synthesizing changing land use contemporaneous with the cultural changes that occurred in the region from the Neolithic, through the subsequent Bronze Age and into the period of the Qin and Han Empires.  Settlement patterns attest to a diachronic process that eventually gave rise to the Sanxingdui polity in the second millennium BCE, and subsequent Bronze Age cultures that occupied the region at the time of Qin conquest in 316 BCE. This report brings together the data from this survey and synthetic discussions of the prehistory and environment of the region. The database provides the first comprehensive, systematic, large-scale regional survey of archaeological material in the Sichuan Basin of China.

Free download: https://opencontext.org/projects/968ea7e8-d521-4b4c-951c-01adcac7307f

Fantastic Fauna from China to Crimea : Image-Making in Eurasian Nomadic Societies, 700 BCE-500 CE

Author:

Petya Andreeva

Publisher:

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Publication year:

2024

Abstract:

Numerous Iron-Age nomadic alliances flourished along the 5000-mile Eurasian steppe route. From Crimea to the Mongolian grassland, nomadic image-making was rooted in metonymically conveyed zoomorphic designs, creating an alternative ecological reality. The nomadic elite nucleus embraced this elaborate image system to construct collective memory in reluctant, diverse political alliances organised around shared geopolitical goals rather than ethnic ties. Largely known by the term "animal style", this zoomorphic visual rhetoric became so ubiquitous across the Eurasian steppe network that it transcended border regions and reached the heartland of sedentary empires like China and Persia.

This book shows how a shared fluency in animal-style design became a status-defining symbol and a bonding agent in opportunistic nomadic alliances, and was later adopted by their sedentary neighbours to showcase worldliness and control over the "Other". In this study of enormous geographical scope, the author raises broader questions about the place of nomadic societies in the art-historical canon.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction: At a Crossroads on the Eurasian Steppe Route
2. Design Idioms in Steppe Metalwork
3. The Tomb Inside Out: Playing (Mortuary) Politics
4. Animal Style in the Xiongnu Era: The Making of a New Elite
5. Waning and Re-emergence
6. Towards a Resolution

Ancient Wisdoms for Modern Crises Learning From Laozi's "Daodejing"

Author: Steve Hallett

Abstract: We live in a time of abundance and comfort for some, scarcity and hardship for others—a period that seems to have all of us teetering on the brink. Certainly, there is no lack of modern crises, but do we possess the wisdom to overcome them, and where might we seek that wisdom? 

Ancient Wisdoms for Modern Crises: Learning From Laozi’s “Daodejing” looks to the Daodejing, a text written during the late Zhou Dynasty (600–400 BCE), for guidance. One of the core treatises of Eastern philosophy, it advocates humility, simplicity, and sustainable living. As both a personal and political philosophy, it is radically gentle, encouraging readers to embrace humility, modesty, compassion, and selflessness while simultaneously resisting the urge to conquer, control, and dominate—teachings that can help each of us navigate contemporary life. 

Finding solutions to such difficult problems requires all the wisdom, ancient and modern, that humans can muster. Replete with the author’s fresh translation of the eighty-one-verse Daodejing, this book touches on topics ranging from environmentalism and human suffering to biodiversity loss and the rise of authoritarianism in an effort to forge a more restrained, sustainable, just, supportive, and compassionate society.

Table of Contents:
Prologue: Wise Ancients?
1. The Ways of Nature
2. Emergence
3. The Ways of People
4. Shape the Path
5. The Ways of the Mind
6. Meetings of the Minds
The Daodejing of Laozi

北魏史：遷都洛陽之前與後 (Chineses edition of 北魏史：洛陽遷都の前と後)

作者: 窪添慶文 (KUBOZOE YOSHIFUMI)

译者: 付晨晨 译 / 徐冲 审订

出版社: 北京科学技术出版社

出版年: 2025-9

Table of Contents:

序 章 001
一、迁都洛阳 003
二、五胡十六国时期—理解北魏史的前提 006

第一章　孝文帝亲政时期的改革 015
一、孝文帝即位与文明太后 017
二、从土德到水德 023
三、礼仪改革 026

第二章　迁都后的改革 031
一、从“代人”到“河南人” 033
二、墓志 036
三、禁胡服胡语 038
四、变胡姓为汉姓 042
五、官制改革（一）—消失的内朝官 043
六、官制改革（二）—九品官制的完善 048
七、定姓族 051
八、官制改革（三）—引入门阀制 054
九、考课改革 058
十、国家意志决策体系 059
十一、进攻南齐 062

第三章　从建国到统一华北—鲜卑色彩浓厚时期 065
一、代国时期 067
二、代国复兴 075
三、统一华北—从道武帝至太武帝时期 080
四、北魏政权下的各族 100
五、北魏政权下的汉族 116
六、皇帝亦可汗 119

第四章　变化之兆 125
一、军镇的变化 127
二、向镇军和州军分派代人 132
三、文成帝和献文帝 135
四、文明太后称制时期 139
五、均田制和三长制 144
六、佛教出现的变化 151
七、迁都洛阳的意义 157

第五章　盛极生变 161
一、改革的传承 163
二、锦绣洛阳 167
三、北魏的文化 175
四、代人与镇民的不满 184
五、从六镇之乱到东西分裂 187
六、东魏—北齐 192
七、西魏—北周 198

终 章 209
一、制度 212
二、统治阶层 221
三、女性的活跃、世界帝国 224
四、北魏的历史地位 227
后 记 233
北魏大事年表 237

壁画墓からみた魏晋十六国時代：中国北部の社会と民族

Author: 三﨑 良章  (Yoshiaki Misaki)

Publisher: 早稻田大学出版部

Publication date: 2026-2-13

Abstract:
墳墓内の壁面等に画像を描いた壁画墓は、中国において前漢前期に築造が始まったものの、後漢末期以降は衰退していった。一方、魏晋十六国時代の間も周縁地域では築造が続いていた。本書ではとくに中国北部の壁画墓群に注目し、その図像の分析から映し出された政治・社会の動向を解き明かす。魏晋十六国時代、中国北部地方では漢族だけではなく、匈奴・羌族・盧水胡・鮮卑等さまざまな非漢族が居住していた。遼寧と河西、遼陽と朝陽など、地域ごとの特徴も検討し、漢族と非漢族をめぐる複雑な居住状況を明らかにする。揺れ動く社会は壁画墓にいかに刻まれたのか。図版多数掲載。

Table of Contents:

序　章
第１部　魏晋十六国時代の壁画墓の実態

第１章　遼陽と朝陽の壁画墓
はじめに
１　遼陽壁画墓
２　朝陽の壁画墓
おわりに

第２章　河西の壁画墓
はじめに
１　河西の壁画墓と壁画の全体像
２　河西の壁画墓の形態の特性
３　河西の壁画の墓主像の特徴
おわりに

第２部　壁画墓画像にみられる魏晋十六国時代の諸民族の動向

第３章　遼東公孫氏政権と非漢族
はじめに
１　公孫氏政権と非漢族との関係
２　遼陽壁画墓における非漢族
おわりに

第４章　朝陽の壁画墓と三燕の民族
はじめに
１　人物像
２　黒犬像
３　三燕における民族
おわりに

第５章　壁画墓画像にみえる魏晋時代酒泉地域の漢族と非漢族
はじめに
１　酒泉地域の壁画墓に描かれた非漢族
２　非漢族が描かれた壁画墓の墓主
３　壁画墓における非漢族の描かれ方
４　酒泉西溝墓群の壁画墓画像における非漢族
おわりに

第６章　魏晋十六国時代における甘粛高台地域の民族状況
はじめに
１　高台出土壁画墓の全体像
２　駱駝城遺址区の壁画墓にみえる人物像
３　地埂坡４号墓にみえる人物像と民族
４　高台の民族状況
おわりに

第３部　壁画墓に現れた魏晋十六国時代の中国北部社会

第７章　遼陽壁画墓にみられる遼東社会の一面
はじめに
１　遼陽における壁画墓の築造
２　遼東公孫氏政権と遼陽壁画墓
３　令支令墓
おわりに

第８章　河西壁画墓に描かれた魏晋十六国時代の「塢」
はじめに
１　河西の壁画墓画像にみられる「塢」の全体像
２　塢の形態と墳墓の関係
３　塢の規模と周囲の画像
４　塢の機能
おわりに

第９章　苦水口１号墓・苦水口２号墓と魏晋時代の高台社会
はじめに
１　苦水口１号墓とその画像
２　苦水口２号墓とその画像
３　苦水口１号墓と苦水口２号墓の関係
４　苦水口１号墓・苦水口２号墓の後室描画塼
おわりに

第10章　甘粛高台出土描画塼にみる五胡十六国時代河西社会の変動
はじめに
１　許三湾西南1999年４月墓とその描画塼
２　前秦の河西進出と河西社会
おわりに

第11章　酒泉小土山墓と魏晋十六国時代の河西
はじめに
１　小土山墓とその画像
２　小土山墓の墓主と築造時期
３　河西魏晋十六国時代壁画墓と小土山墓の関係
おわりに

終　章
補　編　遼陽壁画墓の構造・画像一覧

The Evolving Landscape of Inquiry: Climate’s Growing Importance in Reconstructing Ancient China

Authors:
Yitzchak Jaffe, Andrew Womack, and Anke Hein

Publication date: 2025

Abstract: This paper examines the growth of climate change discussions in narratives concerning the development and evolution of human societies in Ancient China over the past two decades. This shift reflects climate’s ascension from a marginal factor to a central player in reconstructions of past human actions and societies. We provide an overview of the expanding research on ancient human–climate interactions in China’s prehistory and early history, emphasizing the increasing importance attached to climate as a major player in the rise and, significantly, the collapse of these societies. Through a meta-analysis of publication trends in the last two decades, we identify the chronological periods and topics where climate has come to be interpreted as having a notable impact.

Link: https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/4/125

To Rule All under Heaven: A History of Classical China, from Confucius to the First Emperor

*Thanks to Prof. Meyer for sharing the news about this book.

Author: Andrew Seth Meyer

Publication year: 2026

Publisher: Oxford

Abstract:
The first ever comprehensive history in English of China's Warring States period, an era that saw epic battles, the birth of profound philosophies, groundbreaking innovations, and shaped much of East Asian culture as we know it today In 481 BCE, ancient China was on the cusp of one of the most profound revolutions any society has ever undergone, one that would set the course of world history for the following two millennia and a half. The ruling order that had been set up by the Zhou kings almost six centuries before was disintegrating. 

While the Zhou realm was populous, wealthy, and blessed with a sophisticated and already ancient culture, the basic institutions that structured social and spiritual life were in radical decay. The world was literally falling apart. The following two-hundred and sixty years saw the largest civilization on earth reinvent and recreate itself. Through war, diplomacy, debate, commerce, philosophy, literature, science, and artistic expression, the people of the Warring States gave birth to a radically new social order. The era saw the emergence of Confucianism and Daoism, the composition of seminal texts such as The Art of War by Master Sun and the Book of Changes, and the codification of Chinese script into its current form. 

It also saw the initial building of the Great Wall and the canal system that would become the Grand Canal, as well as the invention of the crossbow--which would not be invented in Europe for another 1,500 years--and the origin of acupuncture and feng shui.

This dynamic period coincided with the lives of global figures such as the Buddha, Socrates, and the prophet Ezra, beginning during Confucius's lifetime and culminating with the reign of the First Emperor, whose tomb is famously guarded by the terra cotta soldiers. The Persian Wars and the conquests of Alexander the Great are well known to people in Europe and America; 

however, far fewer English-language books have attempted to cover this same and equally important period in East Asia. To Rule All under Heaven corrects this imbalance by recounting a detailed history that is replete with dramatic stories and characters. The result is a thorough and entertaining account of one of the most fertile and significant periods in world history.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
1. Lords and Master: The States of Qi and Lu
2. Song of the South: The States of Wu, Chu, and Yue
3. The Partition: The State of Jin
4. Heaven’s Whim versus Heaven’s Will: The Extended Zhou Realm
5. The Prince: The State of Wei
6. Wanderers: The Extended Zhou Realm
7. The Altars of the Soil and Grain are Closer than Kin: The State of Qi
8. The West’s Awake: The State of Qin
9. The Marquis Who Would Be King: The State of Wei
10. We Kings: The Extended Zhou Realm
11. Better to Give: The State of Qi and the Greater Zhou Realm
12. The Harder They Fall: The State of Qi
13. The Duel: The States of Zhao and Qin
14. Gilded Age: The Various Zhou States
15. Unification: The Kingdom of Qin and the Former Zhou States
Epilogue and Conclusions

新編北朝隋代墓誌所在總合目錄

Editor: 梶山　智史 

Publication year: 2025

Publisher: 汲古書院

Abstract: 

唐に先立つ北朝・隋代の墓誌は一體いくつあるのか。この問題の解明を試みたのが拙編『北朝隋代墓誌所在總合目錄』（明治大學東アジア石刻文物研究所・汲古書院、2013年5月）であった。これは本書の前身であり、以下「舊版」と略稱する。舊版では2013年前半までに公開されていた北朝墓誌1211點、隋代墓誌716點、合計1927 點を收錄した。しかしそれから11 年ほどが經過した現在では、舊版を見ただけではもはや北朝隋代墓誌の全容を把握することは到底できない。この閒には新たな墓誌が大量に出現し、また關連する史料集や研究論著の增加も實にすさまじいものがあるからである。そこで編者は舊版の出版以降も關連情報の調査を續け、目錄を增補改訂する作業を進めてきた。本書はこの作業の現時點における成果である。

本書では2023年以前に公開された北朝墓誌1731點、隋代墓誌955點、合計2686 點を收錄した。單純計算すると舊版から759點增えたことになる。ただし舊版では專ら墓誌のみを收錄對象としたのに對し、本書では墓誌以外の墓葬關連文字史料にまで對象を擴大し、墓碑（神道碑）や墓券（買地券）なども併せて收錄することとした。とはいえそれらの數量は墓誌と比べるとごく少なく、具體的には墓碑83點（北朝67、隋16）、墓券13點（北朝12、隋1）、鎭墓石1點（北朝1）、隨葬衣物疏1點（北朝1）、合計98點にすぎない。この98點を差し引くと、純粹な墓誌のみの增加數は661點となる。この10年でこれほど多くの新出墓誌が追加されたのは驚きである。

Table of Contents:

前言／凡例／引用文獻一覽

新編北朝隋代墓誌所在總合目錄

北朝／北魏／東魏・北齊／西魏・北周／隋代

北朝隋代僞刻墓誌目錄

墓誌名稱索引／引用文獻略號索引

Environmental Equity in China and Beyond: Past, Present, and Future

Authors: Michael Nylan, Thomas Hahn

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication year: 2026

Abstract:

Together they explore the environment in the Chinese philosophical tradition and contemporary China through the lens of intergenerational justice. Nylan's analysis of lesser known texts from ancient China changes our thinking of Chinese political philosophy and legal antiquity codes. Hahn's comprehensive overview of recent data from China offers a response to the present crisis. Their original approach underscores why environmentalism is always more than a Western issue.

By applying ancient ideas to an urgent topic with a unique emphasis on East Asia, this one-of-a-kind guide to environmental thought challenges standard narratives. It is essential reading for anyone looking to understand how classical Chinese concepts can provide the necessary tools to improve how we think about the world we live in.

Table of Contents:

1. Anglo-American Law

2. Early Empires in China

3. Intergenerational Equity

4. Seasonality and Health for the Body Politic

5. Outlines Policymaking in the PRC

Conclusion

Before and Beyond Pingcheng: The Xianbei in Inner Mongolia (4th-6th Centuries)

Editors: Annette L. Juliano / Judith A. Lerner

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Publication year: April, 2026

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Annette L JULIANO and Judith A. LERNER, “The Puzzle of the Yihe-Nur Cemetery”

I. Nomads and the Northern Wei

Sören STARK, “Xianbei, Tegreg, and Rouran-Abar: Yihe-Nur and the Nomadic World

of Inner Asia between the Second and the Fifth/Early Sixth Century CE”

Scott PEARCE, “The Xianbei in Their Historical Setting”

Judith A. LERNER, “Cauldrons”

Chin-Yin TSENG, “The Mobile Court of Pingcheng”

II. Reaching the Red Mountains: The Xianbei and the Afterlife

Annette L JULIANO, “Tombs and Their Furnishings”

Annette L. JULIANO, “Pushou”

III. Luxury Objects

Sarah LAURSEN, “Adorned: Nomadic Gold and Bronze”

Sören STARK, “Belts and Pectorals as Elite Markers Across Second to Fifth Century

Eurasia”

Judith A. LERNER, “Luxury Objects: Local and from the West”

Annette L. JULIANO and Judith A. LERNER, “The Gold Chin Strap”

Annette L. JULIANO and Judith A. LERNER, “The Gilt Silver Earred Cup”

IV. Where the Xianbei Buddhists?

Annette L. JULIANO, “Early Buddhist Images from Inner Mongolia”

Annette L. JULIANO, “The Pointed Pectoral”

Conclusion

Annette L JULIANO and Judith A. LERNER, “The Power of Place: Yihe-Nur and the

Xianbei”

A Prince of Martial Splendour in the Sixteen Kingdoms: Li Hao (351-417), Ruler of Western Liang

Author: Dominik Declercq

Abstract: The Sixteen Kingdoms (304-439) saw Northern China become a multiethnic mosaic of states and statelets, one of which was Western Liang (400-422) in modern Gansu province at the edge of the Silk Roads. Its founder Li Hao 李暠 was a Han settler on soil only recently annexed to the Empire. Here, immigrants ruled semi-nomadic locals, while elsewhere, non-Chinese ruling houses dealt with local Chinese elites. Their interaction, here seen close up in the life and times of Li Hao, had a lasting formative influence on Chinese culture and society for centuries to come.See Less

Publication Year: 2025

Table of Contents:
1 Introduction

2 The Hexi Corridor

3 The Colonisation of Liangzhou, 100 BCE to 300 CE

4 Former Liang (320–376): Li Hao’s Forebears under the Former Liang

5 Former Qin (351–384) and Later Liang (385–403)

6 Linked Destinies: Li Hao and Juqu Mengxun

7 Building a State, Part 1: Li Hao’s Western Liang

8 Building a State, Part 2: Juqu Mengxun’s Northern Liang

9 Relations with Eastern Jin

10 Li Hao Moves to Jiuquan

11 Li Hao’s Last Years

12 The Sequel: Li Hao’s Son Loses Western Liang

13 The Aftermath, and Conclusions

Appendix 1: Commandant Protectors of the Qiang
Appendix 2: Prefects of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang

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.

It only takes a few seconds and will ensure that you don't miss future posts.
Even if you subscribed in the past, you'll need to sign up again to receive future emails.

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