Dead reckoning

JAMES LIN is impressed by a scholarly but readable look at what the tombs of ancient Chinese people reveal about past and contemporary beliefs and culture

- JAMES LIN

This insightful book examines how one of CHINA the major political and economic powers of the 21st century came into being, using archaeological evidence, surviving records and texts discovered in recent excavations. Eleven tombs and one large sacrificial deposit, each representing a particular moment in Chinese history, are examined. Together they tell the story of the three millennia leading up to the unification of China in 221 BC by the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.

The burials selected for the book span diverse geographical and cultural regions. Maps of the burial sites are included to make the geographical context clearer. A variety of ambitions and plans lie behind each of these selected burials, and the contents also reveal the distinct personalities of unique individuals. The customs and beliefs represented, along with the diverse set of people interred, gradually informed the creation of a relatively unified empire in the late third century BC.