Ancient Customs, New Research

Author: Wang Ningsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-12-01
Features: This book is a collection of papers and short essays on the history and culture of ancient Chinese society published in the past decade or so. A few articles were published earlier and previously included in the "Collected Essays on Ethnoarchaeology." They are included here as they may help clarify the current confusion in the field of Chinese ancient history. All the texts included in this collection have been significantly revised, edited, or supplemented before being published. The written part of this book demonstrates that some rituals, institutions, and customs considered "national essence" are actually common phenomena in shallow societies, present in other ethnic groups worldwide, and hold no special significance. In recent years, a trend of exaggerated and unrealistic academic practices has emerged in China regarding the study of ancient history. Under the guise of promoting traditional culture, the I Ching (Book of Changes) has been hailed as the "crystallization of ancient Chinese philosophy" and claimed to "guide" modern life, even being said to contain the "principles of computers." The Ming Tang (Hall of Supreme Harmony) has been described as an ancient "people's assembly hall," supposedly proving that China had magnificent hall-like structures thousands of years ago. Examples like these are numerous. The short essays and notes included in this book were originally published in columns such as "New Studies on Ancient Customs" in various periodicals, including The (Continent Magazine), The (The Palace Museum Cultural Relics Monthly), The (China Cultural Relics News), The· (Overseas Chinese Daily · Academic Forest), and The (Yunnan Literary and Historical Studies). (No further notes will be provided for each article.)