Writing and Literacy in Early China

Li Feng is professor of early Chinese history and archaeology at Columbia University. David Prager Branner is retired as a professor of Chinese at the University of Maryland. The other contributors are Anthony Barbieri-Low, William Boltz, Constance Cook, Lothar von Falkenhausen, David Pankenier, Matthias Richter, Adam Smith, Ken-ichi Takashima , and Robin Yates. Li Feng is associate professor of early Chinese history and archaeology at Columbia University. David Prager Branner is a lexicographer of Chinese, retired as a professor of Chinese at the University of Maryland. The other contributors are Anthony Barbieri-Low, William Boltz, Constance Cook, Lothar von Falkenhausen, David Pankenier, Matthias Richter, Adam Smith, Ken-ichi Takashima, and Robin Yates.

Acknowledgments Early China Chronology Map of Important Archaeological Sites Introduction: Writing as a Phenomenon of Literacy / Li Feng and David Prager Branner Part One Origins and the Linguistic Dimension 1. Getting "Right" with Heaven and the Origins of Writing in China / David W. Pankenier 2. Literacy and the Emergence of Writing in China / William G. Boltz 3. Phonology in the Chinese Script and Its Relationship to Early Chinese Literacy / David Prager Branner Part Two Scribal Training and Practice 4. Literacy to the South and the East of Anyang in Shang China: Zhengzhou and Daxinzhuang / Ken-ichi Takashima 5. The Evidence for Scribal Training at Anyang / Adam Smith 6. Textual Identity and the Role of Literacy in the Transmission of Early Chinese Literature / Matthias L. Richter Part Three Literacy and Social Contexts 7. The Royal Audience and Its Reflections in Western Zhou Bronze Inscriptions / Lothar von Falkenhausen 8. Literacy and the Social Contexts of Writing in the Western Zhou / Li Feng 9. Education and the Way of the Former Kings / Constance A. Cook Part Four The Extent of Literacy in the Early Empire 10. Soldiers, Scribes, and Women: Literacy among the Lower Orders in Early China / Robin D. S. Yates 11. Craftsman's Literacy: Uses of Writing by Male and Female Artisans in Qin and Han China / Anthony J. Barbieri-Low Abbreviations Bibliography Contributors Index

"Writing and Literacy in Early China is a major contribution to the study of literacy, not just in China but globally. It presents an abundance of original research and novel interpretations, and is certain to have a significant impact on how we look at the role of Chinese characters in society and government from the Shang Dynasty through the Qin-Han period." Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania