Defining Chu: Image and Reality in Ancient China

Scholars agree that the southern culture of China, roughly identifiable with the state of Chu during the period between 700 and 200 BC, is of great importance in the subsequent development Chinese culture. This book attempts a broad and in-depth analysis of this state, tracing the evolution of the Chu from a vassal state of Zhou to its rise and fall as a great hegemonic kingdom in the Warring States period and its eventual resurgence in the early Han dynasty. A translation of the Chu Silk Manuscript, a document that has intrigued scholars since its discovery in Chansha, is appended.

"Timely and valuable... a substantial and indeed fascinating contribution to the study of early China." - American Historical Review; "An important contribution to our understanding of the complex process of interaction, indigenous invention, assimilation and rejection by which the civilization of early imperial China was formed." - Journal of Asian Studies"