Jian Shang

A Revelation of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties, with a preface by Xu Hong; Luo Xin, Xu Jilin, Liu Suli, and Yang Bin all recommend Xu Hong: "Once you start reading this book, you can't put it down. Ultimately, I'd use the word 'shocking' to describe my feelings and emotions."
★Boundary Marker: Start reading Chinese history with this book!
This book is a landmark work. The author has reached the top of this research field, and it will be a work that cannot be avoided in similar research and writing.
At the same time, it also sets a starting point: researchers or ordinary readers who are interested in classical Chinese thought, beliefs, ethics, customs, as well as politics and systems can start your exploration with this book.
This work is also the crystallization of decades of social peace and wealth accumulation. Before we enter the dark passage of history again, we can take a glimpse into why we are what we are today. It will encourage us to understand ourselves and face the future.
—Liu Suli, founder of Wansheng Bookstore ★ A mathematician's logic, a writer's imagination. A good historical work requires not only mathematician's logic but also literary imagination. In this light, Li Shuo's "The Conquest of Shang" is both dignified in its grandeur and profound in its details: it details the emergence and disappearance of human sacrifice in early Chinese civilization, and why "King Wu's Conquest of Shang" was not just a simple regime change, but a landmark revolution in the history of Chinese civilization.
Therefore, I would like to summarize Li Shuo’s insights with the “Shang-Zhou Transformation”: For Chinese civilization, this transformation is more profound and far-reaching than the Tang-Song Transformation two thousand years later!
—Yang Bin, Professor of History at the University of Macau, member of the Xiling Seal Society, and author of "Seashells and Shell Money: A Little-Known Global History." Using archaeological findings to decipher esoteric texts and reconstruct historical understandings of King Wu's conquest of King Zhou. In traditional narratives of ancient history, the transition from Shang to Zhou is vague. We know very little about the underlying details. What were the manifestations of King Zhou's "unrighteousness"? What was life like for the Shang royal family and aristocrats? Who were the Shang people? What secrets connected their daily lives and rituals? This book draws on a wealth of modern archaeological findings, aligning them with oracle bone inscriptions and the hexagrams of the Book of Changes, to reinterpret previously puzzling terms and unveil a crucial chapter in ancient Chinese history.
After Wang Guowei, the importance of the Shang-Zhou Revolution in Chinese history had been deeply rooted in people's minds; and Li Shuo vividly portrayed this importance.
—Luo Xin, Professor of History at Peking University★Reconstructing the great transition from the coexistence to the separation of human sacrifice and early Chinese civilization. The first dynasty, the Xia Dynasty (Erlitou), continued the custom of human sacrifice dating back to the Neolithic Age, reaching its peak during the Shang Dynasty. King Wen of Zhou, suspected by King Zhou of Shang, was imprisoned in the capital of Yin as a human sacrifice, and his eldest son, Bo Yikao, was also sacrificed. Thereafter, King Wen developed the hexagram and line system of the I Ching, recording numerous events he personally experienced and observed, ultimately with the goal of deducing strategies for the destruction of the Shang Dynasty.
After King Wu destroyed the Shang Dynasty, he imitated the Shang people's practice of human sacrifice. After King Wu's death, Duke Zhou assisted in the administration and completely banned religious human sacrifices, destroyed all historical records related to human sacrifices in the Shang Dynasty, and created an idealized historical narrative without human sacrifices, as well as a secular political and moral system based on "virtue".
The most important affairs of a state are sacrifice and warfare. This book begins with human sacrifice, explaining why sacrifice and warfare were so closely linked in the Shang Dynasty, and how the transition from Yin to Zhou occurred.
—Xu Jilin, Professor of History, East China Normal University ★ Exploring the humanistic spirit of antiquity, reminiscing about the dawn of Chinese civilization's enlightenment and tracing back to its origins, the transition from Shang to Zhou marked the beginning of China's rebirth. This was more than a simple dynastic change. The ritual and music civilization initiated by the Zhou replaced the Shang's culture of supernatural powers; the humanism of Duke Zhou and Confucius triumphed over the "religious mysticism" of Wu Ding and King Zhou, laying the foundation for Chinese faith.
★A new blockbuster work by Li Shuo, a young historian and author of "Three Hundred Years of the Civil War". Li Shuo has written influential historical works such as "Three Hundred Years of the Civil War" and "The Great History of Confucius". This book delves into ancient history and uses vivid narratives to explore the national origins, beliefs and customs, wars and military, and daily life of the Shang and Zhou people. It turns piles of old papers and ruins into vivid plot stories, and uses historical materials to give flesh and blood to mythological characters (Jiang Taigong, King Wen of Zhou, King Zhou of Shang...).
【Content Introduction】
This is the opening work of "Li Shuo's History of China". Start reading Chinese history from this book!
This book primarily describes the emergence and transformation of Chinese civilization, spanning over a thousand years, from the emergence of the Xia Dynasty (Erlitou Culture) four thousand years ago to the demise of the Shang Dynasty and the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty three thousand years ago.
Since the Neolithic Age, a primitive religion based on human sacrifice has developed in North China. This culture of human sacrifice continued during the first dynasty, the Xia Dynasty (Erlitou), and reached its peak during the subsequent Shang Dynasty. The Zhou people, isolated in the west, had no tradition of human sacrifice, but they once defected to the Shang, hunting Qiang people for sacrificial offerings. King Wen of Zhou, suspected by King Zhou of Shang, was imprisoned in the capital of Yin as a human sacrifice. Eventually, his eldest son, Bo Yikao, was sacrificed by the king. King Wen learned the divination techniques of the Shang people and developed the hexagram and line text system of the I Ching. This system records the many events he personally experienced and observed, ultimately aiming to deduce strategies for conquering the Shang.
After King Wu destroyed the Shang Dynasty, he imitated the Shang people's practice of human sacrifice. After King Wu's death, Duke Zhou assisted in the administration and completely banned religious human sacrifices, destroyed all historical records related to human sacrifices in the Shang Dynasty, and created an idealized historical narrative without human sacrifices, as well as a secular political and moral system based on "virtue".
These initiatives of Duke Zhou initiated a new Chinese civilization. Five hundred years later, Confucius compiled the Confucian "Six Classics," systematically organizing Duke Zhou's theoretical achievements. Duke Zhou and Confucius shaped the Confucian school, whose influence continues to this day.
In summary, this book uses archaeological materials and handed-down documents to sort out the entire process of the emergence, prosperity and demise of the ancient human sacrifice custom, as well as the great turning point from the coexistence to separation of human sacrifice and early Chinese civilization. It reproduces the great efforts made by the ancients (Zhou people) to end the Shang Dynasty and the human sacrifice custom, and gives us a new understanding of the origin of Chinese civilization.

2022-10-01

广西师范大学出版社

mountain

592

9787559852533