CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

Note to the Reader
The works of art included in the exhibition are
representative of four periods, corresponding
to sections of this catalogue: Late Prehistoric
China (c. 5000-2000 BCE), Bronze Age China
(c. 2000-771 BCE), Chu and Other Cultures
(c. 770-221 BCE), and Early Imperial China
(221 BCE-924 CE). The order of presentation is
chronological, with exhibited works from the
same culture or find site presented in groups.
The Pinyin system of romanization has
been used throughout. Chinese characters,
which appear in the concordance beginning
on page 556, are written in nonsimplified
characters.
For some matters treated here, a unified
terminology does not exist; for instance,
authors' usage of terms such as the "upper,"
"middle," or "lower" Yellow or Yangzi River
may sometimes be subjective and may not
follow a strict geographic designation.
Hardstone objects from China traditionally
described as "jade" (yu), and particularly
carvings dated after the second millennium
BCE, are usually nephrite. Neolithic hardstone
carvings were made from a variety of hard, compacted
minerals that assume a high luster when
polished: nephrite, serpentine, fluorite, and
other minerals not always easily distinguished
by visual inspection. For this reason, the designation
"jade" is used throughout the titles in
the exhibition.
Dimensions of the objects are given in
centimeters, followed by equivalent inches in
parentheses. Weights, to the extent germane,
are given in kilograms, followed by equivalent
pounds in parentheses.
While every effort has been made to
present the most current scholarship, it goes
without saying that some of the views published
here may one day be superseded by future
discoveries.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THE CATALOGUE
RB Richard M. Barnhart
AD Albert E. Dien
LVF Lothar von Falkenhausen
LF-H Louisa G. Fitzgerald-Huber
DH Donald Harper
DNK David N. Keightley
LK Ladislav Kesner
MK Michael Knight
DK Dieter Kuhn
CM Colin Mackenzie
EP Elinor L. Pearlstein
JR Jessica Rawson
ES Edward L. Shaughnessy
zs Zhixin Sun
RT Robert L. Thorp
AT Alain Thote
RW Roderick Whitfield
SB Su Bai
XM Xia Mingcai
XP Xu Pingfang
XY Xiaoneng Yang
YW Yu Weichao
zz Zhang Zhongpei
ZH Zou Heng
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