No. 1: A Concordance of the Xiaotun Nandi Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, by Cai Fangpei, Edward L. Shaughnessy, and James F. Shaughnessy Jr. No longer available.

No. 2: Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, edited by Michael Loewe

This book includes descriptive articles on 64 literary works written or compiled before the end of the Han Dynasty. Contributions by leading scholars from the United States and Europe summarize the subject matter and contents, present conclusions regarding authorship, authenticity and textual history, and indicate outstanding problems that await solution. Each item is supported by lists of traditional and modern editions, commentaries, translations, and research aids.

PLEASE ORDER THROUGH REGULAR BOOKSTORES OR ONLINE BOOK SUPPLIERS such as Amazon. The reprint is not available through the SSEC or the Institute of East Asian Studies Publications office.

No. 3: New Sources of Early Chinese History, edited by Edward L. Shaughnessy. No longer available.

No. 4: Chinese Writing, by Qiu Xigui, translated by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman

Chinese Writing is a translation of Qiu Xigui’s renowned Wenzixue gaiyao文字學概要, based on the revised edition published in 1994 in Taipei by the Wanjuanlou Tushu Co. Ltd. Recognized as the most authoritative work of its type, Chinese Writing discusses in detail the nature, composition, history, and evolution of Chinese script, drawing upon a wide variety of original source materials from Shang oracle bones to slips of paper from Dunhuang. By providing a comprehensive basis for the analysis of Chinese script, Chinese Writing represents an outstanding contribution not only to the field of Chinese grammatology but to grammatology as a whole. The translation by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman represents the first scholarly, systematic study on the subject published in a Western language. The usefulness of Professor Qiu’s original work has been enhanced by the addition of new indexes of characters discussed and topics, as well as a classified bibliography of all sources cited in the text.

This title is out-of-print and no longer available through the SSEC or the INstitute of East Asian Studies Publications Office.

No. 5: The Guodian Laozi: Proceedings of the International Conference, edited by Sarah Allan and Crispin Williams

The Guodian Laozi: Proceedings of the International Conference is the first major publication in English on the bamboo slips excavated from a late fourth century BCE Chu-state tomb at Guodian 郭店, Hubei, in 1993. The slip-texts include both Daoist and Confucian works, many previously unknown. The monograph is a full account of the first international conference held on these texts, at which leading scholars from China, the United States, Europe, and Japan analyzed the Laozi 老子 materials and the previously unknown Taiyi sheng shui 太一生水.   

The first section of the monograph is composed of nine individually authored essays, including discussion of: the archaeological background; the conservation and ordering of the bamboo slips; the transcription and interpretation of the graphs; the relationship between the Guodian Laozi materials and the received text; and the Confucian texts from the Guodian tomb. The second section is a full account of the conference discussion, arranged by topic, including detailed treatment of the Guodian Laozi materials from the perspective of textual analysis and philosophical issues. The third section is an annotated edition of the Guodian Laozi materials and Taiyi sheng shui prepared by Edmund Ryden. It includes the full text in Chinese with an apparatus that gives slip and graph numbers, the original transcription of variant and loan graphs, other suggested readings for graphs, and notes on pertinent features of the text. The fourth section contains supplementary materials, including additional textual notes and afterthoughts by participants as well as a critical summary of Chinese scholarship in the year after the conference with complete bibliography.   

The Guodian Laozi: Proceedings of the International Conference is essential reading for scholars and students in the fields of Chinese thought, philology, archaeology, and history. It includes the most accessible edition yet published of the actual text of the Guodian Laozi materials and Taiyi sheng shui. It is a readable introduction to this topic for anyone interested in this very significant discovery.   

The Guodian Laozi is now available again as a print-on-demand reprint. PLEASE ORDER THROUGH REGULAR BOOKSTORES OR ONLINE BOOK SUPPLIERS such as Amazon. The reprint is not available through the SSEC or the Institute of East Asian Studies Publications office.

No. 6: Japanese Scholarship on Early China, 1987-1991, edited by Lothar von Falkenhausen

The journal Early China regularly publishes translations of the annual summaries of Japanese scholarship on early China from the journal Shigaku zasshi 史學雜誌 except for the years 1987-1991. Japanese Scholarship on Early China, 1987-1991 presents translations of eleven summaries of Japanese scholarship on early China from Shigaku zasshi for those years. With this translation, there is now a complete record in English of Japanese scholarly publication on early China since 1975. The monograph was undertaken by the Society for the Study of Early China to ensure that Western scholars of early China may benefit from more intimate knowledge of the work of their Japanese colleagues. Given the range of subjects covered in the summaries — including archaeology, art history, epigraphy, linguistics, philology, ethnography, biography, politics, economic history, historical geography, history of science, philosophy, and religion — the monograph is itself a rich mine of information and a valuable source of bibliographic references. In addition, readers will find the monograph (along with the summaries published in Early China) an indispensable guide to current trends in Japanese scholarship on early China — to the theoretical issues, research methods, analytic terminology, and scholarly groupings. The utility of the monograph is enhanced by an author index (including corrections of names that were mistranscribed in Early China) and a subject index.   

Please order through your bookseller or use this form to order Chinese Writing from the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

No. 7: A Source Book of Ancient Chinese Bronze Inscriptions, edited by Constance A. Cook and Paul R. Goldin

Bronze inscriptions are not only the most important category of historical sources for the Chinese Bronze Age, but also records of crucial rituals in ancient Chinese religious life.  Addressed both to unborn descendants and to the spirits of deceased ancestors, bronze inscriptions, and the ceremonies they memorialized, connected the human world to the spirit world, and linked the generations of a lineage for all time.

This source book is a collaborative effort involving ten scholars, including Constance A. Cook, Wolfgang Behr, Robert Eno, Paul R. Goldin, Martin Kern, Maria Khayutina, David W. Pankenier, David Sena, Laura Skosey, Yan Sun. It begins with a general editorial introduction outlining the significance of bronze inscriptions, followed by more focused discussions of subjects such as the implied ceremonies of bronze inscriptions, typological trends, and modern interpretive methods.  The body of the book consists of eighty-two illustrative inscriptions, each with a brief contributor’s introduction detailing the historical value and distinctive features of the text, as well as a list of further readings.  The book concludes with a glossary of technical terms, a comprehensive bibliography, and an index.

Available from your bookseller or online through Amazon.