Early China chronology; Map of China; 1. Introduction: early China and its natural and cultural demarcations; 2. The development of complex society in China; 3. Erlitou and Erligang: early states expansion; 4. Anyang and beyond: Shang and contemporary bronze cultures; 5. Cracking the secret bones: literacy and society in Late Shang?; 6. The inscribed history: Western Zhou State and its bronze vessels; 7. The creation of paradigm: Zhou bureaucracy and social institutions; 8. Hegemons and warriors: social transformation of the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC 481 BC); 9. The age of territorial states: warring states politics and institutions; 10. Philosophers as statesmen: in light of recently discovered texts; 11. The Qin Unification and Qin Empire: who were the Terra-Cotta Warriors?; 12. Expansion and political transition of the Han Empire; 13. State and society: bureaucracy and social orders under the Han Empire; 14. Ideological changes and their reflections in Han culture and Han art. sakriti opis