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I ordered Differences Preserved Reconstructed Tombs from the Liao and Song Dynasties by Hsingyuan Tsao for $4. With a title like that and a price like that I couldn't pass it up. Turned out to be a lovely collection of full color pictures of tomb objects that was a small museum show a couple years ago. There were some lovely pictures of burial paintings of everyday life, as well as some interesting burial objects.
The accompanying article was very interesting. Pointing out that how the Liao have been so largely ignored by historians of China, both East and West, often getting dismissed as barbarians or as a "sinified" culture. But the book shows their own distinct cultural ideals, that they were as civilized as the Chinese at the time, and also were also different and unique. The author credited them as much inheritors of the Tang as the Song were. Carrying on many cultural traditions of the Tang, and also having an influence on Chinese culture, rather than simply being absorbed. I've read a couple interesting books on the "northern barbarian" cultures of China, and how they have influenced China as opposed to the traditional view of just being barbarians and then being assimilated. However all these books have been from an archaeological perspective and not from a historical perspective. The closest historical perspective I can think of is Barfield's work that we studied in my class, but he is an anthropologist and not a historian either. As the author stated in her essay, it is a new field where much more research needs to be done.
Definitly worth the four dollars plus shipping!
The accompanying article was very interesting. Pointing out that how the Liao have been so largely ignored by historians of China, both East and West, often getting dismissed as barbarians or as a "sinified" culture. But the book shows their own distinct cultural ideals, that they were as civilized as the Chinese at the time, and also were also different and unique. The author credited them as much inheritors of the Tang as the Song were. Carrying on many cultural traditions of the Tang, and also having an influence on Chinese culture, rather than simply being absorbed. I've read a couple interesting books on the "northern barbarian" cultures of China, and how they have influenced China as opposed to the traditional view of just being barbarians and then being assimilated. However all these books have been from an archaeological perspective and not from a historical perspective. The closest historical perspective I can think of is Barfield's work that we studied in my class, but he is an anthropologist and not a historian either. As the author stated in her essay, it is a new field where much more research needs to be done.
Definitly worth the four dollars plus shipping!