Artisans in Early Imperial China

An award-winning study of the ancient world, now back in print

Early China is best known for the dazzling material artifacts it has left behind. These terracotta figures, gilt-bronze lamps, and other material remnants of the Chinese past unearthed by archaeological excavations are often viewed without regard to the social context of their creation, yet they were made by individuals who contributed greatly to the foundations of early Chinese culture. With Artisans in Early Imperial China, Anthony Barbieri-Low combines historical, epigraphic, and archaeological analysis to refocus our gaze from the glittering objects and monuments of China onto the men and women who made them.

Taking readers inside the private workshops, crowded marketplaces, and great palaces, temples, and tombs of early China, Barbieri-Low explores the lives and working conditions of artisans, meticulously documenting their role in early Chinese society and the economy. First published in 2007, winner of top prizes from the Association for Asian Studies, American Historical Association, College Art Association, and the International Convention of Asia Scholars, and now back in print, Artisans in Early Imperial China will appeal to anyone interested in Chinese history, as well as to scholars of comparative social history, labor history, and Asian art history.

"A sapient guide through not only the bustling, state-regulated markets, but back down the production line to the small private workshops where many of the goods. . . were produced. . . . Barbieri-Low splendidly reanimates [the artisans] lost lives, and gives them due credit for greasing the wheels of China's first empires."

"Featuring a thoroughly scholarly approach with copious notes, a glossary of Chinese characters, and an exhaustive bibliography, this book presents a wonderfully fresh viewpoint; it is a veritable goldmine for students and scholars of Chinese culture. Essential."

"[Barbieri-Low's] history of the people in the early workshops, marketplaces, construction sites and foundries who produced art imbues their activity with a vivid sense of contemporary life and times through a combination of solid research and enthusiastic engagement with his subject."

"Barbieri-Low's book is extremely successful in explicating the social and economic conditions around laborers during China's early imperial period."

"Barbieri-Low's study provides us with a multifaceted perspective of the lives and working conditions of Han artisans . . . . By providing a bold and grounded interpretation of the lives of artisans, Barbieri-Low has done much to enhance our understanding of the lives of the men who served the elite. More generally, he has illuminated the social and economic dynamics of the early empire."

"Barbieri-Low pulls off a major achievement: reconstructing the life and work of the craftsmen who created early China's most impressive works of art. Combining artistic, archaeological, and textual evidence, he gives us a finely drawn portrait of how they created objects, how they suffered, and how other strata viewed them . . . . The author's rich description of these little-known historical subjects stands out as an exemplary work of social, artistic, and archaeological history."

"Artisans in Early Imperial China fills an important gap in the field . . . . Barbieri-Low has produced a solid and insightful work on a topic neglected by scholars in both China and the West."

"Artisans in Early Imperial China is a major contribution to our understanding of ancient China and to the cross-cultural study of craft production. I expect it will provide readers with a new appreciation for the ancient artisans behind the art objects that they see, as Barbieri-Low hoped."

"The author has taken the reader . . . into the complexities of the often hidden depths of early Chinese society. Barbieri-Low has opened up a whole new field and raised challenging questions . . . [for] many new areas of research."

"Barbieri-Low has opened up a whole new field and raised challenging questions that should give rise to many new areas of research."

"Splendidly reanimates [the artisans’] lost lives, and gives them due credit for greasing the wheels of China's first empires."

"Barbieri-Low’s command of the material record is stunning."

"Stands out as an exemplary work of social, artistic, and archaeological history."