Page 23 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

Note to the Reader

The works of art included in the exhibition are CONTRIBUTORS TO THE CATALOGUE
representative of four periods, corresponding
to sections of this catalogue: Late Prehistoric RB Richard M. Barnhart
China (c. 5000-2000 BCE), Bronze Age China AD Albert E. Dien
(c. 2000-771 BCE), Chu and Other Cultures LVF Lothar von Falkenhausen
(c. 770-221 BCE), and Early Imperial China LF-H Louisa G. Fitzgerald-Huber
(221 BCE-924 CE). The order of presentation is DH Donald Harper
chronological, with exhibited works from the DNK David N. Keightley
same culture or find site presented in groups. LK Ladislav Kesner
The Pinyin system of romanization has
been used throughout. Chinese characters, MK Michael Knight
DK Dieter Kuhn
which appear in the concordance beginning
on page 556, are written in nonsimplified CM Colin Mackenzie
characters. EP Elinor L. Pearlstein
For some matters treated here, a unified JR Jessica Rawson
terminology does not exist; for instance, ES Edward L. Shaughnessy
authors' usage of terms such as the "upper," zs Zhixin Sun
"middle," or "lower" Yellow or Yangzi River RT Robert L. Thorp
may sometimes be subjective and may not AT Alain Thote
follow a strict geographic designation. RW Roderick Whitfield
Hardstone objects from China tradition-
ally described as "jade" (yu), and particularly SB Su Bai
carvings dated after the second millennium XM Xia Mingcai
BCE, are usually nephrite. Neolithic hardstone XP Xu Pingfang
carvings were made from a variety of hard, com- XY Xiaoneng Yang
pacted minerals that assume a high luster when YW Yu Weichao
polished: nephrite, serpentine, fluorite, and zz Zhang Zhongpei
other minerals not always easily distinguished ZH Zou Heng
by visual inspection. For this reason, the desig-
nation "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here may one day be superseded by future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.

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