What lies beneath: The world of loess

British art historian and leading Sinologist Jessica Rawson's book Life and Afterlife in Ancient China has its Chinese edition published recently by Beijing-based CITIC Press Group.

In the book, Rawson explores China's material culture through 12 ancient burial sites (11 tombs and one sacrificial site).

"The only way to study the physical material (of ancient China) is from Chinese burial sites," Rawson tells China Daily. "China has a low survival rate of ancient palaces and houses, but it has very special tombs. They started in the late Neolithic as a long tradition that goes on continuously to the 19th century. They are China's major source of information about art, architecture and archaeology for thousands of years."

Rawson selected 12 burial sites dating from the late Neolithic period to the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), covering regions that rose to prominence at various historical moments. Through these case studies, she uncovers the societies behind the artifacts and the worldviews embedded within them.