Review of Yuri Pines, The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China By Wicky Tse

https://www.academia.edu/39322010/Review_of_Yuri_Pines_The_Book_of_Lord_Shang_Apologetics_of_State_Power_in_Early_China?nav_from=9fdf2595-a404-4018-8ccf-46051b4d9c2e As the first empire in Chinese history, the Qin dynasty (221-207 BCE) has left a far-reaching institutional legacy to imperial China, but the sources of its history are scant. Thanks to the ever-increasing number of archaeological findings in recent decades, we are no longer confined to the writings compiled during Han times (202 BCE-220 CE), which used to leave us with no choice but to study Qin history through the lens of the Han literati. With the excavation of Qin documents on bamboo and wooden slips and boards, we now have firsthand written records of the Qin people, which not only enrich our knowledge of the Qin empire but also give us a glimpse of the daily life of its commoners. Together with the texts found at Shuihudi 睡虎地 of Yumeng 雲夢, which have been studied in depth by scholars since their discovery in the 1970s, the recently unearthed Qin legal and administrative documents from Longgang 龍崗 and Liye 里耶, and those acquired by the Yuelu Academy 嶽麓書院, among others, have been in the academic spotlight and subjected to intensive research. They enable historians to gather invaluable information on the routine functions of the Qin imperial state and the underpinning social structure of the empire. With new sources come new interpretations, and a new history of Qin is now eagerly anticipated. ...