Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion demonstrates that the concept of metamorphism was central to ancient Chinese religious belief and practices from at least the late Neolithic period through the Warring States Period of the Zhou dynasty.

Elizabeth Childs-Johnson is a specialist in ancient Chinese art, archaeology, paleography, and religion. Her research focuses on a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to identifying belief systems in early China, specifically covering late Neolithic Jade Age through the Bronze Age, ca. 3500-3rd century BCE. She currently holds the position of Research Professor at the Institute of Asian Studies, Old Dominion University.

John S. Major taught at Dartmouth from 1971 to 1984, and since then has been an independent scholar based in New York. A leading authority on ancient Chinese religion and cosmology, he is also a highly regarded translator of classical texts. Much of his work, like the present volume, has been collaborative.

1. Introduction; 2. Hongshan Culture, the Jade Age, and the Origin of Metamorphic Imagery; 3. Metamorphic Images and the beginning of Royal Ancestor Worship in the Liangzhu Culture; 4. Continuation of Metamorphic Imagery and Ancestor Worship in the Longshan Culture; 5. Erlitou Culture and the Early Bronze Age: Formalized Ancestor Rites and Metamorphic Iconography; 6. Institutionalized Ancestor Worship and Metamorphic Imagery in the Shang Period; 7. The Zhou Mandate, the Feng Symbol, and the Ritualized Metamorphism; 8. The Springs and Autumns Period and Beyond: Revitalized Metamorphic Imagery, the Spirit Journey, and Chu as Cultural Leader; 9. Conclusion