This book employs textual and archaeological material to reconstruct the various features of daily life in ancient China.

1. The stage; 2. Government organization and elite ideology; 3. Social structure and law; 4. Country life; 5. Cities and urban life; 6. Production, consumption, and ideological constraints; 7. Practical technology; 8. Leisure and entertainment, games and festivals; 9. Glimpses of emotional life; 10. Death, burial, and the hope of a happy afterlife; Conclusion: continuation and transformation of life experience; Bibliography; Index.

Mu-chou Poo is Chair and Professor of History at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests include society and religion in Ancient Egypt and China and comparative ancient history. He is author of and editor of five books, most recently Old Society, New Belief:  Religious Transformation of China and Rome, ca.1st-6th Centuries (2017).