China is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world, and yet it may surprise readers to learn that there is no book in the English language dealing with the early history of the country, which stretches back for more than twenty-seven centuries. Most Western scholars have generally ignored this period, regarding it as shrouded in myth and legend. Whit "The Chinese Heritage," K.C. Wu, the renowned scholar and statesman has produced the first systematic study in the English language of the origins of Chinese society. The history begins with the first appearance of the Chinese written language and ends when China's basic political, cultural, and social institutions were well enough established to be codified in book form. It spans a period from approximately 2500 B.C. to A.D. 1100. Drawing on both his knowledge of classical Chinese literature and 20th century archaeological research, particularly the discovery of thousands of oracle bones used in divination and worship and inscribed with bits and pieces of information about "current events" in ancient China, Dr. Wu has been able to put together a remarkably coherent picture of the growth of the early empire. Dr. Wu discusses ancient Chinese customs, ancestor worship and religion, attitudes toward women, political organizations, warfare, ethics, the achievements of the emperors and princes of the early dynasties, the origins of Confucianism, and most important, the creation of China's centralized state bureaucracy, which had arisen out of the need to organize agriculture and the vast irrigation system that made the Yellow and Yang-tze river valleys so productive. It was the universal organization of the peasantry, and the philosophical ideas attached to it, that kept Chinese society relatively stable for so many centuries, and the origins of the modern commune system can be found here as well. In "The Chinese Heritage," Dr. Wu makes it plain how much of present China actually lies in the past. This thoughtful and well-researched volume is essential reading for all China scholars and those who want to understand the continuity between past and present Chinese culture.

Preface --Introduction : Distinctive features of the early Chinese heritage -- From the yellow emperor to Yao and Shun (27th-23rd century B.C.) -- Preface -- Introduction : Distinctive features of the early Chinese heritage -- From the yellow emperor to Yao and Shun (27th-23rd century B.C.) -- The Xia dynasty (23rd-18th century B.C.) -- The Shang dynasty (18th14th century B.C.) -- The Shang, now also called the Yin, dynasty (14th-12th century B.C.) -- The period of transition between Yin and Zhou -- The founding of the Zhou dynasty -- The consolidation of the Zhou (1105-1097 B.C.) -- Zhougong and the accumulated heritage -- Conclusion : Major aspects of the political and social heritage -- Appendix : On the usability of ancient Chinese wrirings as sources for history -- Genealogical charts -- Maps.