How the Ancients Lived
Tags
Summary
What life was like in ancient China is a matter of individual opinion, but Shi Jiepeng, the author known as "Dawang," may have given the most down-to-earth portrait of it. This book depicts the real life of the Chinese people in ancient times—especially from the pre-Qin period to the Tang and Song dynasties—across seventeen aspects: geography, food and drink, clothing, dwellings, travel, daily life, health, the value of the individual, survival, marriage, communication, social interaction, grudges and enmity, funerals and ghosts and gods, administration, officialdom, and occupations. How did ancient Chinese people live? The transmitted historical records tell us mostly about emperors, generals, ministers, and gifted scholars and beautiful women; Shi Jiepeng, by contrast, untangles the threads and sifts the evidence, using the methods of history, archaeology, and linguistics to tell us about the lives of ordinary people. At the same time, with a piercing gaze, he shows us that it was the vast multitude of ordinary, impoverished commoners who held up ancient society, while the small minority of the powerful who controlled most of the resources were not the creators of wealth. This book demonstrates formidable scholarly rigor and is imbued with an independent-minded compassion for humanity.
Editor's review
This book turns its gaze away from emperors and generals and toward the ordinary people who held ancient society up. From seventeen angles—geography, food, clothing, housing, marriage, funerals, and more—the author uses history, archaeology, and linguistics to piece together the real texture of ordinary life from the pre-Qin period through the Tang and Song. Its value lies in refusing to settle for a catalogue of customs: with a cold, clear eye it argues that wealth was created by the many ordinary and impoverished, not by the few powerful who controlled resources. That stance gives the book a layer of compassion and critique beyond its scholarship. The narrative is solid and the sources are clear, making it suitable for readers curious about daily life in the past who do not want mere exoticism. You can jump between themes or work slowly through all seventeen; where the author passes judgment, it is worth pausing to ask whether the evidence holds. This is not a light collection of historical anecdotes but a work of social history with scholarly weight, one that asks for patience and thought.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- History enthusiasts curious about the details of daily life in antiquity
- Readers who want history from the perspective of ordinary people rather than emperors and generals
- Readers who enjoy reconstructing life from archaeological and linguistic evidence
- Writers and teachers in need of material on social history
Not a good fit for
- Those expecting light, story-driven narration and fast-paced reading
- Readers who want only tales of court intrigue and power among the elite
- Readers impatient with scholarly argument and the weighing of evidence
Reading tips
- Start with the chapters closest to daily life—food, clothing, and shelter—to build interest before moving on to institutional topics.
- When you reach a point where the author makes a judgment, note whether the basis is textual, archaeological, or linguistic inference, and cultivate the habit of critical discernment.
- Take simple notes across the seventeen aspects, then return at the end to the overall picture of ordinary people's lives.
- Read alongside general histories to appreciate how the history of everyday life and political history offer different perspectives.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 自序
- 第一章 饮食
- 古人吃饭的那些事
- 古代的饮食品质
- 古人的饭量
- 古代的杀猪
- 古人的饮用水
- 古代的食盐
- 古代的糖
- 第二章 地理篇
- 说秦国
- 说晋国
- 说楚国
- 说吴越
- 第三章 服饰
- 古代的衣裳
- 古人的衣饰等级
- 古代的鞋子
- 古代的袜子
- 第四章 居所
- 百姓的屋子
- 古人怎么坐
- 古代的坐榻
- 古人的厕所
- 第五章 旅行
- 古代的交通工具
- 古代旅行中的吃饭问题
- 古代的路途住宿
- 古代的访友
- 第六章 生活
- 匪夷所思的忌日
- 古代的取火
- 古代的燃料
- 古代的蜡烛灯火
- 古代的夜生活
- 古代的猫和老鼠
- 第七章 健康
- 汉代人的寿命
- 古代的个人卫生
- 古代的虱子
- 古代的治病
- 古代的医药
- 古代的防治瘟疫
- 第八章 人的价值
- 古人的贵贱
- 汉代杀婴曾是普通事
- 所谓“仗义每多屠狗辈”
- 古人的相貌和生理自卑
- 古代的叛徒
- 第九章 生存
- 古代的俸禄
- 古代的市场
- 古代的奴婢买卖
- 古代的奴仆雇佣
- 第十章 婚姻
- 古代的媒人
- 古代的结婚仪式
- 古代的休妻
- 古代的改嫁
- 第十一章 交流
- 古代的洛阳官话
- 刀笔吏与古人写字问题
- 古代的标点符号
- 古人写书多顾虑
- 第十二章 交往
- 古人的称呼
- 古人怎么跪拜
- 古代的请客
- 斗草
- 第十三章 怨仇
- 古代的重男轻女
- 古代的仇女迷信
- 古代的地域歧视
- 古代的“白眼”和“斜视”
- 古代骂人的话
- 古代的大字报
- 第十四章 丧葬鬼神
- 说“鬼”
- 古人的丧仪
- 古代的吊丧
- 古人的葬仪
- 古代坟墓的级别
- 第十五章 管理
- 古代常宵禁
- 古代的刑罚
- 古代的斩人
- 古代的粮仓管理
- 古代公主的“洗澡费”
- 第十六章 为官
- 古代的做官资格
- 古代的裸官
- 做官和做生意
- 秦汉时期的基层公务员
- 古代的上访
- 古代的笏板
- 古代的科举
- 不公平的科举
- 第十七章 职业
- 简牍里的警察
- 侠客也要老老实实
- 唐宋时的妓女
- 浪漫的铜镜和磨镜人
- 附录
FAQ
What period of life does this book cover?
It mainly covers the period from the pre-Qin era to the Tang and Song dynasties, focusing especially on the everyday life of ordinary Chinese people. The author explores seventeen aspects—geography, food, clothing, shelter, marriage, funerals, officialdom, and occupations—spanning a broad timeframe, but the throughline is the lives of ordinary people rather than emperors and generals.
Are the book's conclusions supported by evidence?
The author draws on history, archaeology, and linguistics to comb through materials, seeking traces of ordinary people's lives beyond transmitted texts. The arguments are grounded, though some inferences depend on interpretation of materials; readers should note how the author handles evidence and need not treat every judgment as settled.
Is it suitable as casual history reading?
Not entirely. The book has a strong scholarly grounding; the narrative is solid but not light, closer to a work of social history than a collection of anecdotes. If you're only looking for diverting trivia in spare moments, it may feel dense; if you're willing to read patiently, the rewards are more substantial than typical casual reading.
Comments
Find this book
This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
史杰鹏
Author · Chinese · 1971
Shi Jiepeng, born in Nanchang, Jiangxi in 1971, is a writer and scholar who publishes under the pen name Liang Huiwang. He holds a doctorate in literature from Beijing Normal University, where he served as associate professor at the Institute of Ancient Books and Traditional Culture, specializing in paleography, exegesis, and the philology of pre-Qin and Han texts. His writing spans scholarship and literature, covering classical poetry, historical nonfiction, essays, and fiction; eight of his works are collected here. Representative titles include A Minor Official of the Pavilion Chief, Chu Tomb, Red Cliff, The Rule of Wen and Jing, How the Ancients Lived, and Twenty Lectures on Classical Poetry. He combines scholarly rigor with narrative verve, bringing historical detail and the fortunes of ordinary people vividly to life.
