“Timely and valuable ... a substantial and indeed fascinating contribution to the study of early China.” —American Historical Review, February 2001

“A fascinating read ... [and] a first step towards exploring the regional diversity of the Chu state.” —The Historian, Winter 2001

“An important contribution to our understanding of the complex process of interaction, indigenous invention, assimilation and rejection by which the civilization of early imperial China was formed.” —Journal of Asian Studies, November 2000

“Chu has been slowly working its way toward the center of our mental images of ancient Chinese life for some time.... Defining Chu should have the effect ... of demolishing the ‘southern barbarian’ tag, once and for all.” —Early Medieval China 6 (2000)

Scholars agree that the “southern” culture of China, roughly identifiable with the state of Chu during the period between 700 and 200 B.C.E., is of great importance in the subsequent development of Chinese culture. Early Han artists and writers from the first century B.C.E. were encouraged to preserve “exotic” and “barbaric” Chu images and songs as an antidote to the harsh laws of the Qin. This somewhat disparaging view of the Chu has persisted to modern times despite material remains that reveal a culture possessing a level of sophistication equal to (or surpassing) that of contemporary northern (Confucian) civilization. Splendid works of art, excavated in modern Hubei and Henan, along with literary, religious, and historical texts, attest to the complexity and distinctiveness of Chu culture; yet the nature of that distinctiveness and its significance in the history of China have never been adequately addressed. This book, the first in a Western language to attempt such a broad and in-depth analysis of a single Chinese state, traces the evolution of the Chu from a vassal state of Zhou in the Spring and Autumn period to its rise and fall as a great hegemonic kingdom in the Warring States period and its eventual resurgence in the early Han dynasty.

Defining Chu begins with an overview of the historical geography, an outline of archaeological evidence for Chu history, and an appreciation of Chu art. Following chapters examine issues of state and society: the ideology of the ruling class, legal procedures, popular culture, and daily life. The final section surveys Chu religion and literature and includes an analysis of the Chuci, the great anthology of Chu poetry, and its impact on mainstream Chinese literature.

A translation of the “Chu Silk Manuscript” is appended. This document has intrigued scholars since its discovery in Changsha some sixty years ago. The inclusion of this rare and difficult text, available for the first time in an effective and accessible translation, will make this volume indispensable to students and scholars of early Chinese history and thought.

color & b/w illus.

Constance A. Cook, who received her Ph.D. in Chinese language and literature from the University of California, Berkeley, has published a number of articles dealing with ancient Chinese inscriptions, society, and religion. She is an associate professor of Chinese language and literature at Lehigh University. John S. Major, who received his Ph.D. in history and East Asian languages from Harvard University, is the author of numerous articles and several books on china, including Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought. Formerly associate professor of history at Dartmouth College and later director of the China Council of the Asia Society, he is an editor and independent scholar based in New York.

Read the preface (PDF).

table of contents