This book addresses the relationship between geography and political pow
er in the context of the crisis and fall of the Western Zhou. Exploring the latest archaeological discoveries, it shows how inscribed bronze vessels can be used to reveal changes in political space, and how archaeology, history and geography can work together to produce a coherent understanding of the Bronze Age past. Embracing an interdisciplinary approach and enhanced by full coverage of sources, the book reinterprets late Western Zhou history and questions the causes of its decline and fall.

Feng Li is Assistant Professor of Early Chinese Cultural History at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University. He has undertaken extensive fieldwork on Bronze Age sites and is the author of numerous research articles on the Bronze Age.

Introduction; 1. Foundation of the Western Zhou state: constructing the political space; 2. Disorder and decline: the political crisis of the Western Zhou state; 3. Enemies at the gate: the war against the Xianyun and the north-western frontier; 4. The fall of the Western Zhou: partisan struggle and spatial collapse; 5. The eastward migration: reconfiguring the Western Zhou state; 6. The legacy of the Western Zhou; Conclusion; Appendices 1-3; Bibliography; Indexes.