The Liangzhu Culture (3,300-2,300 BC) represented the peak of prehistoric cultural and social development in the Yangtze Delta. With a wide sphere of influence centred near present-day Hangzhou City, Liangzhu City is considered one of the earliest urban centres in prehistoric China. Although it remains a mystery for many in the West, Liangzhu is well known in China for its fine jade-crafting industry; its enormous, well-structured earthen palatial compound and recently discovered hydraulic system; and its far-flung impact on contemporary and succeeding cultures. The archaeological ruins of Liangzhu City were added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in July 2019. Liangzhu Culture contextualises Liangzhu in broad socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and provides new, first-hand data to help explain the development and structure of this early urban centre. Among its many insights, the volume reveals how elites used jade as a means of acquiring social power, and how Liangzhu and its centre stand in comparison to other prehistoric urban centres in the world. This book, the first of its kind published in the English language, will be a useful guide to students at all levels interested in the material culture and social structures of prehistoric China and beyond.

The Liangzhu Culture (3,300-2,300 BC) represented the peak of prehistoric cultural and social development in the Yangtze Delta. With a wide sphere of influence centred near present-day Hangzhou City, Liangzhu City is considered one of the earliest urban centres in prehistoric China. Although it remains a mystery for many in the West, Liangzhu is well known in China for its fine jade-crafting industry; its enormous, well-structured earthen palatial compound and recently discovered hydraulic system; and its far-flung impact on contemporary and succeeding cultures. The archaeological ruins of Liangzhu City were added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in July 2019. Liangzhu Culture contextualises Liangzhu in broad socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and provides new, first-hand data to help explain the development and structure of this early urban centre. Among its many insights, the volume reveals how elites used jade as a means of acquiring social power, and how Liangzhu and its centre stand in comparison to other prehistoric urban centres in the world. This book, the first of its kind published in the English language, will be a useful guide to students at all levels interested in the material culture and social structures of prehistoric China and beyond.

The Targeted Poverty Alleviation programme was proposed by President Xi in 2013 and aims to give poor people the resources to lift themselves out of poverty. No fewer than three million cadres have been sent to the least developed areas of the country to educate, inspire and help the most impoverished people with financial support, jobs and business opportunities. The authors of this series of books visited some of the villages that were previously very poor, to document how developments in education, agriculture, health and tourism had created positive change. The authors wrote about what they saw, what they heard, how they felt in these areas and rendered them into touching and vivid stories. The High Yuangudui Village, describes how Yuangudui, a deeply impoverished village in Weiyuan County, Dingxi, Gansu Province, gloriously transformed from a 'well-known muddy place' into a national demonstration village for poverty alleviation, and was awarded 'Gorgeous Gansu - Top Ten Beautiful Villages.' Adopting a cross-narrative approach, and from multiple perspectives such as history, reality, and culture, the book reproduces the mentality change and fighting spirit of the people of Yuangudui Village from a conservative and closed status to their awakening and self improvement, and reflects the historical changes and social process of this poor rural area in China. This is a narrative, literary, and speculative work full of authentic Gansu elements.