Writing and Materiality in Ancient China: The Textual Culture of the Mawangdui Tombs

Excavations at the famous Mawangdui tomb site in south-central China (early to mid-second century BCE) have unearthed many kinds of writing, including documents made of silk, wood, and bamboo as well as a wide range of inscribed artifacts. This book is an interdisciplinary study of these varied forms of writing, exploring the different roles that texts played in the lives and afterlives of Chinese elites during the Han dynasty.

Examining documents and artifacts from the Mawangdui tombs in co...