In recent decides archaeological discoveries, including manuscripts, have shed new fight on the history of China. For example, they make possible a wider and deeper account of the growth of cities and of the spread of chinese influence over distant areas. This book, with a focus on Qiti and Has (221 BCE-220 CE) as seen within the classical era, provides the first comprehensive survey of these developments and evaluates the newly found evidence in the light of earlier conclusions and the research of scholars in China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Europe and America. Through cross-cultural comparisons, as well as through close study of both the excavated and received literature, new conclusions are presented with respect to relatively understand topics, such as gender, history of science and modes of persuasion. The volume also challenges the "common wisdom" in such established fields as Buddhism, Daoism, legal studies and social history. Thus the volume provides an effective supplement to Volume 1 of The Cambridge History of China published in 1986, and shows how subsequent archaeology has widened and enriched our perception of China's history in this period.