Wang Renxiang
From：Chinese Archaeology NetWriter：Date：2008-10-09
Research Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
Concurrent Posts :
Member of the Standing Committee of the Society of Chinese Archaeology
Key Publications :
Academic Background :
Wang Renxiang graduated from Sichuan University’s History Department in 1977, where he majored in archaeology. In 1978, he passed the entrance exams for the Archaeology Department at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Graduate School and went on to study prehistoric archaeology under Professor Shi Xingbang. He graduated with a MA in History in 1981.
Wang Renxiang graduated from Sichuan University’s History Department in 1977, where he majored in archaeology. In 1978, he passed the entrance exams for the Archaeology Department at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Graduate School and went on to study prehistoric archaeology under Professor Shi Xingbang. He graduated with a MA in History in 1981.
Since 1974, Wang Renxiang has presided over numerous field excavations and has been appointed team leader for Institute of Archaeology’s teams in Sichuan, Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai, and Yunnan. He has presided over the excavation of several key sites, including the Qugong Site in Lhasa, Tibet, and the Lajia Site in Minhe County, Qinghai Province.
His work in Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet has helped establish a sequence of development of prehistoric cultures in those regions, particularly with regard to the origins of agricultural and pastoral cultures of the Tibetan Plateau and early metallurgy. Wang Renxiang has made a valuable contribution to Chinese archaeology and has helped fill in the gaps in the knowledge of Chinese prehistory. In recent years, his primary research has been in the field of frontier archaeology, with an emphasis on prehistoric frontier archaeology.
Areas of Interest :
Archaeology and social sciences (general).
Current Research Interests :
Frontier and ethnoarchaeology, the archaeology of prehistoric China, prehistoric painted pottery, and Chinese food culture.
Frontier and ethnoarchaeology, the archaeology of prehistoric China, prehistoric painted pottery, and Chinese food culture.
Recent Academic Activities :
October 2006 – Attended the Symposium on the 80th anniversary of the Excavation at the Xiyincun Site.
November 2006 – Attended the Symposium on the Course of Civilization in the Jiangsu and Anhui Region.
March 2007 – Participated in the Sanxingdui Site Protection Planning Council.
April 2007 – Attended the Symposium on the Southern Silk Road.
Awards :
‘Qugong in Lhasa’ and ‘The Baijia Site at Lintong’ received the National Social Sciences Foundation Awards for Outstanding Achievement. ‘Unravelling the Mysteries of Chinese Civilization’, which Wang is credited with editing, won a prize in the 11th China Book Awards and was named as the Best Historical Book of the 20th Century by China Cultural Relics News.
Publications :
1. 1998 China’s Prehistoric Culture
2. 2006 Between Archaeology, History and Anthropology
3. 2006 Mausoleums of the Tibetan Kings
4. 2006 The Age of Noodles
5. 2006 On Jade Belt Hooks
6. 2006 Ancient Oriental civilization moistened by the fine jade —— Book review of Lingjiatan
7. 2006 The Archaeologists’Search for Roots
8. 2006 Prehistoric Painted Pottery of Diaolongbei
9. 2006 Conjecture on the Name and Reality of Cong and Bi
10. 2006 Towards an Ancient Taste
11. 2006 A Brief Comment on Painted Pottery of the Hongshan Culture
12. 2005 The Exploration and Research of the Tombs of the Tibetan Kings at Qiongjie, Tibet
13. 2005 Notes on the Appearance of a Sanxingdui Standing Bronze Figure
14. 2005 The Brilliance of Sparkling and Sleek Ancient Civilizations (comment) in ‘The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China
15. 2004 A Tour of Chinese Civilization (series in 12 volumes)
16. 2005 The Golden Sun of the Ancient Shu People – Reflections on the Gold Sunbird Disk Unearthed at the Jinsha Site in Chengdu
17. 2004 The Appearance of Ancient Dumplings
18. 2004 Some Views on the Prehistoric Painted Pottery of Diaolongbei
19. 2004 The Mysteries of Prehistoric Natural Disasters at Lajia
20. 2004 The Restoration and Interpretation of the Bronze Coronet-Wearing Figure of Sanxingdui
21. 2004 Research on Ancient Dietary Cultural Tradition in China from Archaeological Discovery
22. 2004 Meeting by chance with the spicy flavour from the past
23. 2004 Food is the People’s Heaven – Chinese Food Culture
24. 2004 Yesterday’s Banquets : The Food Culture of Ancient China
25. 2004 Eating Separately and Sharing Meals – The Changes in Ancient Chinese Eating Habits
26. 2004 The Many Colours of History
27. 2004 Four Topics on the Archaeology of Prehistoric Food
28. 2003 ‘Use of the Useless’ (epilogue) in Essays on the Archaeology of Prehistoric China
29. 2003 Essays on the Archaeology of Prehistoric China
30. 2003 Sheep as food
31. 2003 Dream of Namseling
32. 2003 The Tombs of Tibetan Kings in fog
33. 2003 A Survey on the Population and Society of the Yangshao Culture
34. 2003 A Survey on the Origins of the Yangshao Culture
35. 2003 Examining the Relationship between the Banpo and Miaodigou Cultures
36. 2003 The Childhood of Mankind : The Longshan Era
37. 2003 The “spiral eye”design in prehistoric China
38. 2002 Uncoding the earth book， inspecting the cosmos system: Book Review of Archaeoastronomy in China
39. 2002 Excavating Prehistoric Disasters
40. 2002 Delicacies : Ancient Food Culture
41. 2002 Food Trails
42. 2002 The Exploration and Research of the Tombs of the Tibetan Kings at Chongye, Tibet
43. 2002 Painted pottery：how about a contrary view？
44. 2002 Yellow Yue Axe in the left hand， as fiery as fire
45. 2002 Discovering Prehistoric China via Yangshao
46. 2002 Identification of the background design on prehistoric painted poettery in China-
47. 2001 Explore the Mysteries of Fuxian Lake
48. 2001 China’s Seasonal Food and Drink Culture
49. 2001 driving a sweet spring，irrigating a garden of green grasss，
50. 2001 Chinese Food Culture (Japanese edition)
51. 2001 Prehistoric Burnt-Earth Pits and Burnt-Earth Tombs
52. 2001 Jade Eyes : The Standard and Variant Forms of Cloud-Shape Jade Pendants of the Hongshan Culture
53. 2001 Jade Belt Hooks of the Liangzhu Culture
54. 2001 A Exploration of the Designs on Prehistoric Chinese Pottery
55. 1994 The Baijia Site at Lintong
56. 1993 The Manufacture of Bone Tools in the Yellow River Basin During the Neolithic Period
57. 2001 Further Research on the Custom of Abandoning House in the Prehistoric Period
58. 2001 From Karuo to Qugong
59. 1999 The Principles and Sequence of Naming Archaeological Cultures
60. 2001 The Discovery of the ‘King Qing’Instrument
61. 2001 Lhasa’s Qugong Site : The Splendour of the Land of Snow’s Ancient Past
62. 2000 Chinese Archaeology in the Twentieth Century
63. 2000 The “spiral eye”design in prehistoric China
64. 1999 Transition of food in past millenniums
65. 1999 A assumption on a cognitive system in prehistoric China – An Interpretation of Painted Pottery
66. 1999 A History of Tea
67. 1999 Searching from the earth – Twentieth Century Chinese Archaeology
68. 1999 Food, Drink and Chinese Culture
69. 1999 Qugong in Lhasa
70. 1998 Review on the research of the absolute date of the Yangshao culture
71. 1997 Chopsticks, Spoons and Forks
72. 1997 Exploring the Ancient Farming and Pastoral Civilizations of the Land of Snow : Notes on the Excavation of the Qugong Site
73. 1997 An Overview of China’s Chopsticks Culture
74. 1997 A History of China’s Prehistoric Food Culture
75. 1997 Further Research into the Sex Composition of China’s Neolithic Population
76. 1996 Unravelling the Mysteries of Chinese Civilization (series in 40 volumes)
77. 1996 Notes on the Zhicao grass in Han arts – discussion rising from carved stones and bricks in Han burials in Sichuan
78. 1996 Food, Drink and Chinese Culture
79. 1995 Qiang Boiled Meat and Mo Roasted Meat : Food of the Hu Tribes
80. 1994 Food Officials in Chinese Antiquity
81. 1991 Microlithic Remains at Zhongzipu , Guangyuan, Sichuan Province
82. 1993 Garden Parties and the Travelling Banquets of the Tang Dynasty
83. 1994 Food, Drink and Chinese Culture
84. 1994 First Collected Works on the Archaeology of Food and Drink
85. 1993 China’s Prehistoric Culture
86. 1994 Some Questions about the Qugong Culture
87. 1994 From Yueliangwan to Sanxingdui – the pit with buried properties might be the remain of alliance ritual
88. 1993 Recent Neolithic Findings of the Northern Sichuan Basin
89. 1993 Taiping Imperial Encyclopaedia : Food and Drink Section (Annotations)
90. 1993 Red-Daubed Stone Artifacts of the Qugong Culture
91. 1992 China’s Prehistoric Culture
92. 1992 Research on Bashu Emblems
93. 1992 ‘Food is the People’s Heaven – Chinese Food Culture
94. 1992 The Qugong Site in Lhasa : The Highest Altitude Archaeological Site
95. 1991 A Study on Archaeology and the History of Food Culture
96. 1991 zFood is the People’s Heaven – Chinese Food Culture
97. 1989 A Study on the Orientation of Chinese Neolithic Tombs
98. 1990 Research on Ancient Chinese Spoons, Chopsticks and Forks
99. 1989 Research on the Petal Motifs on Painted Pottery of the Chinese Neolithic Period
100. 1986 A Brief Analysis of Buckles
101. 1988 A Brief Report on the Excavation of the Early Neolithic Xishanping Site in Tianshui, Gansu Province
102. 1987 The Production of Tools Made from Mollusc Shells in Neolithic China
103. 1989 The Two Stages of the Development of Early Neolithic Cultures in the Weishui River Basin
104. 1984 The Use and Nomenclature of the ‘Butterfly-Shaped Ornaments’ of the Hemudu Culture
105. 1984 A Brief Report of the Excavation of the Baija Site in Lintong, Shaanxi Province
106. 1987 A Brief Discussion on the Development of Ancient Chinese Combs
107. 1982 Secondary burials in Neolithic China and their social implication
108. 1982 A Study on the Uses of Belt Hooks in Ancient Times
109. 1981 Several Issues Relating to the Archaeological Excavation of the Chu Imperial City Site at Yicheng
110. 1987 Several Questions About China’s Neolithic Double-Shouldered Stoneware
111. 1980 Examination of a Silk Painting at a Warring States Chu Tomb in Changsha
112. 1980 The Qin and Han Tombs at the Site of the Chu Imperial City at Yicheng, Hubei Province
113. 1983 Preliminary Study of Prehistoric Human Figure and Painted Figurines of the Central and Upper Yellow River valley
114. 1980 A Brief Investigative Report of the Site of the Chu Imperial City at Yicheng, Hubei Province
115. 1984 A Preliminary Study of the Songze Culture
116. 1979 Exploring the Old Capitals of the Chu and Yan States
117. 1980 The Mysteries of Population Control in Primitive Society
118. 1987 Research into the Designs and Motifs of Neolithic Painted Pottery in the Gansu and Qinghai Areas
119. 1988 The Production of Tools Made from Mollusc Shells in Bronze Age China
120. 1984 Questions Concerning the Nature of the Pre-Yangshao Culture in the Wei River Basin and Upper Hanshui River Valley
121. 1981 On the Religious Significance of Pig Burial in the Neolithic Period
122. 1982 The Peculiar Custom of House Abandonment
123. 1981 An Inquiry into the Issues Surrounding the Jingtian Farmland System
124. 1985 An Overview of Belt Hooks
125. 1991 China’s Prehistoric Culture
1. 1998 China’s Prehistoric Culture
2. 2006 Between Archaeology, History and Anthropology
3. 2006 Mausoleums of the Tibetan Kings
4. 2006 The Age of Noodles
5. 2006 On Jade Belt Hooks
6. 2006 Ancient Oriental civilization moistened by the fine jade —— Book review of Lingjiatan
7. 2006 The Archaeologists’Search for Roots
8. 2006 Prehistoric Painted Pottery of Diaolongbei
9. 2006 Conjecture on the Name and Reality of Cong and Bi
10. 2006 Towards an Ancient Taste
11. 2006 A Brief Comment on Painted Pottery of the Hongshan Culture
12. 2005 The Exploration and Research of the Tombs of the Tibetan Kings at Qiongjie, Tibet
13. 2005 Notes on the Appearance of a Sanxingdui Standing Bronze Figure
14. 2005 The Brilliance of Sparkling and Sleek Ancient Civilizations (comment) in ‘The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China
15. 2004 A Tour of Chinese Civilization (series in 12 volumes)
16. 2005 The Golden Sun of the Ancient Shu People – Reflections on the Gold Sunbird Disk Unearthed at the Jinsha Site in Chengdu
17. 2004 The Appearance of Ancient Dumplings
18. 2004 Some Views on the Prehistoric Painted Pottery of Diaolongbei
19. 2004 The Mysteries of Prehistoric Natural Disasters at Lajia
20. 2004 The Restoration and Interpretation of the Bronze Coronet-Wearing Figure of Sanxingdui
21. 2004 Research on Ancient Dietary Cultural Tradition in China from Archaeological Discovery
22. 2004 Meeting by chance with the spicy flavour from the past
23. 2004 Food is the People’s Heaven – Chinese Food Culture
24. 2004 Yesterday’s Banquets : The Food Culture of Ancient China
25. 2004 Eating Separately and Sharing Meals – The Changes in Ancient Chinese Eating Habits
26. 2004 The Many Colours of History
27. 2004 Four Topics on the Archaeology of Prehistoric Food
28. 2003 ‘Use of the Useless’ (epilogue) in Essays on the Archaeology of Prehistoric China
29. 2003 Essays on the Archaeology of Prehistoric China
30. 2003 Sheep as food
31. 2003 Dream of Namseling
32. 2003 The Tombs of Tibetan Kings in fog
33. 2003 A Survey on the Population and Society of the Yangshao Culture
34. 2003 A Survey on the Origins of the Yangshao Culture
35. 2003 Examining the Relationship between the Banpo and Miaodigou Cultures
36. 2003 The Childhood of Mankind : The Longshan Era
37. 2003 The “spiral eye”design in prehistoric China
38. 2002 Uncoding the earth book， inspecting the cosmos system: Book Review of Archaeoastronomy in China
39. 2002 Excavating Prehistoric Disasters
40. 2002 Delicacies : Ancient Food Culture
41. 2002 Food Trails
42. 2002 The Exploration and Research of the Tombs of the Tibetan Kings at Chongye, Tibet
43. 2002 Painted pottery：how about a contrary view？
44. 2002 Yellow Yue Axe in the left hand， as fiery as fire
45. 2002 Discovering Prehistoric China via Yangshao
46. 2002 Identification of the background design on prehistoric painted poettery in China-
47. 2001 Explore the Mysteries of Fuxian Lake
48. 2001 China’s Seasonal Food and Drink Culture
49. 2001 driving a sweet spring，irrigating a garden of green grasss，
50. 2001 Chinese Food Culture (Japanese edition)
51. 2001 Prehistoric Burnt-Earth Pits and Burnt-Earth Tombs
52. 2001 Jade Eyes : The Standard and Variant Forms of Cloud-Shape Jade Pendants of the Hongshan Culture
53. 2001 Jade Belt Hooks of the Liangzhu Culture
54. 2001 A Exploration of the Designs on Prehistoric Chinese Pottery
55. 1994 The Baijia Site at Lintong
56. 1993 The Manufacture of Bone Tools in the Yellow River Basin During the Neolithic Period
57. 2001 Further Research on the Custom of Abandoning House in the Prehistoric Period
58. 2001 From Karuo to Qugong
59. 1999 The Principles and Sequence of Naming Archaeological Cultures
60. 2001 The Discovery of the ‘King Qing’Instrument
61. 2001 Lhasa’s Qugong Site : The Splendour of the Land of Snow’s Ancient Past
62. 2000 Chinese Archaeology in the Twentieth Century
63. 2000 The “spiral eye”design in prehistoric China
64. 1999 Transition of food in past millenniums
65. 1999 A assumption on a cognitive system in prehistoric China – An Interpretation of Painted Pottery
66. 1999 A History of Tea
67. 1999 Searching from the earth – Twentieth Century Chinese Archaeology
68. 1999 Food, Drink and Chinese Culture
69. 1999 Qugong in Lhasa
70. 1998 Review on the research of the absolute date of the Yangshao culture
71. 1997 Chopsticks, Spoons and Forks
72. 1997 Exploring the Ancient Farming and Pastoral Civilizations of the Land of Snow : Notes on the Excavation of the Qugong Site
73. 1997 An Overview of China’s Chopsticks Culture
74. 1997 A History of China’s Prehistoric Food Culture
75. 1997 Further Research into the Sex Composition of China’s Neolithic Population
76. 1996 Unravelling the Mysteries of Chinese Civilization (series in 40 volumes)
77. 1996 Notes on the Zhicao grass in Han arts – discussion rising from carved stones and bricks in Han burials in Sichuan
78. 1996 Food, Drink and Chinese Culture
79. 1995 Qiang Boiled Meat and Mo Roasted Meat : Food of the Hu Tribes
80. 1994 Food Officials in Chinese Antiquity
81. 1991 Microlithic Remains at Zhongzipu , Guangyuan, Sichuan Province
82. 1993 Garden Parties and the Travelling Banquets of the Tang Dynasty
83. 1994 Food, Drink and Chinese Culture
84. 1994 First Collected Works on the Archaeology of Food and Drink
85. 1993 China’s Prehistoric Culture
86. 1994 Some Questions about the Qugong Culture
87. 1994 From Yueliangwan to Sanxingdui – the pit with buried properties might be the remain of alliance ritual
88. 1993 Recent Neolithic Findings of the Northern Sichuan Basin
89. 1993 Taiping Imperial Encyclopaedia : Food and Drink Section (Annotations)
90. 1993 Red-Daubed Stone Artifacts of the Qugong Culture
91. 1992 China’s Prehistoric Culture
92. 1992 Research on Bashu Emblems
93. 1992 ‘Food is the People’s Heaven – Chinese Food Culture
94. 1992 The Qugong Site in Lhasa : The Highest Altitude Archaeological Site
95. 1991 A Study on Archaeology and the History of Food Culture
96. 1991 zFood is the People’s Heaven – Chinese Food Culture
97. 1989 A Study on the Orientation of Chinese Neolithic Tombs
98. 1990 Research on Ancient Chinese Spoons, Chopsticks and Forks
99. 1989 Research on the Petal Motifs on Painted Pottery of the Chinese Neolithic Period
100. 1986 A Brief Analysis of Buckles
101. 1988 A Brief Report on the Excavation of the Early Neolithic Xishanping Site in Tianshui, Gansu Province
102. 1987 The Production of Tools Made from Mollusc Shells in Neolithic China
103. 1989 The Two Stages of the Development of Early Neolithic Cultures in the Weishui River Basin
104. 1984 The Use and Nomenclature of the ‘Butterfly-Shaped Ornaments’ of the Hemudu Culture
105. 1984 A Brief Report of the Excavation of the Baija Site in Lintong, Shaanxi Province
106. 1987 A Brief Discussion on the Development of Ancient Chinese Combs
107. 1982 Secondary burials in Neolithic China and their social implication
108. 1982 A Study on the Uses of Belt Hooks in Ancient Times
109. 1981 Several Issues Relating to the Archaeological Excavation of the Chu Imperial City Site at Yicheng
110. 1987 Several Questions About China’s Neolithic Double-Shouldered Stoneware
111. 1980 Examination of a Silk Painting at a Warring States Chu Tomb in Changsha
112. 1980 The Qin and Han Tombs at the Site of the Chu Imperial City at Yicheng, Hubei Province
113. 1983 Preliminary Study of Prehistoric Human Figure and Painted Figurines of the Central and Upper Yellow River valley
114. 1980 A Brief Investigative Report of the Site of the Chu Imperial City at Yicheng, Hubei Province
115. 1984 A Preliminary Study of the Songze Culture
116. 1979 Exploring the Old Capitals of the Chu and Yan States
117. 1980 The Mysteries of Population Control in Primitive Society
118. 1987 Research into the Designs and Motifs of Neolithic Painted Pottery in the Gansu and Qinghai Areas
119. 1988 The Production of Tools Made from Mollusc Shells in Bronze Age China
120. 1984 Questions Concerning the Nature of the Pre-Yangshao Culture in the Wei River Basin and Upper Hanshui River Valley
121. 1981 On the Religious Significance of Pig Burial in the Neolithic Period
122. 1982 The Peculiar Custom of House Abandonment
123. 1981 An Inquiry into the Issues Surrounding the Jingtian Farmland System
124. 1985 An Overview of Belt Hooks
125. 1991 China’s Prehistoric Culture
Translated by Kelly McGuire