Penetrating the Customs

Ying Shao, a magistrate and scholar of the late Han, set out to correct the errors and superstitions of his day. Penetrating the Customs explains the origins of the three sovereigns and five emperors, the meaning of festivals, sacrifices and gods of the soil and the stove, the true stories behind popular sayings, the sounds of musical instruments, the names of mountains and marshes, and the follies of officials who bow to fashion or fraud. It is full of folk belief, legal cases and local lore that survive nowhere else. This complete new English translation covers all the surviving chapters, a treasure-house of everyday Han culture. Names are given in modern pinyin and technical terms are rendered plainly, so this treasure-house of early Chinese knowledge can be browsed or read straight through in natural English.