Yijie Zhuang 
24 Hours in Ancient China 
A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There

<p><b>Spend 24 hours with the ancient Chinese. </b><br><b><br>The year is </b><b>AD</b><b> 17. The Han dynasty is in power and we are in and around Chang’an, the capital and one of the most developed regions of the empire</b><b>, which </b><b>is enjoying a </b><b>prolonged economic and cultural pinnacle.</b><br><br>There are <b>extraordinary palaces</b>, military bases and city walls. Households are benefitting from the <b>invention of numerous agricultural technologies</b> and an <b>unprecedented level of craft production</b>, which includes ceramics, bronzes, iron objects and many other elaborate goods.<br><br>This is an age that is both vibrant and innovative but also riven with conflict and contradictions. For as successful as the empire is, the reality is that life for the ordinary inhabitants is still about the same problems: earning money, work struggles and family dramas.<br><br>Discover what <b>one day in ancient China</b> is like by spending twenty-four hours with the people who lived there. Every hour we meet a different person – from <b>dancers</b> to <b>doctors</b>, <b>priests</b> to <b>convicts</b>, <b>textile workers</b> to <b>tomb looters</b> – and build a <b>multi-layered picture</b> of the social fabric of ancient China and this <b>fascinating period in history</b>.</p>