Recent excavations of bronze artifacts from the Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771 B.C.) provide the focus for this collection of essays, which analyze the nature and patterns of lineages emerging from the tombs of ancient lords of states and historically significant individuals located throughout China, including Beijing, Shandong, Shanxi, and Gansu. The editor and his nine contributors provide detailed textual analyses of the inscriptions found on excavated bronze vessels. Their essays offer careful reconstructions of the genealogies, kinship structures, political identities, and relationship...