Anthony J. Barbieri-Low’s book is more far-reaching than its title initially suggests. It is not just about the artisans of early imperial China (the Qin and Han dynasties), but as he explains in his introduction/first chapter: “Understanding these lives [of the artisans] and the complex social, commercial and technological networks in which they participated will allow us to humanize the material remains of the past” (17). In the following five chapters, Barbieri-Low examines artisans in...