"I'm tired. The girl I made today is also tired. Can you please give us some quiet space to just take a nap," he writes, imagining the potter's thoughts.

These items are not only archaeological objects but also are about people and their relationships, Zheng Yan says.

"I rebuild the scenes and reconstruct the stories from the perspectives of their creators and users but leave conclusions to the readers," he adds. "Also, I try my best to avoid grand narratives but stress things like details of everyday incidents and people's emotions."

The book tells stories of 89 portable and unearthed items ranging from 5000 BC to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). His description of each relic is fewer than 500 words so that younger readers don't get bored, he says.