Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern ChinaThe sixteenth century in China was a period of rapid and unprecedented economic expansion. The period also saw a parallel expansion in the sphere of cultural production, as a growing class of consumers of luxury goods benefited from the formation of one of the classic early modern consumer societies. Pictures were a major source of consumable luxury at this period; pictures not only in the form of independently circulating images classifiable as 'art', but also in the form of wall decoration, in books, prints, maps, 'pictures' on ceramics and lacquer boxes, on textile furnishings, and even on the dress of the prosperous. Artefacts that had previously been decorated with formal patterns, or with plants and animals only, now bore landscape scenes, representations of historical characters and incidents, and scenes from literature, often closely related to the world of the illustrated book. This impressively illustrated and accessibly written book is the first attempt to survey this vast array of images in all its aspects, providing a stimulating and innovative point of entry to Chinese history. Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China will be of interest to students of China's history and culture and to all readers interested in theories of visuality. |
Contents
Acknowledgements | 7 |
Representing the Triad | 77 |
Practices of Vision | 102 |
The Work of Art in the Age of Woodblock | 134 |
Fears of the Image | 149 |
Conclusion | 172 |
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Common terms and phrases
16th century Albert Museum antiquity argued art-historical artists Beijing Buddhist canonical ceramics Chen Chinese painting collection contemporary context Daoist decorated discourse discussion Dong Qichang edition emperor erotic European example famous figures Gu Bing Gu Kaizhi guan Gui Youguang Hangzhou Heaven hua pu Ibid illus illustrated images imperial important ink and colour Jesuit jian Jin Ping Mei jing lacquer lacquer boxes landscape late Ming Liangjun looking male maps Ming China Ming Dynasty Ming élite Ming painting Ming period Mingdai murals novel objects painter Palace portrait practices published Qing Qiu Ying representation reproduce Ricci ritual scene scholar seventeenth century sexual Shen Zhou sheng sixteenth century social Song status Su Shi Suzhou Tang things tion tradition types viewing visual culture Wang Wen Zhengming Wen Zhenheng Western women Woodblock print writing xiang Yuan Zhang Zhengming Zhenheng