Research Catalog

Title

The social life of inkstones : artisans and scholars in early Qing China / Dorothy Ko.

Author

Ko, Dorothy, 1957-

Publication

• Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2017]
• ©2017

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 315 pages : illustrations (some color), color maps (some color); 27 cm

Summary

An inkstone, a piece of polished stone no bigger than an outstretched hand, is an instrument for grinding ink, an object of art, a token of exchange between friends or sovereign states, and a surface on which texts and images are carved. As such, the inkstone has been entangled with elite masculinity and the values of wen (culture, literature, civility) in China, Korea, and Japan for more than a millennium. However, for such a ubiquitous object in East Asia, it is virtually unknown in the Western world. Examining imperial workshops in the Forbidden City, the Duan quarries in Guangdong, the commercial workshops in Suzhou, and collectors' homes in Fujian, The Social Life of Inkstones traces inkstones between court and society and shows how collaboration between craftsmen and scholars created a new social order in which the traditional hierarchy of "head over hand" no longer predominated. Dorothy Ko also highlights the craftswoman Gu Erniang, through whose work the artistry of inkstone-making achieved unprecedented refinement between the 1680s and 1730s. "The Social Life of Inkstones" explores the hidden history and cultural significance of the inkstone and puts the stonecutters and artisans on center stage.

Series Statement

A study of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute Columbia University

Uniform Title

Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University.

Subjects

• Ink-stones > Social aspects > China
• Ink-stones > China > History > Ming-Qing dynasties, 1368-1912

Note

• "A William Sangki and Nanhee Min Hahn Book."

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pges 283-293) and index.

Language (note)

• In English with some Chinese.

Contents

Acknowledgments -- Conventions -- Chinese dynasties and periods -- Map of China -- Introduction -- chapter 1. The palace workshops : the emperor and his servants -- chapter 2. Yellow Hill villages : the stonecutters -- chapter 3. Suzhou : the crafts(wo)man -- chapter 4. Beyond Suzhou : Gu Erniang the super-brand -- chapter 5. Fuzhou : the collectors -- Epilogue: The craft of wen -- Appendix 1. Inkstones made by Gu Erniang mentioned in textual sources contemporary to Gu -- Appendix 2. Inkstones bearing signature marks of Gu Erniang in major museum collections -- Appendix 3. Members of the Fuzhou circle -- Appendix 4. Textual history of Lin Fuyun's Inkstone chronicle (Yanshi) -- Appendix 5. Chinese texts -- Notes -- Glossary of Chinese characters -- References -- Index.

Call Number

JQF 17-636

ISBN

• 9780295999180
• 0295999187
• 0295999195
• 9780295999197

LCCN

2016020379

OCLC

946461664

Author

Ko, Dorothy, 1957- author.

Title

The social life of inkstones : artisans and scholars in early Qing China / Dorothy Ko.

Publisher

Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2017]

Copyright Date

©2017

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

A study of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute Columbia University

Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pges 283-293) and index.

Language

In English with some Chinese.

Research Call Number

JQF 17-636