Why would an inkstone have a poem inscribed on it? Early modern
Chinese writers did not limit themselves to working with brushes
and ink, and their texts were not confined to woodblock-printed
books or the boundaries of the paper page. Poets carved lines of
verse onto cups, ladles, animal horns, seashells, walking sticks,
boxes, fans, daggers, teapots, and musical instruments.
Calligraphers left messages on the implements ordinarily used for
writing on paper. These inscriptions—terse compositions in verse
or epigrammatic prose—relate in complex ways to the objects on
which they are written. Thomas Kelly develops a new account of the
relationship between Chinese literature and material culture by
examining inscribed objects from the late Ming and early to
mid-Qing dynasties. He considers how the literary qualities of
inscriptions interact with the visual and physical properties of
the things that bear them. Kelly argues that inscribing an object
became a means for authors to grapple with the materiality and
technologies of writing. Facing profound social upheavals, from
volatility in the marketplace to the violence of dynastic
transition, writers turned to inscriptions to reflect on their
investments in and dependence on the permanence of the written
word. Shedding new light on cultures of writing in early modern
China, The Inscription of Things broadens understandings of the
links between the literary and the material.
General
| Imprint: |
Columbia University Press
|
| Country of origin: |
United States |
| Release date: |
October 2023 |
| Authors: |
Thomas Kelly
|
| Dimensions: |
229 x 152mm (L x W) |
| Pages: |
352 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-0-231-20963-2 |
| Categories: |
Books
|
| LSN: |
0-231-20963-0 |
| Barcode: |
9780231209632 |
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