A new perspective for understanding the technology behind goods "made in China"

The exquisite ceramic ware produced at the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory at Jingdezhen in southern China functioned as a kind of visual propaganda for the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) court. Porcelain for the Emperor charts the career of bannerman Tang Ying, a technocrat in the porcelain industry, through the first half of the eighteenth century to uncover the wider role of specialist officials in producing the technological knowledge and distinctive artistic forms that were essential to cultural policies of the Chinese state. Through fiscal management, technical experimentation, and design, these imperial technocrats facilitated rationalized manufacturing in precapitalist and preindustrial society.

Drawing on museum collections and firsthand archaeological evidence, as well as the voluminous Archive of the Imperial Workshops, this book contributes new insights to scholarship on global empires and the history of science and technology in China. Readers will learn how the imperial state's intervention in industry left a lingering imprint on modern China through its modes of labor-intensive production, the division of domestic and foreign markets, and, above all, a technocratic culture of centralization.

A new perspective for understanding the technology behind goods "made in China"

About the Author

Kai Jun Chen is assistant professor of East Asian studies at Brown University.

Reviews

"Porcelain for the Emperor is a truly admirable example of interdisciplinary scholarship. Drawing upon concepts and methods from the fields of science and technology studies, literary criticism, and art history, it illuminates the heretofore neglected contributions of bannermen technocrats to the Qing imperial project. This compact and handsomely produced monograph will interest not only art historians, porcelain connoisseurs, and museum curators, but also students of early modern material and political cultures, court history, and imperial state-formations."

* Journal of Chinese History *

"[R]ichly illustrated and lucidly written...Chen's fine-grained study will substantially deepen our understanding of not only the history of science and technology and the history of material and visual culture in early modern China but also global histories of imperial knowledge formation and empire building from the stimulating perspective of technocracy."

* H-Net *



Book Information
ISBN 9780295750828
Author Kai Jun Chen
Format Hardback
Page Count 248
Imprint University of Washington Press
Publisher University of Washington Press
Weight(grams) 680g
Dimensions(mm) 254mm * 178mm * 25mm