The Art of Ethnography is a fully illustrated translation of a "Miao album" -- a Chinese genre originating in the eighteenth century that used prose, poetry, and detailed illustrations to represent minority ethnic groups living in frontier regions under imperial Chinese control. These bound collections of hand-painted illustrations and handwritten text reveal how imperial China viewed culturally "other" frontier populations. They also contain valuable information for anthropologists, geographers, and historians, and are coveted by art collectors for their beautiful imagery. "Miao" in this context refers not just to groups that called themselves Miao (Hmong) or were classified as such by the majority Han culture, but generally to the many minority peoples in China's southwest.

This lovely volume reproduces each of the eighty-two illustrations from the original album and the corresponding Chinese calligraphic text, along with an annotated English translation. Each entry depicts a different ethnic group residing in Guizhou. The album is anonymous and dates from sometime after 1797.

Laura Hostetler's Introduction discusses the genesis and evolution of the Miao album genre and the sociopolitical context in which the albums were first made, the ethnographic content of the texts, the composition of the illustrations, and the albums' authorship and production. She situates the albums within the context of early modern imperial expansion internationally by introducing comparative examples of Japanese and Ottoman ethnography. Color illustrations from other Miao albums and comparable works from other cultures give the reader a sense of the chromatic richness of Miao album illustrations and of their place in world ethnography.

A fully illustrated translation of an 18th century album using prose, poetry, and paintings to represent minority ethnic groups living under imperial Chinese control.

About the Author

David Deal (1939-2001) was professor of history at Whitman College. Laura Hostetler is associate professor of history at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Reviews

"Collectively a vital contribution to this emerging field. This Miao album is a tantalizing glimpse of the kinds of rich research that await further analysis."

* Journal of World History *

"This book is a unique and valuable source for the fields of history, anthropology and folklore. In addition to its lovely artistic illustrations and descriptive annotations in both languages, the profound analysis of the albums in the introduction by Laura Hostetler gives the book its scholarly significance."

* Museum Anthropology Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780295986166
Author David Deal
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint University of Washington Press
Publisher University of Washington Press
Weight(grams) 454g