Superfluous Things: Material Culture and Social Status in Early Modern China

ISBN-13: 9780824828202 / Angielski / Miękka / 2004 / 240 str.

Craig Clunas

Opis

Now in paperbackThis outstanding and original book, presented here with a new preface, examines the history of material culture in early modern China. Craig Clunas analyzes "superfluous things"--the paintings, calligraphy, bronzes, ceramics, carved jade, and other objects owned by the elites of Ming China--and describes contemporary attitudes to them. He informs his discussions with reference to both socio-cultural theory and current debates on eighteenth-century England concerning luxury, conspicuous consumption, and the growth of the consumer society.