Drawing Boundaries: Architectural Images in Qing China - Hardcover

Chung, Anita

9780824826635: Drawing Boundaries: Architectural Images in Qing China

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0824826639 ISBN 13: 9780824826635

Publisher: Univ of Hawaii Pr, 2004

Qing China (1644-1912) witnessed a resurgence in architectural painting, a traditional subject category known as jiehua, or boundary painting. Drawing Boundaries concerns itself with the symbolic implications of this impressive and little studied reflorescence. Beginning with a concise and well-illustrated history of the evolution of the tradition, this new study reveals how these images were deployed in the Manchu (Qing) imperial court to define political, social, or cultural boundaries. Characterized by grand conception and regal splendor, the paintings served to enhance the imperial authority of rulers and, to a segment of the elite, to advertise social status. Drawing Boundaries thus speaks to both issues of painting and architectural style and the discourse of powerful cultural forms.
Drawing Boundaries is the first full-length study of an important tradition of premodern Chinese art and architecture.

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About the Author:

Anita Chung is Mellon Research Fellow in Chinese Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Review:

"Anita Chung's thoroughly researched work will be a very welcome addition to the literature on Qing painting." -- Patricia Berger, University of California, Berkeley

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