China on Paper: European and Chinese Works from the Late Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892368691 ISBN 13: 9780892368693

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2007

Synopsis

The striking illustrated books, maps, and prints featured in China on Paper are some of the most notable among the printed works produced at the dawn of the era of global trade to present China to Europe and to bring Western science, religion, and art to China. From a Chinese translation of the rosary to French editions of Confucian classics, from a monumental map of the world to magnificent engravings of the European Pavilions built by Jesuits at the behest of the Qianlong emperor, these works on paper reveal a compelling and largely hidden history of mutual curiosity and fruitful collaboration at a time when few people traveled far from home.
This volume is published in conjunction with an exhibition on view at the Getty Research Institute from November 6, 2007, to February 10, 2008.

About this title

About the Author:

Marcia Reed is head of collection development at the Getty Research Institute.

Paola Dematté is associate professor of Chinese art and archaeology at the Rhode Island School of Design.

From Publishers Weekly:

Although Chinese and European contact began as early as the first century A.D., only with the opening of sea routes in the 17th century did a reciprocal curiosity between the two civilizations prompt an interchange of ideas and images. Christian missionaries and scientific ideas traveled east; Confucian ideas traveled west, creating a fruitful and respectful collaboration. Jesuits corrected the Chinese calendar and used scientific works to prove the superiority not only of Western science but of the Christian God. As noted by Reed, head of collection development at the Getty Research Institute's library, and DeMattè, associate professor of Chinese art at RISD, most Europeans and Chinese received impressions of each other indirectly through books and imported objects and images, such as those included here, though, as one contributor writes, the results often "escaped the intentions of their originators." The intermingling of cultures is exemplified in 20 engravings by a Chinese artist of European buildings commissioned by the Chinese emperor in 1783. The book accompanies an exhibition of 37 illustrated books, prints and maps opening at the Getty Museum in November. As one expects from a Getty publication, the scholarship is thorough and the reproductions are impeccable. 35 color, 66 b&w illus.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0892368691
• ISBN 13: 9780892368693
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 280
• Editor: Reed Marcia, Demattè Paola