Making the Palace Machine Work : Mobilizing People, Objects, and Nature in the Qing Empire / ed. by Martina Siebert, Dorothy Ko, Kai Jun Chen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Siebert, Martina, Editor.

Contributor:

Akçetin, Elif, Contributor.

Bae, Kyoungjin, Contributor.

Chen, Kai Jun, Contributor.

Chen, Kai Jun, Editor.

Guan, Xueling, Contributor.

Jun Chen, Kai, Contributor.

Ko, Dorothy, 1957- Contributor.

Ko, Dorothy, 1957, Editor.

Lai, Huimin, Contributor.

Moll-Murata, Christine, Contributor.

Siebert, Martina, Contributor.

Siebert, Martina, Editor.

Su, Te-cheng, Contributor.

Wang, Guangyao, Contributor.

Wang, Yijun, Contributor.

Wu, Yulian, Contributor.

Yu, Huijun, Contributor.

Zhang, Qiong, Contributor.

Zhang, Shuxian, Contributor.

Series:

Asian history

Asian History ; 11

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (334 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, [2021]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This volume brings the studies of institutions, labour, and material cultures to bear on the history of science and technology by tracing the workings of the Imperial Household Department (Neiwufu) in the Qing court and empire. An enormous apparatus that employed 22,000 men and women at its heyday, the Department operated a "machine" with myriad moving parts. The first part of the book portrays the people who kept it running, from technical experts to menial servants, and scrutinises the paper trails they left behind. Part two uncovers the working principles of the machine by following the production chains of some of its most splendid products: gilded statues, jade, porcelain, and textiles. Part three tackles the most complex task of all, managing living organisms in nature, including lotus plants grown in imperial ponds in Beijing, fresh medicines sourced from disparate regions, and tribute elephants from Southeast Asia.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Conventions for the Notation of Time, Weights, and Measures

Note on Translation

Note on the Frontmatter Maps and Cover Image

Introduction

Part I Operating the Machine: Personnel and Paper Trails

Vignette Essay I

Moving Pieces

1 Working the Qing Palace Machine

2 Manager or Craftsman

3 Kupiao and the Accounting System of the Imperial Household Workshops

Part II Producing the Court: Materials and Artefacts

Vignette essay II

The Story of An Image

4 Piecing Shards Together

5 Resplendent Innovations

6 Transporting Jade

Part III Mobilizing Nature: Plants and Animals

Vignette essay III

Decluttering

7 Growing and Organizing Lotus in Qing Imperial Spaces

8 The Medicine Supply System of the Qing Court

9 When There Is Peace, There Are Elephants

Coda

Contributors

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0https://www.aup.nl/en/publish/open-access

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 27. Sep 2021)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-04-078847-5

1-003-69918-9

94-6372-035-9

90-485-5322-9

9781003699187

OCLC:

1262666326