Making the palace machine work : mobilizing people, objects, and nature in the Qing Empire / edited by Martina Siebert, Kai Jun Chen and Dorothy Ko.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Siebert, Martina, editor.

Chen, Kai Jun, editor.

Ko, Dorothy, 1957- editor.

Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Asian history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

China. Nei wu fu--History.

China.

China. Nei wu fu.

History.

China--History--Qing dynasty, 1644-1912.

Qing Dynasty (China).

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

333 pages: illustrations (black and white, and colour), maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2021.

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:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I Operating the Machine: Personnel and Paper Trails

Vignette Essay I Moving Pieces: On the Reuse of Interior Decoration Components in Qing Palaces / Shuxian Zhang

1. Working the Qing Palace Machine: The Servants' Perspective / Christine Moll-Murata

2. Manager or Craftsman: Skillful Bannermen of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) / Kaijun Chen

3. Kupiao and the Accounting System of the Imperial Household Workshops / Kyoungjin Bae

pt. II Producing the Court: Materials and Artefacts

Vignette essay II The Story of An Image: Ding Guanpeng's `Ultimate Bliss' and the Auspiciousness of Reproduction / Qiong Zhang

4. Piecing Shards Together: The Uses and Manufacturing of Imperial Porcelain / Guangyao Wang

5. Resplendent Innovations: Fire Gilding Techniques at the Qing Court / Hui-min Lai

6. Transporting Jade: Objects, Ecology, and Local Bureaucracy in Qing Xinjiang / Yulian Wu

pt. III Mobilizing Nature: Plants and Animals

Vignette essay III Decluttering: On the Classification of Objects at the Imperial Household Department / Eiif Akcetin

7. Growing and Organizing Lotus in Qing Imperial Spaces: Interlocking Cycles of Money and Nature / Martina Siebert

8. The Medicine Supply System of the Qing Court / Xueling Guan

9. When There Is Peace, There Are Elephants / Hui-chun Yu.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9789463720359

9463720359

OCLC:

1255867313