Ten Thousand Things Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art Lothar Ledderose

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ledderose, Lothar, Author.

Series:

A.W. Mellon lectures in the fine arts

The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts 35

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art, Chinese--Technique.

Art, Chinese.

Mass production--China.

Mass production.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press [2023]

Language Note:

In English

Summary:

An incomparable look at how Chinese artists have used mass production to assemble exquisite objects from standardized partsChinese workers in the third century BC created seven thousand life-sized terracotta soldiers to guard the tomb of the First Emperor. In the eleventh century AD, Chinese builders constructed a pagoda from as many as thirty thousand separately carved wooden pieces. As these examples show, throughout history, Chinese artisans have produced works of art in astonishing quantities, and have done so without sacrificing quality, affordability, or speed of manufacture. In this book, Lothar Ledderose takes us on a remarkable tour of Chinese art and culture to explain how artists used complex systems of mass production to assemble extraordinary objects from standardized parts or modules. He reveals how these systems have deep roots in Chinese thought and reflect characteristically Chinese modes of social organization. Combining invaluable aesthetic and cultural insights with a rich variety of illustrations, Ten Thousand Things make a profound statement about Chinese art and society

Contents:

Cover

Title

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The System of Script

2. Casting Bronze the Complicated Way

3. A Magic Army for the Emperor

4. Factory Art

5. Building Blocks, Brackets, and Beams

6. The Word in Print

7. The Bureaucracy of Hell

8. Freedom of the Brush?

Notes

Bibliography

Glossary of Chinese Terms

Index

Picture Sources.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 01. Nov 2023)

Other Format:

Print version: Ledderose, Lothar Ten Thousand Things

ISBN:

9780691252889

0691252882

OCLC:

1408681995