Transformative Journeys : Travel and Culture in Song China / Cong Ellen Zhang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zhang, Cong Ellen, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elite (Social sciences).

Travel in literature.

Scholars--Travel--China--History.

Scholars.

China--Officials and employees--Travel--History.

China.

China--History--Song dynasty, 960-1279.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (319 p.)

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, [2010]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

During the Song (960-1279), all educated Chinese men traveled frequently, journeying long distances to attend school and take civil service examinations. They crisscrossed the country to assume government posts, report back to the capital, and return home between assignments and to attend to family matters. Based on a wide array of texts, Transformative Journeys analyzes the impact of travel on this group of elite men and the places they visited.In the first part of the book, Cong Ellen Zhang considers the practical aspects of travel during the Song in the context of state mobilization of and assistance to government travelers, including the infrastructure of waterways and highways, the bureaucratic procedures entailed in official travel, and the means of transport and types of lodging. The second part of the book focuses on elite activities on the road, especially the elaborate farewell banquets, welcoming ceremonies, and visits to famous places. Zhang argues convincingly that abundant travel experience became integral to Song elite identity and status, greatly strengthening the social and cultural coherence of the practitioners. In promoting their experience of traveling across a large empire, Song elite men firmly established their position as the country's political, social, and cultural leaders. The literary compositions and physical traces they left behind also formed an overlapping web of collective memories, continually enhancing local pride and defining the place of various localities in the cultural geography of the country.Transformative Journeys sheds new light on the nature of Chinese literati, their dominance of culture and society, and China's social and cultural integration. Those interested in premodern China and travel literature will find a wealth of material previously unavailable to Western readers.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Notes on Conventions

Weights and Measures

Introduction: Travel, Culture, and the Song Literati

Chapter 1. A Transient Life: Travel and the Song Literati

Chapter 2. The Infrastructure of Travel: Water Routes and Official Highways

Chapter 3. Readying for Departure: Paperwork and Procedures

Chapter 4. Government Assistance for Official Travel: Porter-Guards, Means of Transport, and Lodging

Chapter 5. Rituals of Departure: Farewell Parties

Chapter 6. Travelers and Their Local Hosts: Receptions, Entertainment, and Their Cost

Chapter 7. Sightseeing and Site Making: Visiting and Inscribing Places

Chapter 8. Elite Travel, Famous Sites, and Local History: Huangzhou after Su Shi's Time

Epilogue: The Native, the Local, and the Empire

Abbreviations

Notes

Glossary

References

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-287) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Aug 2019)

ISBN:

9780824870522

0824870522

9780824860684

0824860683

OCLC:

878149675