Description
Book SynopsisMaterial and visual culture of China's long 19th century is understandably overshadowed by the traumatic warfare, land shortages, famines and uprisings which impacted the lives of a population of around 400 million people. However, innovation can be seen in material culture (including print, painting, calligraphy, textiles, fashion, jewellery, ceramics, lacquer, glass, arms and armour, rugs, silver, money, and photography) during a century in which China's art, literature, crafts and technology faced unprecedented exposure to global influences. Despite this however, until recently, the 19th century in China has been often defined and dismissed as an era of cultural decline. Building on the critically acclaimed British Museum exhibition China's hidden century: 17961912, this publication seeks to redefine perceptions about 19th-century Qing arts. Essays by some of the world's leading authorities on Qing culture reveal the social, cultural, religious, creative, economic and political
