Luxurious networks : salt merchants, status, and statecraft in eighteenth-century China

Select an Action

Title:

Luxurious networks : salt merchants, status, and statecraft in eighteenth-century China

Salt merchants, status, and statecraft in eighteenth-century China

Author:

Wu, Yulian (Historian), author.

ISBN:

9780804798112

Personal Author:

Wu, Yulian (Historian), author.

Publication Information:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2017].

Physical Description:

xvii, 295 pages : illustrations, facsimiles, 1 genealogical table, maps ; 24 cm.

Contents:

Introduction : merchant culture in the material world of eighteenth-century China -- Courting the court -- Furnishing the court -- Collecting as a "collector" -- Luxury and lineage -- Materializing morality -- Conclusion : cultured and cosmopolitan men (tongren) : objects, merchants, and the Manchu court in High Qing China.

Abstract:

From precious jade articles to monumental stone arches, Huizhou salt merchants in Jiangnan lived surrounded by objects in eighteenth-century China. How and why did these businessmen devote themselves to these items? What can we learn about eighteenth-century China by examining the relationship between merchants and objects? Luxurious Networks examines Huizhou salt merchants in the material world of High Qing China to reveal a dynamic interaction between people and objects. The Qianlong emperor purposely used objects to expand his influence in economic and cultural fields. Thanks to their broad networks, outstanding managerial skills, and abundant financial resources, these salt merchants were ideal agents for selecting and producing objects for imperial use. In contrast to the typical caricature of merchants as mimics of the literati, these wealthy businessmen became respected individuals who played a crucial role in the political, economic, social, and cultural world of eighteenth-century China. Their life experiences illustrate the dynamic relationship between the Manchu and Han, central and local, and humans and objects in Chinese history.

Personal Subject:

Qing Gaozong China, Kaiser, ca. 1711-1799; reg. 1735-1796.

Subject Term:

Merchants -- China -- Huizhou Diqu -- History -- 18th century.

Merchants -- Social networks -- China -- History -- 18th century.

Salt industry and trade -- China -- History -- 18th century.

Manchus -- China -- Kings and rulers -- History -- 18th century.

Material culture -- China -- History -- 18th century.

Geographic Term:

Huizhou Diqu (China) -- History -- 18th century.

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

Portion Title: