What can the history of technology contribute to our understanding of late imperial China? Most stories about technology in pre-modern China follow a well-worn plot: in about 1400 after an early ferment of creativity that made it the most technologically sophisticated civilisation in the world, China entered an era of technical lethargy and decline. But how are we to reconcile this tale, which portrays China in the Ming and Qing dynasties as a dying giant that had outgrown its own strength, with the wealth of counterevidence affirming that the country remained rich, vigorous and powerful at least until the end of the eighteenth century? Does this seeming contradiction mean that the stagnation story is simply wrong, or perhaps that technology was irrelevant to how imperial society worked? Or does it imply that historians of technology should ask better questions about what technology was, what it did and what it meant in pre-modern societies like late imperial China?
In this book, Francesca Bray explores subjects such as technology and ethics, technology and gendered subjectivities (both female and male), and technology and statecraft to illuminate how material settings and practices shaped topographies of everyday experience and ideologies of government, techniques of the self and technologies of the subject. Examining technologies ranging from ploughing and weaving to drawing pictures, building a house, prescribing medicine or composing a text, this book offers a rich insight into the interplay between the micro- and macro-politics of everyday life and the workings of governmentality in late imperial China, showing that gender principles were woven into the very fabric of empire, from cosmology and ideologies of rule to the material foundations of the state and the everyday practices of the domestic sphere.
This authoritative text will be welcomed by students and scholars of Chinese history, as well as those working on global history and the histories of gender, technology and agriculture. Furthermore, it will be of great use to those interested in social and cultural anthropology and material culture.
匪夷所思的印加人-818历史真相 本书特色 你知道吗?冰封两万英尺的木乃伊,竟是印加人的活人祭品?印加宫女要吃下皇帝的头发和浓痰?天竺鼠也是美味佳肴?由骆马主持...
本书详细的讲述了几次大规模的入侵、帝国在西部的终结、意大利概况、查士丁尼的时代五、神学的影响、伊斯兰教的来临、东部帝国的
《历史文化名城名镇名村系列:沙家浜镇》内容简介:沙家浜镇,位于江苏省常熟市东南隅。鱼米之乡的沙家浜镇,为中国历史文化名镇,
闽南历史文化概说 本书特色 想要了解、研究闽南文化,《闽南历史文化概说》兼具学术价值和实用价值,是非常好的入门指南、研究索引。该书对闽南文化做了细致的梳理...
一看就停不下来的中国史3 本书特色 近年来,通俗讲史日趋热兴,*爱君以“深历史+细解读”的方式,通过细节生动的真实历史故事,结合深度写作,为我们还原了众多在教科...
中华通史-(全三册) 本书特色 《中华通史》是著者心力之作,前后修改数次,于1913年着笔题写,1920年初具大概,著者去世两年后才得以整理出版。原书名《中华新...
中国社会之史的分析 本书特色 中国的革命,到今日反成了不可解的谜了。革命的基础是全民还是农工和小市民?革命的对象是帝国主义和封建势力,还是几个列强和几个军阀?这...
老照片-第九十三辑 本书特色 《老照片》是一种陆续出版的丛书,现每两个月推出一辑。辟有“故时风物”“名人一瞬”“旧事重温”“私人相簿”等栏目。通过刊发有意思的老...
《直播电商实务一本通》内容简介:本书是一本具有很强的实操性的直播电商职业技能实训教材。直播电商目前已成为产品销售及品牌营销
3小时读懂三国 内容简介 在文化艺术成就上,三国虽然存在时期并不是很长,但仍然有不少成就。在文学上,“三曹”、“建安七子”、“竹林七贤”都取得了很高的成就...
《桃花扇(插图版)》内容简介:《桃花扇》是清初作家孔尚任经十余年苦心经营,三易其稿写出的一部传奇剧本,在清圣祖康熙三十八年
明代大理石屏考 本书特色 ★ 16开平装,山东画报出版社出版★ 采用的考察方法,主要依赖文献钩沉、考稽,尝试“以诗证史”,继而“以史证石”★ 以“大理石屏”为主...
《长安未远:唐代京畿的乡村社会》内容简介:中国历史上黄金时代的唐代,长安是全国的首都,东亚的政治中心,物质文明闪烁、外来文
1945年8月6日广岛核爆-1918年11月11日-战休战协定-英汉对照 内容简介 约翰·马兰编著的《1945年8月6日广岛核爆、1918年11月11日...
日本学人中国访书记 本书特色 如今,无论有什么不愉快的事情,只要眼前有宋无本,就会忘得无影无踪;看到善本,就再也感受不到一己的孤独了。——长泽规矩也《中华民国书...
共和国风云中的毛泽东与周恩来 内容简介 毛泽东与周恩来的性格迥异,一如“湖南辣椒”与“绍兴黄酒”。当他们共同开创共和国伟业时,这两种性格可谓相得益彰。然而在共和...
(精)梅毅说中华英雄史(共10册) 内容简介 《梅毅说中华英雄史》是梅毅历时十年完成的通 俗历史读物。全系列书始起秦汉,下迄辛亥革命,是 一部全景式广角化展现中...
JeanneWakatsukiwassevenyearsoldin1942whenherfamilywasuprootedfromtheirhomeandsen...
爱上青花瓷 内容简介 青花瓷,色泽淡雅,华而不艳,明快悦目,穿越了唐、宋、元、明、清的历史风尘,时至今日,青花瓷没有褪色,反而越发光彩照人,那一件件价值连城的青...
京味文化史论 本书特色 《京味文化史论》:北京市社会科学理论著作出版基金资助京味文化史论 内容简介 北京①是一座令人瞩目的世界历史文化名城。北京具有50万年以上...