RENT TEXTBOOKS

by: Edited by Dieter Kuhn; Foreword by James C. Y. Watt; Contributions by Chen Juanjuan, Huang Nengfu, Dieter Kuhn, Li Wenying, Peng Hao, and Zhao Feng

ISBN: 9780300111033 | 0300111037

The first comprehensive history of China's most luxurious textile and its enduring influence on Chinese civilization and art

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The most comprehensive history of Chinese silk ever written, this volume investigates spectacular recent archaeological finds and explores the fascinating influence of silk on Chinese civilization and art through several millennia.

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Over the past fifty years, archaeological explorations in China have unearthed a wealth of textile materials, some dating as far back... MORE as five thousand years. In this magnificently researched and illustrated book, preeminent Western and Chinese scholars draw upon these spectacular discoveries to provide the most thorough account of the history of silk ever written. Encyclopedic in breadth, the volume presents a chronological history of silk from a variety of perspectives, including archaeological, technological, art historical, and aesthetic. The contributors explore the range of uses for silk, from the everyday to the sublime. By directly connecting recently found textile artifacts to specific references in China's vast historical literature, they illuminate the evolution of silk making and the driving social forces that have inspired the creation of innovative textiles through the millennia.

Dieter Kuhn is professor emeritus of Sinology, University of Würzburg, Germany. James C. W. Watt is Brook Russell Astor Chairman Emeritus, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Chen Juanjuan was senior research fellow, Palace Museum, Beijing. Huang Nengfu is professor at the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing. Li Wenying is deputy director, Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology. Peng Hao is professor of archaeology, Wuhan University, and senior research fellow at Jingzhou Museum, Hubei. Zhao Feng is vice director, China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou; director, Chinese Centre for Textile Identification and Conservation, Hangzhou; and professor of textile and costume history, Donghua University, Shanghai.