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- Groundbreaking new research on early photography in China.
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Barbarian Lens: Western Photographers of the Qianlong Emperor's European Palaces (Documenting the Image Series)
Regine Thiriez
Manufacturer: Routledge
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 9057005190 |
Book Description
The latest volume in the prestigious academic book series Documenting the Image, this is a fascinating survey illustrated by extremely rare photographs of the burned architectural and landscape complex known as the Rape of the Summer Palace.
In 1860, Western armies brought ruin to the treasured seat of the Qing emperors near Beijing. One hundred and fifty images have been collected to date as a support for an extensive study of the building of the palaces and their subsequent destruction.
This book is a rigourous analysis of the work and experiences of the European photographers, both amateur and professional, working in Beijing during this period, and, as such, becomes an account of the development of photography itself. Offering a fascinating glimpse into 19th-Century China, the book gives an historical overview of the political situation.
Customer Reviews:
Groundbreaking new research on early photography in China........1999-03-18
Régine Thiriez, an independent scholar who holds a Ph.D. in art history and is currently an associate research fellow in the East Asia Institute in Lyon (France), preparing an inventory of China photography, presents a substantial body of important new research on photography in China from the early years in the mid-19th century to 1860 as well as Qing dynasty China's reception of European technology. Her study, Barbarian Lens: Western Photographer's of the Qianlong Emperor's European Palaces, explores the Western involvement with the ruins of the European-style buildings constructed for the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-1795) in his summer palace of the Yuanmingyuan, the "old" summer palace outside Beijing. The Yuanmingyuan was sacked and burned in 1860 by a French and British expeditionary force. Only the European part of the garden, constructed of brick and masonry, left substantial ruins. Standing mysteriously on the overgrown grounds of the half-abandoned site, the ruins exerted a powerful pull on European memories of the humiliation of the Emperor of China, and the shameful part played by Western armies in the destruction of the incomparable garden-palace and the treasures kept there. Such are the troubled feelings invoked by photographic images of the ruins. Placing the extant photographs in their historical context, Thiriez makes available to the interested reader and China specialist alike unprecedented primary research on the beginnings of photography in China, the identities and careers of the mostly little-known men who produced photographic images, and the complex relationships between photography and Western penetration of China. Barbarian Lens contains a wealth of scholarly information, presented in clear and succinct detail. Individual chapters focus on the practice of photography in Beijing (beginning in the early 1860s), the tragic encounter of China and Europe in the destruction of the Summer Palace, the amateur and professional photographers of the ruins, as well as the overlapping personal, political, and photographic ambitions of men in the Qing Imperial Maritime Customs, Western diplomatic missions, and other various undertakings. The volume is amply illustrated with more than 50 images-most of them previously unpublished-and includes extensive appendices on such subjects as the pioneering French Mission Palais d'Été studies of the European palaces. Perhaps the most impressive appendix is an exhaustive 24-page list of all the photographs of the European ruins identified by Thiriez to date. It tabulates photographers, photographic collections and sources, cataloguing information on the individual prints surveyed, the most likely date of the photo, additional reprints or rephotography of the same images (a very thorny problem in early photography), and the importance of the photo to the study of the place. It also cross-references the images, showing how they complement each other through the years. The appendices, notes, and bibliography supplement a richly rewarding text and generously make available the result of a decade of painstaking research in an almost unknown and unstudied field. In a volume that presents a complex, fascinating, and sometimes horrifying story of destruction and recovery, Régine Thiriez's contributions to the history of China photography and the fast-growing field of Qing dynasty historical studies are invaluable.
Book Description
Between 1751 and 1784, the Qianlong emperor embarked upon six southern tours, traveling from Beijing to Jiangnan and back. These tours were exercises in political theater that took the Manchu emperor through one of the Qing empire's most prosperous regions.
This study elucidates the tensions and the constant negotiations characterizing the relationship between the imperial center and Jiangnan, which straddled the two key provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Politically, economically, and culturally, Jiangnan was the undisputed center of the Han Chinese world; it also remained a bastion of Ming loyalism and anti-Manchu sentiment. How did the Qing court constitute its authority and legitimate its domination over this pivotal region? What were the precise terms and historical dynamics of Qing rule over China proper during the long eighteenth century?
In the course of addressing such questions, this study also explores the political culture within and through which High Qing rule was constituted and contested by a range of actors, all of whom operated within socially and historically structured contexts. The author argues that the southern tours occupied a central place in the historical formation of Qing rule during a period of momentous change affecting all strata of the eighteenth-century polity.
Book Description
This sumptuous new book brings together some of the most priceless national treasures in China, housed in Beijing's royal palace complex, the Forbidden City, and collected by Emperor Qianlong. During his sixty-year reign, from 1736 to 1795, Qianlong not only managed what was then the richest empire in the world, but also amassed the largest collection of art known at that time in China. Providing an introduction to the life at the emperor's palaces, and offering a comprehensive view of imperial art during Qianlong's reign, Splendors of China's Forbidden City is the only work in any Western language devoted exclusively to the court arts of China in the mid-eighteenth century, their last golden age. Many of the objects depicted have never previously been published, and include paintings on canvas, silk and paper, sculptures, palace furnishings, musical instruments, ceremonial clothing, arms and armour, table services and jewellery. This book offers an unprecedented insight into one of the most glittering courts in world history.
Customer Reviews:
pictures are beautiful but too small.......2005-03-08
It is rather unfortunate that such a wonderful book has too small pictures.In some pictures one can hardly see the fine details of the pictures which are described in the accompanying text.
Not about the Forbidden City .......2005-01-04
This book is the companion piece to a traveling art exhibit, with a pompous biography of a glorious chinese emperor. There are precious few pictures of the forbidden city, and no comprehensive map. And of the famous emperor, who was comparable to Louis XIV in his lavish spending, his development of culture and arts, and longevity, there is only one portrait. The book is poorly composed, not comprehensive, and worth checking out from the library, but not purchasing. And it definitely is not about the Forbidden City. Lastly, I was disappointed and have tried to understand this Chinese trandsliteration system, but the book gives one no clue as to how to pronounce "Qianlong" In Enlish, Q never occurs without a U following it, and is a K sound. So is it Kianlong? or Shianlong or Chianlong? Another great example is the grand dowager empress Cixi. How would you prononunce that? Sixy? Well, turns out it's more like Tsu-tsi. The only thing to recommend this book is the photos, but a very poor compilation.
A one of a kind treasure........2004-08-26
Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Qianlong is a marvelous work of art in and of itself. Splendors is published to coincide with the special exhibition of the same name currently being held by Chicago's Field Musuem that is set to run until the first week of September, 2004. The book, like the exhibit, is very well done and contains the only published photographs of the objects featured in the exhibit, making this book an extremely rare resource as photography is prohibited in the actual exhibit. These objects have never been publicly displayed in China, so aside from attending the exhibition yourself, this book is your only opportunity to view the the collection that Emperor Qianlong amassed throughout his reign. The book is not, however, simply a catalogue for the exhibition, but features wonderful commentary that gives great insight into the political, religious, and cultural tides of Qianlong's reign. It is the only book of its kind to be published in the English language. As a lover of art and literature, Qianlong himself would be quite pleased with the content of this work.
A TREASURE.......2004-03-27
China's Emperor Qianlong (1736 - 1795) is remembered for many reasons, not the least of which is the priceless collection of treasures which he amassed during his 60 year reign. Now, a number of these stunning objects are presented in this volume, many of them seen for the first time. All bring forth gasps of astonishment and pleasure. Paintings, sculptures, furnishings, armor, and, yes, clothing, glitter and glow in unmatched opulence.
To leaf through this book is to experience an unprecedented view of the Chinese court during its golden age. Included is a towering (six foot high) Buddhist stupa, fashioned entirely of gold. Through this collection life is seen as it once was inside the Forbidden City.
During his day Emperor Qianlong headed what was then the world's richest empire. Today we are the beneficiaries of his acquisitiveness and taste.
Published in association with Chicago's Field Museum, "Splendors of China's Forbidden City" is a treasure in itself.
- Gail Cooke
Beautiful in Many Aspects.......2004-03-24
This must be one of the most beautiful book that I have ever come acrossed. The cover is very imposing and impressive with the portrait of the Emperor Qian Long, the 4th emperor of the Ching Dynasty. The book contains wonderful history about the rise of the Manchurians and how they replaced the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century A.D.
In this book it discuss the origins of the Manchurian and where they originated from and how they ascended the imperial throne of China and ruled over a nation with the largest human population of their time. A country that has been known for its inventions and a long history dating back to early beginning of Chinese civilization.
This book talks about the Emperor Qian Long and the reign that brought China prosperity and peace. The centuries before that, relations between the Han Chinese and the Manchurians were a little bit unstable. However during Qian Long's reign the country became stable. The country prospered, the relations been the Han Chinese and the Manchurian wasn't as much strained. There are wonderful photographs of robes and jewellry worn by the empror and his wives and family members. Also sections talk about traditions that were Manchurian and others that were created through generations like the wearing of triple earrings by the women. The large headdresses worn by the Manchurian court ladies and the emperor's wives, princesses etc... which in the beginning weren't even of Manchurian origin that has become part of a iconic tradition often associated with the Ching Dynasty. The dragon robe worn by the emperor and the long queues kept by Emperor and the Han Chinese subjects were made to conform to practice which became the stereo type associated with the West in regards to the Chinese.
The book also talks about the private lives of the Emperor Qian Long and his wives and also day to day business and affairs. There are so many artifacts that belonged to Qian Long like his own personal things like brushes, ink stone, wooden lacqured screens, throne, and crockery as well as gold and silver utinsels used by him when dining.
The information was vast in book and who can ever get bored reading it. Each page I turn it gets more interesting. From the personal life through to the day to day business affairs etc... The book contains wonderful collection of paintings and also a few old photographs of the imperial residences before the turn of the 20th century. This is a lovely book even though its a little bit bigger than most books and a little bit more heavier. However its guaranteed that its worth while too to have a look and have a read in regards to one of the great rulers of Chinese history.
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Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World
Mark Elliott
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0321084446 |
Book Description
This new entry in the Library of World Biography series offers an intimate and provocative account of the Manchu emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), one of the world’s great empire-builders, who helped build the foundation of the modern Chinese nation.
During the 64 years of Qianlong’s rule, China’s population more than doubled, its territory increased by one-third, its cities flourished, and its manufactures – tea, silk, porcelain – were principal items of international commerce. Based on original Chinese and Manchu-language sources, and drawing on the latest scholarship, this is the biography of the man who, in presiding over imperial China’s last golden epoch, created the geographic and demographic framework of modern China.
This accessible account describes the personal struggles and public drama surrounding one of the major political figures of the early modern age, with special consideration given to the emperor’s efforts to rise above ethnic divisions and to encompass the political and religious traditions of Han Chinese, Mongols, Tibetans, Turks, and other peoples of his realm.
SH3 History: World History SH0302 World History II (Since 1500) (AB)
SH3 History: World History SH0310 History of the Far East (AB)
SH3 History: World History SH0311 History of China (AB)
Amazon.com
Based on extensive research he conducted at M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management, professor Charles H. Fine determined that fruit flies hold the key to the future of business. Not the insects themselves, actually, but the way geneticists study their extraordinarily condensed life spans to gain insight into the much more drawn-out human existence. In like manner, Fine suggests that industries with a very rapid evolutionary rate, or clockspeed, be examined for information that will benefit businesses of all kinds--as well as national economic systems, universities, and even religious institutions--although any edge that emerges may, without additional work, prove to be fleeting. In Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage, Fine lays out his resultant theories of business genetics. He focuses on "fruit fly industries" such as personal computers and information-entertainment providers and the lessons he says can be learned by dissecting their internal processes, product development procedures, and organizational arrangements. He then proposes ways that other companies can utilize the positive patterns of industry structure that appear. Those whose eyes do not glaze over at the mere thought of calculating "capital equipment obsolesce rates" should find this absorbing and thought-provoking. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Based on groundbreaking research at MIT, Clockspeed introduces a revolutionary approach to business strategy, applying the principles of genetics to show how choices in supply-chain design can drive company and industry evolution.
"Faster is not necessarily smarter. In this world of constant acceleration, while most firms become increasingly reactive, the race will go to the few who can think more deeply rather than react more quickly. Charlie Fine's is likely to be one of the voices they are listening to."-Peter Senge, founding Director of the MIT Organizational Learning Center and author of The Fifth Discipline
Drawing from a decade of research at MIT, and using examples from the fastest-changing industries, Fine introduces a whole new vocabulary for analyzing and implementing business strategy, turning managers into "corporate geneticists" who do not react to the forces of change but master them to engineer their company's destiny.
Customer Reviews:
Two books in one - one that i loved!.......2007-01-23
I find the book is divided in two books:
1. analysis of supply chains, understanding an industry, and how you can draw conclusions and foresee the future,
2. how to work with supply chains; what to build or buy and how to treat your suppliers, etc.
I am interested in the analysis and not supply chain so the first part of the book was pleasing.
I will tell you why I liked the first part of the book:
a) Fine describes how fast an industry is "updated". From the slowest (ex: military and civic flight) to the fastest (ex: mobile telephony, internet, etc). This made me understand why mobile operators have lost the war against the Nokias of the world, and why all are afraid when Google and Yahoo! enters the mobile space.
b) He then tells you why an industry is VERTICAL with
integral/integrated parts or HORIZONTAL with modular parts and what drives an industry to change, and why the change goes back and forth over time. This was absolutely fantastic for me because it really explained the rationale behind internal development, niches and outsourcing.
The rest of the book describes ethics and philosophy within supply chain dynamics, how to control sourcing, and simple rules of why to build or buy.
Fine writes in a simple language, but the toolbox he gives you is complex and made me understand the industry I work in with new eyes!
A great way to fall asleep.......2007-01-06
I read this book as part of an MBA curriculum and was so bored by it I almost dropped the class. If you are a supply chain freak and love this kind of stuff you might like reading over and over again about stretched biological analogies but if you are focusing on any other discipline and just want a taste of competitive advantage in supply chain I recommend you look elsewhere.
Supply Chain: design should come first.......2004-02-22
Fine's book creates clear connection among Supply Chain, Product Development and Manufacturing activities. MIT's Professor Fine establishes an operational and strategic link among those company's environment. The book put in a plain text how to analyze you supply chain and how to design it accordly a strategy view. Finally, Supply Chain Design is proclaimed as being essential to assure competitive advantage and to sustain the company's progress. If you want to really understand supply chain, it is a book that you must read!
Seminal Work in Supply Chain Design.......2003-08-10
Professor Fine makes a tremendously strong and lucid case for utilizing supply chain design as a functional catalyst in optimizing business strategy and evolution.
In a world of chronic oversupply and fear, Professor Fine sheds light on how managers and corporations can take control of their destiny instead of destiny and fate taking control of the managers and corporations.
Crucial for anyone in supply chain field.......2001-07-17
It would be a mistake to be employed in some supply chain capacity and *not* read this book. I believe that it offers an intriguing set of solid examples of how incorporating supply chain management into strategy discussions has helped some companies profit at the expense of others.
Some commenters have noted that examples seem anecdotal. I tend to think that Fine's approach here, in going into depth with just a few examples, is a richer basis upon which to draw conclusions. You don't necessarily need a statistically significant sample set in order to gain insights into how to conduct strategy.
I would also take issue with one reviewer's note that it is overly geared towards manufacturing, rather than services. Managing supply chains and conducting make-buy decisions are clearly the province of operations. But shouldn't consulting services develop precisely those areas of expertise in order to assist their biggest clients?
A note of disclosure: I took Fine's course on this subject while at MIT. While I wouldn't trade having been in that graduate seminar for 100 books, if you can't take the course, at least read the book! Doing so brought back the pleasure for me of being in his class.
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