Superfluous Things: Material Culture And Social Status In Early Modern China

Now in paperback This outstanding and original book, presented here with a new preface, examines the history of material culture in early modern China. Craig Clunas analyzes "superfluous things"--the paintings, calligraphy, bronzes, ceramics, carved jade, and other objects owned by the elites of Ming China--and describes contemporary attitudes to them. He informs his discussions with reference to both socio-cultural theory and current debates on eighteenth-century England concerning luxury, conspicuous consumption, and the growth of the consumer society.

• | Author: Craig Clunas
• | Publisher: University Of Hawaii Press
• | Publication Date: Jun 01, 2016
• | Number of Pages: 246 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover/History
• | ISBN-10: 0824859014
• | ISBN-13: 9780824859015