Pictures From China

In the 1930's and 1940's, the prevalent American view of China was that of a friendly, democratic, and increasingly Christian state, in many ways akin to the United States. This view was fostered by a wide range of literary, political, and business leaders, including Pearl S. Buck, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, Joseph Stillwell, Claire Chennault, and most notably, the powerful publisher of Life and Time, Henry R. Luce. This book shows how the notion of the Chinese as aspiring Americans helped shape American opinions and policies toward Asia for almost twenty years. This notion derived less from the reality of Chinese historical or cultural similarities than from a projection of American values and culture; in the American view, fueled by various political, economic, and religious interests, China was less a geographical entity than a symbol of American hopes and fears. One of the more important consequences was the idealization of China and the demonization of Japan.

Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China is not simply a survey of sixteenth-century images, but rather, a thorough and thoughtful examination of visual culture in China's Ming Dynasty, one that considers images wherever they appeared—not only paintings, but also illustrated books, maps, ceramic bowls, lacquered boxes, painted fans, and even clothing and tomb pictures. Clunas's theory of visuality incorporates not only the image and the object upon which it is placed but also the culture which produced and purchased it. Economic changes in sixteenth-century China—the rapid expansion of trade routes and a growing class of consumers—are thus intricately bound up with the evolution of the image itself. Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China will be a touchstone for students of Chinese history, art, and culture.

Text and illustrations present detailed information on the geography, history and government, economy, people, cultural life and society of traditional and modern China, home to over one-fifth of the earth's population.

The essays in this volume address a diverse range of issues in China’s narrative art and visual culture mainly from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) to the present. These studies attend to the complex ways in which images circulate in pictorial media and across boundaries between ‘high art’ and popular culture—images in paintings, prints, stone engravings and posters, as well as in film and video art. In addition, the authors examine the roles of ancient exemplary stories and textual narratives, as well as their reiteration in the visual arts in early modern and modern social and political contexts. The volume is divided into three sections: Representing Paradigms, Interpreting Literary Themes and Narratives, and the Medium and Modernity. While the essays in each section deal with concerns in the field of China’s art history, an editors’ introduction serves to position the topic of narrative art and to introduce definitions and genre issues which run through the book. As a whole, the volume invites reflection on the intrinsic nature of narratives and their pictorial lives, and presents new research which challenges established views and paradigms.

The book is about the revival of China in the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. It has eight parts: (1) The civil revolution in China, (2) The countryside bases, (3) The Long Match of the Red Army, (4) The Anti Japanese War, (5) Decisive civil battles before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, (6) The Mao Era before the Great Cultural Revolution, (7) The Great Cultural Revolution, and (8) The Reform and opening up. This version of the book is with pictures.

In Images of China in Polish and Serbian Travel Writings (1720-1949), Tomasz Ewertowski examines how Polish and Serbian travelers from the 18th to the mid-20th century described China, showing various factors which influenced their representations of the Middle Kingdom.

"Each chapter focuses on a different trade or Chinese pursuit, included are the diviner, the Budhist priest, the wine carrier, the blind seer, the collector of paper scarps, the neddle maker, the tailor, the opium smoker, the match maker, etc. Each chapter is accompanied by a full page line "pen and ink etching" by a "a native artist". The etchings are faithful representations of the Northern Chinese."

This book is the first extensive survey of early Chinese photographers in any language. It is profusely illustrated with more than 400 photographs, many of which are published here for the first time, including a fine selection of Foochow landscapes from the studios of Lai Fong, China's leading photographer during this period, and Tung Hing. Early chapters introduce the historical milieu from which the earliest Chinese photographers emerged and illuminate the beginnings of photography in China and contemporary Chinese reactions to its introduction. Early Chinese commercial photography - both portrait and landscape - are also discussed with reference to similar genres in a more international context. Individual chapters are devoted to Chinese photographers in Peking, Hong Kong, Canton, Shanghai, Foochow, Amoy, Hankow, Tientsin and other ports, Macau and Formosa. These are followed by a series of appendices: writings on photography in China by John Thomson and Isaac Taylor Headland and an invaluable guide to the identification of photographs from the Afong Studio. It concludes with an extensive bibliography, general and regional chronologies, and a biographical index. Publisher's note.

Blurb: Lonely ridges and rough coasts, impenetrable mountains and impenetrable virgin forests, vibrant modern urbanity and traditional life in the village, Chinese as well as the varied culture of 55 other ethnic groups characterize the image of China. Whether it is culture, nature or adventure, the Empire of the middle offers something for every traveler. Speaking of the "Empire of the middle" - not Europeans have invented this concept, but the Chinese themselves call it their country. Once upon a time, they were regarded as the center of the civilized world. China is no longer Eastern, as it is understood in the West, but it is not Western, and certainly not Marxist. It is nothing of all this, but rather a mixture of everything. It is not easy to choose a tour through China. There are simply too many places worth seeing in this great country. This tour includes the following cities: Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Guilin, Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing. Do you want to discover this incredible natural spectacle of China at close range? Do you want to go to the most beautiful places, that has the "Empire of the middle" to offer? Do you want to shoot the most spectacular holiday pictures? Then this E-Book is the right tool for you! In this e-book, you will be inspired by the countless countryside and city photos. At the same time learns the user with the help of Google Maps locating, how to goes to the photo shot spots or where the pictures are taken from. Here you can try by self the high art of photography. The author is wishing a good success and a memorable holiday in one of the most breath taking area on this world.