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This study explores the nature of the Ming literati and their culture through examining the ways they learned and created poetry. First, an investigation of the poetry learning within the Ming examination life explains the reason why passion for poetry opened up an alternate life path for Ming literati. Second, a close examination of their emotional attachment to poetry and the profound influence poetry had on them illuminates the special life experiences generated by this art form. Third, an inquiry into poetry’s social function makes it clear that poetry contributed not only to the development of literati social networks, but also to the formation of a “literary society” within which their social status was recognized.
The basic education for the Ming elite was composed not only of extensive reading of the classical curriculum (such as the Four Books and Five Classics) but also of the ability to appreciate and compose poetry. Most people considered poetry no more than an instrument for learning how to produce couplets in the eight-legged essay style that was central to success in the exams to be qualified as imperial bureaucrats. However, some developed strong attachment to this art form and were thus diverted from the conventional scholar-official career paths. This group of unconventional gentry was often called literati (shiren), whose most salient attribute lay in their shared passion for literature. It is important to note that Chinese poetry-making was not a solitary aesthetic experience but a highly socialized activity: literati interacted and corresponded with one another, exchanging their poems. As a result, this group of non-conventional literati developed a social network and value system distinct from elite society as a whole, opening up a new cultural space for late imperial Chinese literati.
China has a long tradition of storing ice in cellars from as early as the tenth century BC. This method was practiced by most governments since the Zhou dynasty (1050-211 B.C.). The Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties were no different. According to records, in 1644, the year that the Qing dynasty was founded, officially approved ice storage constituted 208,621 blocks. That number was supposedly copied from the Ming’s system. In 1716 and 1728 ice storage was reduced, declining to as little as 90,000 blocks. After that, the amount of storage increased slowly. In 1743, it reached the 200,000-block level again. In 1821, the required amount was reduced by 20,000, and the annual amount of ice remained at 180,000 blocks until the end of the Qing dynasty. One ice block during the Qing dynasty weighed about 100 kilograms, which means annual ice storage ranged from 9,000 to 20,000 tons. After 1743, the government sold ice blocks to the public, and as many as 11,000 tons were sold annually.
Ice blocks in Beijing collected during the winter by the Ming and Qing governments were mainly used to preserve the sacrificial offerings of the fourth to ninth months of the lunar calendar and for royal consumption. In addition, ice blocks were issued to officers during summer days. Ice water was also provided to officers at each day’s meetings. As well, foreign emissaries were also given ice water during the Qing dynasty. During the last days of Emperor Kangxi, jailed prisoners were also given ice water to prevent heat stroke. In 1732, Emperor Yongzheng ordered ice water to be supplied to pedestrians at the nine gates of Beijing Inner City. This practice continued until the end of the Qing dynasty. Since the middle of the Qing dynasty, many wealthy elites adopted the practice of supplying ice water on the streets, a merciful act that made residents of Beijing less prone to heat stroke in summer.
Without air conditioning, the heat of summer and autumn was unbearable, and people sought ways to cool their living quarters. The government issued ice blocks to officers in the fourth month of the year; as well, civilians could also buy ice blocks and place them in their homes. In Beijing during the Qing dynasty, it was common for upper-class families to place an ice bowl or box in the living room. Thanks to ice cellars, summer days became much less bothersom. This was a luxury unavailable to the southerners. Many people missed it when they left Beijing.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, seafood was brought into Beijing, kept fresh through the use of ice. Although the fish that reached Beijing were far from kicking, they were still alive and it was said that you could eat them raw. Besides using ice in transportation, fish and meat merchants in Beijing frequently stored unsold fish or meat in ice cellars. Restaurants and butchers were also known to store boxes of meat in ice cellars. They also stored small quantities of unsold meat in iceboxes and large quantities in ice cellars. Fruit dealers in Beijing, like their fish and meat counterparts, used ice cellars to preserve their products. Cellar owners usually accept fruit beginning in the seventh month. These stored fruits usually could be sold at a hefty profit margin in the autumn and winter. Their prices could be much higher than in season, but people at least had fresh fruit to eat all year round. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, street side ice sellers were usually selling ice water or iced brewed plum drinks. Boiling preserved plums and rose or cassia petals with rock sugar made the so-called brewed plum drink, which was chilled with ice. This extremely popular cold drink was the thirst buster of its day.
Focusing on the cityscapes of Suzhou made during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (r. 1736-95), this article discusses how paintings and woodblock prints constructed a new image of the city by shaping and reshaping specific sites. In the late Ming period, Suzhou was famous for its scenic spots around the area of Lake Tai. Even though such time-honored sites as Tiger Hill (Huqiu 虎丘) and Stone Lake (Shihu 石湖) remained common subjects in eighteenth-century images of Suzhou, they were now portrayed not only in terms of their natural beauty but also as landmarks through an emphasis placed on architecture. More importantly, conspicuous in eighteenth-century cityscapes of Suzhou is its infrastructure, including city gates and bridges that formed the nexus of transportation and business transactions. Along with the emergence of man-made landmarks, Suzhou was transformed through art into a city that demonstrated good governance and thus a symbol of imperial glory. Suzhou, as the cultural center of the Jiangnan area, gained unprecedented political meaning in the symbolic system of the Qing regime.
The cityscapes examined here can be categorized into three groups, focused on the long handscroll Ever Growing Population under the Prosperous Reign (Shengshi zisheng 盛世滋生). This is a court painting which takes Suzhou as its subject and Qianlong as its primary viewer to commemorate the emperor's Southern Tour to the city. In addition, I examine two groups of woodblock prints that were initiated respectively by local government and print shops. The former group of prints was produced under the supervision of local officials to glorify Qianlong's Southern Tour, while the latter was sold as commodities for Chinese New Year's decorations. These cityscapes produced by different sources point to a unified representation of Suzhou, in which we can see how elements of political power and cultural consumption were entwined in the transformation of the city's image.
Both the handscroll and the commercial prints are rendered in a style obviously influenced by the West, producing an image of Suzhou marked by an unprecedented sense of spaciousness and orderliness. The Western technique of painting became one of the key factors which crystallized the close interaction between the court in Beijing and the major cities in Jiangnan. It is very likely that the personal taste of Emperor Qianlong played an important role in this interaction. However, political considerations should also be taken into account.
This article also argues that the issue of Sinification should not be simplified, because even Suzhou, a center of Han culture in late imperial China, was infused with foreign cultural elements. This investigation pushes us to reflect upon the much-debated issue of the political nature of the Qing regime. After a decade of academic focus on the frontiers of the Qing Empire, it is time for us to shift our attention to the role of Inner China with a fresh eye.
This article uses Qing palace archives to explore the Qianlong emperor's personal likes and their influence on the social and cultural development of Suzhou. Under the Qianlong emperor, the Imperial Textile Manufactory of Suzhou became the center for the production of various types of embroidery, jade ware, bronze ware, and countless other curios. Evelyn S. Rawski has found that early on the Qing promulgated laws governing hairstyle, dress, language and martial arts in order to define the unique identity of the conquering elite. This article examines the Imperial Textile Manufactory's production of symbolic accoutrements of Manchu identity such as archery thumb rings, fur bags used by bannermen to carry provisions, and quivers, to understand Qianlong's emphasis on Manchu spirit as embodied in the phrase “Manchu speech, riding, and hunting” (國語騎射). Aside from this, the Qianlong emperor's interest in diverse cultures was evident in the manufacture of Buddhist articles which were used to draw the Mongols and Tibetans closer to him, and also his great efforts to imitate Western-style items.
From the early Qing onward, the Jiangnan Textile Tri-Manufactories (including Suzhou's Manufactory) produced silks and satins, and were also responsible for carving jade objects, ink stones, mats, gold foil, and other items needed in the palace. The raw materials needed to produce these items included Xinjiang jade, Anhui graphite, and Yunnan gold, all of which promoted the development of Suzhou's handicraft industries.
Because Suzhou was conveniently located with good water transportation, it attracted officials from the Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan border regions, who purchased ginseng, silk, and other goods there. Officials also invested in production, engaged in long-distance trade, and opened shops. Officials from various regions purchased tens of thousands of tribute items, demonstrating that Suzhou was not only a specialized production region; it was also a strategic market for high end commercial items.
Most scholars have emphasized the luxurious lifestyles of the Yangzhou salt merchants and the Hong merchants of Guangzhou, but the Gu Su Fanhua Tu (Pictorial of Flourishing Suzhou), which illustrated a rich variety of silks and satins, jade ware, ink slabs, fans, ginseng and medicine shops, indicates that the lifestyles of Suzhou elites were no less luxurious than those of Yangzhou or Guangzhou. Because of this the Qianlong emperor used the Suzhou manufactories as a key to promoting the development of the area's material culture, thus providing us an invaluable perspective on Qing cultural history.
This paper adopts three different perspectives in order to explore issues of change and continuity in gentry travel culture during the Ming-Qing period. I begin by showing that gentry travel reached an unprecedented peak in the late Ming period, but began to decline during the chaotic years of the Ming-Qing transition. It took until the end of the Kangxi reign, when China regained political and economic stability, for gentry travel culture to revive. At the same time, however, while the Qing state did not totally hinder the development of gentry culture, travel activities of Qing gentry did not fully inherit the characteristics of the late Ming.
The second section of this paper focuses on changes in the external aspects of gentry travel culture, including scenic spots, lodging and cuisine, modes of transportation, utensils carried by traveling gentry, and so forth. My research points to a strong commercialization of tourism-related consumption during the Qing dynasty, which proved relatively more developed than the late Ming despite the absence of revolutionary breakthroughs in most technological aspects. It is also clear that Qing gentry resembled the gentry of the late Ming period in placing great emphasis on comfort and travel for pleasure.
Third, a marked change in gentry culture may be found in the realm of travel writing, as seen in the differences between the travel notes composed during the high Qing and those of the late Ming. Some Qing gentry discourse about travel followed Ming models in stressing the contrasts between gentry and commoner travel. However, this phenomenon was no longer mainstream, as discussions of the history of scenic spots became the dominant mode of travel writing during the high Qing. Such a trend might even have influenced the statecraft theories of the late Qing.