Making the Palace Machine Work: Mobilizing People, Objects, and Nature in the Qing Empire

Open Access Published by Amsterdam University Press 2021

Making the Palace Machine Work

Mobilizing People, Objects, and Nature in the Qing Empire

Edited by: Martina Siebert , Kai Jun Chen and Dorothy Ko

Volume 11 in the series Asian History

https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048553228

Overview
Contents

About this book

Making the Palace Machine Work: Mobilizing People, Objects, and Nature in the Qing Empire brings the studies of institutions, labour, and material cultures to bear on the history of science and technology by tracing the workings of the Imperial Household Department (Neiwufu) in the Qing court and empire. An enormous apparatus that employed 22,000 men and women at its heyday, the Department operated a "machine" with myriad moving parts. The first part of the book portrays the people who kept it running, from technical experts to menial servants, and scrutinises the paper trails they left behind. Part II uncovers the working principles of the machine by following the production chains of some of its most splendid products: gilded statues, jade, porcelain, and textiles. Part III examines the complex task of managing living organisms and natural environments, including lotus plants grown in imperial ponds in Beijing, fresh medicines sourced from disparate regions, and tribute elephants from Southeast Asia.

Author / Editor information

Siebert Martina :

Martina Siebert works as subject librarian at the East Asia department of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and as independent scholar. She researches and publishes on the history of Chinese exploration into nature and technology with a focus on the styles and agendas of presenting and organizing that knowledge in writing.Chen Kai Jun :

Kai Jun Chen is Assistant Professor at Brown University. The author of a forthcoming monograph on the technocratic culture in the Qing Imperial Ceramic Industry, he specialises in the history of imperial institutions, handicraft technology, and material culture studies.Ko Dorothy :

A native of Hong Kong, Dorothy Ko is Professor of History at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is a cultural historian of early modern China whose research and publication focus on gender, technology, and material culture.

Reviews

"In sum, Making the Palace Machine Work is remarkable for its novel focus on the inner workings of the palace, which are often overlooked in scholarship on the Qing court. It reveals that the minutiae of the day-to-day palace operations can be just as fascinating as the grander imperial spectacles that they help create."
-- Aurelia Campbell, Journal of Chinese History, 2023

Topics

Frontmatter Open Access Download PDF	1
Table of Contents Open Access Download PDF	5
Acknowledgments Open Access Download PDF	15
Conventions for the Notation of Time, Weights, and Measures Open Access Download PDF	17
Note on Translation Open Access Download PDF	20
Note on the Frontmatter Maps and Cover Image Open Access Download PDF	21
Introduction Martina Siebert, Kai Jun Chen and Dorothy Ko Open Access Download PDF	23
Part I Operating the Machine: Personnel and Paper Trails
Vignette Essay I
Moving Pieces On the Reuse of Interior Decoration Components in Qing Palaces Shuxian Zhang Open Access Download PDF	39
1 Working the Qing Palace Machine The Servants’ Perspective Christine Moll-Murata Open Access Download PDF	47
2 Manager or Craftsman Skillful Bannermen of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) Kai Jun Chen Open Access Download PDF	73
3 Kupiao and the Accounting System of the Imperial Household Workshops Yijun Wang and Kyoungjin Bae Open Access Download PDF	93
Part II Producing the Court: Materials and Artefacts
Vignette essay II
The Story of An Image Ding Guanpeng’s ‘Ultimate Bliss’ and the Auspiciousness of Reproduction Qiong Zhang Open Access Download PDF	127
4 Piecing Shards Together The Uses and Manufacturing of Imperial Porcelain Guangyao Wang Open Access Download PDF	135
5 Resplendent Innovations Fire Gilding Techniques at the Qing Court Te-cheng Su and Hui-min Lai Open Access Download PDF	157
6 Transporting Jade Objects, Ecology, and Local Bureaucracy in Qing Xinjiang Yulian Wu Open Access Download PDF	187
Part III Mobilizing Nature: Plants and Animals
Vignette essay III
Decluttering On the Classification of Objects at the Imperial Household Department Elif Akcetin Open Access Download PDF	215
7 Growing and Organizing Lotus in Qing Imperial Spaces Interlocking Cycles of Money and Nature Martina Siebert Open Access Download PDF	225
8 The Medicine Supply System of the Qing Court Xueling Guan Open Access Download PDF	253
9 When There Is Peace, There Are Elephants Hui-chun Yu Open Access Download PDF	271
Coda Dorothy Ko, Kai Jun Chen and Martina Siebert Open Access Download PDF	291
Contributors Open Access Download PDF	295
Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	299
Index Open Access Download PDF	323

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 334
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 22
- Coloured Illustrations: 13
Keywords: China; Qing Court; Material culture; Science & technology; Imperial Household Department

eBook

Published: July 12, 2021
ISBN: 9789048553228