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The 28 papers examine questions relating to the extent and nature of Byzantine trade from Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages. The Byzantine state was the only political entity of the Mediterranean to survive Antiquity and thus offers a theoretical standard against which to measure diachronic and regional changes in trading practices within the area and beyond. To complement previous extensive work on late antique long-distance trade within the Mediterranean (based on the grain supply, amphorae and fine ware circulation), the papers concentrate on local and international trade. The emphasis is on recently uncovered or studied archaeological evidence relating to key topics. These include loca...
Rising from humble origins as Turkish tribesmen, the powerful and culturally prolific Seljuqs—an empire whose reach extended from Central Asia to the eastern Mediterranean—dominated the Islamic world from the eleventh to the fourteenth century. Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs examines the roots and impact of this formidable dynasty, featuring some 250 objects as evidence of the artistic and cultural flowering that occurred under Seljuq rule. Beginning with an historical overview of the empire, from its early advances into Iran and northern Iraq to the spread of its dominion into Anatolia and northern Syria, Court and Cosmos illuminates the splendor of Seljuq court life. Th...
An important reference source for scholars and students of modern Chinese art, collectors, museums and libraries, dealers and auction houses. It includes biographical entries for approximately 800 Chinese artists who grew up or were trained in China and who are likely to be represented in collections, exhibitions, and auctions within and outside China.
As belief in the Buddha grew and his teachings were transmitted across Asia, Buddhist images, scriptures, and relics were duplicated and reduplicated to satisfy the needs of increasing numbers of the faithful. Yet how were these countless copies of sacred objects able to retain their authenticity and efficacy? Authentic Replicas explores how Buddhists in medieval China (seventh to twelfth centuries) solved this conundrum through the use of traditional methods of replication such as stamping, mold casting, and woodblock printing to create objects that fulfilled the spiritual aspirations of those who possessed them. Setting aside Western notions about the relative value of copies versus the ...
This stimulating, uniquely organized, and wonderfully readable comparison of ancient Rome and China offers provocative insights to students and general readers of world history. The book's narrative is clear, completely jargon-free, strikingly independent, and addresses the complete cycles of two world empires. The topics explored include nation formation, state building, empire building, arts of government, strategies of superpowers, and decline and fall.
The famous ryosai-kenbo or 'good wife and wise mother' role of women was not, after all, a traditional Confucian view but a modern construct. In fact, its first appearance in Japan was in the latter half of the 19th century, due principally to the influence of European ideas about women.
This comprehensive study explores the dynamic spread of Buddhist print culture in China and its Asian neighbors. It examines a vast selection of Buddhist printed images and texts, not merely as static cultural relics, but holistically within multicultural contexts related to other cultural products, and as objects on the move, transmitted across a sprawling web of transnational networks, “Buddhist Book Roads”. The author applies interdisciplinary and network approaches developed in art history, religious studies, digital humanities, and the history of the print and book culture to shed new light on Buddhist print culture from visual, textual, social, and religious perspectives.