This interdisciplinary study brings history and art together in a definitive discussion of the Chinese woodblock print form of nianhua (literally "New Year pictures") and an extraordinary account of the cultural life of rural North China during the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries.Beginning with an overview of nianhua production, James Flath considers the relationship of the prints to the social, cultural, and political milieu of North China from the late-Qing dyansty to the early 1950s. Using nianhua as historical documents, he reconstructs popular conceptions of domesticity, morality, gender, society, and modernity. Finally, he examines how communist authorities transformed the nianhua genre for use as a propaganda tool in the 1940s and early 1950s.James A. Flath is professor of history at University of Western Ontario.

The Cult of Happiness: Nianhua, Art, and History in Rural North China

Arts & Photography

Flath, James A.

History & Criticism

UBC Press

History and art come together in this definitive discussion of the Chinese woodblock print form of nianhua, literally “New Year pictures.” James Flath analyzes the role of nianhua in the home and later in the theatre and relates these artworks to the social, cultural, and political milieu of North China as it was between the late Qing dynasty and the early 1950s. Among the first studies in any field to treat folk art as historical text, this extraordinary account offers original insight into popular conceptions of domesticity, morality, gender, society, modernity, and the transformation of the genre as a propaganda tool under communism.

The Cult of Happiness: Nianhua, Art, and History in Rural North China (Contemporary Chinese Studies)

Univ of British Columbia Pr

History and art come together in this definitive discussion of the Chinese woodblock print form of nianhua, literally "New Year pictures." By analyzing the role of nianhua first in the home and later in commercial and political theatres, James Flath relates these artworks to the social, cultural, and political milieu of North China as it was between the late Qing dynasty and the early 1950s. Among the first studies in any field to treat folk art and folk print as historical text, The Cult of Happiness offers original insight into popular conceptions of domesticity, morality, gender, society, modernity, and the transformation of the genre as a propaganda tool under communism. An extraordinary account of the cultural life of rural North China over the period.

The Temple of Confucius (Kong Temple) in Qufu is the definitive monument to the world's greatest sage. From its humble origins deep in China's past, the home of Confucius grew in size and stature under the auspices of almost every major dynasty until it was the largest and most richly endowed temple in the Ming and Qing empires. The decline of state-sponsored ritualism in the twentieth century triggered a profound identity crisis for the temple and its worshipers, yet the fragile relic survived decades of neglect, war, and revolution and is now recognized as a national treasure and a World Heritage Site. Traces of the Sage is the first comprehensive account of the history and material culture of Kong Temple. Following the temple's development through time and across space, it relates architecture to the practice of Confucianism, explains the temple's phenomenal perseverance, and explores the culture of building in China. Other chapters consider the problem of Confucian heritage conservation and development over the last hundred years―a period when the validity of Confucianism has been called into question―and the challenge of remaking Confucian heritage as a commercial enterprise. By reconstructing its "social life," the study interprets Kong Temple as an active site of transaction and negotiation and argues that meaning does not hide behind architecture but emerges from the circulation and regeneration of its spaces and materials. The most complete work on a seminal monument in Chinese history through millennia, Traces of the Sage will find a ready audience among cultural and political historians of imperial and modern China as well as students and scholars of architectural history and theory and Chinese ritual.

Traces of the Sage: Monument, Materiality, and the First Temple of Confucius (Spatial Habitus: Making and Meaning in Asia's Architecture)

History

Asia

University of Hawaii Press

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Books by Flath, James A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Flath, James A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Cult of Happiness: Nianhua, Art, and History in Rural North China

The Cult of Happiness: Nianhua, Art, and History in Rural North China (Contemporary Chinese Studies)

The Cult of Happiness: Nianhua, Art, and History in Rural North China

Traces of the Sage: Monument, Materiality, and the First Temple of Confucius (Spatial Habitus: Making and Meaning in Asia's Architecture)