Observing the Unseen (Paperback)

Language: English

Published by University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2026

0295754230 / 9780295754239

  • Softcover
  • New
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Paperback. Explores the relationship between fantastical literature and scientific inquiryWhat did early modern Chinese readers believe about dragons, thunder, or fate, and where did they learn it? Observing the Unseen explores how literate and marginally literate people in China between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries investigated the invisible, the ubiquitous, and the inexplicable. Whether through medical encyclopedias, daily-use almanacs, or novels and anecdotes, readers pursued knowledge of the natural world with curiosity shaped as much by wonder as by empiricism.Andrew Schonebaum reveals that for many readers, stories were an important source of reliable information about the world. Knowledge of the natural world evolved in the margins of fiction. Entertainment literature and practical texts alike conveyed information that was collected, debated, and even used to treat illness or predict the future. Drawing from overlooked genres such as brush notes, court records, and sequels to popular stories, Schonebaum demonstrates that common knowledge was constructed through a patchwork of sourceselite and vernacular, empirical and fantastical.Rather than privileging science as courtly or Western, Observing the Unseen shows how ordinary readers made sense of the cosmos in an age of expanding literacy and print culture. It challenges assumptions about what Chinese literature was and how it was read, offering a nuanced picture of everyday life in early modern China. This is a work for scholars of Chinese history and literature, historians of science, and anyone interested in the complicated ways humans seek to understand the unseen. Whether through medical encyclopedias, daily-use almanacs, or novels and anecdotes, readers pursued knowledge of the natural world with curiosity shaped as much by wonder as by empiricism.Andrew Schonebaum reveals that for many readers, stories were an important source of reliable information about the world. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780295754239

Title
Observing the Unseen (Paperback)
Author
Andrew Schonebaum
Publisher
University of Washington Press, Seattle
Publication year
2026
Condition
new
Binding
Paperback
Language
English
ISBN 10
0295754230
ISBN 13
9780295754239

AussieBookSeller

Truganina, VIC, Australia

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since June 22, 2007

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