Ten Thousand Things - Module Mass Production in Chinese Art
Language: English
Published by Princeton University Press, 2001
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: Mooney's bookstore, Den Helder, NetherlandsMooney's bookstore
AbeBooks seller since June 10, 2024
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 30.20
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketSeller Inventory # 8952FFDC175426C
- Title
- Ten Thousand Things - Module Mass Production in Chinese Art
- Author
- Lothar Ledderose
- Publisher
- Princeton University Press
- Publication year
- 2001
- Condition
- Very Good
- Binding
- Soft cover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0691009570
- ISBN 13
- 9780691009575
A richly illustrated look at how Chinese artists have used mass production to assemble exquisite objects from standardized parts
Chinese workers in the third century BC created seven thousand life-sized terracotta soldiers to guard the tomb of the First Emperor. In the eleventh century AD, Chinese builders constructed a pagoda from as many as thirty thousand separately carved wooden pieces. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, China exported more than a hundred million pieces of porcelain to the West. As these examples show, the Chinese throughout history have produced works of art in astonishing quantities―and have done so without sacrificing quality, affordability, or speed of manufacture. How have they managed this? Lothar Ledderose takes us on a remarkable tour of Chinese art and culture to explain how artists used complex systems of mass production to assemble extraordinary objects from standardized parts or modules. As he reveals, these systems have deep roots in Chinese thought―in the idea that the universe consists of ten thousand categories of things, for example―and reflect characteristically Chinese modes of social organization.
Ledderose begins with the modular system par excellence: Chinese script, an ancient system of fifty thousand characters produced from a repertoire of only about two hundred components. He shows how Chinese artists used related modular systems to create ritual bronzes, to produce the First Emperor's terracotta army, and to develop the world's first printing systems. He explores the dazzling variety of lacquerware and porcelain that the West found so seductive, and examines how works as diverse as imperial palaces and paintings of hell relied on elegant variation of standardized components. Ledderose explains that Chinese artists, unlike their Western counterparts, did not seek to reproduce individual objects of nature faithfully, but sought instead to mimic nature's ability to produce limitless numbers of objects. He shows as well how modular patterns of thought run through Chinese ideas about personal freedom, China's culture of bureaucracy, Chinese religion, and even the organization of Chinese restaurants.
Ten Thousand Things combines keen aesthetic and cultural insights with a rich variety of illustrations to make a profound statement about Chinese art and society.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Mooney's bookstore
Den Helder, Netherlands
AbeBooks seller since June 10, 2024
Shipping rates from Netherlands to U.S.A.
| Item | 14 to 21 business days | 5 to 10 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 12.63 | £ 29.53 |
Payment methods
Specialty
Historical books, Dutch books, Art booksSeller's business information
Mooney's bookstore
Netherlands
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Mooney's bookstore, Den Helder, Netherlands, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.