Character & context in Chinese calligraphy / [edited by] Cary Y. Liu, Dora C.Y. Ching, and Judith G. Smith.

"Papers prepared for an international symposium organized by the Art Museum, Princeton University, in conjunction with the exhibition "The embodied image: Chinese calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection"--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references.

Calligraphy, the sacred text and test of culture / Michael Nylan -- Calligraphy of stone engravings in Northern Wei Loyang / Huiwen Lu -- The history and revival of Northern Wei Stele-style calligraphy / Hua Rende -- The taming of the shrew : Wang Hsi-chih (303-361) and calligraphic gentrification in the seventh century / Eugene Y. Wang -- Seal and clerical scripts of the Sung Dynasty / Harold Mok -- Wine and cursive : the limits of individualism in Northern Sung China / Peter C. Sturman -- The strange, the new, and the orthodox : calligraphy of the Ch’an Monk Chung-feng Ming-pen (1262-1323) / Uta Lauer -- Calligraphy as gift : Wen Cheng-ming’s (1470-1559) calligraphy and the formation of Soochow literati culture / Shih Shou-ch’ien.

The embodied image : Chinese calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection / Robert E. Harrist, Jr., Wen C. Fong ; with contributions by Qianshen Bai [and others].

Catalog of an exhibition: Art Museum, Princeton University, Mar. 27, 1999-June 27, 1999; Seattle Art Museum, Feb. 10-May 7, 2000; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sept. 15, 2000-Jan. 7, 2001.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 401-411) and index.

Introductory Essays: Reading Chinese Calligraphy / Robert E. Harrist, Jr. -- Chinese Calligraphy: Theory and History / Wen C. Fong -- Catalogue. Early Calligraphy: Ritual and Art. The Imperial Court and Calligraphy of the T'ang Dynasty. Calligraphy of the Sung Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty: Chinese Calligraphy under Mongol Rule. Calligraphy of the Ming Dynasty. Calligraphy of the Ch'ing Dynasty: Model-Books and Stelae. Letters from the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties -- Essays. Texts of Taoism and Buddhism and the Power of Calligraphic Style / Amy McNair. A Letter from Wang Hsi-chih and the Culture of Chinese Calligraphy / Robert E. Harrist, Jr. Opposite Paths to Originality: Huang T'ing-chien and Mi Fu / Jay Xu. The Two Perfections: Reading Poetry and Calligraphy / Robert E. Harrist, Jr. A Quest for the Imperishable: Chao Meng-fu's Calligraphy for Stele Inscriptions / Zhixin Sun. Ming Dynasty Soochow and the Golden Age of Literati Culture / Chuan-Hsing Ho. The Aesthetics of the Unusual and the Strange in Seventeenth-Century Calligraphy / Dora C.Y. Ching. Calligraphic Couplets as Manifestations of Deities and Markers of Buildings / Cary Y. Liu. Chinese Letters: Private Words Made Public / Qianshen Bai -- The John B. Elliott Collection of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting, The Art Museum, Princeton University.

"Chinese painting, sculpture, ceramics, and other art have gradually become familiar to many Western viewers, but calligraphy, the art most valued in China, remains little known. The Embodied Image accompanies an exhibition of one of the most outstanding and comprehensive collections of Chinese calligraphy ever assembled outside Asia, the John B. Elliott Collection at The Art Museum, Princeton University.

Encompassing works of calligraphy from the fourth through the twentieth centuries, the collection illustrates the extraordinary variety of formats and styles that makes calligraphy one of the most visually exciting of all artistic traditions.".

"Reflecting the latest trends in art history, The Embodied Image carries the study of Chinese calligraphy beyond issues of style and connoisseurship to interpret this art as an integral part of Chinese culture. Nine scholarly essays written by a team of distinguished American and Chinese scholars examine the complex relationship between calligraphy and religion, politics, and literature."--BOOK JACKET.

The eternal feast : banqueting in Chinese art from the 10th to the 14th century / Zoe S. Kwok.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 186-190) and index.

"This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition The Eternal Feast: Banqueting in Chinese Art from the 10th to 14th Century. Prince University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey October 19, 2019-February 16, 2020"--Title page verso

Foreward / James Christen Steward -- Preface and acknowledgments / Zoe S. Kwok -- Chronology and maps -- Introduction: The feast in the artistic traditions of early China / Zoe S. Kwok -- The feast across three gatherings: Images of banqueting from the 10th to the 14th century / Zoe S. Kwok -- Dining in the afterlife -- Ladies banqueting in seclusion -- Gentlemen feasting as scholarly business -- Bibliography -- Index -- Photography credits.

An overview of Chinese culture, particularly visions of life and the afterlife, told through feast imagery from three historically transformative dynasties. Feasting was an important social and ritual activity in China beginning in the Bronze Age, and cuisine retains a strong cultural significance to this day. This book focuses on feasting in the 10th through 14th centuries, examining Chinese paintings of feasts from the Song (960-1279), Liao (907-1125), and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties. Feast images, more so than works from any other painting genre, depict scenes from the past, the present, and the afterlife alike. More specifically, as author Zoe S. Kwok explains in the book's insightful text, they portray a continuum between life and what lies beyond it; this volume is the first to make such a connection. Full-color plates highlight a rare group of paintings as well as complementary ceramic, metal, stone, and textile objects, and the nearly fifty individual catalogue entries touch on diverse topics-not only food and drink but dance, music, costume, burial practices, artistic patronage, and more.