Home and the World: Editing the “Glorious Ming” in Woodblock-Printed Books of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series)

China's sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw an unprecedented explosion in the production and circulation of woodblock-printed books. What can surviving traces of that era's print culture reveal about the makers and consumers of these books? __Home and the World__ addresses this question by carefully examining a wide range of late Ming books, considering them not merely as texts, but as material objects and economic commodities designed, produced, and marketed to stand out in the distinctive book marketplace of the time, and promising high enjoyment and usefulness to readers. Although many of the mass-market commercial imprints studied here might have struck scholars from the eighteenth century on as too trivial, lowbrow, or slipshod to merit serious study, they prove to be an invaluable resource, providing insight into their readers' orientations toward the increasingly complex global stage of early modernity and toward traditional Chinese conceptions of textual, political, and moral authority. On a more intimate scale, they tell us about readers' ideals of a fashionable and pleasurable private life. Through studying these works, we come closer to recapturing the trend-conscious, sophisticated, and often subversive ways readers at this important moment in China's history imagined their world and their place within it. China's sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw an unprecedented explosion in the production and circulation of woodblock-printed books. What can surviving traces of that era's print culture reveal about the makers and consumers of these books? Home and the World addresses this question by carefully examining a wide range of late Ming books, considering them not merely as texts, but as material objects and economic commodities designed, produced, and marketed to stand out in the distinctive book marketplace of the time, and promising high enjoyment and usefulness to readers. Although many of the mass-market commercial imprints studied here might have struck scholars from the eighteenth century on as too trivial, lowbrow, or slipshod to merit serious study, they prove to be an invaluable resource, providing insight into their readers'orientations toward the increasingly complex global stage of early modernity and toward traditional Chinese conceptions of textual, political, and moral authority. On a more intimate scale, they tell us about readers'ideals of a fashionable and pleasurable private life. Through studying these works, we come closer to recapturing the trend-conscious, sophisticated, and often subversive ways readers at this important moment in China's history imagined their world and their place within it. 2015 Joseph Levenson Book Prize, Pre-1900 Category, China and Inner Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies HOME AND THE WORLD: Editing the "Glorious Ming" in Woodblock-Printed Books of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Boxiao zhuji and the World of Late Ming Popular Texts 2. Page and Stage: Drama Miscellanies and Their Milieu 3· The Poetics of Error: Repetition and Novelty in the Age of Woodblock (Re)production 4· The Book and the Barbarian: A History of the Luochong lu Conclusion Home and the World: Editing Ming China Appendixes 1. Other Known Titles by Makers of Drama Miscellanies 2. The "Classic of Whoring": Demimonde Fantasy and the Formation of the Ming Vernacular Notes Selected Bibliography Index HARVARD-YENCHING INSTITUTE MONOGRAPH SERIES China's sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw an explosion in the production and circulation of woodblock-printed books. This book looks at what surviving traces of that era's print culture reveal about the makers and consumers of these books. It examines a range of late Ming books, considering as material objects and economic commodities designed, produced, and marketed to stand out in the marketplace. They provide insight into their readers orientations toward the increasingly complex global stage of early modernity and toward traditional Chinese conceptions of textual, political, and moral authority. On a more intimate scale, they tell about readers' ideals of a fashionable and pleasurable private life China's sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw an unprecedented explosion in the production of woodblock-printed books. This volume considers what a wide range of late Ming books reveal about their readers' ideas of a pleasurable private life, as well as their orientations toward early modernity and toward traditional Chinese sources of authority. The Boxiao zhuji (Pearls to evoke laughter) and the broader late Ming textual universe Page and stage : drama miscellanies and their milieu The poetics of error : repetition and novelty in late-Ming woodblock (re)production The book and the barbarian : a history of the Luochong lu (Records of naked creatures).