Synopses & Reviews
In this groundbreaking book, James Cahill expands the field of Chinese pictorial art history, opening both scholarly studies and popular appreciation to vernacular paintings, "pictures for use and pleasure." These were works commissioned and appreciated during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by the non-elites of Chinese society, including women. Traditional Chinese collectors, like present-day scholars of Chinese painting, have favored the "literati" paintings of the Chinese male elite, disparaging vernacular works, often intended as decorations or produced to mark a special occasion. Cahill challenges the dominant dogma and doctrine of the literati, showing how the vernacular images, both beautiful and appealing, strengthen our understanding of High Qing culture. They bring to light the Qing or Manchu emperors' fascination with erotic culture in the thriving cities of the Yangtze Delta and demonstrate the growth of figure painting in and around Beijing's imperial court. They also revise our understanding of gender roles and show how Chinese artists made use of European styles. By introducing a large, rich body of works, Pictures for Use and Pleasure opens new windows on later Chinese life and society.
Review
and#8220;A thought-provoking book for serious readers wanting a deep immersion in Chinese art history, social culture, and gender studies.and#8221;
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and#8220;Lavishly illustrated, this is an absolutely crucial book for all students, scholars, and connoisseurs of Chinese painting.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A breakthrough in . . . the study of Chinese visual arts and material culture.and#8221;
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and#8220;Will undoubtedly serve as a starting point for all future studies of the subject.and#8221;
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and#8220;An important book. . . . Cahill draws attention to a category of paintings that have hitherto been little studied.and#8221;
Review
“In this posthumously published volume, comprising lectures delivered in Berkeley in fall 1997, Frede reflects on the concept of a free will in ancient thought.”
“Summing Up: Highly recommended.”
Review
"...One can only feel awe before the breadth of [Frede's] learning and the depth of his insight."
Synopsis
Where does the notion of free will come from? How and when did it develop, and what did that development involve? In Michael Frede's radically new account of the history of this idea, the notion of a free will emerged from powerful assumptions about the relation between divine providence, correctness of individual choice, and self-enslavement due to incorrect choice. Anchoring his discussion in Stoicism, Frede begins with Aristotle--who, he argues, had no notion of a free will--and ends with Augustine. Frede shows that Augustine, far from originating the idea (as is often claimed), derived most of his thinking about it from the Stoicism developed by Epictetus.
Synopsis
"As readers will quickly discover, the quality of the text that [Frede] has bequeathed fully matches the brilliance and incisiveness for which all his work is admired."
From the foreword by David Sedley
Synopsis
"This is an outstanding piece of work: timely, essential, authoritative, and original. Cahill throws light on obscure artists, emerging styles and regional traditions, unexplored aspects of cultural life, enigmatic iconographies, and questions of authorship and authenticity, leaving the reader richly informed and full of new ideas."and#151;Susan Nelson, Indiana University
"Cahill brings the vast body of 'vernacular' painting into the legitimate venue of art historical criticism, giving connoisseurs, viewers, and readers a more capacious and accurate grasp of the world of Chinese pictorial art."and#151;Susan Mann, author of The Talented Women of the Zhang Family
Synopsis
This groundbreaking study examines decorative Chinese works of art and visual culture, known as chinoiserie, in the context of church and state politics, with a particular focus on the Catholic missionsandrsquo; impact on Western attitudes toward China and the Chinese. Art-historical examinations of chinoiserie have largely ignored the role of the church and its conversion efforts in Asia; Johns, however, demonstrates that the emperorandrsquo;s 1722 prohibition against Catholic evangelization, occurring after almost a century and a half of tolerance, prompted a remarkable change in European visualizations of China in Roman Catholic countries. China and the Church considers the progress of Christianity in China during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, examines authentic works of Chinese art available to European artists producing chinoiserie, and explains how the East Asian male body in Western art changed from andldquo;normativeandrdquo; depictions to whimsical, feminized grotesques after the collapse of the missionary efforts during the 1720s.
About the Author
Michael Frede, who died in 2007, held positions successively in the departments of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, and Oxford University, where he held the Chair of the History of Philosophy. In 1997-1998, he was Sather Professor of Classical Literature at UC Berkeley, where he delivered the lectures that make up this volume. A. A. Long is Professor of Classics, Irving Stone Professor of Literature, and Affiliated Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life and From Epicurus to Epictetus: Studies in Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy. David Sedley is Lawrence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and the author of Creationism and Its Critics in Antiquity (UC Press).
Table of Contents
Foreword
Editor's Preface
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Aristotle on Choice without a Will
Chapter 3. The Emergence of a Notion of Will in Stoicism
Chapter 4. Later Platonist and Peripatetic Contributions
Chapter 5. The Emergence of a Notion of a Free Will in Stoicism
Chapter 6. Platonist and Peripatetic Criticisms and Responses
Chapter 7. An Early Christian View on a Free Will: Origen
Chapter 8. Reactions to the Stoic Notion of a Free Will: Plotinus
Chapter 9. Augustine: A Radically New Notion of a Free Will?
Chapter 10. Conclusion
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index