The Problem of Beauty: Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in Northern Song Dynasty China

432 Pages·2006·20.364 MB·English

by  Ronald C. Egan

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THE
PROBLEM OF
BEAUTY'
Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in
Northern Song Dynasty China
Harvard East Asian Monographs 271
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,':~'
THE
PROBLEM OF
BEAUTY'
Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in
Northern Song Dynasty China
Harvard East Asian Monographs 271
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THE
PROBLEM OF
BEAUTY
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Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in
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Northern Song Dynasty China
Ronald Egan
Published by the Harvard University Asia Center
and distributed by Harvard University Press
•
Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London,
2006
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J ,. ,
~2q1 "~ ' r' , J }
&~1~
THE
PROBLEM OF
BEAUTY
:,.'
·~
Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in
; j -.,i'.~io,d, 'Hr.t ..1 J~f,~
Northern Song Dynasty China
Ronald Egan
Published by the Harvard University Asia Center
and distributed by Harvard University Press
•
Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London,
2006
J:. ;. \II ~ tiH~ ~
S3~.1l/ 1\ I1 \11 11\1 111\ III 1\11 1\11\ IIII \111 \1 \11\1 III 1\1\ 111\ IIII 1\11\11
A541 221 0089 ?33?B
I
q) 2006 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College .1.1~,.,.
I Acknowledgments
Printed in the United States of America
The Harvard University Asia Center publishes a monograph series and, in coordination with
the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, the Korea Institute, the Reischauer Institute of
Japanese Studies, and other faculties and institutes, administers research projects designed to
further scholarly understanding of China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, and other Asian countries.
The Center also sponsors projects addressing multidisciplinary and regional issues in Asia. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Harvard Journal of
Asiatic Studies for permission to use quotations from James R. High
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data tower's translation and discussion of Liu Yong in Chapter 5.
Egan, Ronald, 1945- R.E.
The problem of beauty: aesthetic thought and pursuits in Northern Song dynasty China
I Ronald Egan.
p. cm. - (Harvard East Asian monographs; 271)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-674-02264-5 (alk. paper)
I. China--Civilization-96o-1644. 2. Aesthetics. I. Title. n. Series.
OS750.72.E.43 2006
709.51'09021222
2006000347
Index by the author
@ Printed on acid-free paper
Last figure below indicates year of this printing
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
I
q) 2006 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College .1.1~,.,.
I Acknowledgments
Printed in the United States of America
The Harvard University Asia Center publishes a monograph series and, in coordination with
the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, the Korea Institute, the Reischauer Institute of
Japanese Studies, and other faculties and institutes, administers research projects designed to
further scholarly understanding of China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, and other Asian countries.
The Center also sponsors projects addressing multidisciplinary and regional issues in Asia. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Harvard Journal of
Asiatic Studies for permission to use quotations from James R. High
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data tower's translation and discussion of Liu Yong in Chapter 5.
Egan, Ronald, 1945- R.E.
The problem of beauty: aesthetic thought and pursuits in Northern Song dynasty China
I Ronald Egan.
p. cm. - (Harvard East Asian monographs; 271)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-674-02264-5 (alk. paper)
I. China--Civilization-96o-1644. 2. Aesthetics. I. Title. n. Series.
OS750.72.E.43 2006
709.51'09021222
2006000347
Index by the author
@ Printed on acid-free paper
Last figure below indicates year of this printing
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
Contents
Introduction
I Rethinking "Traces" from the Past: Ouyang Xiu on
Stone Inscriptions
7
2 A New Poetry Criticism: The Creation of "Remarks
on Poetry" 60
3 The Peony's Allure: Botanical Treatises and
Floral Beauty
4 Art Collecting and Its Discontents in the Lives of
Su Shi, Wang Shen, and Mi Fu
5 The Song Lyric, Part I: The Trouble with Love 237
6 The Song Lyric, Part 2: A New Critical Discourse,
a New Male Voice 295
Conclusion: The Aesthetics of Social Class, Marketplace,
and Gender
349
Reference Matter
Works Cited 385
I Index 397
!
Contents
Introduction
I Rethinking "Traces" from the Past: Ouyang Xiu on
Stone Inscriptions
7
2 A New Poetry Criticism: The Creation of "Remarks
on Poetry" 60
3 The Peony's Allure: Botanical Treatises and
Floral Beauty
4 Art Collecting and Its Discontents in the Lives of
Su Shi, Wang Shen, and Mi Fu
5 The Song Lyric, Part I: The Trouble with Love 237
6 The Song Lyric, Part 2: A New Critical Discourse,
a New Male Voice 295
Conclusion: The Aesthetics of Social Class, Marketplace,
and Gender
349
Reference Matter
Works Cited 385
I Index 397
!
THE
PROBLEM OF
BEAUTY
Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in
Northern Song Dynasty China
,I.
i
•
THE
PROBLEM OF
BEAUTY
Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in
Northern Song Dynasty China
,I.
i
•