| Description |
1 online resource (1 volume) : illustrations (black and white, and colour) |
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text txt rdacontent |
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computer c rdamedia |
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online resource cr rdacarrier |
| Series |
Asian history |
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Asian history.
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| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references. |
| Note |
Print version record. |
| Summary |
This volume brings the studies of institutions, labour, and material cultures to bear on the history of science and technology by tracing the workings of the Imperial Household Department (Neiwufu) in the Qing court and empire. An enormous apparatus that employed 22,000 men and women at its heyday, the Department operated a "machine" with myriad moving parts. The first part of the book portrays the people who kept it running, from technical experts to menial servants, and scrutinises the paper trails they left behind. Part two uncovers the working principles of the machine by following the production chains of some of its most splendid products: gilded statues, jade, porcelain, and textiles. Part three tackles the most complex task of all, managing living organisms in nature, including lotus plants grown in imperial ponds in Beijing, fresh medicines sourced from disparate regions, and tribute elephants from Southeast Asia. |
| Contents |
Frontmatter -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Conventions for the Notation of Time, Weights, and Measures -- Note on Translation -- Note on the Frontmatter Maps and Cover Image -- Introduction -- Part I Operating the Machine: Personnel and Paper Trails -- Vignette Essay I -- Moving Pieces -- 1 Working the Qing Palace Machine -- 2 Manager or Craftsman -- 3 Kupiao and the Accounting System of the Imperial Household Workshops -- Part II Producing the Court: Materials and Artefacts -- Vignette essay II -- The Story of An Image -- 4 Piecing Shards Together -- 5 Resplendent Innovations -- 6 Transporting Jade -- Part III Mobilizing Nature: Plants and Animals -- Vignette essay III -- Decluttering -- 7 Growing and Organizing Lotus in Qing Imperial Spaces -- 8 The Medicine Supply System of the Qing Court -- 9 When There Is Peace, There Are Elephants -- Coda -- Contributors -- Bibliography -- Index |
| Language |
In English. |
| Subject |
China. Nei wu fu -- History.
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China. Nei wu fu
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China -- History -- Qing dynasty, 1644-1912.
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Chine -- Histoire -- 1644-1912 (Dynastie des Qing)
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Museology and heritage studies.
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Asian history.
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HISTORY -- Asia -- China.
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Qing Dynasty (China)
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China https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PBJcrd4RjtCBk4wfMhTwwG3
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| Chronological Term |
1644-1912
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| Indexed Term |
China, Qing Court, Material culture, Science & technology, Imperial Household Department. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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History
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| Added Author |
Siebert, Martina, editor.
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Chen, Kai Jun, editor.
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Ko, Dorothy, 1957- editor.
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| Other Form: |
Print version: Making the palace machine work. Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2021 9789463720359 (OCoLC)1255867313 |
| ISBN |
9789048553228 (electronic bk.) |
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9048553229 (electronic bk.) |
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9789463720359 |
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9463720359 |
| Standard No. |
10.1515/9789048553228 doi |
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AU@ 000069928275 |
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AU@ 000069972565 |
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AU@ 000073941768 |
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