Handbook of the colour print in China, 1600-1800

Abstract

Handbook of the Colour Print in China 1600-1800 is a ground-breaking volume of collected research into colour woodblock printed imagery produced in early modern China. The emergence and development of colour woodblock imagery occurred first in book illustrations and then in single-sheet prints. Leading scholars of Chinese print culture trace the emergence of a sophisticated and fully developed colour woodblock print technology between the late Ming and mid-Qing. This volume examines the impact of colour prints on Qing visual culture through interdisciplinary studies investigating literary and artistic contexts, social and economic histories, and dating through European inventoried collections. Richly illustrated with full-colour reproductions, this volume is an essential contribution to the future study of Chinese print and book culture.