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BestsellerE-book
Author Campbell, Aurelia, author.

Title What the emperor built : architecture and empire in the early Ming / Aurelia Campbell.

Publication Info. Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2020]

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xiii, 217 pages) : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents Perfecting the past : the design and construction of the Northern Capital -- Great pillars of state : the rise and fall of monumental nanmu halls -- Becoming Zhenwu : the imperial turn at Mount Wudang -- From mandala to palace : transforming space and site at Gautama Monastery -- Conclusion : architecture as empire.
Summary "The Yongle emperor (r. 1402-24), one of the most famous rulers in Chinese history, is perhaps best known as the builder of Beijing's magnificent Forbidden City and for reconstruction of the Grand Canal. This volume is both the first book-length study in a Western language of Ming dynasty (1368-1644) architecture and the first in any language devoted to the architectural projects of a single Chinese emperor. Focusing on Yongle's imperial palaces in Beijing, a Daoist architectural complex on Mount Wudang, and a Buddhist temple at the Sino-Tibetan frontier, it analyzes his empire-wide construction projects and demonstrates how the siting, design, and use of his palaces and temples established his authority and contributed to the legitimization of his usurpation of power. These architectural projects help us understand his sense of empire by the far-flung locations in which he built, the distant regions from which he extracted the construction materials, and the use of tens of thousands of craftsmen and other laborers. Through his constructions, Yongle connected himself to the divine, interacted with his subjects, established an imperial presence in regions far outside the capital, and shaped his imperial legacy-thus extending imperial influence across space and time. Spanning issues of architectural design and also of construction technologies, this analysis reveals the remarkable advancements in timber-frame construction as well as using an art-historical approach to examine patronage, audience, and reception, and to situate the buildings within their larger social, historical, and religious contexts"-- Provided by publisher.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Ming Chengzu, Emperor of China, 1360-1424 -- Art patronage.
Ming Chengzu, Emperor of China, 1360-1424.
Art patronage.
Architecture -- China -- History -- Ming-Qing dynasties, 1368-1912.
Architecture and state -- China -- History -- To 1500.
Architecture and state.
China.
History.
Chronological Term To 1500
Subject China -- Civilization -- 960-1644.
Civilization.
Chronological Term 960-1644
To 1912
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Electronic books.
History.
Other Form: Print version: Campbell, Aurelia. What the emperor built Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2020] 9780295746883 (DLC) 2019038424
ISBN 9780295746890 electronic book
0295746890 electronic book
9780295746883 hardcover