Dimensions of Originality [Recurso electrónico] : Essays on Seventeenth-Century Chinese Art Th eory and Criticism / Katharine P. Burnett.

Issued as part of book collections on Project MUSE.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 385-402) and index.

Part I -- 1. some problems of expectation or speculations on why originality can't be a "traditional Chinese" value (when it is) -- Some problems of interpretation or discerning the flavors of a fine kettle of fish -- Part II. Ideas and words -- How ideas spread across China and among the classes -- The importance of a word : a discussion of critical terms -- Part III. What the theorists and critics had to say -- What the texts say : originality in pre-seventeenth-century art theory and criticism -- What the texts say : originality in seventeenth-century painting theory and criticism -- What the texts say : originality in seventeenth-century calligraphy theory and criticism -- Part IV. Images -- The other Dong Qichang -- What originality looks like : Wu Bin's On the way to Shanyin -- Part V. The legacy of a concept -- 10. The End of originality as the seventeenth century knew it -- Epilogue. A new canon : qi becomes the new zheng -- Appendix. Instances of the ise of qi, yi, and guai in sobriquet dictionaries -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Libro Electrónico

Dimensions of Originality investigates the issue of conceptual originality in seventeenth-century art criticism, a period in which China dynamically reinvented itself. The term which was called upon to indicate conceptual originality more than any other was qi, literally, "different"; but secondarily, "odd," like a number and, by extension, "the novel" and "extraordinary." Burnett speculates on why many have dismissed originality as a "traditional Chinese" value, and the ramifications this has had on understanding. She further demonstrates that a study of key terms can reveal social and cultural values, and provides a linear history of the increase in use of qi as "originality" through the seventeenth centuries.

Description based on print version record.