Chinese calligraphy has traditionally been an emblem of the ruling class and its authority. After a century of mass revolution, what is the fate of this elite art? Richard Kraus explores the relationship beween politics and the art of writing in China today to explicate the complex relationship between tradition and modernity in Chinese culture. His study draws upon a wide range of sources, from political documents, memoirs, and interviews with Chinese intellectuals to art exhibitions and television melodramas. Mao Zedong and other Communist leaders gave calligraphy a revolutionary role, believing that their beloved art reflected the luster of authoritative words and deeds. Calligraphy was joined with new propagandistic mass media to become less a private art and more a public performance. It provided politically engaged citizens with subtle cues to changing power relationships in the People's Republic. Claiming neither that the Communists obliterated traditional culture nor that revolution failed to relieve the burden of China's past, this study subtly examines the changing uses of tradition in a modernizing society.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
University of California Press
ISBN-13
9780520072855
eBay Product ID (ePID)
88479627
Product Key Features
Book Title
Brushes with Power: Modern Politics and the Chinese Art of Calligraphy
Author
Richard Curt Kraus
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Calligraphy
Publication Year
1991
Number of Pages
220 Pages
Dimensions
Item Weight
454g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Richard Curt Kraus
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
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