Dimensions of Originality

Essays on Seventeenth-Century Chinese Art Theory and Criticism

Katharine P. Burnett

• Publisher: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9789629964566

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.

Table of contents

• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Frontispiece
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Notes to the reader
• Preface
• Part I
• Chapter 1: Some Problems of Expectation
• Chapter 2: Some Problems of Interpretation
• Part II: Ideas and Words
• Chapter 3: How Ideas Spread Across China And Among The Classes
• Chapter 4: The Importance Of A Word
• Part III: What the Theorists and Critics Had to Say
• Chapter 5: Pre-seventeenth-century Art Theory And Criticism
• Chapter 6: Seventeenth-century Painting Theory And Criticism
• Chapter 7: Seventeenth-century Calligraphy Theory And Criticism
• Part IV: Images
• Chapter 8: The Other Dong Qichang
• Chapter 9: What Originality Looks Like
• Illustrations
• Part V: The Legacy of a Concept
• Chapter 10: The End of Originality
• Epilogue
• Appendix: Instances of the Use of Qi, Yi, and Guaiin Sobriquet Dictionaries
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index