eBook - PDF

Exemplary Things

Name: Exemplary Things
Author: Christine M. E. Guth

Meibutsu in Premodern Japan

Christine M. E. Guth,

213 pages
English
PDF
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - PDF

Exemplary Things

Meibutsu in Premodern Japan

Christine M. E. Guth,

About this book

A beautifully illustrated history of one of the most important cultural categories in Japan

The Japanese term meibutsu refers to things of the highest cultural value, evolving over time to encompass both craft and fine art, high and low culture, and manufactured and natural items. Material goods designated as meibutsu range from precious art objects to regional products like bamboo baskets and ceramics. Exemplary Things traces the history of this epistemic classificatory system in Japanese culture from its elite origins in the fifteenth century to its commercial appropriation today.

Christine Guth explores the use of meibutsu to designate famous things (especially in the elevated context of tea practice), the term’s institutionalization, and its popularization through print media and replicas (utsushi), and discusses how the term was used in critiques of the extravagance associated with collecting these costly treasures. She looks at the intertwined histories of meibutsu swords, incense, and tea utensils, focusing on their identities and agency as things with personal names. Guth explains how meibutsu evolved from a culture of tributes, taxes, and gift giving associated with a sense of place into a term essential to cultural literacy, and how Japan’s modern legislation for the protection of its national treasures (kokuh?) drew on this legacy.

With stunning illustrations, Exemplary Things casts the art history of Japan in a new light, showing how the concept of meibutsu blurs the lines between economic value, cultural and aesthetic worth, and the furtherance of political power.

Published in association with the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.

At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.

Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete

Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.

Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.

We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.

Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.

Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.

Yes, you can access Exemplary Things by Christine M. E. Guth in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Art & Art Theory & Criticism. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.