Awards

• Commended for Best Book in the Art of Writing and Publishing Award 2019
• Commended for Best Book in the Art of Writing and Publishing Award 2019 (United States)
• Commended for Elisabeth Blair MacDougall Award 2022
• Commended for Elisabeth Blair MacDougall Award 2022 (United States)
• Winner of John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize 2022 (United States)
• Winner of On The Brinck Book Award 2023 (United States)

Overview

In 1702, the second emperor of the Qing dynasty ordered construction of a new summer palace in Rehe (now Chengde, Hebei) to support his annual tours north among the court's Inner Mongolian allies. The Mountain Estate to Escape the Heat (Bishu Shanzhuang) was strategically located at the node of mountain ""veins"" through which the Qing empire's geomantic energy was said to flow. At this site, from late spring through early autumn, the Kangxi emperor presided over rituals of intimacy and exchange that celebrated his rule: garden tours, banquets, entertainments, and gift giving. Stephen Whiteman draws on resources and methods from art and architectural history, garden and landscape history, early modern global history, and historical geography to reconstruct the Mountain Estate as it evolved under Kangxi, illustrating the importance of landscape as a medium for ideological expression during the early Qing and in the early modern world more broadly. Examination of paintings, prints, historical maps, newly created maps informed by GIS-based research, and personal accounts reveals the significance of geographic space and its representation in the negotiation of Qing imperial ideology. The first monograph in any language to focus solely on the art and architecture of the Kangxi court, Where Dragon Veins Meet illuminates the court's production and deployment of landscape as a reflection of contemporary concerns and offers new insight into the sources and forms of Qing power through material expressions. Art History Publication Initiative

Full Product Details

9780295745800

Table of Contents

Reviews

Whiteman's book is a valuable contribution to the history of the early Qing period, as well as to art history...When closing the book, one feels that its beautiful design and production, striking on first opening it, contribute to bringing to the fore the original and thought-provoking arguments put forward within it. * Sehepunkte * Whiteman displays a dazzling command of his subject. His careful presentation of the source materials, their defects, and the methods he chose to transcend obstacles bespeak a commitment to historical accuracy that is both commendable and impressive. * Journal of Chinese Studies * This book...fills a monumental gap in the art, architectural, and landscape histories of the early modern world, providing a long-overdue interdisciplinary discussion of the Qing emperor whose reign and works overlapped with those of better-studied contemporaries. * Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians * Scholars from both fields, as well as other interested readers will find it of value, while the rich illustrations and beautiful design promise a delightful reading experience. * East Asian Science Technology and Medicine *

Whiteman's book is a valuable contribution to the history of the early Qing period, as well as to art history...When closing the book, one feels that its beautiful design and production, striking on first opening it, contribute to bringing to the fore the original and thought-provoking arguments put forward within it. * Sehepunkte *

Whiteman's book is a valuable contribution to the history of the early Qing period, as well as to art history...When closing the book, one feels that its beautiful design and production, striking on first opening it, contribute to bringing to the fore the original and thought-provoking arguments put forward within it. * Sehepunkte * Whiteman displays a dazzling command of his subject. His careful presentation of the source materials, their defects, and the methods he chose to transcend obstacles bespeak a commitment to historical accuracy that is both commendable and impressive. * Journal of Chinese Studies * This book...fills a monumental gap in the art, architectural, and landscape histories of the early modern world, providing a long-overdue interdisciplinary discussion of the Qing emperor whose reign and works overlapped with those of better-studied contemporaries. * Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians * Scholars from both fields, as well as other interested readers will find it of value, while the rich illustrations and beautiful design promise a delightful reading experience. * East Asian Science Technology and Medicine * Where Dragon Veins Meet provides an exemplary study of a particular site by connecting methods of art history, humanist geography, landscape and garden studies, and literature... All in all, Whiteman's book maps out new paths to approaching historical landscape, intermedial representations of place, as well as transcultural studies of imperial and pictorial spaces. * Art Bulletin *

Author Information

Stephen H. Whiteman is senior lecturer in the art and architecture of China at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London.

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