Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China

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Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China

Watt, James C. Y., and Denise Patry Leidy (2005)

This title is out of print.

Description

The imperial workshops of Yongle (r. 1403–24), third emperor of the Ming dynasty, produced superb paintings, sculptures, porcelains, and other luxury objects that became the foundation for subsequent developments in the arts for the remainder of the Ming dynasty. This volume traces the roots of the Yongle artistic styles to the previous dynasty, the Yuan (1271–1368), when China was ruled by the Mongols. It offers new insight into the emperor's attachment to Tibetan Buddhism, which is reflected in many of the objects illustrated in this volume. The Yongle reign was also a period of active trade and diplomatic exchanges between China and Central Asia and the Middle East, the influence of which can be seen in the decorative arts of this era: porcelain articles, for instance, copied the shapes of Islamic glass and metalware vessels. It was this masterful blending of indigenous Chinese themes with foreign styles and designs that created the vibrant synthesis of the arts that is a hallmark of the Yongle reign. This brief account of the arts is narrated against the life and times of one of the most powerful and complex personalities history has ever known.

Table of contents

Director's Foreword
Philippe de Montebello

Yongle and the Arts of China
James C. Y. Watt

Decorative Arts
Denise Patry Leidy

Buddhist Art
Denise Patry Leidy

Selected Reading

Photograph Credits

About the authors

James C. Y. Watt is Brooke Russell Astor Chairman of the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Denise Patry Leidy is Associate Curator in the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Tags

Authors

Denise Patry Leidy | James C. Y. Watt

Keywords

Asian Art, China

Titles by author (25)

Denise Patry Leidy

James C. Y. Watt

Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China

The Yongle emperor (r. 1403&ndash1425) was the most powerful, effective, and extravagant ruler of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). His reign was punctuated by vigorous military campaigns and unprecedented maritime expeditions. A son of the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, he seized the throne from his nephew and moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. Yongle's strong faith in Tibetan Buddhism, and the means of production at his disposal, determined both the repertory and the style of the superb paintings, sculptures, lacquers, metalwork, ceramics, textiles, and ivories produced in the imperial workshops during his reign. This exhibition defines a crucial moment in the development of imperial Chinese art and its relationship to later artistic traditions. On view are sculptures, lacquers, metalwork, ceramics, textiles, and ivories. Important recent acquisitions—such as a gilt-brass sculpture, Manjushri, depicting the Bodhisattva of Wisdom and a rare lacquer sutra box with incised gold decoration (qiangjin)—are presented along with twelve works (embroidered silks and works in cloisonné, ivory, and lacquer) acquired since 1990. Fifteen loans, many from New York collections, supplement the thirty-three objects drawn from the Metropolitan Museum's permanent collection.