Table Of ContentChina and England
This book examines egalitarian social ideals and institutions that arose in
preindustrial China and England, and in the process, uncovers China’s forgotten
role in the history of social justice debate and legislation during the eighteenth
century. Drawing on a wide range of visual and documentary evidence, the author
shows that many prominent individuals in both England and China adopted
comparable strategies as a logical response to excesses of privilege and arbitrary
power, with educated but non-noble persons taking advantage of print culture,
a more literate population, an expanded art market, public spaces and other familiar
‘early modern’ developments to interrogate the system of inherited privilege and
promote a more meritocratic society. This shared experience created common
ground for transformative exchange between the two great traditions during the
eighteenth century. By providing a more global account of what we call Western
values, the book shows that early modern China and England had far more in
common than is normally supposed, and thus challenges claims on the right and
the left that the people of China lacked a concept of social justice and that China’s
cultural legacy should be treated as exceptional in regard to human rights.
Martin Powers is Sally Michelson Davidson Professor of Chinese Arts and
Cultures at the University of Michigan, USA. He is the author of Art and Political
Expression in Early China and Pattern and Person: Ornament, Society, and Self
in Classical China, both books winners of the Levenson Prize for the best book
in pre-twentieth century Chinese studies. He is the co-editor of The Blackwell
Companion to Chinese Art and Looking at Asian Art.
China and England
The Preindustrial Struggle for Justice in
Word and Image
Martin Powers
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Martin Powers
The right of Martin Powers to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Powers, Martin Joseph, 1949– author.
Title: China and England : the preindustrial struggle for justice in word
and image / Martin Powers.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; NewYork, NY : Routledge, 2019. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018035713 (print) | LCCN 2018038225 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781315145754 (ebk) | ISBN 9781351381734 (web pdf ) |
ISBN 9781351381727 (epub) | ISBN 9781351381710 (mobi/kindle) |
ISBN 9781138504035 (hbk)
Subjects: LCSH: Human rights—China—History. | Human rights—
England—History. | Social justice—China—History. | Social
justice—China—History.
Classification: LCC JC599.C6 (ebook) | LCC JC599.C6 P69 2019 (print) |
DDC 323.0942—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018035713
ISBN: 978-1-138-50403-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-14575-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Dedicated to unsung justice warriors of all races
Contents
ContentsContents
List of figures viii
Preface xiv
Glossary xv
1 Introduction 1
2 Cultural politics 11
3 Political authority 26
4 The polity 48
5 The people: China 72
6 The people: England 87
7 Equality: China 105
8 Equality: England 124
9 Speech: China 143
10 Speech: England 168
11 Envisioning speech 187
12 A common struggle 214
Selected bibliography 231
Index 242
Figures
1.1 Left to right: the baby Zhao Wu, his mother, and his rescuer,
Cheng Ying. Wu Family Shrines, 147–167 CE. Second newly
excavated tile. Rubbings, Jiaxiang, Shandong, China. After
Eduoard Chavannes, Mission archeologique dans la Chine
septentrionale (Paris, 1909–1915), atlas, no. 143. 2
2.1 Vase with women enjoying scholarly pursuits, detail. Jingdezhen,
porcelain painted with colored enamels over transparent glaze.
Detail. Late seventeenth to early eighteenth century. 16
2.2 Rubbing of a bronze mirror back showing a woman artist
explaining her work to companions. Southern Song dynasty,
thirteenth century. 18
3.1 Quentin Metsys (1466–1530), “Adoration of the Magi.” Oil on
wood. 1526. 29
3.2 Portrait of Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Portrait with
Coat of Arms surround by the Collar of the Order of St Michael
and the Garter ca. 1564. Artist unknown. Oil on panel. 110 x 80 cm. 31
3.3 Frontispiece to Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan or The Matter,
Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and
Civil, 1651. 33
3.4 Frontispiece to Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, detail of figure 3.3. 34
3.5 The northern side of the eastern wall in Mogao Cave 103
showing Manjusri Bodhisattva and the Emperor in procession. 35
3.6 Bing Ji and the Ox, detail. Zhang Family Workshop. Pillow
with Landscape Scenes. Stoneware with painted decoration over
white slip under clear glaze (Cizhou ware) Jin-Yuan dynasty
(thirteenth to fourteenth century). 41
3.7 Bing Ji and the Ox, detail of figure 3.6. 41
3.8 A Chinese military man from Guangxi, from Athanasias
Kircher’s illustrations of typical Chinese in An embassy from the
East-India company of the United Provinces, to the grand tartar
cham emperour of China, delivered by their excellcies. Peter
De Goyer, and Jacob De Keyzer, at his imperial city of Peking
. . . Nieuhof, Johannes, 1618–1672. 43
Figures ix
3.9 Nicolas de Largillierre (1656–1746), dated 1696, Portrait of a
Woman, possibly Madame Claude Lambert de Thorigny and an
enslaved servant. 1696, oil on canvas. 44
4.1 The people greeting Emperor Xuanzong and officials, detail,
“Greeting the Emperor at Wangxian Village.” Hanging scroll,
ink and colors on silk. Artist unidentified. Southern Song
dynasty (1125–1278). 63
4.2 The King of Anle Commandery Receiving the Imperial Hearse,
detail. Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). Detail. Handscroll,
ink and color on silk. 64
4.3 The people gathering to view the procession, detail of The King
of Anle Commandery Receiving the Imperial Hearse. 65
4.4 Villagers responding to the return of the imperial hearse, detail
of figure 4.3. 65
4.5 Attributed to Qu Ding (active ca. 1023–ca. 1056), “Summer
Mountains,” panorama, detail. Northern Song dynasty (960–
1127), ca. 1050. Handscroll; ink and light color on silk. Ex coll.:
C. C. Wang Family, Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973 (1973.120.1). 66
4.6 Merchant ships docked at a tavern near a village, detail of
figure 4.5. Photograph by the author. 67
4.7 Upscale restaurant in the mountains, detail of figure 4.5. Note
tea house in lower left corner. Photograph by the author. 67
4.8 Tea house, detail of figure 4.5. Note the mule team merchant
heading for the tea house in the upper left. Photograph by the author. 68
4.9 The “Donkey Rider” motif, detail of figure 4.5. Photograph by
the author. 68
5.1 Song dynasty artist. Twisting Silk Thread. ca. 1210. Hanging
scroll, ink and light color on silk. 73
5.2 Woman Spooling Silk while attending young children. Detail of
figure 5.1. 74
5.3 Zhang Zeduan (active ca. 1190–ca. 1230), “Spring Festival on
the River,” detail. Northern Song. Handscroll in ink and light
colors on silk. 76
5.4 Men, women, and children going about their business on a busy
street in Luoyang. Detail of Lady Wenji’s return to China: Wenji
arriving home. Southern Song dynasty, second quarter of the
twelfth century. Artist unidentified. Ink, color, and gold on silk. 77
5.5 Buffalo and Herder Boy. Twelfth century. Unknown artist. Ink
and color on silk. Overall: 9 7/8 x 11 1/8 in. (25.1 x 28.2 cm.) 80
5.6 Boy, Buffalo, and Calf, 1205 or 1265. Li (Chinese). Album leaf;
ink and color on silk. 81
5.7 Emaciated herder boy, detail of figure 5.5. 82
6.1 The Committee on Popery or Popery in Masquerade. London:
Published by Henry Brome, printed by Mary Clark. Engraving
on paper. After Sir Roger L’Estrange, 1680. 90
