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Lutes and Marginality in Pre-Modern China traces the complex history of lutes as they moved from the far west into China, and how these instruments became linked to various forms of social, cultural, ethnic, and religious marginality within and at China's borders.
List of contents
1. Introduction and Methodology Part 1: Lutes from the Distant Margins 2. The Archaeology of Lutes in Western Asia 3. Archaeological Evidence for Lutes in Central and South Asia: Innovation and Diversity Part 2: Lutes and China's Border Regions 4. The Round-bodied lute (Ruanxian) in Chinese Funerary Art of the Third to Sixth Centuries 5. Lutes and the Deities that Play Them in Buddhist Art of Northwest China Part 3: From Periphery to Center 6. The Pipa and Marginalized Musicians in Six Dynasties to Tang 7. The Round-Bodied Lute (Ruanxian) in Tang Literature and Material Culture Part 4: Lutes, Gender, and Social Marginality 8. Lutes and Frontiers: Remembering and Constructing Wang Zhaojun and the Wusun Princess, The Five Dynasties through Ming 9. Wenren Strumming the Ruan: An Overview of Song to Early Qing Poetry and Paintings Depicting Scholars as Lute Players 10. Conclusion to Lutes and Marginality in Pre-Modern China
About the author
Ingrid Maren Furniss is a professor of art history at Lafayette College. She is the author of Music in Ancient China: An Archaeological and Art Historical Study of Strings, Winds, and Drums during the Eastern Zhou and Han Periods (770 BCE to 220 CE).
Summary
Lutes and Marginality in Pre-Modern China traces the complex history of lutes as they moved from the far west into China, and how these instruments became linked to various forms of social, cultural, ethnic, and religious marginality within and at China’s borders.
