Reading Chinese: the Book, the Collection, and the Library in Late Imperial China

Applications are now closed

With Duncan Campbell

Wang Xian 王咸 (1591-1676), “Painting of the Pavilion for Drawing from the Well of the Ancients” (Jiguge tu 汲古閣圖), 1642. Photo courtesy of Duncan Campbell.

  • It has been estimated that by the 1750s, more books had been produced in China than in the rest of the world put together. What constituted the Chinese book, over time, and how did Chinese engage with them? How were they collected, and what do we know about the private libraries that were once such a pronounced feature of the geographical and intellectual landscapes of late imperial China, before being replaced by imported models of the public library at the turn of the last century?

    As China again enters a golden age of printing (with distinct Chinese characteristics), this interactive 3-day course will discuss aspects of the book world of the late imperial period of China’s long history of print culture, with a focus on the story of a library close to the little southern Chinese town of Changshu during the closing years of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

    The course will also involve hands-on sessions with Aotearoa New Zealand’s only set of Chinese movable type at Wai-te-ata Press as well as a guided tour of what remains of Wellington’s Chinese New Zealand built heritage.

    NZ$850.00

    Prospective attendees will be notified quickly of the outcome of their application. To secure a place, successful applicants will be required to pay a non-refundable NZ$100.00 deposit by the 1 September 2024 application deadline.

    Full payment is required by 1 October 2024.

  • Duncan M. Campbell taught (Chinese language, modern and classical; Chinese literature, modern and classical; and aspects of Chinese history and civilisation) at the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, and the Australian National University in Canberra. Between 2015-16, he was the June & Simon K.C. Li Director of the Center for East Asian Garden Studies and Curator of the Chinese Garden with The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, USA. The bulk of his research concentrates on the literary and material culture of late imperial China, with reference to the late Ming-early Qing period (1550s-1660s).

  • This course is open to anyone interested in the topic and Chinese Aotearoa broadly speaking.