Appearance Politics

Legitimacy Building in Late Imperial and Modern China

Lex Lu (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

324 Seiten

2024
Cornell University Press (Verlag)
978-1-5017-7785-1 (ISBN)

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Lex Lu argues in Appearance Politics that crafting an appealing and powerful outward image has long been an essential political instrument in China. Its traces may be found in historical records, imperial portraits, physiognomic prognostications, photographs, posters, statues, and digital images. Employing rare archival materials from Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing, Lu tells the story of these political maneuverings. We learn the ways in which political actors and their agents designed their images, and we observe the shifting standards of male beauty that guided their decisions.

Appearance Politics examines five case studies: the usurpation of Ming Prince Zhu Di; the rise of Manchu masculinity and its mixed standards of Han Chinese and Manchu beauty at the Yongzheng court; the use of modern photography and Western male beauty standards at the turn of the twentieth century; the making of the Republican founding father Sun Yat-sen; and the creation of visual templates of Mao Zedong. Lu's rich empirical study counters systematic stereotypical descriptions of Chinese male leadership embedded in Western media and scholarship.

Lex Lu is Associate Professor in History at Clark University. His research focuses on conceptualization of masculinity, as well as changing male beauty standards, as they pertain to Chinese politics, society, and culture.

Introduction: Why Physical Appearance Matters to Chinese Political History
Part 1: APPEARANCE POLITICS IN IMPERIAL CHINA
1. Physiognomy and Political Appearance in the Early Ming: Legitimizing Zhu Di's Rise to Power (1380–1424)
2. Curating a Manchu Masculine Image: AppearancePolitics at the Qing Court
Part 2: POLITICAL IMAGE AND REVOLUTION
3. Instrument Upgrade: The Rise of Photography in Appearance Politics (1850–1910)
4. Building the Line of Legitimacy: Crafting Sun Yat-sen Political Imagery in Republican China
5. Print, Power, and Masculinity: Images of Mao and the Communist Leadership in the Early People's Republic of China
Conclusion: A Brave New World of Appearance Politics

Erscheinungsdatum	29.02.2024
Zusatzinfo	35 b&w halftones, 26 color halftones - 35 Halftones, black and white - 26 Halftones, color
Verlagsort	Ithaca
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	907 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Gender Studies
ISBN-10	1-5017-7785-8 / 1501777858
ISBN-13	978-1-5017-7785-1 / 9781501777851
Zustand	Neuware