ART 392 - The Forbidden City

Institution:

Reed College

Subject:

Description:

Full course for one semester. From the 15th century through the early 20th century, the imperial city walled within the Ming and Qing dynasty capital at Beijing was the center of a politically mandated and produced visual and material culture. This seminar will explore the architecture, the city plan, and an array of objects produced at court, from carved walnuts in the shapes of boats to monumental dragons of white marble, from handscroll paintings to maps. We will interpret the city in light of classical Chinese theories of city design, theoretical discussion of ethnicity and the arts, and issues of identity surrounding the patronage and personality of the Qing emperors. The course will ask why and how the city, although forbidden, managed to become and remain the symbolic locus of power in late imperial China, and how it has been reinterpreted and re-presented by the Communist state. At the end of the semester we will investigate some current attempts at visual deconstruction of the city by 21st-century artists. Lecture-conference. Prerequisite: Art 201 or consent of the instructor.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.reed.edu

Phone Number:

(503) 771-1112

Regional Accreditation:

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Calendar System:

Semester

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