Physiognomy in Ming China: Fortune and the Body
| Author | : Xing Wang |
| Publisher | : BRILL |
| Total Pages | : 335 |
| Release | : 2020-03-23 |
| ISBN-10 | : 9789004429550 |
| ISBN-13 | : 9004429557 |
| Rating | : 4/5 (557 Downloads) |
Download or read book Physiognomy in Ming China: Fortune and the Body written by Xing Wang and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-03-23 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Physiognomy in Ming China: Fortune and the Body, Xing Wang investigates the intellectual and technical contexts in which the knowledge of physiognomy (xiangshu) was produced and transformed in Ming China (1368-1644 C.E.). Known as a fortune-telling technique via examining the human body and material objects, Xing Wang shows how the construction of the physiognomic body in many Ming texts represent a unique, unprecedented ‘somatic cosmology’. Applying an anthropological reading to these texts and providing detailed analysis of this technique, the author proves that this physiognomic cosmology in Ming China emerged as a part of a new body discourse which differs from the modern scholarly discourse on the body.
