Article ID: CBB001214318

Gender, Technical Innovation, and Gu Family Embroidery in Late-Ming Shanghai (2012)

unapi

Huang, I-Fen (Author)


East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine
Volume: 36
Pages: 131--166


Publication Date: 2012
Edition Details: Part of a special issue, “Women and Textile Production Techniques in Traditional China”
Language: English

This paper takes Gu Family embroidery as a case study to discuss the contribution of technical innovation to the construction of gender in late imperial China so as to better understand Guxiu in its technical, social, and artistic contexts. Focusing on the Flowers and Fishes album (dated 1641, Shanghai Museum) by Han Ximeng, I argue that Gu family ladies, such as Han Ximeng, used embroidery as a means to display their individual creativity; and, further, by means of technical innovations, contributed not only to their family finances but also to the art and culture of late Ming Shanghai. While some of the technical innovations that the Gu family ladies achieved were driven by the desire to meet the literati aesthetic of their time, eventually, in the case of Han Ximeng, she went beyond the literati taste for `painting-like' embroidery to assert the special qualities of embroidery. By affirming her own authorship, drawing attention to the feminine medium in which she worked and claiming the significance of her work with a carefully chosen subject, Han subverted the conventions of male painting in subtle ways and demonstrated her subjectivity.

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Article Sheng, Angela (2012) Women's Work, Virtue, and Space: Change from Early to Late Imperial China. East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine (p. 9). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001214318/

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Authors & Contributors
Alexandra Straub
Xu, Shibo
Shetterly, Margot Lee
Vogel, William F.
Foster, Shawn Xiaoyan-Lu
Hollenbeck, Sarah
Concepts
Technology and gender
Women and technology
Women and Work
History of Computing
Crafts and craftspeople
Technological innovation
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
20th century, early
21st century
Qing dynasty (China, 1644-1912)
Ming dynasty (China, 1368-1644)
Places
United States
China
Shanghai (China)
Guangzhou (China)
Changsha (China)
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
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