{"product_id":"picturing-heaven-in-early-china-lillian-lan-ying-tseng-9780674060692","title":"Picturing Heaven in Early China","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eTian\u003c\/i\u003e, or Heaven, had multiple meanings in early China. It had been used since the Western Zhou to indicate both the sky and the highest god, and later came to be regarded as a force driving the movement of the cosmos and as a home to deities and imaginary animals. By the Han dynasty, which saw an outpouring of visual materials depicting Heaven, the concept of Heaven encompassed an immortal realm to which humans could ascend after death. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUsing excavated materials, Lillian Tseng shows how Han artisans transformed various notions of Heaven--as the mandate, the fantasy, and the sky--into pictorial entities. The Han Heaven was not indicated by what the artisans looked at, but rather was suggested by what they looked \u003ci\u003einto\u003c\/i\u003e. Artisans attained the visibility of Heaven by appropriating and modifying related knowledge of cosmology, mythology, astronomy. Thus the depiction of Heaven in Han China reflected an interface of image and knowledge. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy examining Heaven as depicted in ritual buildings, on household utensils, and in the embellishments of funerary settings, Tseng maintains that visibility can hold up a mirror to visuality; Heaven was culturally constructed and should be culturally reconstructed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lillian Lan-Ying Tseng\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0674060695\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780674060692\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harvard University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/25\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.70h x 7.70w x 1.10d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eReference and Research Bk News\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2011 pg. 170","brand":"Lillian Lan-Ying Tseng","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48086758228223,"sku":"9780674060692","price":79.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_033a7325-3c36-4113-94c7-51978d5731a7.jpg?v=1769096405","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/picturing-heaven-in-early-china-lillian-lan-ying-tseng-9780674060692","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}