Imperial Collecting, Patronage, and Taste in China and Japan

Explores how the imperial courts collected and censored art in China and Japan ca. 1000-1800. The imperial control over art collecting activities shaped the way in which court painters represented the world. The imperial court dictated art creations and occasionally threatened the lives of art collectors through violent art confiscations. Students learn how institutional mechanisms form the underlying force behind art creation and circulation in imperial China and Japan. Students also discover the confluence of art, politics, and cultural transmission as imperial patronage shaped transnational networks.