Ring Cui Hall Prints Study Late Ming Dynasty

The late sixteenth century saw the great development in publication industry surpass ever periods before. The books, in the demands of Ming populace, did not function as exquisite artistic objects and symbols of aristocracy identity, but as a tool conveying all sorts of knowledge and information. Although largely admitted inferior on quality to Song Dynasties, the publication industry of Ming superior to Song in the depth of commercialization and the scope of transmission. In the trend of mass publication, the activities of book stores became more and more diverse. The publishers originated from Huizhou prefecture stand for the fashionable publication strategy that is take the advantage of fine versions and print illustrations in order to maximize intentional personality. The print images, which is subordinate to books, are therefore endowed with diverse functions:be the interpretation of texts, be the tools of spreading ideas and thoughts, be the embodiment of elegant lifestyle, and even be the brand of book store itself. Take this situation in mind, the generalization term’reproduced wood-block print’ we are used to in our scholarship have to be outreached to some extent. For further exploration, not only we need the classification of iconographic style, but also the study of culture of publication and social history, in order to re-contextualize historical details. Wang Tingne’s book store Huancuitang is a representative example whether we counts from the quality of illustrated versions, functions of prints, and the procedure of publication. The study of Wang Tingne himself and his Huancuitang, and the subsequent exploration of publication mode of Huizhou book store, which is the focus of the dissertation, will help us to understand the complicated publication industry in late Ming period, and provide us a possibility to touch the "specific reality"...