Chinese Art and Culture - The Qing Empire 1644-1911

1644 was the year that invading Manchurian tribesmen ousted the Ming Emperor and founded the Qing Dynasty. The period of the great eighteenth-century emperors, Kangxi and Qianlong, saw huge territorial expansion, a booming economy and a golden age of scholarship and artistic production.

This course will look at the nature of the Qing Empire and at the dynasties that preceded it, the complex nature of Chinese society, the world of the scholar, the virtuosity of Chinese calligraphy and painting as well as the exquisite jades, textiles, lacquers and ceramics.

Tuesday 31 January 2006

10.30am
Turbulent Empires; An Overview of China’s Imperial History 960-1700
Dr. Lars Peter Laamann, Teaching Fellow, History Department, SOAS

12 noon
The Chinese Perennial Fascination for Jade
Carol Michaelson, Curator, Asia Department, British Museum

1pm
Lunch

2pm
Porcelain for the Emperor 1278-1911
Rose Kerr, Honorary Research Associate of the Needham Research Institute and Fellow of the University of Glasgow

Tuesday 7 February 2006

10.30am
Chinese Silk Textiles: Influences on the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Jacqueline Simcox

12 noon
Qing Empire
T.H. Barrett, Professor of East Asian History, SOAS

1pm
Lunch

2pm
Visit to the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art
with Stacey Pierson, Curator

Tuesday 14 February 2006

10.30am
The Emperors’ Palaces
Frances Wood, Curator of the Chinese Collection, British Library

12 noon
Emperor Qianlong’s Regalia Album
Ming Wilson, Senior Curator of the Asian Department, Victoria & Albert Museum

1pm
Lunch

2pm
Jesuits at the Imperial Court
Anne Haworth

Tuesday 21 February 2006

10.30am
Mothers, Wives and Concubines: A Woman’s Place in Eighteenth Century China
Dr. Elaine Buck, Tutor, British Museum Post Graduate Diploma Course in Asian Art

12 noon
Literati Painting
Shelagh Vainker, Keeper of Chinese Art, Ashmoleon Museum

1pm
Lunch

2pm
Visit to the exhibition, “China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795” at the Royal Academy, Piccadilly.

The cost of the full course is £228. The cost of the morning lectures only (lunch not included) is £130. The lectures will take place at The Medical Society of London,
Lettsom House, 11 Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, London W1. Each day will begin at 10.30am and finish at about 3.30 pm.

To apply, please contact us.