ABSTRACT
In the Qing dynasty, pewter was widely used to produce articles of everyday use. Pewter artisans in Chaozhou achieved great success in both domestic and international markets. Their products reached the Forbidden City and the Southeast Asian market. In the nineteenth century, they expanded their shops to Canton, Swatow, and Hong Kong. This lecture will discuss the success of Chaozhou pewter workshops by contextualizing them in the networks of global trade, migration, and the local ecology of craft. It argues that the flourishing global trade and migration connections provided Chaozhou artisans new materials, stylistic inspirations, and possibilities to expand their market. In addition, the local craft community in hinterland areas formed the supply chain for pewter production. The flows of materials, people, and skills within and beyond the Pearl River Delta formed an ecology that contributed to the dynamic craft center in South China.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Yijun Wang is Assistant Professor of History at New York University. Her research interest includes material culture, history of technology, and gender in early modern China. Yijun is interested in the connections between knowledge, technology, and power. Her current book project examines the transmissions of technology and changes in the culture of statecraft in China from 1700 to 1850s. By tracing the itinerary of tin, she explores how imperial expansion and global trade affected knowledge production and transmission, gradually changing the culture of statecraft from Confucian didacticism to technocratic statecraft.
ORGANIZER
This is an event organized by the “Delta on the Move: The Becoming of the Greater Bay Region, 1700 – 2000” Research Cluster.
