The Social Life of Inkstones Read Along: Chapter 4

[forestofglory]

Welcome to our read a long of The Social Life of Inkstones: Artisans and Scholars in Early Qing China by Dorothy Ko! For this post we are reading "Chapter 4: Beyond Suzhou: Gu Erniang the Super-Brand"

Previous posts:
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

You are welcome to join in at any time!

This chapter was mostly about inkstones attributed to Gu Erniang.

What where the main arguments in this chapter? Did you find them convincing?

Did any historical figures introduced in the chapter stand out to you? In what way?

Did any of the inkstones or other objects in the chapter stand out to you? In what way?

What did this chapter make you want to learn more about?

Did anything in this chapter remind you of fiction you enjoy? Or inspire creative writing thoughts fic or otherwise?

Comments

[blueshiftofdeath]

I think her eventual argument is that the spread of Gu Erniang's super-brand can be seen as a bridge from inkstones as mere objects of scholarly use to objects of art collection. [...] Ko also draws a parallel (through implication) between the changing status of inkstones as object and the changing status of Gu Erniang herself from respected artisan to sexy myth

Oh!! I actually hadn't made that connection-- thank you for sharing this analysis! It makes sense that serious scholars would want their inkstones to be made by a skilled artisan, and collectors of novelty art would want their inkstones to be made by a sexy myth. Pretty interesting stuff!

[rhysiana]

I'm glad you found it helpful! (This caused me to go back and read what I'd written. Good job on sounding smart, past me.)