Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgments -- List of Tables and Figures -- Conventions -- Chinese Eras and Dynasties -- Northern Dynasty and Sui Rulers -- The Twenty-Four Official Histories of China -- Technicians and Artisans in Weishu 91, Zhoushu 47, and Suishu 78 -- Introduction: Aims, Sources, and Outline -- 1 Aims -- 2 Sources: Weishu 91, Zhoushu 47, and Suishu 78 -- 3 Outline -- 1 The Content, Compilation, and Aims of the Three Collections -- 1 Nomenclature -- 2 Genre -- 3 Compilation and Sources -- 4 Intent -- 5 Concluding Remarks -- 2 Divination, Medicine, and Crafts in Medieval Knowledge Organization Systems -- 1 Early Foundational Models -- 2 Medieval Systems -- 3 Daoist and Buddhist Perspectives -- 4 Daoist Perspectives -- 5 Buddhist Perspectives -- 6 Concluding Remarks -- 3 Technicians and Artisans as Interpreters and Agents of Heaven-and-Earth -- 1 Historical Overview -- 2 Significance to the Central Court and Throne -- 3 Significance to Peripheral Local Communities -- 4 Concluding Remarks -- 4 The Imperial Selection and Appointment of Technicians and Artisans -- 1 The Mandate of Heaven and the Service of Its People -- 2 Testing and Appointment as Essentials for Good Governance -- 3 “Backdoors” into State Service: Reclusion, Itinerancy, and Special “Skills” -- 4 Imperial Offices Featuring Techniques and Arts -- 5 Conclusion -- 5 The Reception and Transmission of Techniques and Arts -- 1 The Reception of Techniques and Arts -- 2 The Transmission of Techniques and Arts from Technicians and Artisans -- 3 Conclusion -- Translation 1: The Book of Wei “Arrayed Traditions of Technicians and Artisans” -- 1 Introduction to Weishu 91 -- 2 Biographical Traditions -- 3 Conclusion to Weishu 91 -- Translation 2: The Book of Zhou “Arrayed Traditions of Artisans and Technicians” -- 1 Introduction to Zhoushu 47 -- 2 Biographical Traditions -- 3 Conclusion to Zhoushu 47 -- Translation 3: The Book of Sui “Arrayed Traditions of Artisans and Technicians” -- 1 Introduction to Suishu 78 -- 2 Biographical Traditions -- 3 Conclusion to Suishu 78 -- Appendix: Suishu 78’s Six Types of Adepts and Twenty-Four Exemplars -- Glossary: Techniques and Arts Featured in the Three Collections -- Bibliography -- Index.

Technicians and Artisans and Heaven-and-Earth reconstructs memories of significant but often overlooked figures from a remarkably diverse yet understudied period of Chinese history. The book includes translations of three biographical collections from the official dynastic histories of the Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, and Sui featuring the lives of “technicians and artisans.” Through a comparative, intertextual, and literary analysis of these works, Stephan N. Kory not only sheds light on the roles and functions of diviners, physicians, and craftsmen in the imperial courts of mid-medieval North China, but also provides us with fascinating insights into medieval Chinese court life and society.

English

Description based on print version record.