THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CLAWED SKIN: THE LITERARY INSCRIPTION OF THINGS IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY CHINA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CIVILIZATIONS BY THOMAS PATRICK KELLY CHICAGO, ILLINOIS AUGUST 2017 Copyright © 2017 by Thomas Patrick Kelly All rights reserved. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..............................................................................................................v ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 1 ON INSCRIPTION .......................................................................................................... 25 1.1 Inscription ............................................................................................................. 32 1.2 Writing and Materiality ........................................................................................ 68 1.3 The Resonant Thing: Wang Daokun’s Musical Instruments ............................... 79 2 WRITING MATERIALS IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY HUIZHOU ............................. 91 2.1 The Inkstone Dealer ........................................................................................... 100 2.2 Seal Carving and the Death of the Artisan ......................................................... 129 2.3 Advertising Handbills ......................................................................................... 153 3 BLACK MIST: BRANDING INK ................................................................................ 167 3.1 The Maker’s Mark .............................................................................................. 171 3.2 Grades of Ink ...................................................................................................... 205 4 PICTURING A MING RHINOCEROS HORN CUP ................................................... 238 4.1 Strange Antique ................................................................................................. 246 4.2 Re-Producing an Inscription .............................................................................. 277 CODA ......................................................................................................................................... 303 iii APPENDIX 1: TRANSLATIONS OF WANG DAOKUN’S INSCRIPTIONS ON THINGS .307 APPENDIX 2: AN INDEX OF WANG DAOKUN’S INSCRIPTIONS ON THINGS .............312 APPENDIX 3: WANG DAOKUN’S SEALS ............................................................................330 APPENDIX 4: WANG DAOKUN’S POETRY SOCIETIES ................................................... 332 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 335 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Lu Ji recommends that an eloquent inscription be broad, yet concise – in acknowledging the many teachers, friends, and family members who have made this dissertation possible I fear that I may have written too much without really saying enough. My greatest academic debt is to my advisor, Judith Zeitlin. More than anyone else, she taught me how to read Chinese literature and her sensitivity as a writer has been a constant source of inspiration. Beyond the clear influence of her teaching on this study, Judith has been a wonderfully gracious mentor, inviting me to participate in her workshops and exhibitions, while pushing me to chart my own path as a scholar. I am deeply grateful to Dorothy Ko for her tremendous intellectual generosity over the past few years. Her incisive comments helped me discover new audiences for this project and I have learned a great deal from her rigor and creativity as a historian. It would probably take me another three stints in graduate school to properly avail myself of Haun Saussy’s erudition: he remains a peerless source of reading recommendations and unique insights on the poetry of translation. Reginald Jackson has been a trusted interlocutor and steadfast advocate of my work. The time he invests in helping junior scholars find their voice is a testament to his remarkable sincerity as a teacher. During my first three years at the University of Chicago, I had the great fortune to work closely with Tamara Chin and He Yuming, both of whom – in different ways – led me to explore the relationship between Chinese literature and materialism. They have both left an indelible impression upon my thinking and research. Needless to say, Wu Hung’s teaching, advice, and sagacious presence have had a profound impact on the development of my interests in the visual arts. As an undergraduate at Wadham, Tao Tao Liu’s tutorials on The Story of the Stone and classical poetry v initiated me into the delights of traditional Chinese literature, yet it was Hilde de Weerdt who, through her formidable example, set me on the path to graduate school. Much of the research for this dissertation was conducted in China and Taiwan with the generous support of an International Dissertation Research Fellowship from the Mellon Foundation and the Social Science Research Council. In Beijing, I owe particular thanks to Zhu Wanshu (and his daughter and fellow scholar of Chinese literature, Zhu Wen) for their hospitality and sizeable book-buying budget. At PKU, I am grateful to Li Qiang and Li Pengfei for institutional coverage. Conversations with Guo Yingde, Liao Kebin, and Zheng Zhiliang proved to be instructive. I am sincerely thankful to Tsai Mei-fen and Lin Li-chiang for making time for viewing sessions at the Department of Antiquities at the NPM and for illuminating conversations in Taipei. The extent to which their work has inspired this particular project is plainly evident from my notes and bibliography. I am indebted to my friends for helping me adjust to life and study in the northern capital: Tao Jin, Zuocha and Lao Han, Sun Miao at the Palace Museum (for letting me in to see the Fahai Temple and other wonders), Zhang Jingqiu, and Wang Zheng. I am especially thankful for memorable times exploring Haidian, while eating late night lamb kebabs with Dr Liang Tianshuang and Professor Yan Zinan. Many other faculty members at Chicago have had a decisive influence on my development as a scholar: Paola Iovene and Jacob Eyferth, Paul Copp, Donald Harper, Michael Bourdaghs, Katherine Tsiang, and, more recently, Lin Wei-cheng and Ariel Fox. It is hard to imagine life as a PhD student in EALC without Dawn Brennan’s grace. Zhou Yuan and the staff of the Regenstein Library have been exceedingly helpful with locating materials. A final year of writing was made possible by a fellowship from the Franke Institute for the Humanities. I am vi deeply grateful to the other fellows for their camaraderie, yet I owe particular thanks to James Chandler and Robert Kendrick for their enthusiastic encouragement. I would also like to express my gratitude to numerous scholars at other institutions who have shared their thoughts and suggestions with me at various points in the development of this dissertation: Sophie Volpp, Wang Cheng-hua, Bruce Rusk, Andrew Lo, David Rolston, Joseph Lam, Rivi Handler-Spitz, Suyoung Son, Stephen McDowall, Lu Pengliang, Bian He, and Rachel Silberstein. Li Yuhang and Mei Mei Rado deserve a special vote of thanks for being such generous . Timothy Clifford and Chen Kaijun have been uplifting colleagues, happily sharing their own ideas and advice with me. At Chicago, I have learned a great deal from my fellow students, many of whom have pushed me to think more carefully about the contributions of my work: Scott Aalgaard, Katherine Alexander, Alia Breitwieser, Max Bohnenkamp, Chan Ling, Chen Huiying, Raff Donelson, Abigail Fine, Alex Hsu, Jenny Hua, Eleanor Hyun, Nick Lambrecht, David Lebowitz (for the best wedding gift), Nancy Lin, Alex Murphy, Quincy Ngan, Pan Yiying, Kyle Peters, Anne Rebull, Davis Reek and Zong Yangyang, Joshua Solomon, Wang Shengyu, Brian White, Nic Wong, Xu Peng, Xu Tingting, Yan Yuqian, Yang Zhiyan, Zhang Han, Cecilia Zhang, Zhou Zhenru, and last, but by no means least, Zhou Boqun. Countless conversations over tea and cake with my dear friends, Feng Naixi and Zheng Yiren, have greatly enriched my understanding of the worlds of Chinese literature. It has been a privilege to share an office with Adhira Mangalagiri and avail myself of her incisive perspectives on the politics of comparison and much else besides. Daniela Licandro has been my comrade since day one: her loyal friendship and ethical outlook on life have defined my time in Chicago. My brilliant college companions, the remnant subjects of Staircase 9 – Tom Campion, Nadira Wallace, and Mathura Umachandran – vii have offered pleasant distractions, while gently prodding me to find better ways of explaining what I do. My wonderful sister, Ruth, has been an incomparable source of reassurance and much- needed perspective. In recent years, she and Mark have also helped make Bristol an inviting home away from home away from home. I am indebted to my extraordinary mother-in-law, Liwen, and , Danyun, for welcoming me to West Beijing, for their generosity, and for their healthy skepticism towards my life plans.