Ming: Courts and Contacts 1400-1450 (working title)

了解中国这个占人类四分之一的家园，对世界上所有的公民来说都是至关重要的。中国的国际作用对我们所有人都是至关重要的。为了理解这一角色，我们需要研究中国与非洲、中东、南亚、东南亚和东亚的历史关系。15世纪初是中国与世界文化互动最具影响力的时期，也正是这一时期成为我们研究的重点。通过研究明初中国的宫廷、文化、军事和宗教活动，以及与外国的交往，我们可以呈现这一时期的新历史。这段历史可以成为未来研究的基础。展示这一新历史的关键是2014-2015年的展览，将在大英博物馆新的世界保护和展览中心(目前正在建设中)展出。《明朝宫廷与联系人1400-1450》展览、一本书、计划中的学术会议和编辑的卷册将向更广泛的受众传播这项研究。这项计划由两位明朝专家领导，分别是英国皇家博物馆的杰西卡·哈里森-霍尔和牛津大学的克雷格·克劳纳斯教授。这项新研究的一个基本方面将是将一系列不同的研究人员聚集在一起，探索这一项目核心的关键问题。展览的主要机构合作伙伴将是亚洲、北美和欧洲的博物馆、图书馆和大学，如武汉的湖北省博物馆、北京的故宫博物院和台北的故宫博物院。这项研究将利用具有考古学、建筑学、艺术史、人类学、经济学和文学研究背景的学者的专业知识。明初中国朝廷与亚洲其他朝廷(伊朗和中亚的帖木儿王朝、日本的阿西卡贺朝廷、朝鲜朝廷)，以及与孟加拉、斯里兰卡、非洲，甚至麦加伊斯兰世界的心脏地带，都有前所未有的接触。除克卢纳斯和哈里森-霍尔外，该书的主要作者还有德国海德堡大学东亚艺术史教授Lothar Ledderose；美国高露洁大学亚洲研究教授David Robinson-Robert H.N.Ho；美国堪萨斯大学后期中国艺术教授Martha Haufler(魏德纳)；加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚大学中国历史教授Timothy Brook；湖北省博物馆的原文庆。这一点通过当代物质文化--电影、邮票和广告--表现出来。最近为英语读者撰写的通俗历史误导了普通公众对这一时期的看法。这项新的研究和将传播研究结果的展览《明朝宫廷与联络人1400年至1450年》将解决这一问题，并为学术和大众消费呈现一部新的、研究得很好的历史。关键的研究问题是：1.1400年至1450年期间的中国文化和社会在多大程度上受到与当时其他文化和社会的接触的影响？2.这种接触的性质是什么--中国在1400-1450年借鉴了其他文化，它对其他文化做出了什么贡献？3.这种接触在多大程度上是通过中国中央和地方朝廷调解的，作为跨国或跨文化接触的关键节点？4.艺术和物质文化在这种接触中扮演了什么独特的角色？它们在多大程度上支持或颠覆了源自文本来源的叙事？5.那个持续的跨国和跨文化接触时期如何影响中国当前的状况和人们对中国在世界上的角色的看法？

Understanding China, home to one quarter of mankind, is vital to all citizens of the world. China's international role is of paramount importance to us all. To understand that role we need to investigate China's historical relationships with Africa, the Middle East, South, Southeast and East Asia. The most influential period of China's cultural interaction with the wider world was the early 15th century; hence it is this period that is the focus of our research project. By researching early Ming China's courts, their cultural, military and religious activities, and foreign interaction we can present a new history of this period. This history can then be the foundation for future research. Key to the presentation of this new history is an exhibition for 2014-2015 to be shown in the new World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre (currently under construction) at the British Museum. The exhibition 'Ming Courts and Contacts 1400-1450', a book, planned academic conference and edited volume will disseminate this research to a wide range of audiences.This project is led by two Ming specialists, Jessica Harrison-Hall of the BM and Professor Craig Clunas of Oxford University and . An essential aspect of this new research will be to bring together a range of different researchers to explore the key questions at the heart of this project. For the exhibition key institutional partners will be museums, libraries and universities in Asia, North America and Europe e.g. Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, Palace Museum, Beijing, and the National Palace Museum, Taipei. The research will draw on the expertise of scholars with backgrounds in archaeology, architecture, art-history, anthropology, economics and literary studies. The imperial court of China in the early Ming enjoyed an unprecedented range of contacts with other courts of Asia (the Timurids in Iran and Central Asia, the Ashikaga in Japan, Joseon Korea) but also with Bengal, with Sri Lanka, with Africa, and even with the heart of the Islamic world in Mecca. In addition to Clunas and Harrison-Hall key authors for the book are Lothar Ledderose Professor of the History of Art of Eastern Asia at the University of Heidelberg, Germany; David Robinson - Robert H.N. Ho Professor in Asian Studies, Professor of History Colgate University, USA; Marsha Haufler (Weidner) - Professor of Later Chinese Art, University of Kansas, USA; Timothy Brook, Professor of Chinese History at the University of British Columbia, Canada; and Yuan Wenqing of Hubei Provincial Museum.In contemporary China 1400-1450 is popularly regarded as a golden age of international engagement and a model for modern China. This is demonstrated through contemporary material culture - films, postage stamps and advertising. Recent popular histories written for an English-reading audience have misinformed a general public about this period. This new research and the exhibition 'Ming Courts and Contacts 1400-1450' which will disseminate the findings will address this and present a new, well-researched history for academic and popular consumption.Key research questions are: 1. To what extent Chinese culture and society of the period 1400-1450 was shaped by contacts with other cultures and societies of the time?2. What was the nature of that engagement - what did China appropriate from, and what did it contribute to, other cultures 1400-1450?3. To what extent was that engagement mediated through Chinese central and regional imperial courts, as key nodes of transnational or transcultural contact?4. What was the distinctive role of art and material culture in that engagement, and to what extent do they support or subvert the narratives derived from textual sources?5. How does that period of sustained transnational and transcultural contact affect current Chinese state and popular perceptions of China's role in the world ?