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

了解中国这个占世界人口四分之一的国家，对世界各国人民都至关重要。中国的国际角色对我们所有人都至关重要。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。中国与世界文化互动最有影响力的时期是世纪初，因此，这是我们研究项目的重点。通过对明代早期中国宫廷、文化、军事、宗教活动以及对外交往的研究，我们可以呈现出一个新的明代历史。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年在大英博物馆新的世界保护和展览中心（目前正在建设中）举办的展览。展览“明王朝与交往1400- 1450”，一本书，计划的学术会议和编辑的卷将传播这一研究到广泛的观众。这个项目是由两个明代专家，杰西卡哈里森霍尔的BM和教授克雷格克卢纳斯牛津大学和。这项新研究的一个重要方面是将一系列不同的研究人员聚集在一起，探索该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，例如武汉的湖北省博物馆、北京的故宫博物院和台北的国立故宫博物院。这项研究将借鉴具有考古学、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。明初的中国朝廷与亚洲其他国家（伊朗和中亚的帖木儿王朝、日本的足利王朝、朝鲜王朝）的接触范围之广前所未有，而且还与孟加拉、斯里兰卡、非洲，甚至与伊斯兰世界的中心麦加都有接触。除了克卢纳斯和哈里森-霍尔外，本书的主要作者还有德国海德堡大学东亚艺术史教授洛塔尔·莱德罗斯、大卫、罗宾逊-罗伯特·H. N。美国科尔盖特大学历史学教授何亚洲研究教授;美国堪萨斯大学晚期中国艺术教授玛莎·豪夫勒（魏伟）;加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省大学中国历史教授蒂莫西·布鲁克;和袁文清。在当代中国1400- 1450年被普遍认为是国际交往的黄金时代，也是现代中国的典范。当代物质文化-电影、邮票和广告-就证明了这一点。最近为英语读者写的流行历史误导了公众对这一时期的认识。这项新的研究和展览“明法院和接触1400-1450”，将传播的结果将解决这一问题，并提出了一个新的，经过充分研究的历史，为学术界和大众消费。1400-1450年间的中国文化和社会在多大程度上是通过与当时其他文化和社会的接触而形成的？2.这种接触的性质是什么--中国从其他文化中掠夺了什么，又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作为跨国或跨文化接触的关键节点来调解的？4.艺术和物质文化在这种参与中的独特作用是什么？它们在多大程度上支持或颠覆了源自文本的叙事？5.这段持续的跨国和跨文化接触如何影响当前中国的状态和中国在世界上的角色的流行看法？

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 ?