67. Banqueting in Chinese Art, Literature, and Religion

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel

Abstract

Throughout China’s history banqueting influenced cultural practices at all levels of society. Taking case studies from the 9th to the 20th century, this inter-disciplinary panel will explore the different ways banqueting communicated and regulated political ideology, dietary and medicinal customs, and the formation of elite identity for men and women. Papers will draw on literary and visual representations of banquets, as well as evidence from the material culture of feasting and the daily meal to reconstruct the different ways rituals surrounding food and drink shaped Chinese society. Linda Rui Feng’s paper focuses on a 9th century fantastical tale in order to illuminate the history of food, pharmacology, and trade during the Tang dynasty. Zoe S. Kwok presents a comparison of two Song dynasty paintings of elite banquets in order to consider how artists and their patrons shaped the representation of gender, idealized modes of behavior, and banquet culture. Alfreda Murck turns our attention to the twentieth century and delves into the political and cultural messages that were an inextricable part of dining during the Mao era.

Area of Study

• China and Inner Asia

Session Organizer

• Zoe S. Kwok, Princeton University Art Museum

Chair

• Francois Louis, Bard Graduate Center

Individual Presentations

• From Flour to Alchemy: Situating a Ninth-Century Tale of Marvel - Linda Rui Feng, Univeristy of Toronto

• Private Dining in Two Song Dynasty Banquet Paintings - Zoe S. Kwok, Princeton University Art Museum

• Meals with Mao - Alfreda Murck, Metropoliitan Museum of Art

Discussant

• Michele A. Matteini, New York University