The Rise of Tea Culture in China

The Invention of the Individual

By:

Bret Hinsch

Format:

Paperback / softback

Series:

Asia/Pacific/Perspectives

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Description

This distinctive and enlightening book explores the invention and development of tea drinking in China, using tea culture to explore the profound question of how Chinese have traditionally expressed individuality. Western stereotypes portray a culture that values conformity and denigrates the individual, but Bret Hinsch convincingly explodes this facile myth. He argues that although Chinese embrace a communitarian ethos and assume that the individual can only thrive within a healthy community, they have also long respected people with unique traits and superior achievements. Hinsch traces how emperors, scholars, poets, and merchants all used tea connoisseurship to publicly demonstrate superior discernment, gaining admiration by displaying individuality. Acknowledging central differences with Western norms, Hinsch shows how personal distinction nevertheless constitutes an important aspect of Chinese society. By linking tea to individualism, his deeply researched book makes an original and influential contribution to the history of Chinese culture.

Author Biography:

Bret Hinsch is professor in the Department of History at Fo Guang University, Yilan, Taiwan. He is the author of Masculinities in Chinese History, Women in Early Imperial China, and Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China.

Release date Australia

June 21st, 2018

Author

Bret Hinsch

Audience

Professional & Vocational

Pages

172

Series

Asia/Pacific/Perspectives

Dimensions

153x230x13

ISBN-13

9781538117811

Product ID

27880936

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