An Object of Seduction
Chinese Silk in the Early Modern Transpacific Trade, 1500–1700
Abstract
The first book-length English-language study focusing on the early modern export of Chinese silk to New Spain from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century, An Object of Seduction compares and contrasts the two regions from perspectives of the sericulture development, the widespread circulation of silk fashion, and the government attempts at regulating the use of silk. Xiaolin Duan argues that the increasing demand for silk on the worldwide market on the one hand contributed to the parallel development of silk fashion and sericulture in China and New Spain, and on the other hand created conflicts on imperial regulations about foreign trade and hierarchical systems. Incorporating evidence from local gazetteers, correspondence, manual books, illustrated treatises, and miscellanies, this book explores how the growing desire for and production of raw silk and silk textiles empowered individuals and societies to claim and redefine their positions in changing time and space, thus breaking away from the traditional state control.
Schlagworte
colonial Mexico early modern globalization Chinese history Manila galleon Material culture Mexican history Art history History Pacific trade sumptuary law environmental history fashion global history silk- i–xii Preface i–xii
- 1–22 Introduction 1–22
- 179–184 Conclusion 179–184
- 185–206 Bibliography 185–206
- 207–216 Index 207–216
- 217–217 About the Author 217–217