Online Lecture Series: Vernacular Culture of Etiquette of Late Imperial China as Represented in the Ming-Qing Novel

Textile code: Clothing and headgear

This lecture offers an introduction to the system and practice of social etiquette – addressing, greeting and clothing – of late imperial China as reconstructed on the basis of a range of novels of the Ming and Qing (16th-18th c.). While social etiquette constituted codes of distinct forms and licences of usage, their practice was dynamic and open to negotiation and manipulation. The novelistic representation of characters’ social interaction permits the interpretation of social etiquette in practical context.

The fourth session introduces elements of clothing, especially hats, as status markers. Based on the recognition of a certain type of headgear, someone chose a certain way of addressing along with performing a certain kind of greeting gesture. Thus, the consideration of the dress code allows us to merge the three elements of social etiquette into one semiotic system.

Click here to access the link to the meeting at the École Practique des Hautes Études, where Professor Altenburger is a visiting Professor in the summer semester 2023.