Social Science Research Council

"Writing for Print: Zhang Chao and Literati-Publishing of Seventeenth-century China"

My dissertation examines the literati-publishing in seventeenth-century China, and, specifically, the ways in which the material conditions of print enable, shape and regulate the production, circulation and reception of literary texts. In seventeenth-century China, at a time when print was becoming the dominant mode for the transmission of literary writings, but when manuscript circulation continued to remain a viable and competitive mode of transmission, the question arises as to why the literati chose to have their writings printed instead of being transcribed. What were the literary, social and political expectations that made them choose print over manuscript? Did the choice of print transform the meaning of writing, circulating and reading of literary texts? If so, how did print differ from manuscript in the meaning it created and what was the historical significance of this change?

My project will address these issues through a case study of Zhang Chao (fl. 1650-1707), a seventeenth-century literatus-publisher. Zhang was not only a typical figure who exemplified how the literati of this period became involved in publishing, but also an exceptional figure in having left behind considerable information about this process. Through an examination of Zhang’s published books and publishing activities, I hope to make the case that print should not be interpreted merely as a technological cause of radical social change, but instead be understood as one of the media that conditions, and is conditioned by, the complex ideological, political and economic interactions of its specific historical context.