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The Double Life of the Scallop: Anthropomorphic Biography, 'Pulu,' and the Northern Song Discourse on Things
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Journal Article
The Double Life of the Scallop: Anthropomorphic Biography, 'Pulu,' and the Northern Song Discourse on Things
2020
Overview
Like the anthropomorphic biography, the manual exhibits an unprecedented enthusiasm in making sense of the material world, from describing the minute specificities of biological organisms to tracing the cultural history of objects. Locating the revival of the biography of things in the contemporary practice of producing pulu, this article demonstrates that, contrary to prevailing assertions of the catalogues and manuals as forms of private indulgence, they served as a means for peripatetic scholar-officials in their regional posts to communicate with the court, to participate in local government, and to accelerate the integration of the local into the state. The Culture of Famous Things and Tributary Products The culture of famous things emerged just as the Song commercial economy was booming: advances in agriculture and handicraft produced a large surplus of local specialties, which was then shipped to distant markets through efficient water transportation; as a result, individual prefectures and counties became increasingly associated with their specialized products.7 The commodification of things profoundly changed the network of social and economic relationships. When discussing the expansion of the commercial market during the Northern Song, Joseph McDermott and Shiba Yoshinobu 斯波義信 cited an anonymous Song list of the \"top things in the empire\" (tianxia diyi 天下 第一).9 The list enumerated local specialties which enjoyed an empire-wide reputation: inkstones from Duan Creek in Guangdong, tree peonies from Luoyang, tea from Fujian, brocade from Sichuan, rice-paper produced in the Wu region, and lychees from Fuzhou.
