Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China.

• Author: Zhang, Yunshuang

Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China. By YUNCHIAHN C. SENA. Seattle: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS, 2019. Pp. xiii + 220. $60.

As Wang Guowei [phrase omitted] (1877-1927) stated in his groundbreaking essay "Song Study of Metal and Stone" (Songdai zhi jinshixue [phrase omitted]), the study of metal and stone is one of the disciplines established by Song-dynasty scholars. As the first monograph on Song antiquarianism in English, Yunchiahn Sena's Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China demonstrates fully the pioneering role that Song antiquaries played in initiating the study of metal and stone. Following Wang Guowei's framework of categorizing Song antiquarian practices into collecting, cataloguing, and studying as well as reproducing, Sena "examines the historical events and practices pertaining to the collecting, studying, and appropriation of ancient objects" (p. 3), taking an interdisciplinary approach. Accordingly, each of the three core chapters in the book focuses on one of these three types of antiquarian practices. Arranged by categories as they are, the chapters also give readers a chronological impression. Chapter one on collecting concentrates on Ouyang Xiu [phrase omitted] (1007-1072), the pioneer who established the new Song literati culture in various fields during the early and mid-eleventh century; chapter two on cataloguing examines cases from the second half of the eleventh century; and the last chapter on appropriating moves to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Because these three practices did not actually develop in chronological order, readers might have appreciated if the book had presented a fuller picture of the historical development of each practice in the introduction at least.

The introduction, "Exploring the Song Antiquarian Movement," does an excellent job outlining Song literati's explosion of interest in ancient objects for both state rituals and personal cultivation. It highlights Song antiquaries' emphasis on the primary roles of ink rubbings and ancient objects (particularly those bearing inscriptions). To elaborate further on the significance and features of the Song antiquarian movement, Sena offers an inspiring comparative study of antiquarianism in Song China and early modern Europe. Yet because this perspective on world antiquarianism does not appear in the principal chapters, it appears to be somewhat digressive (as it occupies approximately half of...