Immortal Images

The Palace of Eternal Joy (Yongle gong) is a mammoth cult site dedicated to one of late imperial China’s most popular deities, Lu Dongbin. In one of the first book-length studies of a Chinese sacred site, Paul Katz focuses on the Palace’s role in the development of Lu's legend. This highly innovative approach takes into account the various "histories" of the Palace presented in different texts and surpasses previous scholarship by stressing the ways in which the site both reflected and produced cultural diversity. Katz breaks new ground by analyzing the texts in terms of the textuality--the processes by which they were produced, transmitted, and understood. The study begins with a detailed description of the Palace of Eternal Joy and a brief account of its history. The reader is then introduced to the cult of Lu Dongbin. Special consideration is given to various hagiographical traditions, particularly those that influenced the growth of his cult at Yongle. Throughout late imperial China, a growing number of worshipers (among them scholar-officials, Taoist priests, artisans, and dramatists) created an ever-burgeoning variety of images of Lu, ranging from a patron god of ink-makers and prostitutes to a member of that powerful yet rambunctious group of spirits known as the Eight Immortals. In this context, the author explores the Perfect Realization Taoist movement's adoption of Lu's cult during the Jin and Yuan dynasties and highlight the social and religious factors that led to Lu's immense popularity in north China during the late imperial era. Katz next looks at the four type of inscriptions found at the Palace (commemorative, official, hagiographical, and poetic) and identifies the Palace patrons who worshiped there and contributed to its growth. In the description and analysis of the Palace murals that follow, he divides these works into two types: those painted to provide a setting for, and even an object of, Taoist rituals performed at the Palace; and those used to instruct Perfect Realization Taoists and perhaps pilgrims. The final section traces the reception of the Palace texts among the people of Yongle and its environs. Here Katz examines the ways in which patrons tried to impose their representations of the Palace’s history and the cult of Lu Dongbin on other members of the community and assesses the extent to which these efforts succeeded. Images of the Immortal is richly informed by a wide reading in social, cultural, and literary theory as well as a thorough awareness of previous work in comparative and Chinese religion. Scholars of Taoism, Chinese popular religion, and art history will find it especially rewarding for its thought-provoking reinterpretation of an important religious figure and his cult.

A member of the 28th Marines regiment that fought at Iwo Jima and raised the flags on Mt. Suribachi, Tedd Thomey offers here a fascinating, very personal story about the two photographers whose camera artistry captured the historic second flag raising. He describes with great sensitivity the triumphs and humiliations of Joe Rosenthal, the Associated Press photographer who became well known to the public but endured years of abuse from the media, which claimed he had staged his famous photo. A modest, highly ethical man, Rosenthal tried for years to ignore the unjust accusations but finally fought back. Thomey also tells the tragic story of the other photographer, Sgt. Bill Genaust, a Marine cinematographer whose immortal motion picture of the flag raising has been seen world-wide for half a century. Killed in battle nine days after the flag went up, Genaust was not publicly identified by the Marine Corps or given credit for his film classic, Thomey explains, until another Marine movie cameraman and Iwo survivor, Sgt. Harrold Weinberger, mounted a decades-long campaign. His efforts eventually succeeded in bringing honor to Genaust and in 1995 a bronze plaque atop Suribachi. The poignant story of Genaust's widow, Adelaide, is also told. A series of photos reproduced from Genaust's motion picture illustrates the book along with photographs by Rosenthal and of Iwo Jima today, taken by the author on a recent visit.

A beautifully illustrated, interdisciplinary look at the ceremonies and protocols of the dynastic court of Joseon Korea Recording State Rites in Words and Images provides an engaging and in-depth exploration of the large corpus of court statutes compiled during the Joseon dynasty of Korea. The term uigwe, commonly translated as “royal protocols,” is the name given to the collection of nearly four thousand books that were commissioned and written to document the customs, rituals, rules, protocols, and ceremonial practices of the Joseon dynasty. In this generously illustrated book, Yi Song-mi introduces readers to the rich and varied documentary tradition embodied in the uigwe, sharing invaluable insights into time-honored court customs through text and images and analyzing changes in ritual practice over time. The first comprehensive study of its kind in English, Recording State Rites in Words and Images presents groundbreaking research that opens a window on Korean history and art and will serve as an inspiration to students, scholars, and anyone interested in topics such as dynastic customs, court artists, and bookmaking. Published in association with the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University

Horticultural cultivation was different from others. A youth who had chanced upon a mysterious seed had opened up a very unusual path of cultivation.

The Myriad Domain's great world was vast and endless, with many secret realms, planes, and worlds attached to it. Here, there were many lower realm kingdoms with powers that were like the stars, middle dukedoms with powers that weren't ordinary, upper realm kingdoms with legacies that hadn't declined in several thousand years, and the Royal Court that was recognized by the heavens and earth, the strongest and strongest in the Foreign Lands. Qin Hengtian brought the Creation Immortal Court system to summon many ancient Chinese civil and martial officials and martial arts novels ...

Grammatology of Images radically alters how we approach images. Instead of asking for the history, power, or essence of images, Sigrid Weigel addresses imaging as such. The book considers how something a-visible gets transformed into an image. Weigel scrutinizes the moment of mis-en-apparition, of making an appearance, and the process of concealment that accompanies any imaging. Weigel reinterprets Derrida’s and Freud’s concept of the trace as that which must be thought before something exists. In doing so, she illuminates the threshold between traces and iconic images, between something immaterial and its pictorial representation. Chapters alternate between general accounts of the line, the index, the effigy, and the cult-image, and case studies from the history of science, art, politics, and religion, involving faces as indicators of emotion, caricatures as effigies of defamation, and angels as embodiments of transcendental ideas. Weigel’s approach to images illuminates fascinating, unexpected correspondences between premodern and contemporary image-practices, between the history of religion and the modern sciences, and between things that are and are not understood as art.

"Mystical Mars: Everything about Mars" goes into a comprehensive exploration of the planet Mars, covering its intriguing mysteries, scientific discoveries, and cultural significance. This comprehensive resource offers insights into Mars' geological features, exploration missions, potential for habitability, and its place in human imagination and science fiction. Whether you're interested in the planet's captivating red landscape, its potential as a future human destination, or its role in shaping our understanding of the cosmos, this resource provides a deep dive into all things Mars.