{"product_id":"9780231203104-all-mine","title":"All Mine!","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHappiness, Ownership, and Naming in Eleventh-Century China\u003cbr\u003eStephen Owen contends that in the new money economy of the Song Dynasty, writers became preoccupied with the question of whether material things can bring happiness. In a series of essays, \u003ci\u003eAll Mine!\u003c\/i\u003e offers strikingly original readings of major eleventh-century figures.\u003cbr\u003eUnder the Song Dynasty, China experienced rapid commercial growth and monetization of the economy. In the same period, the austere ethical turn that led to neo-Confucianism was becoming increasingly prevalent in the imperial bureaucracy and literati culture. Tracing the influences of these trends in Chinese intellectual history, \u003ci\u003eAll Mine!\u003c\/i\u003e explores the varied ways in which eleventh-century writers worked through the conflicting values of this new world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStephen Owen contends that in the new money economy of the Song, writers became preoccupied with the question of whether material things can bring happiness. Key thinkers returned to this problem, weighing the conflicting influences of worldly possessions and material comfort against Confucian ideology, which locates true contentment in the Way and disdains attachment to things. In a series of essays, Owen examines the works of writers such as the prose master Ouyang Xiu, who asked whether tranquility could be found in the backwater to which he had been exiled; the poet and essayist Su Dongpo, who was put on trial for slandering the emperor; and the historian Sima Guang, whose private garden elicited reflections on private ownership. Through strikingly original readings of major eleventh-century figures, \u003ci\u003eAll Mine! \u003c\/i\u003einquires not only into the material conditions of happiness but also the broader conditions of knowledge.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53567379243382,"sku":"9780231203104","price":101.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_30516425.jpg?v=1730225359","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9780231203104-all-mine","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}