{"product_id":"the-compensations-of-plunder-how-china-lost-its-treasures-9780226712017","title":"The Compensations of Plunder: How China Lost Its Treasures","description":"From the 1790s until World War I, Western museums filled their shelves with art and antiquities from around the world. These objects are now widely regarded as stolen from their countries of origin, and demands for their repatriation grow louder by the day. In \u003ci\u003eThe Compensations of Plunder\u003c\/i\u003e, Justin M. Jacobs brings to light the historical context of the exodus of cultural treasures from northwestern China. Based on a close analysis of previously neglected archives in English, French, and Chinese, Jacobs finds that many local elites in China acquiesced to the removal of art and antiquities abroad, understanding their trade as currency for a cosmopolitan elite. In the decades after the 1911 Revolution, however, these antiquities went from being \"diplomatic capital\" to disputed icons of the emerging nation-state. A new generation of Chinese scholars began to criminalize the prior activities of archaeologists, erasing all memory of the pragmatic barter relationship that once existed in China. Recovering the voices of those local officials, scholars, and laborers who shaped the global trade in antiquities, \u003ci\u003eThe Compensations of Plunder\u003c\/i\u003e brings historical grounding to a highly contentious topic in modern Chinese history and informs heated debates over cultural restitution throughout the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJustin M. Jacobs\u003c\/b\u003e is associate professor of history at American University. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eIndiana Jones in History\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eXinjiang and the Modern Chinese State\u003c\/i\u003e. He also serves as editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Silk Road\u003c\/i\u003e journal and hosts \u003ci\u003eBeyond Huaxia\u003c\/i\u003e, a podcast on East Asian history.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50434453307666,"sku":"9780226712017","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_962bc3b1-8b4e-4afa-87ba-00127a557a52.jpg?v=1729601496","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-compensations-of-plunder-how-china-lost-its-treasures-9780226712017","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}