Search

This article reviews Tsuen-hsuin Tsien's "Paper and Printing," volume 5, part 1 of the "Science and Civilisation in China" series, which traces the history of paper and printing, and their precursors, in China from the Shang through the Qing dynasties. While the work is "not flawless," because it contains a number of unedited errors, it is nevertheless an "important" work for scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM CONTRIBUTOR]

Starting from the 1990s, enthusiasm for the learning of Chinese has grown immensely and is still continuing to grow. The Office of Chinese Language Council International (known colloquially as "Hanban"), an organ of the PRC government which develops Chinese language and culture teaching resources worldwide, has established 322 Confucius Institute and 369 Confucius Classrooms in 96 countries by October 2010. As a result, relevant issues pertaining to the learning of Chinese as a foreign language are eagerly discussed and addressed. Professionals in this field have seen the urgent need in developing teachers and teaching materials to meet the requirements of the times. The Chinese Language Programme of the Centre for Language Studies at the National University of Singapore recently adopted the long-existing and widely-used textbook series, New Practical Chinese Reader. This book review intends to share insights about the application of New Practical Chinese Reader 1 in the local context, discuss some issues of concern that may arise from importing teaching materials from other countries, as well as suggest possible solutions and improvements. Firstly, this review finds that the textbook's aim of applying a communicative approach taken is well-achieved by the design of the comparative and cyclical arrangement with the constant review of language structures and functions as well as important cultural information. In general, learners in the beginning Chinese modules experience a sense of achievement which strengthens their motivation. They also demonstrate the desired proficiency in daily conversations after the designated learning period. Secondly, this review finds that the systematic study of Chinese characters in New Practical Chinese Reader 1 effectively helps beginners to establish a strong foundation for further study. The incorporation of the visual element (i.e. the drawing of character origins) in teaching characters in this new series represents a welcome step forward from the earlier series. Learners demonstrate a better grasp of the rules of formation and a stronger understanding of the derivation of meanings. Thirdly, the multimedia components of this textbook series, including the audio recordings and the DVD, increase students' interest and improve their understanding of social appropriateness in applying the language. This book review also points out some problems. They include the applicability of the book to the Singapore context, the lack of sufficient linkage in meanings from single-component characters to multi-component ones, and sequential mistakes in editing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of "interlanguage" has been in existence for over 40 years, during which SLA researchers have combined variation and interlanguage to conduct many fruitful studies. "Interlanguage Variation in Theoretical and Pedagogical Perspective," authored by H. D. Adamson, covering many different aspects of interlanguage variation, is an introductory text for those interested in the field. It is composed of 9 chapters, organized into 4 parts offering theoretical and pedagogical perspectives. Each part comprises recent papers in interlanguage variation, most written by Adamson himself and some co-authored with other scholars. These papers helped to define the field of interlanguage variation in the past 40 years. The book covers various related topics. Most chapters present detailed reviews, descriptions and interpretations of relevant literature to bring quantitative SLA research into the perspective of related disciplines, help students understand the progression of intellectual development in the field, and provide the foundation for future research. The current review introduces the main contents of each part, comments on the editorial techniques, provides a critical evaluation of its contents and form, and considers the book's implications for interlanguage variation research. Generally speaking, it is an excellent introductory reader for students, teachers and researchers of interlanguage variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reception of the Caotang shiyu (CTSY) ... in the early Qing was closely related to changes in the literary discourse on Song-ci poetry that took place during this period. In his highly influential Cizong ..., Zhu Yizun ... (1629-1709) claimed that the CTSY had adversely affected the practice of ci-composition in the Ming and early Qing, a criticism that later became the basis for orthodox discourse on ci-poetics. This discourse, however, was marred by vague and inaccurate discussions. Through a statistical analysis of zhuihe compositions of the early Qing, i.e. compositions set to the rhyming schemes of works by previous authors, this paper attempts to reconstruct the stylistic practice of the time. The analysis shows that the popular aesthetics exemplified in the CTSY seem to have enjoyed great prevalence among contemporary poets, a preference that Zhu made a conscientious effort to undermine by adopting a different set of selectional strategies for his own compilation. But it was to be another decade before the new fashion advocated by Zhu finally gained acceptance as the standard practice in ciwriting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the book "A Cold War Turning Point: Nixon and China 1969-1972" by Chris Tudda.

This paper lays emphasis on Zygmunt Bauman's theory of "liquid love" to analyze the frail human relations depicted in Kazuo Ishiguro's Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall (2009). As Bauman points out, liquid modern habitants are condemned to live in a realm of uncertainty wherein human relations are necessarily impermanent. A concluded game must be immediately left behind so as to move on directly to the next without grudges, because none of the connecting bonds can vouch for its duration in the liquid modern scenario. Before tying the knot, individuals must anticipate the moment of loosening, and the bond need be loosely tied so that it can be untied again when the situation changes. Is this freedom to relate a means of confronting uncertainty, or derivative of a failure to withstand the frailty of human bonds? The protagonists in Ishiguro's Nocturnes do not wish to act alone when they have to untie the bonds. Finding a significant other with whom they confront the moment of untying becomes urgent and imperative, even while the significant other reminds them of whatever it is they wish to repress. If love changes because of uncertainties, Ishiguro's musicians roaming in the liquid modern world will still choose to relate to the next human bond without any delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the Taiwanese woman poet Ye Hong 葉紅's poems about death, attempting to articulate her perspective on death and what it means in her poetry. Based on her poetry linking psychiatric treatment with death writing, this paper further explains how the poet employs the imagery of death and poetry writing as an escape from life crisis. In the case of Ye Hong, literature as psychiatric treatment did serve to soothe her melancholia and prevent her from losing her capability of speaking. At the same time, she also attempted to save herself by writing about death, that is, by sublimating the death drive by incessantly refashioning the signs of death in her poems. Ye’s death, however, indicates the impossibility of redemption through writing: poetry can never be a substitute for medical treatment. Nevertheless, considering the eternal value of literary work, we may conclude that literature is Ye’s afterlife, through which readers can overcome her physical death by returning again and again to her narrative of death before she died. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1187, Zhu Xi (1130-1200) wrote ten poems called "Wuyi Boating Song," which imitated the local boating songs, and described the scenery of the Wuyi Mountains as seen from a boating trip on the Jiuqu River. Li Huang (Tuixi, 1501-1570), a Korean Conflician scholar in the Joseon dynasty, in 1547 compiled tread rhyme poetry of Zhu Xi's "Wuyi Boating Song" and made a final edition twelve years after. This paper aims to interpret the meaning of Zhu Xi's "Wuyi Boating Song" and the reasons underlying changes made in Li Huang9 s version. From the further discussion of Joseon dynasty scholars regarding the poem, Li Huang's points of view shown in his version of "Wuyi Boating Song" are not well accepted. This paper indicates that Zhu Xi was trying to express the idea of shanshui youguan (wandering in a landscape), which, according to Korean Confucians, inculcated the metaphor of shanshui qiudao (pursuing truth). The main reason Li Huang' s interpretation was different from those of other Korean scholars is based on the argument of "The Ninth Bend of Wuyi" poem, about whether it is the ultimate of the pursuit of "truth." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the birth of Yongming 永明 Style poetry in the Southern Qi 南齊 Dynasty, drawing on cultural background to re-examine its significance in the history of Chinese poetry. The Yongming Style heralded a revolution in poetry circles and is a model example of the birth of a new poetics. Yongming poetics is grounded in a profound awareness of the sound of the language that cuts across the boundaries of language and literature. Its prosody developed in step with traditional Chinese phonology, its leading figures guiding the construction of systems of phonological knowledge. By comparing Chinese and Sanskrit, Yongming poets established the principles for determining pronunciation by phonological segmentation, and by chanting and reading aloud, they made observations about the musicality of the language itself. The decomposability of phonology allowed them to grasp how to manipulate phonology in poetry, establishing verifiable rules. Poets repositioned the human voice as the starting point for the laws of phonology, emphasizing the fundamental place of language; through 'inner listening,' they made connections between spoken sounds and one's inner voice. They believed that the ideal tonal prosody would be the outward manifestation of the inner voice and so advocated an aesthetics of prosody that took the sound of the inner voice as its starting point. In practice, Yongming poetics shaped an aesthetic in the sound-environment of the thenpopular five-character line form that stressed the use of alliteration and rhyme, particularly between the last characters of each line and the first two and final three characters of a line. It sparked a significant, irresistible movement for innovation in form in later poetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poem "Says the Wife, 'Cocks are Crowing'" in the Classic of Poetry (Shijing) has previously been interpreted as praising a couple who encouraged and supported each other in their marriage. Nowadays, it is often regarded as a model for conveying the poetic imagery of a happy marriage. In contrast to this view, this article argues that the structural arrangement of the poem becomes more intelligible by removing the third-person perspective utilized in contemporary interpretations. In the final stanza of the poem, the gentleman's gift of a piece of his girdle jade to the lady depicts a courtship ritual done before marriage. It would thus contravene established practice for the gentleman to perform the ritual if they were already married. It would moreover cause interpretive difficulties, particularly regarding the happy marriage described in the first two stanzas, if the poet had intended to simply depict a simple courtship. To solve this dilemma, it is claimed here that the first two stanzas of the poem should be read as describing the lady's imagination of a happy marriage, and that the final stanza should be understood as her statement on how the gentleman should express his feelings to her. Other associated questions such as the identity of the gentleman and the shift between different perspectives are elaborated upon in the final part of the paper in an effort to construct a more reasonable structure for interpreting the poem and lay a solid foundation for a deeper exploration of the poet's true intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]