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The "Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands" (dongtian and fudi, 洞天福地) is a unique concept of sacred space in China and even in East Asia, combining beautiful natural scenery, rich historical heritage, and diverse cultural heritage. This paper tries to explain Mount Jingfu's (jingfu shan, 靜福山) aesthetic representations. The results show that the landscape's physical environment projects the spatio-temporal system and the concept of the universe in Daoist aesthetic ideals. With the spatial evolution of divine immortals' abodes from imagination to reality, people's yearning for divine cave palaces is transformed into their connection with and their expression of the palaces in exploring space interests and aesthetic trends that are then integrated into the secular life of thousands of households through living religious rituals. Preserved by local religious believers, the ritual activities incorporated geographic, familial, and divine interactions, and characterised essential social aesthetics. By exploring a typical case of Lingnan Region (lingnan, 嶺南, an old term for South China), this paper aims to elucidate the significance of the Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands as living heritage in contemporary society across multiple dimensions, and to provide a theoretical basis for the protection of its system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entertainment industry is driven to sell certain commodities transnationally, particularly in a world where borders are becoming increasingly diffused through the access afforded by the Internet. Media content is easily consumed, making cultural exporting fast and easy. Similar tropes and plot have been replicated in the East Asian film and TV industry, perhaps in hopes of replicating the success. This paper looks at the manufacture of ideal masculinities within East Asia, particularly China. From ex-members of K-pop group EXO to the successful TV series, cross-influence of East Asian popular culture is prominent. Through this paper, I look at the influence of K-dramas on the Chinese TV industry and particularly the manufacturing of a militarized masculinity on Chinese TV. Far from portraying brute and fearsome soldiers, ideal masculinity on TV is portrayed as "steely exterior but gentle internally" and thus desirable romantic partners to heterosexual women. By exploring the basic conception of Chinese masculinity, I then discuss representations of militarized masculinity on the silver screen (Wolf Warrior II) and C-dramas, with particular focus on the series, You Are My Hero (2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panax ginseng (Chinese ginseng) is precious traditional Chinese medicine in China, which is commonly used to treat central nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, endocrine system diseases, cancer and other diseases. Due to its excellent medicinal properties, it is widely used in East Asia (Korea, China and Japan) as herbal medicine and also known as the king of medicinal herbs. This paper reviews the origin and distribution of ginseng in China, different cultivation methods, economic significance of ginseng industry and allelopathy research on ginseng. This paper also describes the economic importance of ginseng in medical and other uses, and suggests future research areas of ginseng. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the ideology of pro-work conservatism prevails in East Asia, scholars have largely overlooked its discursive construction in media communication from a linguistic perspective. This paper examines the discursive construction of pro-work conservatism in 3,000 Weibo posts with the most "likes" in response to China's implementation of the three-child policy. Using the sociosemantic approach as an analytic framework, the paper finds that three dominant themes underpin the discourse of pro-work conservatism: women's sacrifice in the labour market, the high cost of raising children, and gender-essentialist norms. This discourse is articulated in the posts via a number of discursive strategies, including authorization, morality, and rationalisation. This paper sheds light on the influence of the one-child policy and the awakening of feminist consciousness in the new era and highlights the implications of language use in shaping gender-role ideologies to influence public perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using multiple observational and reanalysis data, this paper investigates the impact of the interdecadal shift in summer Arctic Oscillation (AO) on precipitation in East Asia, by removing ENSO influences. The results indicate that the lower-layer activity center of summer AO in Atlantic shifted eastward after the mid-1980s. This regime shift of summer AO has a significant impact on precipitation in East Asia. Before the mid-1980s, the key regions in which precipitation was affected by AO in East Asia were northern East Asia and Northeastern China and adjacent regions. After the mid-1980s, the key regions in which precipitation was affected by AO in East Asia were central Inner Mongolia and Southern China. The mechanism of precipitation changes can be attributed to changes in atmospheric circulation and water vapor transport related to AO changes. After the mid-1980s, the influence of AO on geopotential height over northern East Asia weakened; meanwhile, the impact of AO on geopotential height over China increased. Consistent with the changes in atmospheric circulation, water vapor transport in East Asia also underwent interdecadal changes before and after the mid-1980s. The differences in atmospheric circulation and water vapor transport in East Asia can be traced back to the North Atlantic. Before the mid-1980s, wave activity flux related to summer AO tended to propagate in high latitudes and subtropics; after the mid-1980s, the wave activity flux changed in its subtropical path and propagated eastward from the North Atlantic through the Middle East to China, significantly affecting the summer precipitation in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply chain decoupling in the US–China confrontation has generated serious uncertainties for private businesses. This paper focuses on machinery international production networks in East Asia and tries to find quantitative evidence on supply chain decoupling by using international trade statistics, particularly from the viewpoint of middle powers such as Japan. While data on the sectoral level of trade do not show any clear evidence of supply chain decoupling, some specific US export controls indeed affect international transactions when examined at a finely disaggregated level. We econometrically measure the effect of some of the US policies on Japanese exports to China. The recent strengthening of US export controls related to supercomputers and advanced integrated circuits is likely to generate further effects. Nevertheless, the supply chain decoupling seems to end up as a partial one, and a large portion of International Production Networks (IPNs) may remain active. In conclusion, the paper briefly discusses the policy implications of the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strong cooling event refers to a sharp change in the average temperature over a short period. The rapid change of temperature has important effect on human health and is highly concerned recent years. Based on the observed temperature data set from stations in Southwest China (SWC) from 1979 to 2017, this paper analyses the characteristics of the strong cooling event (SCE). The result shows that SCE occurs with the highest frequency during the time from February to May. Among them, the frequency of SCE in February exhibits an abrupt change before and after 2005 with a significant increase. Further study reveals that the change of SCE frequency in February is associated with the large‐scale background circulation patterns. After 2005, there is a cyclonic circulation anomaly in Northeast Asia and an anticyclonic circulation anomaly in the Tibet Plateau (TP). This pattern provides a favourable condition for the southward movement of cold air mass, thereby increasing the frequency of SCE in SWC. Furthermore, it is revealed that there is a strong correlation between the variation of SCE frequency in February and sea surface temperatures (SST) in the Northwest Pacific in January before 2005. The cold SST anomaly could favour the occurrence of extreme TD events in SWC through vertical circulation. After 2005, the correlation between SCE and Northwest Pacific SST is not significant. The sea ice in the northern Barents Sea and Kara Sea becomes the dominant impact factor. The abnormally low sea ice concentration is conducive to strengthen the meridional circulation over East Asia, leading to an increasing frequency of SCE in SWC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gifts are important instruments for forming bonds in interpersonal relationships. Our study analyzes the phenomenon of gift contagion in online groups. Gift contagion encourages social bonds by prompting further gifts; it may also promote group interaction and solidarity. Using data on 36 million online red packet gifts on a large social site in East Asia, we leverage a natural experimental design to identify the social contagion of gift giving in online groups. Our natural experiment is enabled by the randomization of the gift amount allocation algorithm on the platform, which addresses the common challenge of causal identification in observational data. Our study provides evidence of gift contagion: On average, receiving one additional dollar causes a recipient to send 18 cents back to the group within the subsequent 24 hours. Decomposing this effect, we find that it is mainly driven by the extensive margin: more recipients are triggered to send red packets. Moreover, we find that this effect is stronger for "luckiest draw" recipients, suggesting the presence of a group norm regarding the next red packet sender. Finally, we investigate the moderating effects of group- and individual-level social network characteristics on gift contagion as well as the causal impact of receiving gifts on group network structure. Our study has implications for promoting group dynamics and designing marketing strategies for product adoption. This paper was accepted by Axel Ockenfels, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Funding: T. Liu was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72222005] and Tsinghua University [Grant 2022Z04W01032]. J. Tang was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China for Distinguished Young Scholar [Grant 61825602]. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4906. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Northeast China played an irreplaceable role in population migrations and cultural exchanges in East Asia during the Paleolithic. This paper collected 182 archaeological sites to analyse the characteristics of spatial-temporal variations of Paleolithic human activities in Northeast China, and explored the driving mechanisms behind these variations in combination with the paleoenvironmental and archaeological studies. During the Lower Paleolithic, constrained by the relatively cold-dry climate and blocked by the Songnen paleo-lake basin, the population was sparse and distributed only near 40° N at the southern end of Northeast China. Upon entering the Middle Paleolithic, as humans developed greater tolerance to cold climates and adopted more sophisticated survival strategies with the application of small lithic tools, their numbers increased and geographical distribution expanded northward to 45° N at the central region of Northeast China. The Upper Paleolithic saw a considerable increase in population and expansion across almost all of Northeast China except for the eastern Inner Mongolia Plateau. We speculated that 50 ka and 30 ka BP were two key points, both of which may be associated with a significant increase in the frequency of migrations and communications among humans, and the widespread popularity of highly mobile microblade technology, respectively. In addition, the environmental analysis of archaeological sites revealed a continuous spread of Paleolithic humans to areas with higher elevations, steeper slopes, and lower temperatures. Meanwhile, they were becoming less reliant on water resources and were more widely conducting activities in open-air areas, showing that the environmental adaptability had been continuously improving over time. This study can provide a reference for the reconstruction of the migration history of early humans in East Asia, and is also of great significance for a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary process of early human-environment interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many types of atmospheric heat engines in land-air systems. The accurate definition, calculation and interpretation of the efficiency of atmospheric heat engines are key to understanding energy transfer and transformation of land-air systems. The atmosphere over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) in summer can be regarded as a positive heat engine. The study of the heat engine efficiency is helpful to better understand land-air interaction and thermal-dynamic processes on the QTP. It also provides a new perspective to explain the impact of the QTP on the climate of China, East Asia and even the world. In this paper, we used MOD08 and ERA5 reanalysis data to calculate the atmospheric heat engine efficiency, surface heat source and atmospheric heat source on the QTP in summer (May to September) from 2000 to 2020. The average atmospheric heat engine efficiency on the QTP in summer from 2000 to 2020 varies between 1.2% and 1.5%, which is less than 1.6%; the heat engine efficiency in summer is higher than that in June, July and August; the Qaidam Basin is the region with the highest atmospheric heat engine efficiency, followed by the western QTP. The mean surface heat source on the QTP in summer from 2000 to 2020 is 96.0 W m−2, the atmospheric heat source is 90.7 W m−2, and the release of precipitation condensation latent heat is the most important component of the atmospheric heat source on the QTP in summer. There is a strong and significant positive correlation between the atmospheric heat engine efficiency and the surface heat source on the QTP in summer. The precipitation con densation latent heat is the most important component of the atmospheric heat source in summer and can reflect the precipitation process. There is a strong and significant negative correlation between the atmospheric heat engine efficiency and the atmo spheric heat source on the QTP in summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asian sand dust (ASD), also called China dust or yellow dust, mainly occurs in East Asia during spring and autumn. Because ASD enters the body mainly through the respiratory system, it can cause respiratory disorders or worsen underlying diseases. Because of this, it has become an important health concern that threatens the well-being of humans and animals. In this study, we investigated the effects of 15 and 30 mg/kg of Pycnogenol (PYC15 and 30 groups), a pine bark extract, on ASD-induced pulmonary inflammation in mice. We evaluated the inflammatory cell counts, inflammatory cytokines, and matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 expression in animal models. PYC administration significantly decreased inflammatory cell infiltration into lung tissue; this was accompanied by a reduction in the levels of proinflammatory mediators including interleukin (IL)-1ß (P < 0.01), IL-6 (P < 0.01) and tumour necrosis factor-a (P < 0.01) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of ASD-exposed mice (ASD group). Histological analysis revealed that PYC suppressed ASD-induced pulmonary inflammation. Moreover, PYC suppressed the levels of matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 in the lung tissue of ASD-exposed mice, indicating that PYC reduced ASD-induced pulmonary inflammation by suppressing MMP-9. Together, these results indicate that PYC as the potential to treat ASD-driven pulmonary inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UNESCO's relatively high prestige across East Asia has spurred intensifying efforts by governments to use its imprimatur to legitimate official narratives of the past and visions of the future. This article focuses on China's use of UNESCO as an arena for competitive national 'branding' in the education field, especially relating to STEM and AI. We analyse the Chinese state's engagement with UNESCO's education work in the context of shifts in budgetary and political influence within the organisation, and of a growing 'securitisation' of education within China itself. We show how Chinese engagement with UNESCO's educational agenda reflects both domestic political considerations and the 'major country diplomacy' of Xi Jinping, as manifested in the 'Belt and Road Initiative' and intensifying strategic competition with the USA. We conclude by discussing the implications of rising Chinese influence within the organisation for UNESCO's capacity for articulating a coherent and consistently humanistic vision for education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The barbel chub (Squaliobarbus curriculus), the only species in the genus, is widely distributed in freshwater lakes and rivers at different latitudes in East Asia, with fishery and biodiversity importance, and is an emerging commercially important fish in China. However, the resource of this species has dramatically declined due to anthropogenic activities such as over-exploitation, as well as water pollution. Genomic resources for S. curriculus are useful for the management and sustainable utilization of this important fish species, and also for a better understanding of its genetic variation in the region. Here, we report the chromosome-level assembly of the S. curriculus genome obtained from the integration of PacBio long sequencing and Hi-C technology. A total of 155.34 Gb high-quality PacBio sequences were generated, and the preliminary genome assembly was 894.95 Mb in size with a contig N50 being 20.34 Mb. By using Hi-C data, 99.42% of the assembled sequences were anchored to 24 pseudochromosomes, with chromosome lengths ranging from 27.22 to 58.75 Mb. A total of 25,779 protein-coding genes were predicted, 94.70% of which were functionally annotated. Moreover, S. curriculus shows resistance to grass carp haemorrhagic disease (GCHD) caused by grass carp reovirus (GCRV), which seriously hinders the status and future perspectives of commercial grass carp production. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that S. curriculus diverged with grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) approximately 20.80 million years ago. Annotations of the expanded gene families were found to be largely enriched in immune-related KEGG pathway categories. Moreover, a total of 18 Toll-like receptor (TLR) genes were identified from the whole genome of S. curriculus. The high-quality genome assembled in this study will provide a valuable resource for accelerating ecological, evolutionary, and genetic research on S. curriculus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wet bulb temperature (Tw) has gained considerable attention as a crucial indicator of heat-related health risks. Here we report south-to-north spatially heterogeneous trends of Tw in China over 1979-2018. We find that actual water vapor pressure (Ea) changes play a dominant role in determining the different trend of Tw in southern and northern China, which is attributed to the faster warming of high-latitude regions of East Asia as a response to climate change. This warming effect regulates large-scale atmospheric features and leads to extended impacts of the South Asia high (SAH) and the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) over southern China and to suppressed moisture transport. Attribution analysis using climate model simulations confirms these findings. We further find that the entire eastern China, that accommodates 94% of the country's population, is likely to experience widespread and uniform elevated thermal stress the end of this century. Our findings highlight the necessity for development of adaptation measures in eastern China to avoid adverse impacts of heat stress, suggesting similar implications for other regions as well. Attributing spatially heterogeneous heat stress trends to water vapor pressure changes driven by climate change-induced rapid warming in high-latitudes of East Asia, the authors predict widespread and uniform future heat stress in eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 2010 to 2020, Northeast Pacific (NEP) sea surface temperature (SST) experienced the warmest decade ever recorded, manifested in several extreme marine heatwaves, referred to as "warm blob" events, which severely affect marine ecosystems and extreme weather along the west coast of North America. While year-to-year internal climate variability has been suggested as a cause of individual events, the causes of the continuous dramatic NEP SST warming remain elusive. Here, we show that other than the greenhouse gas (GHG) forcing, rapid aerosol abatement in China over the period likely plays an important role. Anomalous tropospheric warming induced by declining aerosols in China generated atmospheric teleconnections from East Asia to the NEP, featuring an intensified and southward-shifted Aleutian Low. The associated atmospheric circulation anomaly weakens the climatological westerlies in the NEP and warms the SST there by suppressing the evaporative cooling. The aerosol-induced mean warming of the NEP SST, along with internal climate variability and the GHG-induced warming, made the warm blob events more frequent and intense during 2010 to 2020. As anthropogenic aerosol emissions continue to decrease, there is likely to be an increase in NEP warm blob events, disproportionately large beyond the direct radiative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discriminating the provenance of fine-grained sediments is crucial for reconstructing paleogeography, sedimentary processes, and paleoclimate. In this paper, we investigate the South Bohai Coast to better understand source-to-sink systems in East Asia. This region is influenced by both distant sources such as the large-scale Yellow River and small local river sources flowing from the Luzhong Mountain area. Two Holocene sedimentary cores, dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C chronology, were used to investigate the provenance of the fine-grained sediments over the last 7 kyrs. Clay mineralogy and relevant non-linear modeling were employed for provenance discrimination. The results show that the fine-grained sediments along the South Bohai Coast were mainly derived from the Yellow River during the periods of 7.0–5.4 ka and 4.5–2.6 ka, respectively, while the input from the Luzhong Mountain-derived rivers was greater during 5.4–4.5 ka and 2.6–0.2 ka, respectively. Fluvial activities and marine-terrestrial interaction driven by climate factors such as East Asian winter monsoon, temperature, and precipitation in river basins, dominantly influenced the provenance of fine-grained sediments from 7.0 to 2.6 ka. Anthropogenic impact on provenance increased after 2.6 ka. The chronology of the two cores showed extremely rapid sedimentation rate transitions at 5.2 ka and 1.5 ka, respectively, very likely attributed to anthropogenic-induced rapid progradation. Our study provides a model for better understanding the paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic evolution of a coastal area where multiple sources exist. • Anthropogenically high sedimentation rate in the South Bohai Coast in late Holocene. • Provenance discrimination of the fine-grained sediments in the South Bohai Coast since the mid-Holocene. • The major source of the fine-grained sediments in the South Bohai Coast changed episodically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trace metals from natural and anthropogenic sources impact the atmospheric environment and enter the soil through dry and wet atmospheric deposition, ultimately affecting human health. In this study, we established an emission inventory of Pb, As, Cr, and Cd in East Asia (80° E–140° E, 15° N–50° N) for the year 2017, including dust and anthropogenic sources from both land and marine. We modified the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to provide gridded data on concentrations, as well as dry and wet atmospheric deposition fluxes of metals, with a focus on mainland China. The emissions of Pb, As, Cr, and Cd in East Asia were 19,253, 3415, 3332, and 9379 tons, respectively, in 2017, with 55%, 69%, 25%, and 58% distributed in the fine mode. The spatial distribution of atmospheric concentrations and dry deposition of trace metals was similar to that of emissions, while the spatial distribution of precipitation-related wet deposition was further east and greater in the south than in the north. In mainland China, the average bulk-deposition fluxes of Pb, As, Cr, and Cd were 1036.5, 170.3, 465.9, and 185.0 μg·m−2·year−1, respectively. Our study provides gridded data on trace metals in mainland China, which can be used for assessing air quality, human exposure risks, and metal inputs to soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian monsoon (AM) has direct and profound effects on the livelihoods of residents in South Asia and East Asia. Modern observations have shown multi-decadal alternations of flood and drought periods in these regions, likely influenced by climatic processes such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. However, our understanding of the multi-decadal variability of the AM under different climatic conditions remains uncertain. In this study, we collected an annually laminated and 780-mm stalagmite (sample number: BJ7) from Binjia (BJ) Cave in southwestern China, which is deeply influenced by the Asian monsoon system. Based on this sample, we established 6-year resolution and multi-proxy records for the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) variabilities during the early last termination, spanning from 18.2 to 16.1 ka BP. Measurements of five pairs of uranium and thorium solutions for 230Th dating were conducted using a multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP- MS), and 374 pairs of stable isotope (δ18O and δ13C) analyses were run on a Kiel Carbonate Device connected with Finnigan MAT-253 at Nanjing Normal University. The chronology for this sample was established by annual layer counting anchored with 230Th dating results. Our BJ7 δ18O record replicates well with other Chinese δ18O records on the general trend, all of which are superimposed by frequent multidecadal-scale fluctuations at approximately 60 years periodicity. Inspection of the 60-year band in BJ7 δ18O and δ13C records and results of the cross-wavelet analysis indicate coherent changes in the ASM and biomass production/karst processes during most of the studied period. In addition, the 60-year band of BJ7 and NGRIP δ18O records are consistent, implying the impacts of the high-latitude North Atlantic or Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on the ASM. Our study suggests that the 60-year variability should be an intrinsic feature of the climate system regardless of glacial or interglacial backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the upstream region of the Asian summer monsoon, the Bay of Bengal summer monsoon (BOBSM) system has impacts on rainfall patterns in East Asia. In this study, we investigate the impact of the interannual variability of the BOBSM retreat on China precipitation in early summer (June) of the following year. When the BOBSM retreat occurs earlier in the previous year, we find enhanced rainfall in both the northeastern and eastern parts of China. Conversely, when the retreat of the BOBSM is delayed in the previous year, there is a tendency for decreased rainfall in most of northeastern and eastern China, while rainfall in the northern part of the Taiwan island region tends to increase. Statistical analysis demonstrates the co-variability between China's June precipitation anomalies and preceding wind anomalies in the eastern Bay of Bengal. The results indicate a strong relationship between the preceding BOBSM retreat and China precipitation anomalies in the following June. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that the BOBSM retreat is more of an independent signal rather than modulated by an Indian Ocean Dipole event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought events have become more frequent and intense over East Asia in recent decades, leading to huge socioeconomic impacts. Although the droughts have been studied extensively by cases or for individual regions, their leading variability and associated causes remain unclear. Based on the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and ERA5 reanalysis product from 1979 to 2020, this study evealuates the severity of spring droughts in East Asia and investigates their variations and associated drivers. The results indicate that North China and Mongolia have experienced remarkable trends toward dryness during spring in recent decades, while southwestern China has witnessed an opposite trend toward wetness. The first Empirical Orthogonal Function mode of SPEI variability reveals a similar seesawing pattern, with more severe dryness in northwestern China, Mongolia, North China, South Korea, and Japan but increased wetness in Southwestern China and southeast Asia. Further investigation reveals that the anomalously dry (wet) surface in North (Southwestern) China is significantly associated with anomalously high (low) temperature, less (more) precipitation, and reduced (increased) soil moisture during the previous winter and early spring, regulated by an anomalous anticyclone (cyclone) and thus reduced (increased) water vapor convergence. The spring dry-wet pattern in East Asia is also linked to cold sea surface temperature anomalies in the central-eastern Pacific. The findings of this study have important implications for improving the prediction of spring drought events in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anomalies in atmospheric moisture transport are critical for drought formation, with East Asian monsoon anomalies identified as the primary driver of droughts in East Asia. However, the drought mechanism for the border region between monsoon and nonmonsoon land areas remains unclear due to complex interactions between latitudinal circulation patterns. Using a Lagrangian framework, we quantify moisture supply (MS) during spring and summer drought events within the border region, specifically Northeast China (NEC). Our results reveal that decreased MS from monsoon land areas is more crucial than nonmonsoon land areas and local areas for NEC droughts, with the local water recycling playing a more substantial role in summer than in spring. On average, summer droughts are 4 times more intense than spring droughts. Contributions to MS deficits from monsoon land areas, nonmonsoon land areas, and local areas during spring (summer) droughts are 43.2% (43.8%), 25.1% (19.2%), and 22% (33.8%), respectively. The weakened atmospheric circulation from source regions to NEC contributes to over 80% of MS deficits during droughts. Atmospheric wave trains triggered by North Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) gradients, along with the weakening of the East Asian subtropical westerly jet in spring and a positive phase of the polar–Eurasian teleconnection in summer, contribute to spring and summer droughts, respectively. A sustained, record-breaking positive SSTA along the western European coast from the spring to summer excited a wave train, and resulted in the extreme 2017 spring–summer drought. These findings provide valuable insights into the drought mechanism within the interaction zone of circulation systems from different latitudes. Significance Statement: The complex interactions between atmospheric circulation patterns at different latitudes have led to an insufficient understanding of the mechanisms causing extreme drought in the border region between the monsoon and nonmonsoon land areas. This study aims to investigate the drought mechanisms in the border region from the perspective of moisture tracking. Results indicate a moisture supply deficit from the monsoon region contributes the most (approximately half) to droughts, although the majority of air parcels reaching this region originate from the nonmonsoon region. The weakening of circulation contributes to more than 80% of the moisture supply deficit during droughts, far exceeding the impact of reduced evaporation from the moisture source regions. These findings are conducive to understanding the mechanisms of extreme drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the WRF-Chem v4.4 model was utilized to evaluate the sensitivity of O 3 simulations with three bottom-up emission inventories (EDGAR-HTAP v2 and v3 and KORUS v5) using surface and aircraft data in East Asia during the Korea-United States Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) campaign period in 2016. All emission inventories were found to reproduce the diurnal variations of O 3 and its main precursor NO 2 as compared to the surface monitor data. However, the spatial distributions of the daily maximum 8 h average (MDA8) O 3 in the model do not completely align with the observations. The model MDA8 O 3 had a negative (positive) bias north (south) of 30° N over China. All simulations underestimated the observed CO by 50 %–60 % over China and South Korea. In the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), EDGAR-HTAP v2 and v3 and KORUS v5 simulated the vertical shapes and diurnal patterns of O 3 and other precursors effectively, but the model underestimated the observed O 3 , CO, and HCHO concentrations. Notably, the model aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were significantly underestimated with the three bottom-up emission inventories, although the KORUS v5 shows improvements. The model isoprene estimations had a positive bias relative to the observations, suggesting that the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN) version 2.04 overestimated isoprene emissions. Additional model simulations were conducted by doubling CO and VOC emissions over China and South Korea to investigate the causes of the model O 3 biases and the effects of the long-range transport on the O 3 over South Korea. The doubled CO and VOC emission simulations improved the model O 3 simulations for the local-emission-dominant case but led to the model O 3 overestimations for the transport-dominant case, which emphasizes the need for accurate representations of the local VOC emissions over South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cycle of precipitation change is key to understanding the driving mechanism of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). However, the dominant cycles of EASM precipitation revealed by different proxy indicators are inconsistent, leading to the "Chinese 100 kyr problem". In this study, we examine a high-resolution, approximately 350,000-year record from a low-latitude loess profile in China. Our analyses show that variations in the ratio of dithionite−citrate−bicarbonate extractable iron to total iron are dominated by the ~20-kyr cycle, reflecting changes in precipitation. In contrast, magnetic susceptibility varies with the ~100-kyr cycle and may be mainly controlled by temperature-induced redox processes or precipitation-induced signal smoothing. Our results suggest that changes in the EASM, as indicated by precipitation in this region, are mainly forced by precession-dominated insolation variations, and that precipitation and temperature may have varied with different cycles over the past ~350,000 years. Earth's orbit has tuned the variations of the East Asian summer monsoon. Here, a low latitude loess palaeoclimate record provides evidence that variation in monsoon rainfall is dominated by the precession cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of Confucianism, an influential cultural belief and ethical philosophy in East Asia, on business strategy. Employing a large-scale archival dataset of Chinese public firms covering 2007 to 2020, we provide evidence that Confucianism is positively associated with analytical-oriented strategies. Our empirical findings remain intact after accounting for alternative Confucianism measures, controlling formal institutions and religions, instrumental variable methods, and other approaches to addressing endogeneity and robustness issues. Cross-sectional analyses further reveal that the documented effect is more evident for non-state-owned firms, firms with executives lacking overseas experience, and those operating in higher economic policy uncertainty. Overall, our study sheds light on how traditional culture, an important dimension of informal institutions, shapes corporate strategic decisions in emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In much of Western legal historical scholarship, legal fictions are understood to be devices for maintaining the integrity of text-based legal codes in the face of social change. However, while legal fictions as such were not a topic of scholarly inquiry in East Asia prior to the introduction of the concept from the West, East Asia is nevertheless rich in examples of another kind of legal fiction: jurisprudential legal fictions, or legal fictions effected by judges and rooted in culture (often including religion). The mythical, moral xiezhi beast in ancient China, and judge-centered moral reasoning in pre-modern Japan, point to legal fictions beyond the traditional categories of such in much of Western scholarship, as well as to legal fictions within the West now largely forgotten after the advent of Enlightenment thinking on textual law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]