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By exploring the history of northeastern China in 1898–1911, this paper documents that extractive colonialism spurs a culture of social integration that generates a positive effect on contemporary individual income, with robustness to potential endogeneity bias. Given that the existing literature has emphasized the long-run negative economic impacts of extractive colonialism, this paper helps explain the following institutional puzzle: Why does extractive colonialism spur development in the long run? We thereby deepen understanding of colonialism and institutions from a cultural perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The philosophy of sports is a relatively young discipline in China which we argue, can be divided into four stages of development over the past four decades. This paper attempts to map the history of this development and provide an indication of how Chinese sport philosophy has contributed to the global development of research in this area. Stage one (1980–1985) focused primarily on ontological issues such as the nature of sport philosophy and the definition of '体育' (Chinese pinyin 'tiyu', a term refering to sports, physical education and other physical activities). Stage two (1986–1996) saw an expansion of research and publications in sport philosophy that encompassed a variety of topic areas, including ethics and aesthetics. Scholars also began to introduce foreign works into their own research as well as turning to the traditional Chinese bodies of thought such as, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, to explore philosophical issues in sport. The third stage was a period of relative stagnation (1997–2003) until Chinese sport philosophy expanded steadily, arguably thanks to the awarding of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Over the past 15 years (the fourth stage), Chinese sport philosophy has made further contributions in ontological, ethical and aesthetic study of sports, which is shown in the increasing number of new doctoral dissertations, books and journal papers published. However, it still faces challenges. In recent years, there have been fewer conferences or symposiums on sport philosophy which has led to a decline in academic exchanges, resulting in a divided focus of resources rather than progression within a common community of academic interests. For this to be rectified, there needs to be greater opportunities for academic exchange and dialogue as well as the creation of professional associations and journals for Chinese sport philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opening of the twentieth-first century has been a time of uncertainty. Despite many visions of the future, a Eurocentric bias is still at heart of the discourse about world order. For instance, the 'Thucydides Trap' as a metaphor is often borrowed by political theories to make sense of the changing relationship between China and the United States. Yet as many are turning to ancient history in the 'West' to find wisdom for the future, they tend to overlook the story from the other side of the globe. In this paper, I investigate a genealogy of thought that there existed an international order in ancient China. The concept sounds like an oxymoron to many people today. Yet various scholars have adopted this view as an alternative to the Eurocentric world of international relations over the course of the long twentieth century, from the Western missionary W. A. P. Martin in late Qing, the Chinese historian He Bingsong in the Republican period, to the hawkish PRC foreign policy analyst Yan Xuetong. Recalling this legacy will help us to appreciate the crucial role of political idealism in the reshuffling of international relations in a world that is increasingly leaning towards power politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a tendency in the study of modern Chinese history to seek uniqueness in the history of modern China while attempting to identify differences from some presumed universality. However, modern Chinese history research that emphasizes uniqueness is likely to be used to create a negative image of China in the minds of the Japanese general public, given that China has become a major power and Sino-Japan relations have become unstable in the 21st century. As China is becoming a major power and an increasing global presence, the Japanese view that China is becoming distanced from universals and is instead becoming something entirely different from the "norm" is likely to amplify misunderstanding and prejudice regarding China. Therefore, we have to consider how to study the history of modern China. I believe it is only natural to study it based on the political problem that was the constant theme throughout the history of modern China. It is the history of constitutional government and revolution. From these two keywords, this paper reconsiders the universality and uniqueness of modern Chinese history, and also presents a new perspective on the relationship between China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to China's ongoing economic rise, recent studies in global (economic) history have moved away from the traditional Eurocentric view to a Sinocentric one. There is extensive literature focused on the introduction of Chinese goods to Europe, as well as on China's economic development within the framework of the great divergence debate. However, less research has centred on the introduction of European goods to Chinese markets, specifically the markets in Guangdong or other coastal regions (such as Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu), before the First Opium War. This paper aims to side-step the Sinocentric approach, eschewing the current wave of national history in China, by analysing the international trade in Qing China from the Kangxi era until the Qianlong period. It provides new empirical evidence from the First Historical Archives of China (FHAC) by examining the impact on global trade of China's imperial edicts and interventionist policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translation among different ethnic languages has always played a political and cultural role throughout the history of China. Its importance can be comparable to the translation of the Buddhist Scriptures in the Tang and Song dynasties and, to a certain extent, it is deemed to surpass the scientific and technological translation wave in the late Ming and early Qing dynasty in terms of duration, number of participants, and number of translated works. However, it has not drawn much scholarly attention. The present paper aims to investigate translation among different ethnic languages in the Yuan dynasty from the standpoint of the 'state translation program'. The analysis will be conducted, from four aspects, namely the nomination of translation officials, the selection of texts to be translated, the establishment of translation institutions at the national level, and the cultivation of translators. The results of our study show that the governors of the Yuan dynasty enhanced translation as a method of state governance by embedding translation officials in the administrative machinery, setting up cooperative state translation agencies, selecting materials to be translated and training national translators in a systematic manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws upon transitivity and Appraisal within Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to study the traumatic discourse of Nanjing Massacre in Chinese Mainland's and Japan's history textbooks. Through corpus analysis, this research finds that the Chinese discourse mainly uses effective process, relational process, verbal process to construe Japan's victimizering experience and China's victimhood, and employs negative Affect, opposite values of Judgment, negative Appreciation, Expand, Raise and Sharpen to construct a critical voice for the Japanese army and a sympathic tone for the Chinese. By contrast, the Japanese discourse largely uses pseudo-effective and middle processes, mental and existential processes to cover up Japan's victimizering experience, and employs negative Judgment, positive Appreciation, Contract and Raise to construct an almost uncritical voice for the Japanese army and the massacre. The difference in the representation and evaluation of Nanjing Massacre results from the politics of official memories in both countries. As China endeavors to strengthen its patriotic education by using Nanjing Massacre as an ideological weapon for national solidarity, Japan expedites its nationalist historiography move to recreate its normal national image by marginalizing the massacre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses news about Chinese history studies. A conference on "The Impact of Mongol Domination on Chinese Civilization" was held in July 1976. A list of papers on Ming topics presented at regional conferences is presented, as well as a list of dissertations that are being written by graduate students.

This paper was a review of literature study that illustrates the impact of technology on the sport of table tennis throughout the history of this sport in China and discuss current possibilities for the application of digital technologies that would augment the development and sustainability of table tennis in the future. After a brief introduction of historical development of table tennis in China, influences of technological innovation and regulation evolution in table tennis are extensively examined from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Discussions are centered on the necessity of sport organizations to be consumer-centric and embracing emerging products and technologies. Modern digital technologies such as IoT, data analytics, wearable devices and VR/AR can help sports organizations to optimize their business and operational capabilities in terms of brand building, channel integration, service processes and organizational structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the intimate relationship between narratives emanating from China and their uses of Chinese history, and how such perspectives inform China’s geopolitical positioning and practices in lieu of its purported ‘rise’. Taking inspiration from the deconstructive impetus of critical geopolitics, this article contends that these historical claims to China’s rise constitute deterministic accounts, hinging on the notion of Chinese exceptionalism to provide discursive backing for a Sinocentric geopolitical order in the coming decades. This in turn downplays ‘alternative’ historiographies that can shed light on how the nature of China’s emergence may be more dependent on and shaped by the external environment than previously acknowledged. Building on the historical-geographical expositions related to the idea of contingency, this article demonstrates how China (whether it be in the past or present) cannot be seen as operating in a vacuum but has to constantly negotiate and adjust its strategy of engagements/interactions based on the specific demands imposed by world politics. Specifically, by elucidating these dimensions through cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan, it is argued that understanding China’s contingencies can raise important questions for us to critically appreciate the contextual actors, processes and relationships that differentially impact on China’s engagements in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a strategy to temper centralized governance with a degree of public participation in China, the "Mass Line" approach has been used throughout the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to mobilize citizens in support of national projects and use this engagement as a channel for feedback. The Mass Line has been employed in attempts to address "radicalization" and challenges to centralized state control, indicating that the CCP's approach to counter-terrorism goes beyond the top-down, oppressive tactics that China is often associated with. This paper explores China's programmes of mass mobilization as a part of its counter-radicalization strategy in order to deepen understanding of how the country is responding to a key security challenge. It demonstrates that this approach reflects significant historical continuities, and thus national characteristics, in terms of political culture and state control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By examining the history of the Chinese journalism and typical cases in this field since reform and opening up, this paper analyzes from a historical perspective how the Chinese press has played a constructive role, and how it has changed in parallel with media evolution and technological progress. The "constructiveness" of the Chinese press is manifested as follows: directly participating in public governance through collaboration with the government; supervising public power by starting from and aiming at finding solutions to problems; actively intervening in and helping address issues about people's livelihood with well-planned news reports and relevant activities; mobilizing and organizing the public with constantly updated strategies and methods; and establishing think tanks to extend its services to society. Faced with both societal and industry crises, the Chinese press needs to explore new means to give full play to its constructive role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using sample biographical sketches of officials in the Ming, this paper illustrates the extent to which new tools for biographical research can yield much richer detail about individuals and the circumstances in which they lived. It also shows how biographical details can help solve bibliographical puzzles. The new tools include reprinted texts, indexed collections, and texts in searchable databases. The paper draws examples from the founding of the dynasty in 1368 to its end in 1644 and from different regions of the country. The biographical sketches are of authors of handbooks for officials or of officials who were subjects of celebratory anthologies. The variety of examples illustrate the wealth of detail that has become accessible and the sorts of questions that can be answered through the use of new biographical tools focused on the Ming. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information about several papers discussed at a history conference entitled “History with Chinese Characteristics: From Ming to Globalization,” held at the University of Minnesota on February 18 and 19, 2011, is presented. Topics include 18th century Chinese priest Lucas Ly, the humor of Chinese author Feng Menglong, and China and world history. The symposium featured several historians including Jiang Yonglin, Fang Qin, and Robert Entenmann.

This article is an intervention in some controversies concerning the role of the Communist International in and outside China. It seeks to tackle the inappropriate denial of its guidance and aid to the Chinese Revolution. In doing so, this paper makes several arguments. First, it argues that the Communist International provided the Chinese Revolution with valuable guidance, support and assistance. These contributed tremendously to the Communist Party of China's birth, development, consolidation and maturation and advanced its theoretical self-consciousness. Second, while the Communist International gave its guidance in the sincere hope that the Chinese Revolution would benefit from correct theories and advanced experiences, it absolutised the theoretical conceptions of the classical Marxists and the Russian experience. This led to mistakes or misjudgments that deserve an accurate evaluation. Third, the Communist International was itself conducting theoretical exploration, and was generally able to adjust its own theories and change its strategies. Fourth, for all the Communist International's guidance, the universal tenets of Marxism had to be integrated with the concrete practice of the Chinese Revolution, and it was the ability of Chinese communists to Sinicise Marxism–Leninism in what amounted to a theoretical revolution under Mao Zedong's leadership that accounts for the revolution's ultimate victory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how the evolution of the railway sector and the changes brought by the railways are perceived and represented in the People's Republic of China. In doing so, we focus on four railway collections (three of them belonging to the same museum) and three temporary exhibitions, among other materials. That lets us build an interpretation giving prominence to material culture and to the symbolic use of objects and images, allowing us to pursue the meanings of railway heritage and history in China. Furthermore, this analysis compares the information available in Chinese and English in the museums, exhibitions, and some media (in this last case we include Spanish too). In terms of methodology, we combine tools from archaeology, museums studies, applied linguistics and cross-cultural communication. We think this approach is innovative and also appropriate to perceive the messages created by the Chinese museum sector and sent both to national and to international audiences – ie, how China uses railway heritage and history to represent itself domestically and to the rest of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this paper, I examine the Sino-U.S. trade disputes from less-talked about angles: institutional differences, SOEs, hukou control and contemporary Chinese history. Based on these, I provide suggestions for future cooperation and improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses three maps of Beijing from the sixteenth century to explore the range and variation of interests and agendas involved in the production of cartographic images of urban space in early modern China. One is a map from an official gazetteer, the second accompanied a privately produced guidebook/description of the city, and the third is a single broadsheet with a mix of cartographic and pictorial imagery aimed at a more popular audience. The treatment of the Imperial City and the Imperial Palace, known as the Great Within, is different in each map, from near complete obscurity to a rich and fantastic image of the emperor at work in his study. These maps illuminate the diversity of production in a period of rapid development in print publication and circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After 1895 as the Manchu monarchy failed to deal with the national crisis created by China's loss in the first Sino-Japanese War, the ideology of revolution won a foothold. A paradigm shift in Chinese revolutionary discourse, radicalized by way of Japanese translations and symbolized by Sun Yat-sen's self-proclaimed 'revolutionary party,' embraced the view of the rising masses as masters of history. It was during the age of world revolution that Kang Youwei shaped his worldview. While juxtaposing the French Revolution with the anti-Manchu revolution, he betrayed his background in the New Text Confucian canon by lending legitimacy to the rebels. In analyzing Kang's memorials of 1898, this paper reveals how his reform theory and practice were framed by his vision of world revolution, and how the words bianfa, weixin and bianzheng were interwoven with the unseen geming, rhetorically mixing the history of world revolution with the Tang-Wu tradition. This paper asserts that the geming discourse in Kang's use inscribed with a radical blueprint for China was actually an imposition of modernity onto the Qing court rather than empowering its legitimation in a traditional Confucian way. In scrutinizing these keywords in transnational contexts, the analysis crosses not only the fields of language, politics, Classical study and intellectual culture, but also the subtle layers of intertextual verification, psychological complexity and political and cultural intensities, and attempts to open new dimensions for the study of Kang Youwei and the 1898 reform movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nature and socio-political functions of Hong Kong's 'Chinese history curriculum' during colonialism and since decolonization and argues that these functions have resulted in a curriculum characterized by rote-learning and geared towards social control. Students are initiated into the traditional, orthodox view of Chinese history and prescribed moral judgements. Consequently, there is little chance for independent thinking on the part of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study surveys theoretical hypotheses for the choice of Chinese capital locations over 2240 years, examines the probability of 80 candidate cities and finds that relative economic security, the cultural tradition of the emperor's first seat of power, long-term climate change, political unity, nomadic nature, etc. matter in the choice of Chinese capital location. This finding is robust across different approaches, time periods and dynasties. This study confirms the validity of theoretical hypotheses in both China and the West, deepening our understanding of the wisdom of capital location and supplying missing aspects of modern theories of choice of capital location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the history of published Cantonese from the Ming dynasty through to the 1980s. Early 'Cantonese literature' was Cantonese only in the sense that it contained occasional Cantonese dialect words. However, over the years, Cantonese literature not only came to include more Cantonese dialect, but also to become more regional in its subject matter and the assumptions Cantonese writers held about the background knowledge of their audience. In recent years, much Cantonese writing has become an in-group literature in both its language and subject matter, and the author suggests that it is this in-group focus that is an important distinguishing mark of a true dialect literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the intrinsic relationships between Japanese historiography and the three great historiographical trends of New Historiography, Debates on Ancient History, and Marxist historiography, from the macroscopic perspective of the transformation, development, and early modern growth of modern and early modern Chinese historiography, exploring how Chinese historical researchers selected, deviated from, and assimilated Japanese historiography, while also particularly focusing on how the recipients utilized Japanese historiographical methods and concepts as well as the achievements of Japanese scholars in researching Chinese history to construct their own interpretation of Chinese historiography, in a study of the academic trend of indigenization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Prima facie, Confucianism does not explicitly encourage war given its emphasis on humanity. This, however, may be overlooked. This paper is to examine the correlation between war and Confucianism and to argue that Confucianism should take some, if not primary, blame for the vicious circles of China's war and chaos for more than two millennia. To see the correlation, we explore two readings-top-down and bottom-up-from two sources of Confucianism-Great Learning and Mencius respectively. The top-down reading is this: from a ruler's point of view, a czar has a moral obligation to maintain world peace by force if necessary, whereas the bottom-up is this: from the people's point of view, war is a necessary means to remove non-ren (or atrocious) kings. Since Confucianism is the cardinal philosophy in the second half of Chinese history plus the interaction of its two momentums (or readings), it is not too hard to realize that it could easily sustain war. If so, it makes no sense to say that Confucianism should not bear any responsibility for the vicious circles of war and chaos in the second half. Finally, given the account, we also explore an intriguing and imminent worry-whether the rise of China will threaten world peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bajing, translated from Chinese as 'Eight Views', is a well-established genre of landscape painting inspired by the Xiao Xiang Eight Views painted by Song Di in the eleventh century. It was however a much wider concept, with one strand specifically relating to 'real' landscapes. This paper distinguishes for the first time the Bajing tradition of painting from that of real landscape, by introducing a distinctive terminology; that is, Eight Scenes, in order to distinguish the latter from the former. These were a series of landscapes selected and celebrated by a national, provincial or local government and promoted as places for outdoor leisure activities. The importance of this genre is shown as being worthy of study in its own right. The roots of an ancient tradition are explored with a view to seeing how various artistic expressions related to each other, by analysing one hundred sets of Bajing for what they depicted and revealed about people's perception of nature and ancient leisure patterns. This culminates in a brief statement about their recent revival in a different guise under very different socio-economic circumstances, as national parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper throws light on the question: why did the industrial revolution happen in the West and not in China? The key to an understanding of the development of China's civilization lies in the way China historically has been characterized by a peculiar 'freeze' of the cultural-political axis of societal differentiation. It's most direct manifestation was that of a monolith state. This had implications for the cognitive matrix of society, where a modern scientific system never developed, while at the same time China's rich sources of inventions were often poorly institutionalized. These flaws were also manifest in the weakness of Chinese civil society. Historically, this development can be traced back to the Shang dynasty yet these processes reached a crystallizing moment in the Qin dynasty. In the case of Europe, two seed-bed societies, the Greek and the Germanic tribes, played the key roles in safeguarding Europe's trajectory. One essential prerequisite in this process is the lack of cultural and political hegemony characterizing Europe's history. By this token, the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of a system of fragmented Germanic kingdoms in the initial years of the Middle Ages were fundamental prerequisites for Europe's road toward an industrial revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 1948 to 1951, the Chinese Communist Party attempted to implement a policy of 'democratic management' in urban industry. Minzhu guanli entailed various, sometimes contradictory elements including worker participation in management organs, the rationalization of factory production, and improvements in worker welfare. It was hoped that such reforms would not only help to build up working-class support for the revolutionary party, but would also improve production by relying on the initiative and creativity of the 'worker masses'. Although short-lived and largely unsuccessful, experiments with democratic management in state-run factories in the early years of the People's Republic represent one of the most ambitious efforts to overcome capitalist relations of production. Although the CCP never went so far as to advocate worker control along syndicalist lines, minzhu guanli was aimed, in part, at overcoming alienation and the separation of decision making and implementation at the factory level. This paper draws upon diverse sources reporting on experiments with 'democratic management' throughout China. It assesses the conditions surrounding the implementation of participatory forms of factory management in order to determine which factors facilitated or hindered such reforms. The discussion includes a wide range of industrial enterprises and groups of workers in order to illuminate the underlying structures that conditioned the success or failure of democratic management. The concluding section traces the fate of minzhu guanli to the present day and assesses the implications of these experiences for China's experiment in socialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the history of Beijing in relation to gardens — imperial, princely, public and private — and the impetus of the 'gardener', in particular in the twentieth-century. Engaging with the theme of 'violence in the garden' as articulated by such scholars as Zygmunt Bauman and Martin Jay, I reflect on Beijing as a 'garden of violence', both before the rise of the socialist state in 1949, and during the years leading up to the 2008 Olympics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article illustrates the contemporary development of Chinese cricket since the sport was incorporated into the Chinese sport system from the early 2000s. Drawing on existing literature and interview data, this article problematizes the established essentialist perspectives to explicate the contemporary development of Chinese cricket and (re)constructs the process according to five periods. By providing more subtle distinctions between different parts of this most recent period, this study offers the most detailed and up-to-date analysis and reveals that the development of Chinese cricket is both enabled and constrained by its interdependencies with sport mega events, international cricketing bodies, and China's educational sector. These three processes are fundamental to the future development of cricket in mainland China and have important implications for the cross-national development of cricket in the contemporary era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of environmental history in China has experienced several radically different phases. During a long time period after 1949 the research related to environmental history in China was confined to natural sciences while the phenomena of "lacking environmental perspective" in humanity and social science were serious. Since the 1990s, Chinese scholars have made great advances in the research on environmental history, and many new changes have appeared. The most important among them is that environmental history has been becoming an independent field separated from natural sciences and traditional historical geography, and its theoretical system of discipline has taken shape. During the process of constructing the theory of environmental history, Chinese scholars have had a broad and deep discussion on many issues of the field such as its definition, object, theory, principle, method, aim, and significance, focusing on the central theme——"what is environmental history?". Through the discussion, Chinese scholars have recognized that environmental history has as its particular object, theory, method, and comparatively unique academic aim; thus, it is undoubtedly qualified to be an independent subject and field in history. Furthermore, as an independent field, environmental history applies a method which has typical inter-disciplinary characters, and covers various and comprehensive objects. Thus, all the aspects of the interaction between human beings and natural environment belong to the field of environmental history whose focus is on the continuum between nature and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mark Elvin's The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China is one of the best comprehensive works on the environmental history of China both at home and abroad, and has deservedly garnered much praise. However, the rationality of the sources it cites and the suitability of their application is quite controversial, chiefly centering on how sources in the category of poetry and literature, which are newly drawing attention, can more effectively play a role in the field of environmental history. One of Elvin's objectives was to outline the true history of environmental development, drawing upon traditional sources from the classical Chinese canons as well as previous Chinese findings, and with respect to the interpretation of specific environmental issues, he essentially realized this vision. However, that he relied solely on interpretations of poetic and literary sources in elevating microcosmic events to macroscopic constructs seems like a stretch, and errors and misinterpretations arising from substituting psychological facts for historical facts are present as well; the addition of "overreaching" value judgments causes him to unwittingly succumb to the pitfall of the theory of linear aggravation of environmental decline. He is not the sole example of such tendencies, which are also clearly reflected in environmental histories of China written by Western scholars, as represented by Robert B. Marks, Elizabeth C. Economy, and so on, and which are in urgent need of correction. Appropriate sources are the basis for an accurate understanding of environmental issues, and objective interpretation is the premise for obtaining rational solutions. Avoiding existing malpractices, transforming the historical sources in various disciplines, and clarifying the place of the "environment" in the past, present and future are still focal points in current research on the environmental history of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the 1990s, environmental degradations received ample attention both in the academic community and the general public in China. However, these issues had appeared before over the past two millennia. Indeed, over the course of Chinese history, there were several "golden periods" such as the Han, the Tang, and the Ming and the Qing. Yet looking closely at their accomplishments, one can see that these glories, often built on marked agricultural expansion, caused serious detriments (loss of water source and forests, etc.) to the Chinese environment. In order for China to achieve a sustainable development into the future, one needs to draw historical lessons from the past and balance between the needs for economic growth and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eurya rubiginosa var. attenuata is a valuable multiuse tree with a long history of use in China. It has great economic and ecological importance and is used for landscape and urban planting, soil improvement, and raw materials for food production. However, genomic studies of E. rubiginosa var. attenuata are limited. Meanwhile, the classification of this taxon is controversial. In this study, the complete plastome of E. rubiginosa var. attenuata was successfully sequenced and assembled. The chloroplast genome is 157,215 bp in length with a 37.3% GC content. The chloroplast genome structure includes a quadripartite structure comprising a pair of inverted repeat (IR) sequences of 25,872 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,216 bp, and a large single-copy (LSC) region of 87,255 bp. The genome contains 128 genes, including 83 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic inference based on complete plastome analysis showed that E. rubiginosa var. attenuata is closely related to E. alata and belongs to the family Pentaphylacaceae, which differs from the results of the traditional Engler system. The chloroplast genome sequence assembly and phylogenetic analysis enrich the genetic resources of Pentaphylacaceae and provide a molecular basis for further studies on the phylogeny of the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western scholars agree that Chinese military history remains understudied, and the history of China's warfare overlooked. Before the 1970s, specialisation in Chinese military history was absent in Western academia and was a relatively new phenomenon. Since the 1980s, the study of Chinese warfare in the West has evolved significantly. Some attribute this to heightened tensions during the Cold War. 'If military history is to help us meet this crisis, surely it must take account of the Chinese experience in conducting warfare and also in avoiding it'.1 In the 2000s, when China rose to world military power status, historians explored untapped sources and addressed important issues such as the Chinese way of war, its strategic culture, military modernisation, and asymmetrical warfare. This essay provides a brief survey of the study of Chinese military history in the West from the last forty years as well as addressing a few current issues in the field. Since it is impossible for this author to recount every aspect of English-language Chinese military historiography from 1982–2023, the essay highlights some changes, a few conceptualisations, recent research foci, source availability, and new efforts in case studies and social components in Chinese military history research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life cycle pattern is pervasive for both natural and social sciences, from human behaviors to social systems. Based on the life cycle model of collective actions, the man–land relationship governs the rise and fall cycles, namely dynastic cycles. We combine agent-based modeling, systemic dynamics, and numerical simulations, to build the life cycle model of empires. It aims to investigate the rise and fall process of 18 major dynasties (empires) in history of China, from BC 221 to AD 1912. The core aim is to find optimal solutions, which achieve the best matching between simulations and real history. According to our algorithm, the optimal solutions can be obtained, when we have the minimal span differences (gaps) between simulated and real empires. First, we traverse all related parameters, and select simulations with 18 empires. Second, we select the cases with the total ticks between 2122 and 2132 years (ticks). Third, we select cases whose differences (gaps) are within 20 years. Finally, we obtain three optimal solutions (combinations of parameters) whose validity (100 simulations) and robustness (1000 simulations) have been checked. It seems that our life cycle model has achieved the best fitness to real empires in the history of China. For distributive matching of durations (spans), both discrete and continuous forms can be matched. Besides, the simulate and real durations can be matched as well, under counterfactual inferences of 16–17, 18 & 19–20 pairs. Based on our model, the whole history process of China can be back-calculated. Therefore, it seems that the trend of human history (society) may be an automatic process, which cannot be altered by man's will. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li Zehou is one of the most influential contemporary Chinese thinkers, both in China and abroad. Never easy to pin down, Li's interests range from aesthetics and shamanism, to ontology and ethics. Some of his writings are centered on specific topics, such as Immanuel Kant's philosophy or the Analects, while others look at broader issues, including the history of Chinese thought and Marxism in China. This short essay focuses on Li's least well-known book, What Is Morality?—a collection of dialogues between Li and scholars from around China. We will explore how these conversations, like much of Li's work, express his "super-mundane" approach to philosophical reflection in terms of both his methodology as well as his actual theories. Here "super-mundane" means both "supermundane" or that which transcends the mundane, as well as the "super mundane" or extremely mundane. The virtues of this "super-mundane" approach are numerous, especially when contrasted to today's mainstream Western academic philosophical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the application of geographic information systems (GIS) in the evaluation of the accuracy of early maps through a case study of The Map of the Prefectural Capitalof 1261. The evaluation of the accuracy of early maps is an important aspect of the study of the history of cartography, but no standard methodology has been generally accepted. The purpose of this paper is to assess the positional accuracy and the relative relations of the spatial objects on The Map of the Prefectural Capitalusing GIS. The procedure of the study includes identification of locations of the points and features of The Map of the Prefectural Capital on a modern base map, digitization of the early map and the modern base map, overlays of the digitized early map and modern base map, and an analysis of the absolute and relative distortion of the early map. The results of the analysis show that The Map of the Prefectural Capitalof 1261 is reasonably accurate considering the technical ability of the thirteenth century, although it contains a considerable amount of positional displacement. In contrast to the amount of positional displacement, the relative relations among the objects are depicted much more precisely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a consideration of the introductions that Yingjin Zhang wrote for the first and final solo-edited volumes of his career, China in a Polycentric World (1998) and A World History of Chinese Literature (2023), this essay examines some of the concerns with the relationship between Chinese and world literature that preoccupied Zhang throughout his career. In particular, he approached the category of Chinese literature and culture as being grounded in a concept of Chineseness understood not as a national but rather as a cultural category. Moreover, he stressed that Chinese and world literature are best understood not as discrete concepts or categories, but rather as dynamic practices, which has allowed them to consistently exceed and transcend political or institutional attempts to limit the literary field's nominal scope or possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kaifeng is a well-known ancient capital in Chinese history. However, existing knowledge of its urban history derives primarily from historical documents rather than archaeology. In the last decade, archaeologists, including several authors of this article, have conducted many systematic excavations in Kaifeng city and unearthed large amounts of cultural material. Based on these materials, this article attempts to reconstruct the history of Kaifeng's urban development beyond text, explores the local depositional features and summarizes experience of urban archaeology. Our investigation suggests that the urban space of Kaifeng has been continuously used for over 1000 years, while its city boundaries, political core zones and central axis have remained relatively unchanged; the flood deposits make it possible to conduct fieldwork under the 'Pompeii premise'. Additionally, our experience suggests that an holistic design, an applied multi-disciplinary approach, and coordination with city administrators, constructors and residents are key to successful urban archaeology programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the formative years (1949–1966) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the outward translation of Chinese literature was a crucial element of an ambitious project of cultural diplomacy. Chinese leaders sought to redefine the PRC by projecting a positive self-image of the newly born state to generate interest, sympathy and support abroad during the Cold War. Despite its political and cultural importance, this project in translational practice has received little scholarly attention. Drawing on archival documents, this article focuses on the rationale, intentions and mechanisms behind the Chinese government's outward translation project as a form of cultural diplomacy in the first 17 years of the PRC. It thereby provides preliminary observations on the reception and effects of the PRC's export enterprise, specifically in the English-speaking world, which created new fault-lines as much as it built bridges during the Cold War. It also foreshadows the inherent tensions and challenges for the present China's more ambitious cultural diplomacy project via 'sending out' Chinese literature and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the turbulent 2018–19 school year, we researched Hong Kong teachers' perceptions regarding the design and implementation of National Education in schools for students aged 12–17. We seek to make a contribution to understandings of aspects of the cultural, political and social dimensions and contexts relevant to teacher education. 41 civic and/or national education teachers were interviewed about their educational aims, content, teaching methods and assessment approaches. Teachers believe National Education should deliver and assess knowledge of China and nurture students' identification with the nation through teaching Chinese culture and history via a balanced pedagogical approach and experiential learning. They discuss the relationship between Hong Kong and China, and conclude that teaching about the Chinese government is unavoidable. This indicates that in addition to teachers' long established cultural, civic and cosmopolitan forms of nationalism, they are now using national unity and economy-induced nationalism to frame their professional work. These findings are significant because they indicate teachers' fundamental and educational characterisations of National Education at this crucial juncture of Hong Kong; highlight the issues that should be considered for any programmeof initial or in-service teacher education; and, ultimately, indicate the nature of what may possibly be implemented in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue is devoted to exploring the manifestations of Mr. Science in May Fourth China and to examining this icon's significance not only to China's modern era but also to our understandings of science and society beyond. In this introduction, the co-editors make a case for critically engaging Mr. Science and, by extension, questions of science in early twentieth century China, particularly in light of China's emergence as a scientific and technological superpower today—a fact which has, incidentally, been framed by the current PRC government as a realization of May Fourth dreams. In concurrently reinvigorating Mr. Science's idealism, critical edge, and cosmopolitanism while challenging his common association with scientism, the articles in this special issue offer new insights into topics from science and democracy to universality without Eurocentricism, which are of relevance and interest to both modern Chinese history and the global history of science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western historians locate the origins of the newspaper in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This article demonstrates that newspaper-like periodicals known as chao-pao and xiao-pao emerged much earlier in Hangzhou, China during the Southern Song Dynasty. Journalistic activities in Hangzhou at this time were not only the most well developed in China but also considerably more advanced than those of any city in Western Europe. Contrary to the idea that the modern printing press and modern styles of journalism originated in Western Europe, this article argues that Hangzhou holds an important place in journalism history for its journalistic activities nearly nine centuries ago. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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In 2011, the Department of Education in China made a policy change by elevating the study and teaching of world history to a first-class academic field. This article argues that this elevation reflects an unprecedented move by both the Chinese government and historical community to put world history on a par with Chinese history with regard to their importance as subjects of knowledge. It discusses the three periods where world history developed as a field of study in modern China, focusing on the latest one from the turn of the twenty-first century to today. During this period, world historians in China launched their search for a new, Chinese grand narrative for understanding and interpreting worldwide historical development. While inspired by the theory of modernization and advances in global history, the historians have also endeavoured to draw wisdom from China's rich cultural tradition and its recent successful experience in economic expansion. The elevation of world history to a first class field of academic study suggests a landmark development in the direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the influence of historian and scientist Thomas S. Kuhn's book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" on the philosophy and history of science, the humanities and social sciences in mainland China. Kuhn's ideas were introduced in the country with the publication of a translation of a 1964 review of the book in 1965. His theory of scientific revolution is said to complement the Chinese view of scientific and technological revolution.

Based on the new academic achievements by scholars of the California School, this article aims to introduce the new progress in comparative studies on the socioeconomic developments in China and the West. It also tries, with new breakthroughs in methodology and challenges to European centrism, to analyze and summarize the changes as well as trends of research paradigms in the field of world economic history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the implementation of China's Reform Policy and the dissolution of the Cold War system, the conditions in Japan for conducting scholarly research on China's modern history changed drastically. We can categorize Japanese research on China's modern history since the 1980s into two components: the relativization of the Chinese Revolution and a rediscovery of the uniqueness of Chinese society. Some historians, however, continue to point out that an alternative vision of history that integrates detailed research results already achieved within individual areas of history has not yet replaced the conventional revolution-based paradigm. It is indisputable, as they emphasize, that breaking away from the so-called revolution-based viewpoint of history in Japan has created diverse visions of history and has contributed to a more substantial body of work pertaining to China's modern history. The question of what kind of new vision we should search for, however, remains unanswered. Recent overviews of modern Chinese history in Japan were expected to answer this question. This paper is intended as a general review of recent trends and expected developments in Japanese research on China's modern history by introducing the most important overviews written by Japanese scholars. We are not concerned here with individual case study research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A generic system embodies basic principles and insights that are common to a set of diverse cases and situations. This paper presents a new generic system that we name the dynastic cycle structure. It is based on a stylized model of events from the Chinese history. The model describes resource allocation between social, asocial and control uses in political economies, markets and firms that experience cyclical behaviour and homeostasis symbolizing low levels of performance. Numerical simulations with the model are used to understand the internal dynamics and to test several policy scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]