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This research highlights the crucial role of design in tracing cultural transformation and its implications for national identity, particularly in the context of Indonesia-China bilateral relations. Design, as a reflection of culture, embodies the values, beliefs, and aesthetics of a nation. The objectives of this research are to (1) explore the role of design in cultural transformation, (2) analyze the influence of bilateral relations on design, (3) assess national identity in design, (4) identify design innovations for cultural diplomacy, and (5) investigate cultural dissemination through design. This study employs a qualitative method with a case study approach. Data were collected through literature review, document analysis, and in-depth interviews with design experts, cultural scholars, and government officials from Indonesia and China. The results reveal that bilateral relations between Indonesia and China have led to significant cultural transformations in design. Cultural exchange and design collaboration have produced innovative works that incorporate elements from both countries. This transformation has influenced the national identities of both countries by strengthening the sense of unity, increasing tolerance and intercultural understanding, and creating new opportunities for cultural diplomacy and bilateral cooperation. The conclusion of this research is that design is not only a tool to reflect culture but also a bridge to strengthen cooperation and understanding between cultures. In the context of Indonesia-China relations, design holds great potential to build a more harmonious and inclusive future for both nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of rhetoric has a long history in the Western intellectual tradition. However, only minimal efforts have been made to rigorously examine the cultural evolution of various rhetorical strategies in argumentation over time. In this study, we harness the power of fully digitized Chinese dynastic history to systematically analyze how different rhetorical strategies were used to persuade superiors throughout the past two millennia. By leveraging existing literature on Chinese rhetoric and argumentation styles, as well as engaging in extensive consultation with historians of ancient China, we identify and classify rhetorical strategies into distinct categories. We then examine their recorded success in persuasion and any temporal changes in frequency. Our findings point to a cumulative payoff-biased cultural evolution where later dynasties tend to demonstrate higher recorded persuasion success, with the notable exception of the Ming dynasty. Additionally, we detect a temporal decline in the frequency of rhetorical strategies associated with persuasion failures, such as analogy and the use of auspicious/inauspicious signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ritual protocols aimed at rainmaking have been a recurrent sociocultural phenomenon across societies and throughout history. Given the fact that such protocols were likely entirely ineffective, why did they repeatedly emerge and persist, sometimes over millennia, even in populations with writing and recordkeeping? To address this puzzle, many scholars have argued that these protocols were not instrumental at all and that their practitioners were not really endeavoring to employ them to bring about rain. Here, taking advantage of the wealth of historical records available in China, we argue to the contrary: that rainmaking is best viewed as an instrumental, means-end activity and that people have always placed strong emphasis on the outcomes of such activities. To account for the persistence of rainmaking, we then present a set of cultural evolutionary explanations rooted in human psychology that can explain why people's adaptive learning processes did not result in the elimination of ineffective rainmaking methods. We suggest that a commitment to a supernatural worldview provides theoretical support for the plausibility of various rainmaking methods and that people often overestimate the efficacy of rainmaking technologies because of statistical artifacts (some methods appear effective simply by chance) and underreporting of disconfirmatory evidence (failures of rainmaking not reported or transmitted). The inclination to "do something" when a drought hits versus "do nothing" likely also plays a role and persists in the world today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cooperative breeding system of birds is an ideal model for studying and exploring social evolution in animals. However, a basic question, i.e., how many cooperative-breeding bird species exist in the world, remains controversial due to the lack of accumulated knowledge of the natural history of many birds, which prevents a generalized understanding of the evolution of cooperative breeding in birds and challenges the accuracy of results in many comparative studies. In this paper, we provide the first evidence of cooperative breeding in red-billed blue magpies (Urocissa erythrorhyncha). Moreover, we document and discuss potential relationships between cooperative breeding and nest predation, brood parasitism and breeding performance in U. erythrorhyncha. These findings about cooperative breeding in red-billed blue magpie will lay a foundation for further research on this species' sociality and provide useful insights into the evolution of cooperative breeding and other social systems in birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study constructs a theoretical framework for the production and reconstruction of food cultural space from a glocalization perspective. Through a qualitative analysis, we analyse the practice and representation of food cultural space in Yanji City. The results show that food cultural spaces have evolved from commercial residential to open urban leisure consumption spaces through a leap from a quantitative to a qualitative change.It integrates fashionable cultural consumption elements into the optimisation and expression of urban space extension, thus achieving the spatial image of symbolic communication. As the representational space of residents' daily life, the evolution of food cultural space is accompanied by capital multiplication, power cultivation, and class mobility, which play an important role in promoting urban space expansion and social structure renewal. The results enrich the research on food cultural space under the background of glocalisation and provide a reference for the sustainable development of urban cultural space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of the evolution of regional typology of archaeological cultures is essential in understanding the trajectory of cultural evolution from a temporal and spatial perspective. In this paper, we focused on the Taihu Lake region, one of the six major regional typologies of Neolithic archaeological cultures in China. By utilizing archaeological site data from the Neolithic Era in this region, our study investigates the evolution of typologies in archaeological cultures at both regional and sub-regional scales. From a broad perspective, quantitative methods were used to explore the cultural evolution process in the Taihu Lake region. The degree of social integration and intercultural inheritance can be reflected through the size of the site and the superimposition of cultural layers. In addition, climate and environmental data were combined to investigate its driving factors. Moreover, GIS (Geographic Information System) analysis methods were used to cluster and partition the cultures in the Taihu Lake region. By identifying distinct groups of sites, it is possible to deconstruct and analyze the interior of the cultures to study their distribution patterns and to explore the exchanges and expansions within the cultures. By integrating both research approaches, our study provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary characteristics of the regional typology of archaeological cultures within the Taihu Lake region. These findings contribute to the development of quantitative methods for studying the evolutionary trajectory of archaeological cultural systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the cultural characteristics and evolution of traditional dwellings in the context of ethnic integration is of great significance for protecting the diversity of residential cultural heritage of ethnic minorities. This article compares the ethnic differences in the internal spatial configuration of vernacular dwellings in Xiangxi region, China, a typical multi-ethnic area where "line-shaped" dwellings are prevalent among the Miao, Dong, Yao, Tujia, and Han groups. This study found that the spatial sequence, ritual axis, importance of fireplace, spatial hierarchy, and privacy of bedrooms of each ethnic group's dwellings present a trend towards Han's dwelling culture in the order of "Western Miao, Southern Dong, Northern Dong, Yao, Eastern Miao, Tujia". Based on the analysis of the lifestyles, ethnic customs, and historical development processes of ethnic minorities, this study identifies that the main reasons for the formation of the aforementioned sequence lie in the differences in the historical diffusion patterns and paths of Han culture in Xiangxi. This article analyses the ethnicity of minority residential culture in Xiangxi and its spatial configuration formation process, revealing the relationship between the spatial effect of Han cultural diffusion pattern and the spatial difference pattern of each ethnic group's vernacular dwelling space configuration, and expanding the connotation of "cultural genotypes" in multi-ethnic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While national parochialism is commonplace, individual differences explain more variance in it than cross-national differences. Global consciousness (GC), a multi-dimensional concept that includes identification with all humanity, cosmopolitan orientation, and global orientation, transcends national parochialism. Across six societies (N = 11,163), most notably the USA and China, individuals high in GC were more generous allocating funds to the other in a dictator game, cooperated more in a one-shot prisoner's dilemma, and differentiated less between the ingroup and outgroup on these actions. They gave more to the world and kept less for the self in a multi-level public goods dilemma. GC profiles showed 80% test–retest stability over 8 months. Implications of GC for cultural evolution in the face of trans-border problems are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to trace the evolution of greeting culture from pre-modern China to modern society, this study investigates 483 greetings between new acquaintances (GBNAs) collected from 6 works of the 17th-18th centuries and 9 novels of the mid-20th century. The results show that, in both periods Chinese GBNAs are highly situation-dependent and primarily performed in the mode of "seeking information - confirming". The changes are first and foremost manifested in three respects. First, the GBNAs in the 20th century exhibit a tendency of "impersonalization" in terms of topic selection and the use of sentence patterns. Second, generally speaking, the GBNAs in the 20th century are semantically more informative. Third, the disappearance of asymmetric addressing and the decrease of honorifics indicate that the traditional politeness maxim of "self-denigration and other-elevation" is gradually discarded in modern China. It is argued that the evolution of GBNAs might be attributed to both the New Culture Movement and the modernization of traditional society. • Chinese greetings between new acquaintances (GBNAs) are highly situation-dependent. • Chinese GBNAs are primarily performed in the mode of "seeking information-confirming". • A tendency of "impersonalization" exists in topic selection and sentence patterns. • Chinese GBNAs in the 20th century are semantically more informative. • The maxim of self-denigration and other-elevation is gradually discarded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the world's earliest pottery origins in Eurasia, the role of pottery during Neolithic period in South China remains unclear. Here, we present a new understanding on the utilization pattern of early pottery from the Neolithic sites of Dayan, Dingsishan and Zengpiyan in Guangxi province, China. Compound-specific stable isotope analysis of pottery and bone lipids show that a persistent use of terrestrial C3 and C4 resources throughout the pottery utilization history highlight the culinary practice and terrestrial exploitation during Neolithic period. Contrary to the traditional view that the primary use of these pottery was closely linked with aquatic resource processing, no aquatic biomarkers were found in the potsherds, yet these compounds were detected in the cooking experiments in this study, indicating that aquatic resources in these sites were probably processed or consumed in other ways. Moreover, a remarkable diachronic change from extensive use of C3 and C4 resources to the intensive use of certain kinds of C3 resources in different Neolithic stages, further indicating that an ecological tradition rooted in the subtropical and tropical environments as well as the Neolithic social evolution exerted great influence upon the initial production and the subsequent utilization of early pottery in prehistoric South China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of China's land border cultural heritage, aiming to offer guidance for its protection and development. The study compiled a comprehensive database of heritage sites and analyzed their mathematical characteristics based on quantity, type, and quality. The spatial pattern of the cultural heritage was described using kernel density analysis, spatial variability, and spatial correlation, while the driving mechanism was measured based on Geo-Detector model. The findings revealed that the land border areas of China have a total of 1227 cultural heritage, comprising two main types and 18 subtypes. National cultural heritage accounted for 22.74%, with ancient city ruins being the largest type of cultural heritage. The Southwest and Northeast regions of China exhibited high-high clusters and low-low clusters, respectively. Moreover, the study identified history of administrative succession, evolution of historical and cultural, altitude, distance from the city, population density, minority population ratio, urbanization process, and per capita GDP as significant factors impacting the spatial pattern of land border cultural heritage in China. Based on these findings, the study suggests that the government should invest more in border cultural heritage, improve transportation infrastructure in border areas, ensure dynamic inheritance and protection of cultural heritage, and promote the joint development of different types of cultural heritage. The research results will provide data support and decision-making reference for the sustainable development of cultural heritage in land border areas, and can provide a new perspective for the management of cultural heritage in similar areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal sex prognostication has been a common practice in many human societies, yet most of the prognosticative methods do not perform better than chance. Why do these ineffective prognostication practices recur across societies and persist for long periods of time? In this article, we use historical texts of four different genres in traditional China (oracle bone inscriptions, dynastic history, encyclopedia, and local gazetteers) to examine the social and cognitive factors that lead to the overestimation of the predictive accuracy of sex prognostication and place fetal sex prognostication into a more general framework to understand the persistence of ineffective cultural practices. In particular, we present a detailed historical analysis showing that individuals often entertain considerable uncertainty regarding the accuracy of sex prognostication and quantitative data demonstrating a significant bias toward selectively reporting successes in (fictionalized) historical texts. We conclude by discussing how such reporting bias combined with humans' imperfect information processing may help explain the persistence of ineffective technologies, such as divination, and magic in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1906 Universal Exposition hosted in Milan was a defining moment for the late Qing in terms of its fisheries development. The exhibition not only allowed China to portray its strategic focus on its fisheries but also its determination to be seen as a modernized and progressive sea power in Asia. China's involvement in this world's fair also paralleled the process of political and economic consolidation of some of the country's intellectuals at the turn of the nineteenth century. These intellectuals' accumulated experience, common goals, and international consciousness made it possible to assemble a group of professional experts I refer to as the 'new fisheries elites', who were able to construct the image of China as a modern fisheries power, if not a sea power, at various levels. The first part of this article will situate this exposition within the final two decades of the Qing Empire in the context of the political, social, and cultural transformation that was taking place around the world at the time. China's presence at the world's fair during this period displayed the adjustments of a changing and dynamic national image in terms of both its national circumstances and its international situation. The second part will then move on to discuss in what ways the Milan exposition was conceived by elites such as Zhang Jian, Luo Cheng, and Guo Fengming as a paradigmatic setting in which to showcase China's drive toward modernity and becoming a sea power. Although China had participated in several other universal expositions, the Qing court had clearer and more pragmatic objectives in its participation in Milan in 1906. This was to demonstrate its recent progress and to change the common impression of China as an insecure, inexperienced, and incompetent country in terms of its fisheries governance and maritime vision. To produce this image, Zhang Jian and his team undertook a sensible and impressive approach towards presenting to the world China's maritime awareness and the long historical continuity between this country and the sea. This was a conscious effort to produce an ideal of what a modern, progressive maritime China should look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Chinese people perceived and accepted Buddhist stūpas in medieval China. Doctrinal and ritualistic developments can potentially contribute to the emergence of new ritual objects. Ideological connotations of stūpas witnessed a transition associated with the transformation of the stūpa cult in China. Stūpa burial became progressively accessible to ordinary clerics and laypeople who showed sympathy with Buddhism. The similarity between stūpas and tombs in terms of funerary function largely determined people's interpretations of stūpas in the early medieval period. However, tombs cannot be the precise manifestation of stūpas in medieval China. Stūpas evolved into multidimensional meanings in medieval China. The perceptions of stūpas witnessed an ongoing process of reconstruction, which reveals how cultural transmission and transformation work throughout history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant multi‐centennial climate oscillations have been documented in a number of well‐dated climate records across the Holocene epoch and left various imprints in human cultural history. In this study, we developed speleothem δ13C, δ18O, trace elements, and lamina thickness records from the Yunnan‐Guizhou Plateau (YGP). Our high‐resolution and precisely dated records show a significant ∼550‐yr cycle as the dominant pattern of regional temperature and vegetation variations between ∼5,870 and ∼3,670 years ago. The phase analyses of the 550‐yr cycles among our speleothem records, other Northern Hemisphere climate records, solar activity index, and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) variations suggest that this climate cycle has a large spatial extent, and may be causally linked to the AMOC changes through coupled oceanic‐atmospheric processes. Additionally, the first cold phase of the ∼550‐yr cycle in our records coincides with the major cultural development on the YGP at ∼5,500–5,000 years ago, suggesting a critical relationship between climate and prehistorical cultural changes in the region. Plain Language Summary: This study presents precisely dated speleothem isotope and lamina thickness records, which shows a ∼550‐yr periodicity of vegetation and temperature changes between ∼5,870 and ∼3,670 years ago in the Yunnan‐Guizhou Plateau (YGP), southwestern China. The phase analyses between our records and other Northern Hemisphere climate records suggest that these climate cycles have a large spatial scale in Northern Hemisphere and may be linked to the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation changes through coupled oceanic‐atmospheric processes. Besides, the records show that a cold phase during ∼5,500–5,000 years ago coincided with the period of development of YGP Neolithic production tools, suggesting a critical role of climate change in the prehistorical cultural evolution in the region. Key Points: A significant multi‐centennial temperature and vegetation oscillation of ∼550‐yr cycles occurred between ∼5,870 and ∼3,670 years ago in the Yunnan‐Guizhou Plateau (YGP)The climate cycles were likely linked to the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variation through coupled oceanic‐atmospheric processesThe first cold phase of the ∼550‐yr cycles in our records coincided with a change of population and major cultural transform in the YGP at ∼5,500–5,000 years ago, implying a critical role of climate change and resource shortage in the prehistorical cultural evolution in the region [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatiotemporal distribution of settlements and their environmental context since the Neolithic is one of the vital components for exploring past changes in human-land relations. However, little attention has been paid to the relationship between the evolution of the social organization, settlement patterns, and the corresponding environmental settings. In this study, the spatiotemporal distribution and rank-size of settlements revealed crucial aspects of the hydrogeomorphic conditions, cultural inheritance, and social evolution in northern Shandong Province based on the GIS analytical methods. The prehistoric settlements were primarily distributed in the pre-mountain plains and low mountain hills due to the change of water volume of big rivers and sea level fluctuations until the expansion to the northern plains during the Longshan period. Determined cultural sequences were demonstrated to be accompanied by different settlement development patterns. Most settlements in an older period were abandoned in the subsequently younger period except the Shang-Zhou period, indicating poor inheritance. The emergence of a middle and high-rank regional settlement system in the Dawenkou-Longshan period suggests a fundamental change in social organization, reflecting the transition from complex chiefdoms to early city-state kingdoms. Such a regional social stratification was intensified during the Shang-Zhou periods when a four-tier settlement system emerged. In addition, the solid cultural importation from the Dawenkou-Longshan period to the central and southern regions brought about the exchange and advancement of production technologies, which once established a solid position in agriculture. However, this was broken by drought and cold climatic events, and the complexity of the Yueshi cultural settlement system that subsequently emerged was substantially weakened. As an important area of Haidai culture, the natural driving force and social organization of ancient culture development from the Neolithic Age to the Bronze Age are of great significance for understanding the interrelationship between the origin and process of Chinese civilization and environmental evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses qualitative research and interview techniques to investigate the transmission of "Da Ge" for the Dong ethnic group in Sanjiang, Liuzhou, China. Using the methods of field investigation, observed and studied the musical scores to understand the types and characteristics of Dong ethnicity "Da Ge". This study summarizes the distribution method, protection status, and influencing characteristics of the Dong ethnicity "Da Ge" and investigates targeted protections using literature research and interviews conducted. According to the results of the research, the transmission of the Dong "Da Ge" is divided into traditional and contemporary modes based on cultural migration, cultural evolution, economic growth, and social development. The best method for preserving and develop the Dong "Da Ge" is to maintain its local community's characteristics while continuously absorbing it through interaction and collision with other cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This book makes an original contribution to the global history of the senses by engaging with the "sensory turn."(Howes [2]) It critically examines the deeply ingrained meanings encoded by the senses in Chinese culture and society. This is the first collection of studies on the senses and sensory experiences in China, filling a void in sensory research in China and introducing novel perspectives to Chinese Studies. [Extracted from the article]

The specific brutality of state violence both makes China part of the global neoliberal system and sets the country apart from it. Charlie Yi Zhang opens his book with the story of a woman worker who suffers the classic double oppression at the hands of her family and society following her efforts to love and be loved. For example, Zhang shows in chapter 4 how migrant workers have invoked the Western liberal discourse of freedom in an effort to resist the neoliberal mandate in China. [Extracted from the article]

Junjie Su's book, "Intangible Cultural Heritage and Tourism in China: A Critical Approach," examines the recognition and production of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in the context of tourism development in China, with a focus on the case study of Lijiang. The book analyzes various perspectives, including those of government officials, experts, and local practitioners, to understand the complex meanings of ICH. It also explores the tensions between heritage preservation and tourism commodification. While the book provides valuable empirical data, it could benefit from updates on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and a stronger theoretical framework. Overall, it contributes to the understanding of China's cultural transformation and the politicization of cultural heritage. [Extracted from the article]

Color fusion is an extremely important part in the reconstruction design of historic and cultural blocks in the process of China's urban historic and cultural blocks transformation. Based on the deep learning algorithm, this paper constructs the color analysis model of cultural blocks, uses the multiscale feature semantic segmentation algorithm analysis technology of dual channel fusion for color research, extracts and analyzes the color of historic and cultural blocks, thus establishes its color fusion model, analyzes the color defects of Tianzifang historic and cultural scenic spot, and proposes to use plants, buildings and pavements to improve the color fusion degree of Shikumen cultural blocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The ancient Qin-Shu roads corridor is one of the important cultural main corridors in China. Throughout China's long historical and cultural evolution, today's ancestors created a rich intangible cultural heritage along this route. Studying its intangible cultural heritage has important theoretical and practical significance for the protection and innovation of cultural heritage in this region. The purpose of this study is to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of intangible cultural heritage along the ancient Qin-Shu roads and explore the main factors affecting its distribution. The nearest neighbor index, kernel density estimation, standard deviation ellipse, location entropy, buffer analysis and other methods were used. The results show that (1) The types of intangible cultural heritage of the ancient Qin-Shu roads are expressed in three echelons. Traditional handicrafts are the most numerous, folk custom and traditional music are the second most numerous, the other categories of ICH are third in quantity overall, among which traditional medicine and sports recreation competition are the scarcest. (2) The overall spatial distribution of intangible cultural heritage along the ancient Qin-Shu roads shows an agglomeration distribution. Its distribution pattern places the central cities (Xi'an, Chengdu and Chongqing) at the core, gradually spreading out and decreasing in density as it reaches peripheral districts and counties. There are significantly differ in the core areas of different types of intangible cultural heritage. (3) In the process of historical development, the intangible cultural heritage of the ancient Qin-Shu roads demonstrated an overall change pattern of "three rising and three falling". That is, during Qin and Han Dynasties, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, and Ming and Qing Dynasties, culture flourished, while in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Song and Yuan Dynasties, modern times culture developed slowly. The overall trajectory of the center of gravity of intangible cultural heritage shifted from the northeast to the southwest. (4) Natural and human factors, such as topography, climate, transportation, traditional villages and population evolution, have an important impact on the spatial pattern of the intangible cultural heritage of the ancient Qin-Shu roads. The results of this study provide a useful reference for the theoretical research and practical management of intangible cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I present a detailed ethnographic study of magic and divination of the Nuosu people in southwest China and offer a cognitive account of the surprising prevalence of these objectively ineffective practices in a society that has ample access to modern technology and mainstream Han culture. I argue that in the belief system of the Nuosu, ghosts, divination, and magical healing rituals form a closely interconnected web that gives sense and meaning to otherwise puzzling practices, and such a belief system is importantly supported and reinforced by individual's everyday experiences. Contemporary Nuosu people overwhelmingly treat these practices as instruments for achieving specific ends and often entertain considerable uncertainty regarding their efficacy, which may be overestimated for a number of reasons, including the following: (1) the intuitive plausibility of divination for ghost identification and exorcist rituals is enhanced by the belief in the existence of ghosts as a result of abductive reasoning, (2) negative instances (divinatory or healing ritual failures) are underreported, and (3) people's misperception of the probability of uncertain events' occurrence often prevents them from realizing that the efficacies of magical/divinatory practices do not outperform chance. I conclude with some comments on the generalizability of the psychological and social mechanisms discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Southeastern China; Western Zhou period; mound tomb culture; early history of Wu Yue EN Southeastern China Western Zhou period mound tomb culture early history of Wu Yue 162 170 9 11/16/22 20221101 NES 221101 Postscript The original paper was published in Kaogu (Archaeology) 2020.9:81-92 with one illustration and 72 notes. The origin and early history of Wu and Yue in historic literature Since neither archaeological research nor bronze inscriptions have solved the issue of Wu and Yue during the Western Zhou dynasty, we must re-examine the textual records. In a word, from an archaeological point of view, whether Wu and Yue appeared in the Western Zhou period, how they were related to the Zhou regime, and which remains belonged to the early Wu or Yue state are still not yet resolved. It is even more difficult to corresponding these sites and material culture remains to specific historical events, states, and royal lines, such as the enfeoffment of the Wu state, the early Wu king lineage, or the early Yue state. [Extracted from the article]

China has maintained strong relationships with many African countries, and Ghana is one such country. While the two countries have normally enjoyed good friendly relations, concerns over the involvement of Chinese citizens in small-scale mining in Ghana threaten the cordial relationship between the two countries. There is evidence of a cultural evolution and a gradual shift from a culture of enthusiastic reception of local people to the Chinese in the area of mining to one of cold reception to Chinese interests in mining communities. There is also evidence that this cold reception to Chinese miners is stimulated by non-state actors led by the media and inspires in Ghana a new paradigm of more rational engagement with China at the political level, although challenges still remain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, urbanization has been a major topic of discussion among academics and professionals when investigating issues such as social segregation, spatial inequality, and urban sustainability. However, little attention has been given to the relationship between social characteristics and the ever-changing development of urban spaces. This paper seeks to investigate progressive changes in the social stratification structure in Wuhan's urban development zone (UDZ) while focusing on their associated spatial transformations, based on census data of Wuhan in 1990, 2000, and 2010. To obtain this objective, the study will answer two key questions: (1) What are the characteristics of urban social spatial evolutions of Wuhan the second-tier city in China? (2) What are the mechanisms of social spatial evolution? And (3) what role does the social spatial evolution play in urban social planning and management? We used varimax rotated principal component analysis (PCA) to extract social dimensions along with ArcMap to enhance spatial analysis while visualizing the distribution of social factor scores. The results show that since 1990, the local population (particularly the aging population) has reflected a hollowing trend. Industrial relocation and population mobility have become the main social dimensions in the 1990s and 2000s respectively. The characteristics of socio-spatial transformations are from concentric rings as well as combinations of concentric rings, axial aggregations, and multiple clusters. These transformations are formed by the push–pull force of the large area and the centripetal and centrifugal forces inside the city. We have concluded that top-down systems dominate socio-spatial transformations in the early stages, while public participatory management plays a more important role in the later stages, which will become inclusive governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the twenty-first century, with the improvement of China's comprehensive national strength and cultural confidence, our country has paid more and more attention to the protection and development of Chinese traditional culture, and more and more attention to the protection and development of China's traditional culture, traditional culture has no longer become a simple symbol in history books but has gradually entered people's daily life with the characteristics of vitality and gradually evolved into various characteristics and forms and integrated into all walks of life. Under the background of the evolution of this culture, this paper discusses the application of Chinese decorative color for interior decoration design and puts forward an application model of Chinese decorative color for interior design based on the AlexNet network improved by Adam, BN, dropout, and data enhancement optimization algorithm. Through analysis, it is found that the AlexNet network improved based on the above optimization algorithm has a good application prospect for interior decoration design. For the traditional AlexNet network, the improved AlexNet network is obviously better than the traditional AlexNet network in color extraction and can greatly reduce the loss value in the process of color recognition, up to 70.77%. Finally, the application forms and decorative functions of Chinese decorative color elements based on the improved AlexNet network in interior decoration design are analyzed. Relevant research can not only promote the integration of new and new technologies into traditional art but also effectively carry forward Chinese traditional culture and promote the internationalization of Chinese color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of sustainable ecological environment, strengthening the scientific management of cultural industry can promote the rapid development of China's cultural industry and further promote the construction of spiritual civilization in China. Starting from culture and art management, this study expounds its position in the development of cultural economy industry and its impact on the development of cultural economy. Through two different methods of culture and art management and conventional management, this paper discusses the social and economic market benefit value, the demand for the healthy development of industry, and the impact of innovative cultural industry resources on the development of cultural industry. It can be concluded that culture and art management plays a certain role in promoting the healthy development of cultural economy industry; we should constantly sum up experience in the actual process of cultural industry management, find and solve problems in time, and gradually form a set of scientific and complete cultural and art management mode, which can realize the transformation of cultural and art industry faster and better promote the sustainable development of cultural economy and industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural and social environment changes have played important roles in social evolution in different times and spaces. Geopolitical change, in particular, might play a decisive role in social evolution during historical periods. The eastern Tienshan Mountains was a transportation hub for communication between the East and the West, where the natural environment is fragile and the social environment has been complex during the historical period. However, geopolitical change and its impact on local social development remain unclear due to fragmented historical records and limited studies. This study investigates the spatiotemporal variations of military facilities in the Hami region, and compares historical documents and archaeological and paleoclimate records to discuss geopolitical changes and social evolution during the historical period in the eastern Tienshan Mountains. A total of 84 visible organic remains from 38 historic beacon towers and 8 dak sites in the Hami region of the eastern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China, were collected and the radiocarbon (14C) dates of these ruins were systematically determined with accelerator mass spectrometry. The dating results show that these sites were mainly built during two major periods: ca. 600–900 cal AD and ca. 1600–1950 cal AD, which roughly correspond to the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) and the Qing Dynasty (1636–1912 AD) in ancient China. Human settlement intensity was high during the Han, Tang, and Qing dynasties, and relatively low when the area was controlled by nomadic or local regimes. This suggests that agricultural empires and nomadic/local regimes adopted different strategies for regional management. Climate change might have affected geopolitical patterns, which, in turn, profoundly influenced human activities and social evolution in the eastern Tienshan Mountains over the last two millennia. This study systematically reveals the spatiotemporal variations of beacon towers and dak ruins in the region through a large number of reliable direct 14C dating, it reveals the remarkable differences in human activities in the eastern Tienshan Mountains under different administrations, and it explores the influence of geopolitics and climate change on social evolution in the eastern Tienshan Mountains from a multidisciplinary perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article formally introduces the 'intellectual property show' concept currently inciting heated discussions among Chinese media studies scholars into English-language academia. Intellectual property show, a Chinese term generally referring to television shows adapted from internet fiction (and to a secondary extent, video games), explicitly suggests an adaptation form and logic particular to an environment characterized by converging media and digital transformations of cultural production. Using the 2019 Chinese hit show All is Well , adapted from an internet novel with the same name, I approach intellectual property show as a media artefact situated at the volatile convergence of political demand, business interest, and new media affordances through adopting an integrative approach to contemporary adaptations in China. By attending to both the material context of production and the media text itself, I join the current explorations in adaptation studies for methods that answer the why and how of adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the development of social Darwinism in China from the mid-1890s to 1930 vis-à-vis its ties with social Darwinism in the West, employing a comparative analysis of Spencer, Huxley, and Yan Fu. A form of evolutionism that envisioned a cosmological order based upon strength was transformed into a component of power politics in Republican China, despite unsuccessful political endeavors that illustrated both the triumphs and social malfunctions of evolutionary ideas. From the late 1910s, a new variety of social Darwinism arose alongside the scientific one, reflecting the influence of Kropotkin and de Vries, as Chinese thinkers incorporated non-Anglophone texts. The theories that emerged made sense of the changing Chinese adaptations of evolutionary thinking by contextualizing and modifying them within the intellectual and political dynamics inside China and also in China's evolving relationship with capitalism and imperialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the evolution of cultural policy is the key in the field of public policy study, and it is also an important means to solve the problems that have emerged in cultural heritage management. The National Cultural Park is an innovative cultural heritage protection system proposed by Chinese leaders within the context of national rejuvenation and building a culturally-strong country campaign. From the perspective of system evolution theory, this paper systematically sorts out the ideas behind international heritage management and the evolutionary process of the Cultural Relics Protection Unit system, in an effort to explore the origin, innovation and vision of the National Cultural Park System. A review of the international heritage documents revealed that the principle of heritage protection has developed from "authenticity" to "integrity", and the focus of the protection object has also changed from "monism" to "diversity", which provided a theoretical background for the burgeoning National Cultural Park. The Cultural Relics Protection Unit system has been promoted as the most crucial cultural heritage management system in China. Therefore, this study sheds light on the evolution and limitations of the system that lays a practical foundation for the National Cultural Park System. There have been three stages in the history of China's National Cultural Relics Protection Unit, namely, the creation of the system (1956–1965), the survival crisis of the system (1966–1977), and the rebirth and development of the system (1978 to the present), in which the main driving concepts of China′s cultural heritage management have been sequentially elucidated as simple protectionism, tolerant conservatism and comprehensive developmentalism, respectively. Since the establishment of China's Cultural Relics Protection Unit system, tremendous progress has been made not only in the enlightenment of the public's mindset and but also in the development of system and culture. However, the changes in the institutional environment gradually exposed its limitations regarding cultural relic management and value expression. The National Cultural Park System is the fruit created by the internal contradictions of the cultural heritage system itself and the evolution of heritage theory. Its biggest innovation lies in the two core connotations of "integrated protection" and "integrated development". In the future, as the National Cultural Park management system matures, a Chinese cultural heritage management system will take shape in which the National Cultural Parks become dominant and various cultural resources are utilized. Finally, the National Cultural Park will become a symbol of Chinese culture and will be internalized into the common belief system of the Chinese nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the globalization of business, historically developed business practices based on cultural values can suddenly become dysfunctional. Chinese exporters, particularly in small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for instance, are adopting new trade credit risk practices in response to unreliable international customers. Through 45 in-depth interviews, we investigated how Chinese SMEs are changing their perspectives on International Trade Credit Risk Management by employing a cultural values evolution approach. We explained why some Chinese exporters, but not others, shift from affect-based to fact-based risk management practices concerning trade credit. As a major outcome of our research, we identified and articulated four alternative stances towards credit risk: conventionalism, polycentrism, pragmatism, and rationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of Internet and mobile media in China has weaken the collective TV viewing culture in Chinese families. Behind the decline of television, the China Central Television's Spring Festival Gala Show (Gala Show) is hard to maintain its glory and gradually being questioned and challenged. Why does TV viewing and Gala Show still matter in some families but not the others? This paper conceptualizes and analyzes how and why the Gala Show became a media tradition, in the Chinese family-nation cultural reproduction for more than three decades. Based on twofold interviewing data collected by 2015 and 2021, respectively, the study found that the invented media tradition- the Gala Show, stimulates the cultural changes and continuity of Chinese family cultural traditions from the golden age of television (from the 1980s to the late 2000s) onwards. In the long processes of its cultural transformation, the evolving media tradition blends past and present cultural materials in the social institution, thus (re)shaping the cultural practices and values of the participants. Moreover, the interviews revealed that ordinary people read the roles of Gala Show as a media tradition in Chinese families differently, because the social implications of the Gala Show shifted and reacted to the social and cultural transformation from the age of television onwards. Finally, regarding the dynamic social changes in media technologies, Spring Festival customs, and collective TV viewing cultures, the Gala Show reflects the divergent structure of feeling of different generations and families' social and technological nostalgia about the technology and cultural formats of television in digital era. The established media tradition to some extent maintains the sense of cultural continuity and particularly anchors a safe zoom particular in nuclear families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) is mainly affected by local emission and meteorology rather than long-range transport. Accurate knowledge of its long-term variabilities and drivers is significant for understanding the evolution of economic and social development, anthropogenic emission, and the effectiveness of pollution control measures on a regional scale. In this study, we quantity the long-term variabilities and the underlying drivers of NO 2 from 2005–2020 over the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), one of the most densely populated and highly industrialized city clusters in China, using OMI spaceborne observations and the multiple linear regression (MLR) model. We have compared the spaceborne tropospheric results to surface in situ data, yielding correlation coefficients of 0.8 to 0.9 over all megacities within the YRD. As a result, the tropospheric NO 2 column measurements can be taken as representative of near-surface conditions, and we thus only use ground-level meteorological data for MLR. The inter-annual variabilities of tropospheric NO 2 vertical column density (NO 2 VCD trop) from 2005–2020 over the YRD can be divided into two stages. The first stage was from 2005–2011, which showed overall increasing trends with a wide range of (1.91 ± 1.50) to (6.70 ± 0.10) × 10 14 molec. cm -2 yr -1 (p<0.01) over the YRD. The second stage was from 2011–2020, which showed overall decreasing trends of (- 6.31 ± 0.71) to (- 11.01 ± 0.90) × 10 14 molec. cm -2 yr -1 (p<0.01) over each of the megacities. The seasonal cycles of NO 2 VCD trop over the YRD are mainly driven by meteorology (81.01 %–83.91 %), except during winter when anthropogenic emission contributions are pronounced (16.09 %–18.99 %). The inter-annual variabilities of NO 2 VCD trop are mainly driven by anthropogenic emission (69.18 %–81.34 %), except for a few years such as 2018 which are partly attributed to meteorology anomalies (39.07 %–91.51 %). The increasing trends in NO 2 VCD trop from 2005–2011 over the YRD are mainly attributed to high energy consumption associated with rapid economic growth, which causes significant increases in anthropogenic NO 2 emission. The decreasing trends in NO 2 VCD trop from 2011–2020 over the YRD are mainly attributed to the stringent clean air measures which either adjust high-energy industrial structure toward low-energy industrial structure or directly reduce pollutant emissions from different industrial sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of intangible heritage is to preserve diversity for the sustainable development of culture, which allows its creators and stakeholders to reflect the evolution of cultural characteristics and identity for any given communities, or group of individuals. However, the safeguarding and interpretation of intangible heritage has faced challenges in practical performance, especially when representing local voices or in achieving inclusivity in negotiations related to identification, documentation, dissemination and tourism development. This paper traces the form and symbolic framework of Hu Brush at different historical stages; discusses two cultural spaces, government-led physical space and community-led ritual space, where Hu Brush performs. We highlight how the different community-based actors understand the intangible heritage policies, and argue that living wisdom, as a theoretical framework, provides the opportunity to explore local knowledge, practice and wisdom. These factors are relevant to the production-distribution-consumption-symbolisation of Hu Brush in the contemporary socio-historical context. The paper also portrays the complexity of contesting, negotiating and appropriation in heritage space and in discourse among different actors. As an alternative approach, living wisdom in intangible heritage is helpful to reveal how multiple powers and discourses contest, negotiate, and appropriate the complicated cultural space shaped by intangible heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why did people across the world and throughout history believe that dreams can foretell what will occur in the future? In this paper, I attempt to answer this question within a cultural evolutionary framework by emphasizing the cognitive aspect of dream interpretation; namely, the fact that dreams were often viewed as significant and interpretable has to do with various psychological and social factors that influence how people obtain and process information regarding the validity of dream interpretation as a technique. Through a comprehensive analysis of a large dataset of dream occurrences in the official Chinese historical records, I argue that the ubiquity and persistence of dream interpretation have a strong empirical component (predictively accurate dream cases), which is particularly vulnerable to transmission errors and biases. The overwhelmingly successful records of dream prediction in transmitted texts, I suggest, is largely due to the fabrication and retrospective inference of past dreams, as well as the under‐reporting of predictive failures. These "positive data" then reinforce individuals' confidence in the predictive power of dreams. I finally show a potential decline of the popularity of dream interpretation in traditional China and offer a few suggestive explanations drawing on the unique characteristics of oneiromancy compared to other divination techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the changes and continuities in TV representations of Chinese Communist Party's revolutionary history and interprets them within the broader context of China's political, economic and cultural transformations since the 1990s. Drawing on a comparative analysis of three state-sponsored TV dramas produced between the late 1990s and mid-2010s, it traces how the state-sanctioned revolutionary narratives have changed over time in response to the Party's propaganda imperatives on the one hand, and to the market-oriented production environment on the other. The paper argues that while recent TV productions in the new century have made increasing concessions to audience taste by adopting visually stimulating depictions and introducing fictional characters as points of identification for the audience, the revolutionary narratives were still aligned with the Party's propaganda agenda at different times. This shows the ongoing competition between ideological and commercial interests in Chinese TV production during the era of market reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to review the institutional evolution of China's rural social security system in the past 35 years, focusing on major policy transformations of the rural social security system in a large country, and extract the Chinese experience on developing rural social security. Design/methodology/approach: This paper systematically reviews the evolution of rural social security system via organizing policy documents, key events and research literature on the construction of rural social security since the Reform and Opening-up. Findings: First, institutional transformation is a profound change in China's rural social security system; second, policy transformation has taken place in the main areas of China's rural social security system, including rural endowment insurance, medical insurance and social assistance; third, the policy evolution of China's rural social security system has a unique experience in a large country. Originality/value: China is the country with the largest rural population in the world. The process and experience of transforming the social security system in the vast rural areas of China have important value and reference significance for other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central Plains has a long history, rich culture, unique geographical advantages, and profound cultural heritage. The occurrence of ancient cities in the Central Plains marks the formation of Chinese state-level societies. The number, size, and distribution of ancient cities have changed greatly from the late Yangshao to the Xia and Shang Dynasties, which reflects the evolution of settlement and social organization. In this study, Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial database technology was used to establish a spatiotemporal database of ancient cities in the late Yangshao, Longshan, as well as Xia and Shang Dynasties in the Central Plains. This paper uses GIS spatial analysis technology to analyze the relationship between the ancient city distribution and the geographical environment, as well as the evolution of ancient city's shapes and sizes. Furthermore, by using the method of the nearest neighbor distance and gravity center analysis, this paper discusses the agglomeration characteristics and gravity center evolution of ancient cities. The results show that: (1) Most of the ancient cities were distributed in areas below 500 m and within 3 km from the river during the time interval from the late Yangshao to Xia and Shang Dynasties; (2) The shape of the ancient cities gradually changed from circles to squares in the Central Plains, which became a unified model for the later ancient city design; (3) The sizes of the 18 ancient cities in the Yangshao period shared high similarity, with an average area of 20 hectares. The sizes of 24 ancient cities in the Longshan period increased significantly, with an average of 39 hectares. During the Xia and Shang Dynasties, there were 22 ancient cities with an average size of 340 hectares, and the grade of sizes became obvious, marking the entrance into Chinese state-level societies; (4) Cities were scattered in the decentralized pattern during the late Yangshao and Longshan periods, whereas they became agglomerative in Xia and Shang Dynasties. This reflects the evolution of the spatial scopes and social organizational forms; and (5) From the late Yangshao to Xia and Shang Dynasties, the gravity center of ancient cities moved around the Songshan Mountain from the northwest to the southeast and again to the northeast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Wool Textile Journal is the property of National Wool Textile Science & Technology Information Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Basic tendencies of enterprises' innovative development management have been considered from the perspective of postfordist tranformations. It has been determined that mobility is a specificity of postfordist industrial management. Mobility provides dispersion of structural subdivisions all over the world, it doesn't need any governmental support and strict control. Total diversification of the kind allows to implement «high» technologies through global data revolution practically into all spheres of social life. The evolution of social relations types from feudalism up to Post-Fordism has been provided and their specifics defined. Analytical studies carried out have enabled to discover formed world innovative centres and – from global economic perspective – those of half-peripheral countries with low level of innovative development. The directions of China management of innovative development, whose combined innovation level steadily increases, have been described. It has been determined that a great many of world countries is not currently being on the postfordist stage, since an industrial labour is characteristic for them which defines their type as traditional or early industrial pre-modern. We've also found that innovation development governance at the global level through the prism of postfordist transformations manifests itself in looking for niche, strict subordination to global market mechanisms, decentralization under control of transnational corporations; at the national level: in decentration of social space and thinking, marginalization of urban population, migration; at the meso level: in orientation on consumer needs, considerable mobility of production, individualization under global standardization; at the micro level: in project approach, faster time to market, cost minimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently many scholars have paid attention to the history and fate of Christian Socialism in modern China. However, for many among them, it is not clear if Christian Socialism was introduced into China in the late Qing Dynasty, before 1902, or not. In this article the author points out that in 1891 Timothy Richard in his English book The Benefits of Christianity mentioned major Christian Socialists and their thought; he also absorbed some of these elements into his own Modernizing-China theory in Chinese. In 1896-1897 he asked one famous British Christian Socialist John Bruce Wallace to give Chinese governors and scholars suggestions on how to build a modern China, he then translated these suggestions into Chinese and published them in Wan Kwoh Kung Pao, No. 1, January 1899. Timothy Richard also translated Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward, 2000-1887 into Chinese in 1891. He also introduced Karl Marx’s theory when he translated Benjamin Kidd’s Social Evolution in 1899. By knowing Timothy Richard’s relationship with Socialism, it can help us to further understand his influence on modern Chinese thinkers, especially Kang Youwei, who transformed Christian Socialism into Confucian Socialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past two decades, landscape archaeology has undergone a paradigm shift from traditional theoretical methods to being practically oriented, with the advent of the widespread application of philosophical theories (such as phenomenology, hermeneutics, and others) and the emerging new technologies in social sciences. Nevertheless, landscape archaeology has not been able to garner the attention it requires from Chinese archaeology, which fails to understand its significance behind the systematic regional survey methods. Rather, for a long time, the study of the man-land relationship has been considered to be a part of environmental archaeology. Besides, the landscape elements in archaeological excavations were often considered as mechanical interactions between people and the environment, resulting in a lack of holistic and systematic research on a selection of archaeological sites. The focus however has remained restricted to the earthen remains and relics in the archaeological process. The Northern Wei Dynasty was the first nomadic regime to control the Central Plains in the Chinese history and moved its capital three times for the purpose of sinicization. The recent archaeological excavations of the ancient city of Shengle, imperial palaces, tombs, sacrificial sites, gardens, Yinshan palaces, and the border defense facilities during the Shengle period of the Northern Wei Dynasty have revealed several phenomena and evidence of the cultural integration of the various ethnic groups. As mentioned earlier, the limitations in the research horizon have led to the in-depth analysis and research of archaeological relics and archaeological data during this period seeking the desired attention. This study considers landscape archaeology, anthropology, sociology, and history as the primary research methods pertinent to the above situation. It considers archaeological relics and archaeological data from the prosperous period as the research object and thoroughly analyses the relationship between the people and the earthen landscape relics, to reveal the social culture, the religious beliefs, the politics, and the military behind the integration of the multi-ethnic culture, along with the cognition of the natural environments, the social structures, and the religious spaces. Simultaneously, the analysis results would also endeavor to integrate the artifacts, the relics (space, structure, layout, and locational relationship), road grids, surrounding environment, and several other surface space elements to restore and reproduce the prosperous social and cultural situations scenes of the bygone period. The final outcome shall become a typical research case. By comparing and combing the archaeological discoveries of the Northern and the Southern Dynasties of China and the pertinent archaeological data, we could further understand and explain the multi-ethnic cultural development and evolution while providing an essential theoretical basis for the present social and cultural research on the Northern Wei Dynasty in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Where do Chinese gender norms come from and how did they culturally evolve through time? This question receives ample debate in the context of Warring States, pre-Imperial, and Imperial China. Many archaeologists and interdisciplinary scholars contend that earliest China treated its women relatively well. This paper's interdisciplinary examination of bioarchaeological evidence from Neolithic and pre-Imperial sources synthesizes new information to enrich this debate. Discussed are studies of sex-linked DNA drawn from human remains, sex ratio data from burials, and indicators of diet quality including isotopic studies of nitrogen and carbon as well as dental pathologies. The paper focuses on data drawn from polities within the phylocultural cultural trunk leading to Imperial China. Evidence indicates that women in pre-Imperial China were treated less well than in other early societies. Comparative lessons about the cultural evolution of Chinese gender norms in the context of norms in other early civilizations are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a detailed case study of the socialist transformation of the Shanghai Great World Amusement Centre (Dashijie), this article documents state-building efforts during the early years of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Between 1950 and 1958, the Communist regime incrementally transformed the power configuration within Dashijie, promoting dramatic changes in its personnel, institutional structures, drama performances, and physical space. Over the course of this process, Dashijie seemed to become a 'loftier' cultural organization in accordance with the aims of its transformation. This transfigured Dashijie, however, fell out of favour with the people of Shanghai. This multifaceted transformation process reflects considerable state capacities on the one hand and illustrates the complexity of state capacities—their unevenness and the limitations of a strong state—on the other. The complexity of state capacities thus shaped and was embedded in the process and outcome of this socialist cultural transformation. Since the Chinese state is once again making strenuous efforts at culture-building, an overview of cultural transformation in the early PRC era has important contemporary implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]