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Chinese history and philosophy

Works Count: 291666

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This cluster of papers explores the religious diversity and regulation in Chinese society, covering topics such as Confucianism, Christianity, Falun Gong, the Cultural Revolution, nationalism, and the history of religion in China. It delves into the discourse of civilization, state regulation of religion, and the influence of emotions on beliefs.

Keywords

Religion; China; Regulation; Confucianism; Christianity; Falun Gong; Cultural Revolution; Philosophy; Nationalism; History

War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe

2005-07-04

Victoria Tin-bor Hui

The Eurocentric conventional wisdom holds that the West is unique in having a multi-state system in international relations and liberal democracy in state-society relations. At the same time, the Sinocentric … The Eurocentric conventional wisdom holds that the West is unique in having a multi-state system in international relations and liberal democracy in state-society relations. At the same time, the Sinocentric perspective believes that China is destined to have authoritarian rule under a unified empire. In fact, China in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (656–221 BC) was once a system of sovereign territorial states similar to Europe in the early modern period. Both cases witnessed the prevalence of war, formation of alliances, development of the centralized bureaucracy, emergence of citizenship rights, and expansion of international trade. This book, first published in 2005, examines why China and Europe shared similar processes but experienced opposite outcomes. This historical comparison of China and Europe challenges the presumption that Europe was destined to enjoy checks and balances while China was preordained to suffer under a coercive universal status.

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China's new Confucianism: politics and everyday life in a changing society

2009-01-01

Daniel A. Bell

Preface to the Paperback Edition ix Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction xxvii Part One: Politics 1 Part 1: From Communism to Confucianism: Changing Discourses on China's Political Future 3 Part 2: War, … Preface to the Paperback Edition ix Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction xxvii Part One: Politics 1 Part 1: From Communism to Confucianism: Changing Discourses on China's Political Future 3 Part 2: War, Peace, and China's Soft Power 19 Part 3: Hierarchical Rituals for Egalitarian Societies 38 Part Two: Society 57 Part 4: Sex, Singing, and Civility: The Costs and Benefits of the Karaoke Trade 59 Part 5: How Should Employers Treat Domestic Workers? 75 Part 6: The Politics of Sports: From the 2006 World Cup to the 2008 Olympics 91 Part Three: Education 105 Part 7: A Critique of Critical Thinking 107 Part 8: Teaching Political Theory in Beijing 128 Part 9: On Being Confucian: Why Confucians Needn't Be Old, Serious, and Conservative 148 Appendices Part 1: Depoliticizing the Analects 163 Part 2: Jiang Qing's Politi cal Confucianism 175 Index 231

The Manchu way: the Eight Banners and ethnic identity in late imperial China

2001-12-01

Mark Elliott

List of maps and figures List of tables Preface Note on transcription and other conventions Qing reign periods Introduction: the problem with the Manchus Part I. Structures of Eight Banner … List of maps and figures List of tables Preface Note on transcription and other conventions Qing reign periods Introduction: the problem with the Manchus Part I. Structures of Eight Banner Society: 1. The eight banners and the origins of the Manchus 2. Manchu cities: tigers on the mountain 3. The emperor's men Part II. Patterns of Banner Life: 4. The iron rice bowl of banner privilege 5. Among the Nikan 6. Resident aliens Part III. The Cities of the Eighteenth Century: 7. Whither and manchu way? 8. Saving the banner system Conclusion Appendix Notes Chinese character glossary References Index.

Sovereignty and authenticity: Manchukuo and the East Asian modern

2003-12-01

Prasenjit Duara

Chapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Comparative and Historical Perspectives Chapter 1 3 Imperialism and Nationalism in the Twentieth Century Chapter 2 4 Manchukuo: A Historical Overview Part 5 Civilization and … Chapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Comparative and Historical Perspectives Chapter 1 3 Imperialism and Nationalism in the Twentieth Century Chapter 2 4 Manchukuo: A Historical Overview Part 5 Civilization and Sovereignty Chapter 3 6 Asianinsm and the New Discourse of Civilization Chapter 4 7 Embodying Civilization: Women and the Figure of Tradition within Modernity Part 8 The Authenticity of Spaces Chapter 5 10 Imperial Nationalism and the Frontier Chapter 6 11 Local Worlds: The Politics and Poetics of the Native Place Chapter 12 Conclusion Chapter 13 Glossary of Chinese Terms Chapter 14 Glossary of Japanese Terms

The analects of Confucius: a philosophical translation

1999-03-01

Roger T. Ames , Jr. Henry Rosemont

Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Transformation

1987-07-01

Kirill O. Thompson , Tu Weiming

Marketing dictatorship: propaganda and thought work in contemporary China

2008-07-01

Anne‐Marie Brady

Introduction Chapter 1: Guiding Hand: The Role of the Propaganda System Chapter 2: From Thought Reform to Economic Reform: Comparing Propaganda and Thought Work in Different Eras Chapter 3: China's … Introduction Chapter 1: Guiding Hand: The Role of the Propaganda System Chapter 2: From Thought Reform to Economic Reform: Comparing Propaganda and Thought Work in Different Eras Chapter 3: China's Unseen Engineers: Reform and Modernization in the Propaganda System Chapter 4: Regimenting the Public Mind: The Methods of Control in the Propaganda System Chapter 5: Sex Crime, Wheels of Law, and Song Zuying: Managing Information Communication Technology in China Chapter 6: Combating Hostile Forces: China's Foreign Propaganda Work since 1989 Chapter 7: Models and Anti-Models: Searching for a New, New China Chapter 8: The Rebirth of the Propaganda State Glossary

Against the Law: Labor Protests in China's Rustbelt and Sunbelt

2008-01-01

Robert Tierney , Ching Kwan Lee

Preface PART I: DECENTRALIZED LEGAL AUTHORITARIANISM 1. Chinese Workers' Contentious Transition from State Socialism 2. Stalled Reform: Between Social Contract and Legal Contract PART II: RUSTBELT: PROTESTS OF DESPERATION 3. … Preface PART I: DECENTRALIZED LEGAL AUTHORITARIANISM 1. Chinese Workers' Contentious Transition from State Socialism 2. Stalled Reform: Between Social Contract and Legal Contract PART II: RUSTBELT: PROTESTS OF DESPERATION 3. The Unmaking of Mao's Working Class in the Rustbelt 4. Life after Danwei: Surviving Enterprise Collapse PART III: SUNBELT: PROTESTS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION 5. The Making of New Labor in the Sunbelt 6. Dagong as a Way of Life PART IV: CONCLUSION 7. Chinese Labor Politics in Comparative Perspective Methodological Appendix: Fieldwork in Two Provinces Notes Bibliography Index

The Pattern of the Chinese past

1976-01-01

Evelyn S. Rawski , Mark Elvin

Mao's China and After: A History of the People's Republic.

1987-01-01

Heath B. Chamberlain , Maurice Meisner

A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy

1963-12-31

Wing-Tsit Chan

A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy is a milestone along the complex and difficult road to significant understanding by Westerners of the Asian peoples and a monumental contribution to the … A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy is a milestone along the complex and difficult road to significant understanding by Westerners of the Asian peoples and a monumental contribution to the cause of philosophy. It is the first anthology of Chinese philosophy to cover its entire historical development. It provides substantial selections from all the great thinkers and schools in every period--ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary--and includes in their entirety some of the most important classical texts. It deals with the fundamental and technical as well as the more general aspects of Chinese thought. With its new translation of source materials (some translated for the first time), its explanatory aids where necessary, its thoroughgoing scholarly documentation, this volume will be an indispensable guide for scholars, for college students, for serious readers interested in knowing the real China.

Producing guanxi: sentiment, self, and subculture in a North China village

1998-01-01

Andrew B. Kipnis

Throughout China the formation of guanxi, or social connections, involves friends, families, colleagues, and acquaintances in complex networks of social support and sentimental attachment. Focusing on this process in one … Throughout China the formation of guanxi, or social connections, involves friends, families, colleagues, and acquaintances in complex networks of social support and sentimental attachment. Focusing on this process in one rural north China village, Fengjia, Andrew B. Kipnis shows what guanxi production reveals about the evolution of village political economy, kinship and gender, and local patterns of subjectivity in Dengist China. His work offers a detailed description of the communicative actions - such as gift giving, being a host or guest, participating in weddings or funerals - that produce, manage, and deny guanxi in a specific time and place. Kipnis also offers a rare comparative analysis of how these practices relate to the varied and variable phenomenon of guanxi throughout China and as it has changed over time. Producing Guanxi combines the theory of Pierre Bourdieu and the insights of symbolic anthropology to contest past portrayals of guanxi as either a function of Chinese political economics or an unchanging Confucian social structure. In this analysis guanxi emerges as a purposeful human effort that makes use of past cultural logics while generating new ones. By exploring the role of sentiment in the creation of self, Kipnis critiques recent theories of subjectivity for their narrow focus on language and discourse, and contributes to the anthropological discussion of comparative selfhood. Navigating a path between mainstream social science and abstract social theory, Kipnis presents a more nuanced examination of guanxi than has previously been available and contributes generally to our understanding of relationships and human action. His findings will interest students of Chinese society as well as scholars across the fields of anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies, and social psychology.

Inner Asian Frontiers of China

1963-04-01

Owen Lattimore

Inner Asian Frontiers of China Get access Inner Asian Frontiers of China. 2nd ed. By Owen Lattimore. Boston: Beacon Press. 1962. 585 pp. Maps. Bibliog. Index. (Beacon Paperback 130.) $2.95. … Inner Asian Frontiers of China Get access Inner Asian Frontiers of China. 2nd ed. By Owen Lattimore. Boston: Beacon Press. 1962. 585 pp. Maps. Bibliog. Index. (Beacon Paperback 130.) $2.95. International Affairs, Volume 39, Issue 2, April 1963, Page 317, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/39.2.317a Published: 01 April 1963

Xunzi: A Translation and Study of the Complete Works.

1990-12-01

Willard J. Peterson , John Knoblock

Coming at the end of the great flowering of philosophical inquiry in Warring States China, when the foundations for traditional Chinese thought were laid, Xunzi occupies a place analogous to … Coming at the end of the great flowering of philosophical inquiry in Warring States China, when the foundations for traditional Chinese thought were laid, Xunzi occupies a place analogous to that of Aristotle in the West. The collection of works bearing his name contains not only the most systematic philosophical exposition by any early Confucian thinker but also accounts of virtually every aspect of the intellectual, cultural, and social life of his time. This is the last of three volumes that consitute the first complete translation of the Xunzi into English.

Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture

1980-12-31

Arthur Kleinman

List of Figures Preface 1. Orientations 1: The Problem, the Setting, and the Approach 2. Orientations 2: Culture, Health Care Systems, and Clinical Reality 3. Orientations 3: Core Clinical Functions … List of Figures Preface 1. Orientations 1: The Problem, the Setting, and the Approach 2. Orientations 2: Culture, Health Care Systems, and Clinical Reality 3. Orientations 3: Core Clinical Functions and Explanatory Models 4. The Cultural Construction of Illness Experience and Behavior, 1: Affects and Symptoms in Chinese Culture 5. The Cultural Construction of Illness Experience and Behavior, 2: A Model of Somatization of Dysphoric Affects and Affective Disorders 6. Family-Based Popular Health Care 7. Patients and Healers: Transactions Between Explanatory Models and Clinical Realities. Part 1. Sacred Folk Healer-Client Relationships 8. Patients and Healers: Transactions Between Explanatory Models and Clinical Realities. Part 2: Professional Practitioner-Patient and Family-Patient Relationships 9. The Healing Process 10. Epilogue: Implications Glossary Bibliography Index

The Meanings of Macho

2019-07-15

Matthew C. Gutmann

In this compelling study of machismo in Mexico City, Matthew Gutmann overturns many stereotypes of male culture in Mexico and offers a sensitive and often surprising look at how Mexican … In this compelling study of machismo in Mexico City, Matthew Gutmann overturns many stereotypes of male culture in Mexico and offers a sensitive and often surprising look at how Mexican men see themselves, parent their children, relate to women, and talk about sex. This tenth anniversary edition features a new preface that updates the stories of the book's key protagonists.

THE CHINESE CONCEPTS OF “FACE”

1944-01-03

HSIEN CHIN HU

Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China

2004-12-08

Patrick E. McGovern , Juzhong Zhang , Jigen Tang +7 more

Chemical analyses of ancient organics absorbed into pottery jars from the early Neolithic village of Jiahu in Henan province in China have revealed that a mixed fermented beverage of rice, … Chemical analyses of ancient organics absorbed into pottery jars from the early Neolithic village of Jiahu in Henan province in China have revealed that a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey, and fruit (hawthorn fruit and/or grape) was being produced as early as the seventh millennium before Christ (B.C.). This prehistoric drink paved the way for unique cereal beverages of the proto-historic second millennium B.C., remarkably preserved as liquids inside sealed bronze vessels of the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties. These findings provide direct evidence for fermented beverages in ancient Chinese culture, which were of considerable social, religious, and medical significance, and help elucidate their earliest descriptions in the Shang Dynasty oracle inscriptions.

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Confucius--The Secular as Sacred

1976-10-01

Henry Rosemont , Herbert Fingarette

Suzhi: A Keyword Approach

2006-06-01

Andrew B. Kipnis

The word suzhi has become central to contemporary China governance and society. Reference to suzhi justifies social and political hierarchies of all sorts, with those of “high” suzhi being seen … The word suzhi has become central to contemporary China governance and society. Reference to suzhi justifies social and political hierarchies of all sorts, with those of “high” suzhi being seen as deserving more income, power and status than those of “low” suzhi . This article examines the rise of the word's popularity during the reform era, the ways in which its meaning has been transformed, and the relationships of the word to earlier discourses. It proceeds through three sections: a linguistic history, a genealogy of related discourses and an analysis of the contemporary sociopolitical context. The historical section focuses on the spread of the word across various political and social contexts during the reform era. It examines the ways in which the word operates semantically and the challenges to translation these semantic structures pose. The genealogical section explores the historical antecedents of the meanings of the word in earlier political and social discourses both in and out of China. Finally, the sociopolitical section examines the uses to which the word is put and asks what the rise of suzhi discourse tells us about contemporary China's governance, culture and society.

The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth

1988-03-01

Geert Hofstede , Michael Harris Bond

Rescuing history from the nation: questioning narratives of modern China

1996-06-01

Prasenjit Duara

Linear history and the nation-state Bifurcating linear histories in China and India the campaigns against religion and the return of the repressed secret brotherhood and revolutionary discourse in China's Republican … Linear history and the nation-state Bifurcating linear histories in China and India the campaigns against religion and the return of the repressed secret brotherhood and revolutionary discourse in China's Republican revolution the genealogy of Fengjian or feudalism - narratives of civil society and state provincial narratives of the nation - federalism and centralism in modern China critics of modernity in India and China.

Thinking through Confucius

1991-04-01

Philip J. Ivanhoe , David L. Hall , Roger T. Ames

The City in Late Imperial China

1978-01-01

Peter C. Perdue , R. Bin Wong , G. William Skinner

The Sociology of Philosophies

2000-06-01

Randall Collins

A chapter-by-chapter précis is presented of Randall Collins’s book, The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. It presents a sociological theory of intellectual networks that connect thinkers … A chapter-by-chapter précis is presented of Randall Collins’s book, The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. It presents a sociological theory of intellectual networks that connect thinkers in chains of masters and pupils, colleagues and rivals, and of the internalized conversations that constitute the social processes of thinking. The theory is used to analyze long-term developments of the intellectual communities of philosophers in ancient Greece, ancient and medieval China and India, medieval and modern Japan, medieval Islam and Judaism, medieval Christendom, and modern Europe through the early 20th century.

Human Functioning and Social Justice

1992-05-01

Martha C. Nussbaum

It will be seen how in place of the wealth and poverty of political economy come the rich human being and rich human need. The rich human being is simultaneously … It will be seen how in place of the wealth and poverty of political economy come the rich human being and rich human need. The rich human being is simultaneously the human being in need of totality of human life-activities — the man in whom his own realization exists as an inner necessity, as need. Marx, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 Svetaketu abstained from food for fifteen days. Then he came to his father and said, `What shall I say?' The father said: `Repeat the Rik, Yagus, and Saman verses.' He replied, `They do not occur to me, Sir.' The father said to him... `Go and eat! Then wilt thou understand me.' Then Svetaketu ate, and afterwards approached his father. And whatever his father asked him, he knew it all by heart.... After that, he understood what his father meant when he said: `Mind, my son, comes from food, breath from water, speech from fire.' He understood what he said, yea, he understood it. Chandogya-Upanishad, VI Prapathaka, 7 Kanda When you love a man you want him to live and when you hate him you want him to die. If, having wanted him to live, you then want him to die, this is a misguided judgment. `If you did not do so for the sake of riches, you must have done so for the sake of novelty.' Confucius, Analects, Book 12. 10

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The Archaeology of Ancient China

1987-01-01

Kwang‐chih Chang

BOOKThe Archaeology of Ancient ChinaKwang-chih Chang https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00207 Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20247Copy The prehistory and the formation process of Chinese civilization have long been of interest to world historians. However, knowledge of … BOOKThe Archaeology of Ancient ChinaKwang-chih Chang https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00207 Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20247Copy The prehistory and the formation process of Chinese civilization have long been of interest to world historians. However, knowledge of this period is constantly evolving because much of our understanding of ancient China is based on archaeological data that continues to come to light.This fourth edition of K.C. Chang's now-standard text on Chinese archaeology incorporates the latest information that has become available since the end of the Cultural Revolution. Chang has rewritten and reorganized the material, using a new format to discuss the period from the early humans and their Palaeolithic cultures through the first agricultural settlements to the rise and development of the earliest civilizations around 1000 B.C. Chang now demonstrates that several regional cultures developed independently of one another and began to be linked together around 4000 B.C. According to Chang, the interaction of these cultures laid the foundation for the Chinese civilization that we recognize in the early dynasties and in China's written history. Chang also presents provocative views on the distinctive process of the rise of civilization, urbanism, and the state society in China, as embodied in the Chinese archaic bronzes. The book includes more than 300 illustrations.This eBook is available exclusively on the A&AePortal*AuthorKwang-chih ChangPublisherYale University PressPrint publication date September 1987 (out of print)Print ISBN 9780300037821EISBN 9780300256697Copyright© 1986, 1977, 1968, 1963 by Yale UniversityIllustrations 357Print Status out of print Publisher (out of print) WorldCat Google Books

The Flow of Gifts: Reciprocity and Social Networks in a Chinese Village.

1998-03-01

Hill Gates , Yunxiang Yan

1. Introduction: the gift in anthropology and Chinese society 2. Xiajia village: a sketch of the field site 3. The world of gifts: a preliminary classification 4. The gift economy … 1. Introduction: the gift in anthropology and Chinese society 2. Xiajia village: a sketch of the field site 3. The world of gifts: a preliminary classification 4. The gift economy and Guanxi networks 5. The structure of Guanxi in village society 6. The principle of reciprocity and Renaqing ethics 7. Power and prestige in gift-exchange relations 8. Marriage transactions and social reformations 9. Conclusions: socialism, Guanxi, Renqing and the gift Notes Bibliography Character list Index.

The Making of Buddhist Modernism

2009-01-01

David L. McMahan

Abstract This book elucidates the complex cross-cultural genealogy of themes, ideas, and practices crucial to the creation of a new hybrid form of Buddhism that has emerged within the last … Abstract This book elucidates the complex cross-cultural genealogy of themes, ideas, and practices crucial to the creation of a new hybrid form of Buddhism that has emerged within the last 150 years. Buddhism modernism is not just Buddhism that happens to exist in the modern world but a distinct form of Buddhism constituted by cross-fertilization with western ideas and practices. Using primarily examples that have shaped western articulations of Buddhism, the book shows how modern representations of Buddhism have not only changed the way the tradition is understood, but have also generated new forms of demythologized, detraditionalized, and deinstitutionalized Buddhism. The book creates a lineage of Buddhist modernism that includes liberal borrowing from scientific vocabulary in reformulations of Buddhist concepts of causality, interdependence, and meditation. It also draws upon Romantic and Transcendentalist conceptions of cosmology, creativity, spontaneity, and the interior depths of the human being. Additionally, Buddhist modernism reconfigures Buddhism as a kind of psychology or interior science, drawing both upon analytic psychology and current trends in neurobiology. In its novel approaches to meditation and mindfulness, as well as political activism, it draws heavily from western individualism, distinctively modern modes of world-affirmation, liberal political sensibilities, and modernist literary sources. The book also examines this uniquely modern Buddhism as it moves into postmodern iterations and enters the currents of global communication, media, and commerce.

The Gift, the Indian Gift and the 'Indian Gift'

1986-09-01

Jonathan Parry

Relecture critique de l'Essai sur le Don de M. Mauss, a la lumiere de l'ideologie de l'echange maori et hindouiste Relecture critique de l'Essai sur le Don de M. Mauss, a la lumiere de l'ideologie de l'echange maori et hindouiste

Religion in Chinese Society

1961-12-31

C. K. Yang

Private Life under Socialism

2003-03-12

Yunxiang Yan

For seven years in the 1970s, the author lived in a village in northeast China as an ordinary farmer. In 1989, he returned to the village as an anthropologist to … For seven years in the 1970s, the author lived in a village in northeast China as an ordinary farmer. In 1989, he returned to the village as an anthropologist to begin the unparalleled span of eleven years’ fieldwork that has resulted in this book—a comprehensive, vivid, and nuanced account of family change and the transformation of private life in rural China from 1949 to 1999. The author’s focus on the personal and the emotional sets this book apart from most studies of the Chinese family. Yan explores private lives to examine areas of family life that have been largely overlooked, such as emotion, desire, intimacy, privacy, conjugality, and individuality. He concludes that the past five decades have witnessed a dual transformation of private life: the rise of the private family, within which the private lives of individual women and men are thriving.

China Marches West

2005-12-31

Peter C. Perdue

The World of Thought in Ancient China

1985-12-31

Benjamin I. Schwartz

Desiring China

2007-01-01

Lisa Rofel

Ideology and Organization in Communist China

1968-12-31

Franz Schurmann

Translingual Practice

1995-01-01

Lydia H. Liu

Are languages incommensurate? If so, how do people establish and maintain hypothetical equivalences between words and their meanings? What does it mean to translate one culture into the language of … Are languages incommensurate? If so, how do people establish and maintain hypothetical equivalences between words and their meanings? What does it mean to translate one culture into the language of another on the basis of commonly conceived equivalences? This study—bridging contemporary theory, Chinese history, comparative literature, and culture studies—analyzes the historical interactions among China, Japan, and the West in terms of "translingual practice." By this term, the author refers to the process by which new words, meanings, discourses, and modes of representation arose, circulated, and acquired legitimacy in early modern China as it contacted/collided with European/Japanese languages and literatures. In reexamining the rise of modern Chinese literature in this context, the book asks three central questions: How did "modernity" and "the West" become legitimized in May fourth literary discourse? What happened to native agency in this complex process of legitimation? How did the Chinese national culture imagine and interpret its own moment of unfolding?

Selected works of Deng Xiaoping, 1975-1982

1984-01-01

小平鄧

Juliane Noth, Transmedial Landscapes and Modern Chinese Painting. Harvard University Press, 2022. 400 pp.

2025-06-25

Próspero Carbonell | H-ART Revista de historia teoría y crítica de arte

Review. Juliane Noth, Transmedial Landscapes and Modern Chinese Painting. Harvard University Press, 2022. 400 pp. Review. Juliane Noth, Transmedial Landscapes and Modern Chinese Painting. Harvard University Press, 2022. 400 pp.

The Spirit of Chinese Literature at the Turn of the Century

2025-06-25

Nie Mao , Zhu Yao | Routledge eBooks

Bureaucracy from the Bottom Up: Diviners in Qing Local Governance

2025-06-24

Tristan G. Brown | Journal of Chinese History

Abstract This article examines professional diviners employed by the Qing (1636–1912) government to assist in local administration. Known as yin-yang officers, these officials served among the technical and religious specialists … Abstract This article examines professional diviners employed by the Qing (1636–1912) government to assist in local administration. Known as yin-yang officers, these officials served among the technical and religious specialists embedded in prefectural and county governments across the empire. Although they held marginal or unranked positions within the formal bureaucracy, yin-yang officers played a vital role in both administrative and ritual life at the grassroots level. By tracing their training, sources of authority, and everyday responsibilities, this article sheds light on the Qing’s local technical and religious bureaucracy—an often-overlooked dimension of imperial statecraft that bridged ritual, cosmological knowledge, healing and divination, and official governance. It argues for the importance of examining imperial bureaucracy from below, showing how these unsalaried, low-level figures helped sustain the empire’s overstretched administrative apparatus well into the early twentieth century.

Pojo Chinul’s Contributions to the Philosophy of Forgetting in East Asian Sŏn Buddhism: The Ten Paths to No-Mind

2025-06-24

Sung Ha Yun | Religions

This paper explores the role of forgetting in the thought of the Korean Sŏn (Chan in Chin.; Zen in Jpn. 禪) master Chinul (知訥, 1158–1210), situating it within broader East … This paper explores the role of forgetting in the thought of the Korean Sŏn (Chan in Chin.; Zen in Jpn. 禪) master Chinul (知訥, 1158–1210), situating it within broader East Asian philosophical and Buddhist discourses. While the concept of forgetting has often been treated negatively in Western philosophy—as a cognitive failure or loss—this study draws on recent comparative scholarship, including Youru Wang’s reading of Zhuangzi, to show how forgetting can be reframed as a conscious spiritual and philosophical practice. In particular, this paper examines how Chinul integrates the practice of forgetting into a systematic Buddhist framework grounded in no-self (anātman), emptiness (śūnyatā), and the unity of samādhi and prajñā. In Straight Talk on the True Mind (Chinsim chiksŏl 眞心直說), Chinul outlines ten distinct methods for cultivating no-mind by offering interpretations of teachings from various East Asian Chan masters. Through a detailed analysis of Chinul’s Chinsim chiksŏl, this paper argues that forgetting—when understood as the deliberate letting go of discursive thought, deluded conceptualizations, and habitual dualisms—becomes a powerful method for revealing the true mind. Ultimately, Chinul’s philosophy of forgetting offers a unique account of cognitive transformation—one that challenges conventional epistemologies and calls for a reorientation of perception itself. Therefore, Chinul’s teachings on no-mind and forgetting offer a profound understanding of how deconstructing ingrained cognitive habits can lead to the emergence of enlightened awareness, providing valuable insights into the transformative processes at the heart of East Asian Sŏn Buddhist practice.

Three-Tiered Defensive System and Ethnic Fusion: A Study of Architectural Art in Guomari Fortress, Eastern Qinghai

2025-06-24

Liyue Wu , Qinchuan Zhan , Yanjun Li | Buildings

Guomari fortress in eastern Qinghai Province exemplifies vernacular architecture shaped by multiethnic interaction, environmental adaptation, and localized defense strategies. Originally a Ming Dynasty military-agricultural outpost, it evolved into a Tu … Guomari fortress in eastern Qinghai Province exemplifies vernacular architecture shaped by multiethnic interaction, environmental adaptation, and localized defense strategies. Originally a Ming Dynasty military-agricultural outpost, it evolved into a Tu ethnic settlement. Fieldwork, including architectural surveys and spatial analysis, identified a three-tiered defensive system: (1) strategic use of terrain and rammed-earth walls; (2) labyrinthine alleys with L-, T-, and cross-shaped intersections; and (3) interconnected rooftops forming elevated circulation routes. Courtyards are categorized into single-line, L-shaped, U-shaped, and fully enclosed layouts, reflecting adaptations to terrain, ritual functions, and thermal needs. Architectural features such as thick loam-coated walls and flat roofs demonstrate climatic adaptation, while the integration of Han timber frameworks, Tibetan prayer halls, and Tu decorative elements reveals cultural convergence. Traditional craftsmanship, including carved wooden scripture blocks and tsampa-based murals, is embedded within domestic and ritual spaces. The fortress’s circulation patterns mirror Tibetan Buddhist cosmology, with mandala-like alleys and rooftop circumambulation routes. These findings offer insights into vernacular resilience and inform conservation strategies for multiethnic fortified settlements.

Music Practices in China

2025-06-24

Wai Chung Ho | Oxford University Press eBooks

Abstract Despite the feminist movement in China, which took place in the early 20th century, and the promotion of state feminism as enforced by the Communist Party of China (CPC) … Abstract Despite the feminist movement in China, which took place in the early 20th century, and the promotion of state feminism as enforced by the Communist Party of China (CPC) after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, gender education, or feminism and education, in China is different from that in Western societies in many aspects (particularly the ultimate inequality of a female-biased sex ratio at birth, less education, low representation in leadership positions, and income differences compared with male counterparts). Over the last 2 decades, China has placed more emphasis on learning and practice in the process of fostering creativity in school education. With reference to China, this chapter examines the under-researched connection between gender, education, and creative music practices through reproduced gender illustrations found in official music textbooks. Within this context, the chapter also explores gender differences presented in music practices and the representation of gender in activities involving creative music making. Though China is attempting to provide a balanced gender representation via official Chinese discourse in creativity education, I argue that gendered teaching materials are found in creative music practices in the music textbooks. Particularly, males are portrayed as strong while females are seen as weak, as illustrated in the pictures for creative music activities in the official approved teaching materials.

Rewriting the Symbol: Yŏngjo’s Appropriation of Guan Yu Worship in Chosŏn Court Politics

2025-06-24

J. M. LEE | Acta Koreana

Encountering China

2025-06-24

Anni Greve | Routledge eBooks

Silence as Meaning: The Semiotics of Negative Space in Huang Binhong's Flower-and-Bird Paintings Introduction

2025-06-24

Yun Lei , Supath Kookiattikoon | Journal of Posthumanism

In Chinese ink painting, the unpainted surface is never truly empty. What may appear to Western eyes as mere negative space—the untouched paper surrounding a spray of plum blossoms or … In Chinese ink painting, the unpainted surface is never truly empty. What may appear to Western eyes as mere negative space—the untouched paper surrounding a spray of plum blossoms or the void between a bird’s wings—functions in Huang Binhong’s (1865–1955) flower-and-bird paintings as a sophisticated visual language. This paper explores how Huang transformed the traditional practice of liubai (留白, “reserved blankness”) from a compositional device into a semiotic system—where absence speaks with as much force as form. While Huang’s revolutionary heimi (黑密, “black density”) style in landscape painting has received substantial scholarly attention, his strategic deployment of negative space in smaller-scale flower-and-bird compositions remains largely underexplored. Through close visual analysis and cultural semiotics, this study reveals how Huang’s voids operate as active signifiers—mediating between form and formlessness, text and image, tradition and modernity during the volatile years of Republican China.Huang’s blank spaces demand to be read, not merely seen. In Lone Plum Against Winter Sky (c. 1940s), for example, the stark emptiness encircling a gnarled branch does more than frame the subject—it becomes winter’s silence, the painter’s breath between strokes, and a visual analogue to the yin principle of Daoist cosmology. While classical liubai, particularly in Song dynasty painting, was used to suggest mist, water, or atmospheric perspective, Huang’s voids often refuse such representational logic. Instead, they become philosophical propositions—interrogations of perception itself.

The Chronicle of Xue Muqiao: 1904–1952

2025-06-23

WANG Zhao | Modern Chinese History

Religion, Secularism, and Love as a Political Discourse in Modern China Ting Guo. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2025. 206 pp. €117.00 (hbk). ISBN 9789463722155

2025-06-23

Sonya E. Pritzker | The China Quarterly

Digital China: Creativity and Community in the Sinocybersphere - Edited by Jessica Imbach. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2024. 312 pp. €129.00 (hbk, also available Open Access). ISBN 9789463720670

2025-06-23

Liang Ge | The China Quarterly

Confucian Moral Impression Management: Moderating Zhong 忠 with Shu 恕 and Shu with Zhong

2025-06-23

A. Nicole Burnett | Asian Philosophy

The Silk Road: A Living History

2025-06-23

Sophie Ibbotson | Asian Affairs

Computers for China: Technology Trade and the Transformation of the Cold War in East Asia, 1968-80

2025-06-23

Bingyi Gong | Journal of Global History

Abstract This article explores how multilateral negotiations for technology trade accelerated the fall of the Cold War economic divide in East Asia. Drawing on archival sources in Japan, the United … Abstract This article explores how multilateral negotiations for technology trade accelerated the fall of the Cold War economic divide in East Asia. Drawing on archival sources in Japan, the United States, China, Britain, and France, it focuses on computer trade between China and capitalist countries from 1968 to 1980. The computer, a dual-use technology essential to China’s industrial and military modernisation, was at the centre of debate among capitalist countries. While competing to export advanced technologies to the China market, they needed to relax export controls through the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls, an international regime to oversee export restrictions on communist countries during the Cold War. This combination of competition and cooperation weakened the restrictive trade regime dating back to before the Korean War, enabling capitalist countries with diverse economic and security interests to find common ground to sell to Chinese customers. By examining this process, this article reveals that dual-use technologies, often viewed in global history as a source of division among states, could in fact promote economic and political interactions across the East-West divide.

Tea, Fragrance, and Music: Ephemeral Arts and the Formation of Scholar-Artist Communities in Northern Song China. By Kin Sum (Sammy) Li. Asian Languages and Civilizations 9. Leiden: Brill, 2024. xx + 242 pp. USD $81.00 (hardcover).

2025-06-23

Ari Daniel Levine | Journal of Chinese History

Writing Pirates: Vernacular Fiction and Oceans in Late Ming China. By Yuanfei Wang. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2021. viii, 218 pp. $75 (cloth), $29.95 (paper), Open Access (e-book)

2025-06-23

Yiwen Li | Journal of Chinese History

Divine Bestowal or Moral Guidance: The Interpretations of Tian You Qi Zhong 天誘其衷 and the Heaven–Human Relationship in Early Confucian Thought

2025-06-23

Cheng Wang | Religions

This paper explores how the interpretations of the phrase “tian you qi zhong 天誘其衷” in the Zuozhuan 左傳 (The Zuo Commentary) have changed over time. These changes reflect early Confucian … This paper explores how the interpretations of the phrase “tian you qi zhong 天誘其衷” in the Zuozhuan 左傳 (The Zuo Commentary) have changed over time. These changes reflect early Confucian perspectives on the relationship between Heaven and humanity. By examining the polysemous terms (you 誘 and zhong 衷) and by comparing transmitted texts with excavated manuscripts (e.g., Guodian 郭店, Shangbo 上博, and Tsinghua corpora), the paper demonstrates a vital dilemma in early Chinese philosophy: whether Heaven endows moral qualities or simply awakens the innate dispositions of human beings. The paper traces the moralization of tian 天 (Heaven) from the Shang 商 dynasty’s theocentric worldview to the Zhou’s 周 focus on ethical responsibility, showing how the Zuozhuan bridges archaic religious beliefs and emerging Confucian humanism. Traditional commentaries read tian you qi zhong as Heaven “bestowing goodness” or “guiding moral intention,” while the manuscript evidence suggests that the phrase actually meant Heaven “descending its heart or will” to attune human affairs to the cosmos. Han exegetes redefined the term you as pedagogical guidance due to Confucianism’s growing emphasis on self-cultivation. By contextualizing the phrase at a larger backdrop of discussions of the Mandate of Heaven (tianming 天命) and moral cultivation, the study contends that early Confucians transformed tian from a deity figure to a moral principle dwelling in the human capacity, integrating religious reverence and ethical emancipation. This interdisciplinary approach studies ongoing scholarly discussions on the interrelationship between religion, ethics, and philosophy in early China.

The Wang–Buwang Sequence and Positive Forgetting in Early Confucian Texts

2025-06-22

Gad C. Isay | Religions

This study investigates the roles of wang (忘, forgetting) and buwang (不忘, non-forgetting) in early Confucian texts, emphasizing their interdependence within a yin–yang framework. Rather than signifying total erasure, for … This study investigates the roles of wang (忘, forgetting) and buwang (不忘, non-forgetting) in early Confucian texts, emphasizing their interdependence within a yin–yang framework. Rather than signifying total erasure, for the purposes of the mnemic process, wang functions as a selective and creative mode, aiding cognitive refinement by withdrawing content considered secondary or extraneous. Primarily through close textual analysis of the Analects (Lunyu 論語), Mengzi (孟子), and Xunzi (荀子), this study shows how wang and buwang operate relationally, avoiding polar extremes in favor of a dynamic equilibrium. Conceptually, I argue that these terms are more accurately aligned with suspended and attentive modes of awareness, respectively. Tracing their pattern across these sources reveals the affirmative role of wang in optimizing memory, distancing the Confucian tradition from the notion of oblivion and offering a foundational perspective for future explorations of early Chinese memory-related discussions.

СВЯЩЕННАЯ ГОРА УТАЙШАНЬ: ОПЫТ БИБЛИОГРАФИЧЕСКОГО ОБЗОРА

2025-06-22

О.Р. Очиров , К.К. Васильева , Р.О. Очирова +1 more | Человеческий капитал.

Статья посвящена изучению феномена Утайшаня, одной из четырех священных буддийских гор Китая, который является значимым культурным, религиозным и географическим объектом. Авторы углубленно исследуют историческую и культурную значимость Утайшаня, а также … Статья посвящена изучению феномена Утайшаня, одной из четырех священных буддийских гор Китая, который является значимым культурным, религиозным и географическим объектом. Авторы углубленно исследуют историческую и культурную значимость Утайшаня, а также его влияние на развитие буддизма в Китае и за его пределами. Введение рассматривает общие пути распространения буддизма в Китай из Индии через Среднюю Азию, подчёркивая важность адаптации буддийских воззрений к китайским культурным и морально-нравственным традициям. Особое внимание уделяется Утайшаню как одному из важнейших сакральных центров Восточной Азии, который сочетает в себе духовное наследие и уникальные природные ландшафты. В разделе результатов работы представлены различные научные и исторические исследования, которые подчеркивают, что Утайшань обладает многовековым статусом объекта паломничества и религиозных поклонений. Исследования Хабдаевой и других ученых показывают, что несмотря на политические потрясения, Утайшань сохранил свой статус духовного центра и остается актуальным объектом научного интереса. Статья включает детальное описание самой горы Утайшань, её внутренних и внешних связей с другими священными объектами как через географическую, так и через религиозную призму. Результаты исследования подчеркивают, что Утайшань воспринимается не только как геофизический объект, но и как символ духовной связи человека с природой, что находит своё отражение в культурной памяти и религиозной практике китайского общества. Заключение обобщает основные темы статьи, фокусируясь на важности Утайшаня как природного объекта поклонения, что подчёркивает его важность для современного изучения буддийских топосов. Авторы утверждают, что Утайшань представляет собой уникальный феномен, где природные ландшафты, длительная религиозная практика и историческая память образуют единое целое, влияющее на глобальное буддийское наследие. This article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of Wutai Mountain, one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China, which is a significant cultural, religious, and geographical site. The author conducts an in-depth study of the historical and cultural significance of Wutai Mountain, as well as its influence on the development of Buddhism in China and beyond. The introduction examines the general paths of Buddhism's spread to China from India via Central Asia, emphasizing the importance of adapting Buddhist views to Chinese cultural and moral traditions. Particular attention is paid to Wutai Mountain as one of the most important sacred centers in East Asia, combining spiritual heritage and unique natural landscapes. The results section presents various scientific and historical studies that emphasize that Wutai Mountain has had a centuries-old status as a place of pilgrimage and religious worship. Research by Khabdaeva and other scholars shows that despite political upheavals, Wutai Mountain has retained its status as a spiritual center and remains a relevant object of scientific interest. The article includes a detailed description of Mount Utaishan itself, its internal and external connections with other sacred sites, both from a geographical and religious perspective. The results of the study emphasize that Wutai Mountain is perceived not only as a geophysical object, but also as a symbol of the spiritual connection between humans and nature, which is reflected in the cultural memory and religious practices of Chinese society. The conclusion summarizes the main themes of the article, focusing on the importance of Wutai Mountain as a natural object of worship, which underscores its importance for the contemporary study of Buddhist topoi. The authors argue that Wutai Shan is a unique phenomenon where natural landscapes, long-standing religious practice, and historical memory form a unified whole that influences the global Buddhist heritage.

The Chinese Belief in Yuan

2025-06-22

Edmund Yeh | WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks

Constructing a Place of Urban Memory: Exploring the Post-Industrial Landscape of Ma’anshan through Painting

2025-06-21

Ge Zhang , Mohd Fauzi Sedon | International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Laws of the Land: Fengshui and the State in Qing Dynasty China By Tristan G. Brown. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2023. 356pp. $45 (cloth), $29.95 (paper), $45 (eBook)

2025-06-20

Vivienne Shue | Journal of Chinese History

The Dong World and Imperial China’s Southwest Silk Road: Trade, Security, and State Formation. By James A. Anderson. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2024. 298 pp. $35.00 (paper)

2025-06-20

Leo K. Shin | Journal of Chinese History

Panda Imagery in 20th Century China with an Emphasis on the Work of Wu Zuoren(1908~1997)

2025-06-20

Junegu Chang | Misulsa Yeongu Journal of Art History

Late joseon dynasty History and culture of Unheungsa temple (雲興寺)

2025-06-20

Mu-Wang Moon | The Art History Journal

Religious branches of Buddhism: Humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan (China)

2025-06-20

G. Adilzhan , Nurzat Mukan , U. Kamysbek | Eurasian Journal of Religious Studies

This article explores the emergence and evolution of the Humanistic Buddhism movement, examining its response to the social and cultural transformations of the contemporary era. The main objective of the … This article explores the emergence and evolution of the Humanistic Buddhism movement, examining its response to the social and cultural transformations of the contemporary era. The main objective of the movement is to modernize and humanize Buddhist practice in China and Taiwan by reinterpreting the core doctrines of traditional Buddhism in accordance with modern societal needs. By analyzing the historical development of Humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan, the article demonstrates how this movement has contributed to the formation of a socially engaged and accessible form of Buddhism that resonates with modern life. In addition, the study compares the unique cultural inclusivity and social universality of Buddhism with other world religions, highlighting its exceptional adaptability to various cultural contexts. The scientific significance of the work lies in uncovering the formation processes of socially active and culturally inclusive forms of Buddhism. Its practical value is reflected in the justification of this movement’s influence on contemporary religious studies, cultural studies, and sociology. The research employs comparative-analytical methods and historical-cultural analysis. The main findings include the role of Humanistic Buddhism in Taiwanese society, its compatibility with modern lifestyles, and its influence on the cultural and religious traditions of the population. Particular attention is paid to Buddhism’s social universality and its capacity to adapt to diverse cultural environments. The authors emphasize Buddhism’s greater potential for adaptation compared to other world religions. By considering this adaptability, the study reveals how Humanistic Buddhism contributes to a deeper understanding of the interaction between religion and culture in Taiwanese society and underscores its transformative role in the modern world. The results illustrate the potential of religion in promoting social integration, shaping cultural identity, and fostering societal stability, thereby characterizing Humanistic Buddhism as a significant phenomenon among contemporary religious movements. Keywords: Buddhism in Taiwan, Humanistic Buddhism, Modernization, Cultural Tolerance, Society

How Maoism Was Made: Reconstructing China, 1949–1965 By Jennifer Altehenger and Aaron William Moore. Oxford University Press, 2025. 384 pp. $155 (cloth).

2025-06-20

Jeremy Brown | Journal of Chinese History

Consulting the Elder: Intertextuality in the “Lord Ai Asked” Confucian Dialogues

2025-06-20

Scott Cook | Early China

Abstract This article focuses on passages in which Confucius is portrayed in dialogue with Lord Ai of Lu (r. 494–468 bce ), found scattered throughout a range of early texts, … Abstract This article focuses on passages in which Confucius is portrayed in dialogue with Lord Ai of Lu (r. 494–468 bce ), found scattered throughout a range of early texts, most centrally in the Li ji , the Da Dai Li ji , and the Xunzi . Examining intertextual connections among these dialogues and related texts, both received and excavated, it seeks to adduce evidence to determine whether their particular shared narrative frame might be original and integral to the content of these texts, as well as to reveal their close links with other early Confucian texts that hold important implications for the dating of all these interrelated texts.

Visual Alchemy: Alchemical Yijing Diagrams 丹道易圖 in the Illustrated Commentary on the Wuzhen Pian Based on the Zhouyi 周易悟真篇圖注

2025-06-20

Xin He | Religions

The Illustrated Commentary on the Wuzhen Pian Based on the Zhouyi (周易悟真篇圖注 Zhouyi Wuzhen Pian Tuzhu), authored by the Ming dynasty Confucian scholar Cheng Yiming 程易明, is an illustrated alchemical … The Illustrated Commentary on the Wuzhen Pian Based on the Zhouyi (周易悟真篇圖注 Zhouyi Wuzhen Pian Tuzhu), authored by the Ming dynasty Confucian scholar Cheng Yiming 程易明, is an illustrated alchemical text that integrates the elixir methodology of Wuzhen pian悟真篇 (the Awakening to Reality) with the images and numbers (xiangshu 象數) system of The Book of Changes (Zhouyi 周易). Centered on Daoist alchemical theory and elucidated through “Yijing diagrams” (yitu 易圖, diagrams based on the Yijing), it stands as a masterpiece within the tradition of alchemical Yijing studies (dandao yixue 丹道易學). Building on a review of the scholarly history of The Wuzhen Pian, this article focuses on the alchemical Yijing diagrams (dandao yitu 丹道易圖) in the Illustrated Commentary, exploring their terminological definitions, theoretical origins, and diagrammatic systems. By analyzing the structure of cosmology and internal alchemy practice theory (neidan gongfulun 內丹工夫論) as presented in these diagrams, this article demonstrates that the Illustrated Commentary not only inherits the theoretical legacy of early Yijing diagram scholars such as Chen Tuan (陳摶) and Yu Yan (俞琰), but also displays a unique systematic and intuitive approach to illustrating neidan practices through xiangshu diagrams (象數圖解). Notably, diagrams such as “Mundane Continuation vs. Alchemical Inversion” (shunfan nixian 順凡逆仙), the “Three-Five-One Mathematical Model” (sanwuyi shuli moxing 三五一數理模型), and the “Fire Phases” (huohou 火候) reveal attempts to construct an alchemical theoretical system centered on Yijing diagrams. The article further posits that the Illustrated Commentary bridges the gap between images–numbers Yijing studies (xiangshu yixue 象數易學) and alchemical visual hermeneutics, offering a fresh perspective centered on internal alchemy for the study of “Yijing Diagram Studies” (yitu xue 易圖學).

Confucian Values and Their Contemporary Applications on Social Media

2025-06-20

Leonel B. Ballesta | Deleted Journal

This research explores the ethical implications of using social media and fostering interfaith dialogue across religious traditions and cultures, utilizing Confucian principles as a framework for analysis. This research delves … This research explores the ethical implications of using social media and fostering interfaith dialogue across religious traditions and cultures, utilizing Confucian principles as a framework for analysis. This research delves into the nuanced exploration of the Confucian Golden Rule within the Analects focusing on the Confucian concept of Ren, a central virtue emphasizing humaneness, benevolence, and social harmony, which offers valuable guidance for ethical media practices. By examining specific case studies and analyzing the ethical implications of media portrayals, this research aims to identify areas for improvement and offer recommendations for more ethical and responsible media practices by employing the analytical perspectives of Alfredo Co, Richard Ang. Co’s meticulous examination unveils the cultural and historical context shaping Confucius’ moral paradigm, elucidating the subtle interplay between filial piety and ethical conduct. Ang’s critical lens adds depth by dissecting the linguistic nuances embedded in the Analects, deciphering the layered meanings behind Confucius’ aphorisms and their implications for moral conduct. Key findings include the challenges of misinformation, online harassment, and commercialization in social media. The research highlights the importance of using social media responsibly, promoting religious open-mindedness, and fostering community engagement. This research shows the moral framework created by Co and Ang and investigates the multifaceted pathways of Confucian philosophy, highlighting significance of Confucius’ teachings as foundational guidelines for ethical behavior in modern society. It offers valuable insights for religious people, educators, and media professionals seeking to promote ethical and responsible online practices.

The Philosophy of Wine Ethics in the “Jiugao 酒誥” Chapter of the Shangshu 尚書 and the Political Order of the Western Zhou Dynasty

2025-06-20

Shuhao Miao , Fuming Wei | Religions

The “Jiugao 酒誥” chapter of the Shangshu 尚書 is a proclamation on wine ethics, ordered by the Duke of Zhou for Kangshu to disseminate among the people. It marks the … The “Jiugao 酒誥” chapter of the Shangshu 尚書 is a proclamation on wine ethics, ordered by the Duke of Zhou for Kangshu to disseminate among the people. It marks the earliest system of laws and regulations concerning wine usage in Chinese history. In this chapter, the Duke of Zhou analyzed drinking from the perspectives of ethical philosophy and political dynamics, closely associating it with ethical codes, moral values, and political order. He criticized King Zhou of Shang for “drunkenness leading to national ruin” and detailed three ethical codes to regulate drinking practices. The Duke of Zhou established the ethical foundation of the Western Zhou Dynasty, incorporating the theory of wine virtue, and constructed its comprehensive political order. This exerted a profoundly lasting impact on Confucius and later Confucian scholars concerning the mandate of heaven and political thought, forming the basis of China’s political and cultural ethos for millennia.

A Brave (and Frightful) New World

2025-06-19

Gregory A. Daddis | Oxford University Press eBooks

Abstract This chapter delves into the evolving American mindset regarding military power and nuclear deterrence during the Cold War. It highlights theologian Reinhold Niebuhr’s concern about America's increasing reliance on … Abstract This chapter delves into the evolving American mindset regarding military power and nuclear deterrence during the Cold War. It highlights theologian Reinhold Niebuhr’s concern about America's increasing reliance on military might, particularly its faith in technology and nuclear weapons. The Korean War exposed limitations in applying military power and deepened anxieties about technological advances, which could quickly become obsolete. As the arms race intensified, both political leaders and military strategists grappled with the ethical, strategic, and practical dilemmas of nuclear weapons, particularly regarding deterrence and the fear of mutual destruction. The chapter also reflects on the complex relationship between technology, military strategy, and the public’s growing fear of atomic warfare.

Traditional Chinese Painting

2025-06-19

Jixiang Peng , Zhu Yang , Jianhua Gu | Routledge eBooks

The Nameless Dao in Concealment: Historical Transformations of the Quanzhen Seven Masters’ Image from Antiquity to Modernity

2025-06-19

Xiaoting Wang , Yixuan Li | Religions

The Seven Masters of the Quanzhen 全真七子 sect served as central figures during the founding phase of Quanzhen Daoism and played key roles in the sect’s early development. Originally positioned … The Seven Masters of the Quanzhen 全真七子 sect served as central figures during the founding phase of Quanzhen Daoism and played key roles in the sect’s early development. Originally positioned as the “Northern Seven Perfected Ones” (Bei Qi Zhen 北七真), they were instrumental in propelling the prosperity and expansion of Quanzhen Daoism. Over time, their images subsequently proliferated across various media—including portrayals in stone inscription, painting, biography, and novel, undergoing transformations through inscriptions, paintings, biographies, and novels—transforming transmission channels from Daoist temples to stage performances and from street corners to modern screens. In the Jin and Yuan 金元 periods, Daoist biographies and inscriptions portrayed the Seven Masters as exemplary figures of Daoist practice. In folk novels and precious scrolls (Baojuan 宝卷) in the Ming 明 and Qing 清 dynasties, they were presented as legendary, divine immortals and distant ancestors available for narrative appropriation. In modern times—particularly due to the popularity of Jin Yong 金庸’s martial art novels—they completed their universalization as Daoist cultural resources blending chivalric ethos and entertainment value. Examining the evolution of the Seven Masters’ imagery, two fundamental implications emerge: First, this transformation was jointly shaped by the power structures, functional needs, and media forms of each era. Second, beneath the fluid representations from sacred patriarchs of the Jin–Yuan period to modern entertainment symbols, there is an enduring thread of Daoist transcendental consciousness.

Heart – Subjectivity in Traditional Chinese Art

2025-06-19

Jixiang Peng , Qingsheng Wang | Routledge eBooks

Chinese Art Theory II

2025-06-19

Jixiang Peng | Routledge eBooks

Traditional Chinese Literature

2025-06-19

Jixiang Peng , Zhu Yang , Jianhua Gu | Routledge eBooks

China and the Qing Court – Fostering the Sphere of Influence with an Ancient Strategy

2025-06-19

Cho Lee Wong | Routledge eBooks

Can Eastern Wisdom Solve Western Problems? A Book Review on Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”

2025-06-18

Tian Qin | Deleted Journal

This paper explores how Eastern philosophical wisdom, specifically Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, can be applied to address modern Western organizational challenges. By drawing parallels between Sun Tzu’s military … This paper explores how Eastern philosophical wisdom, specifically Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, can be applied to address modern Western organizational challenges. By drawing parallels between Sun Tzu’s military strategies and Bolman and Deal’s (2008) organizational theory—particularly the structural, political, and human resource frames—the review highlights how strategic evaluation, environmental awareness, and adaptive leadership can drive success in contemporary institutions. It critically examines Sun Tzu’s authoritative leadership style and its limitations, while emphasizing the continued relevance of strategic thinking, stakeholder analysis, and resource management in complex organizations such as higher education. The analysis suggests that while some of Sun Tzu’s tactics must be modernized, the core principles of foresight and adaptability remain vital to organizational effectiveness.

Recasting the Qing Reign

2025-06-18

Roslyn Lee Hammers | Routledge eBooks

Research on "Nan Gong" in the Bronze Inscriptions of the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou Dynasty

2025-06-18

Xin Shang | Frontiers in Humanities and Social Sciences

The term "Nangong" first appears in the inscription on the Da Yu Ding, referring to a significant figure within the Nangong lineage during the he Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou … The term "Nangong" first appears in the inscription on the Da Yu Ding, referring to a significant figure within the Nangong lineage during the he Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou Dynasty. After the excavation of the Yejia Mountain Cemetery in Suizhou, "Nangong" once again attracted attention. The Nangong lineage, after Nangong Shi, bifurcated into the "Nangong" and "ZengHou" branches. The bronzes unearthed with the inscription "Nangong" originate from two primary sources: the Nangong lineage within the royal domain and the Zeng state in the southern territories. Both major lineages venerated "Nangong" as their ancestor. Yu, the owner in the Da Yu Ding, also known as Nangong Yu, was a collateral descendant of Nangong Shi. Nangong Mao served as the secondary ancestor for the lineage within the royal domain, honoring Nangong Shi as "Nangong". The Zeng state lineage, however, regarded ZengHou Jian as "Nangong", the inaugural ZengHou and the eldest son of Nangong Shi, thus representing the "Nangong" of the Zeng state. ZengHou Kang, the son of "Nangong", cast bronze inscribed with "Kao Lie Nangong" in honor of his father.

Seeing, Believing, and (Mis)Understanding: A Case Study on Sino-Portuguese Ivory Sculpture of the Virgin and Child in Late Ming

2025-06-18

Mo Guo | Religions

In the name of God and profit, Jorge Álvares, the first Portuguese to set foot in China, arrived in 1513 and opened a new chapter for missionary work. One of … In the name of God and profit, Jorge Álvares, the first Portuguese to set foot in China, arrived in 1513 and opened a new chapter for missionary work. One of the most significant forms of “Sino-Portuguese” decorative art, ivory sculpture, is closely linked to the Portuguese mission in the Orient and serves as a witness to encounters between different cultures and religions. This study focuses on representative Sino-Portuguese ivory sculptures of the Virgin and Child from the Late Ming period through a detailed analysis of iconography and a comparative visual critique with European prototypes and Guanyin representations to discuss the significance of missionary visual imagery in cultural interactions. The ivory sculpture of the Virgin and Child is not merely an image; it is a physical object with both material and visual characteristics, acquiring its religious significance during the missionary process. The present study aims to present its artistic hybridity and demonstrate how the Chinese carvers make the Sino-Portuguese “speak” different visual languages, leading to different interpretations. It also reflects the cultural translation that occurs in the complex process of religious contact. In this space of ‘culture in between’, Christianity has been able to transcend cultural and religious boundaries.

Confucian Connections with Digital Ghosts

2025-06-18

Alexis M. Elder | Routledge eBooks