Modern and Contemporary China

The establishment of Japan’s national holiday, “Marine Day” (Umi no Hi), was not merely intended to celebrate the blessings of the ocean, but more profoundly reflects the complex social and political transformations across different historical periods. From the wartime “Day of the Sea” (Umi no Kinenbi) during World War II to the postwar “Marine Day,” the significance of this commemorative date has been continuously redefined in response to shifts in domestic political power and societal needs.

日本「海之日」這個國定紀念日的設立，不僅是為了慶祝海洋的恩惠，更深刻地體現了社會與政治在不同歷史時期的複雜演變。從二戰期間的「海的紀念日」到戰後的「海之日」，這一天的意涵隨著日本國內的政治勢力和社會需求而不斷重新定義。

Wang Hui was born in 1959 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, into a family of a mid-level cadre and a teacher. Growing up during the Cultural Revolution in "socialist China," he read many 'red' classics, including Marx, Lenin, and Mao, as well as 19 th and 20 th century European and Russian writers, helping form his emotional attachments to the working class and peasants. Entering Yangzhou University in 1978 following the Cultural Revolution, Wang's generation was the first exposed to Western ideas challenging the standard curriculum of a socialist

In this video I discuss Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1861-1946), one of the most successful songwriters in the first half of the 20th century. Her most popular songs sold millions of copies of sheet music and records and were sung around the world, translated into dozens of languages. Critics often thought of her music either as “semi-classical,” as “high-class songs,” or, because so many millions of people sang them, as folk music, calling her a descendant of Stephen Foster. Americans sang her songs at weddings, funerals and gatherings of all kinds, usually by heart.
She was also an early female entrepreneur, founding her own music publishing house, designing her early sheet music covers, writing the lyrics to half of her nearly 200 songs. As a result, she earned enough to build homes in Chicago, in the hills north of San Diego and in Hollywood, where she was one of the founding cultural figures. Before Jacobs-Bond began to tour as a means of promoting her songs, performing them to thousands of audiences over four decades, there was no such thing as a woman singer-songwriter. Like popular folk and rock singer-songwriters in the 1960s and later, she made no pretense of being a professional singer.

A sure measure of Mrs. Bond’s broad appeal: professional singers and performers of all musical styles embraced her songs. Many leading opera singers (e.g., Ernestine Schumann-Heink and Lawrence Tibbett) promoted them in their recitals, in dozens of recordings and in testimonials. Vaudeville and Broadway musicians regularly performed her songs – Elsie Baker and Eubie Blake made early recordings. With the advent of national radio networks in the late 1920s, popular musicians and swing band leaders increasingly arranged and recorded their versions. She was always among ASCAP’s top royalty earners. In 1938, her earnings of $10,000 put her in an elite group with Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and George Gershwin's estate. Yet while there are currently nineteen biographies of Berlin (seven since 2000) and eighteen of Gershwin (nine since 2000), there are no scholarly biographies of Jacobs-Bond. Her life story and cultural significance, like her songs, are today mostly unknown.

The past two decades have seen a rapid increase in the number of counties and county-level cities converted to districts through administrative division adjustments. This article asks two questions: First, why has the number of districts increased? Second, why have some counties been converted to districts but not others? The authors assemble an original county-level dataset of conversions to urban districts in 2000-2019. Analysis reveals the critical role played by county finances. Three findings emerge. First, trefectures target high revenue counties for conversion to gain more direct control over their finances. Second, provincial capitals have been especially effective at converting high revenue counties. Third, Province Administers Counties reforms (in which provinces directly administer counties, bypassing prefectures) have also made conversion more likely, but have successfully protected high revenue counties from conversion.

The “Implementation Measures for Establishing Public Welfare Charities in Temples” was an important document for the administration of Buddhism by the Nanjing Nationalist Government. The interactions between government and religion from the introduction of the “Implementation Measures” all the way to its eventual abolition effectively exemplify “Human Buddhism.” The main aim of this article is to reconstruct the document’s historical trajectory.
The Nanjing Nationalist Government first promulgated the “Implementation Measures” in September 1932. This sparked protests from the Buddhist community due to issues such as the disposal rights of temple property, prompting the Nanjing Nationalist Government to announce a temporary suspension of implementation in February 1933. Subsequently, the Buddhist community independently formulated the “Rules for Establishing Charity and Public Welfare in Buddhist Temples.” After revision by the Nanjing government, it was promulgated in January 1935.  On the basis of these “Rules,” the Chongqing Nationalist Government promulgated the “Revised Implementation Measures for Establishing Public Welfare Charities in Temples” in October 1939, which was implemented to a certain extent. In August 1943, the Chongqing Nationalist Government again revised the “Implementation Measures for Establishing Public Welfare Charities in Temples,” significantly increasing the contribution standards of temples. After a series of struggles in the Buddhist community, both sides finally reached a compromise, and in May 1944, the Chongqing Nationalist Government promulgated the third revision of the “Implementation Measures.” In January 1948, the Nanjing Nationalist Government completely abolished the “Implementation Measures.” Still, after 1949, the measures continued to exist in new forms under new spatiotemporal conditions, and their influence continues to ripple through to the present day.

Chinese progressives and revolutionaries have drawn parallels between the Chinese Revolution and the Turkish Revolution in the early 20th century by assessing the historical and political contexts and the nations' stances against imperialism. The primary reason for this situation is that the Ottoman Empire and the Qing Dynasty, both formidable empires of their time, began to disintegrate concurrently, experienced semi-colonization by Western powers, and underwent revolutionary processes that occurred nearly simultaneously with analogous aims and objectives. The two states, located at the western and eastern extremities of the continent, were designated by the West as the "sick man of Asia. " The revolutionaries in both states sought measures to salvage and rejuvenate the failing state. The Turkish and Chinese revolutions, occurring concurrently, aimed to exchange insights and enhance their movements. Members of the Communist Party of China and Kuominang authored multiple papers highlighting the historical parallels between Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Sun Yat-sen. This study aims to examine the perceptions of revolutionaries in China on Sun Yat-sen at the onset of the 20th century, as well as the historical connection between him and the Turkish Revolution and Atatürk.

Interstate policy is a post-Cold War global phenomenon, and it is a prevailing discourse in the Asia-Pacific. This cross-sectional study analyses the cultural and nationalist position of selected non-claimant states in mainland (Myanmar and Thailand) and maritime (Indonesia and Singapore) Southeast Asia on the code of conduct in South China Sea which needs to be implemented by all ASEAN member-states. Critical expert discussion involving authorities from non-claimant states gives the study an in-depth focus on investigating policy implications, and the practical, generative framework in the light of Southeast Asian Exceptionalism. Findings revealed that non-claimant states have a balancing power encouraging regional stability and security in the region, undermining conflict and geopolitical tension caused by unclear rules in asserting sovereign rights. It appears that cultural nationalism is necessarily a reliable or strong predictor of the nonclaimant's decision process. Historical details of the predictor may vary from mainland to maritime Southeast Asia. But the grounding is similar: all are post-colonial sentiments. Results also suggest that Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia are independent of their concurring position towards a binding code of conduct. In sum, cultural nationalism in Southeast Asian context posits economic inclusiveness and regional peace guided by respect for culture and ideology.

Cancel culture, a phenomenon where norm-transgressing individuals are named and ostracized on social media and elsewhere, receives both public approval and disdain. Recently, it manifested among Chinese fans of the danmei genre of homo-romantic literature. In the "227 Incident," actions taken by fans of the actor-singer Xiao Zhan allegedly led to the banning of the free literary repository, Archive of Our Own (AO3), in early 2020. Enraged, AO3's other users retaliated by attempting to cancel Xiao both online and off. Both sides of the dispute exhibit what we term "cancel culture with Chinese characteristics." While there is a lofty social justice behind the original intent of cancel culture, some Chinese fans advocate the cis-heteropatriarchy. Additionally, fan fervour has merged with cyber-nationalism, which complicates the region's geopolitics.

What is the meaning of love in modern Chinese politics? Why has ai 愛  (love) been a crucial political discourse for secular nationalism for generations of political leaders as a powerful instrument to the present day? This book offers the first systematic examination of the ways in which the notion of love has been introduced, adapted, and engineered as a political discourse for the building and rebuilding of a secular modern nation, all the while appropriating Confucianism, Christianity, popular religion, ghost stories, political religion, and their religious affects. The insights of this exploration expand not only the discussion of the role of emotions in the project of Chinese modernity, but also the study of affective governance and religious nationalisms around the world today.

В настоящее время Китай находится на стадии перехода от традиционного сельского хозяйства к инновационному. Автор считает, что требуется преобразование экономического развития сельских территорий и переход к низкоуглеродному развитию. Объектом исследования являются сельские территории провинции Гирин. В работе были проанализировали основные факторы, влияющие на выбросы углекислого газа в сельских районах провинции Гирин. Учитывая текущую ситуацию развития сельских территорий в рассматриваемой провинции, автором предлагается осуществить преобразование экономического развития сельских территорий на основе принципов низкоуглеродной экономики, внедрить низкоуглеродные концепции и технологии сельскохозяйственного производства, и тем самым изменить традиционный способ ведения хозяйства в сельской местности, а также методы организации и управления.

its discourse with certain empty dots and spaces. Amidst all this jargon there are significant points which require urgent attention and the "empty dots" need to be effectively addressed. Since the 'International Relations' are giving space to the "Global Politics" where formal and informal actors are marking their presence India has the formidable challenge of reconciling its strategic goals with the dynamics of global politics amid a swiftly evolving geopolitical landscape.

China’s economic transformation as the world’s second-largest economy is remarkable and extraordinary. This paper explores the key milestones of that journey, beginning with Deng Xiaoping’s open-door policy in 1978.These reforms led China to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), technological advancements and industrialization. The introduction of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and gradual modernization opened China to global markets, transforming it into a hub of manufacturing and trade. Through qualitative analysis of secondary data, this paper also focuses on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that emerged as the foundation of this transformation, bringing capital, technology, and opportunities for employment. This paper also examines the challenges that have accompanied this rapid growth, including regional inequalities and social gaps. Despite these difficulties, China’s ability to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty and become a global manufacturing hub point to the success of its strategies. Limitation includes reliance on secondary data and the exclusion of comparative analyses, leaving room for future research to explore systemic barriers and sustainability. This paper contributes valuable insights into leveraging reforms and FDI for sustained economic growth, offering lessons for other developing countries.

The Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies series is a collection of studies on empires in world history and on the societies and cultures which emerged from colonialism. It includes both transnational, comparative and connective studies, and studies which address where particular regions or nations participate in global phenomena. While in the past the series focused on the British Empire and Commonwealth, in its current incarnation there is no imperial system, period of human history or part of the world which lies outside of its compass. While we particularly welcome the first monographs of young researchers, we also seek major studies by more senior scholars, and welcome collections of essays with a strong thematic focus. The series includes work on politics, economics, culture, literature, science, art, medicine, and war. Our aim is to collect the most exciting new scholarship on world history with an imperial theme.

Urban reforms in modern China included the municipalization of human waste disposal, which played a crucial role. However, previous studies often equated municipalization with nationalization and monopolization. This study examines Hangzhou, a major city in the Yangtze Delta, where the human waste industry was well-established, and analyzes the structural changes in human waste disposal from the 1900s to the 1940s. In the 1910s, the municipality attempted to nationalize and monopolize the human waste industry but was met with resistance and ultimately failed. Nevertheless, the reform successfully introduced a new model of human waste disposal, which involved government supervision and the participation of private collectors, and this model became popular after a compromise was reached. Beyond financial gains, the transition was also shaped by various underlying structural factors.

Over the course of only a few decades during the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, part of mainstream Buddhist education underwent a striking shift in China. From being a secluded practice within monastery walls taught by monastics for monastics with a strict focus on Buddhist scripture, it became one where monastics and laypeople study together, guided by teachers, both monastic and lay, studying a curriculum of both Buddhist and secular subjects. Although general reforms within the Buddhist community of the times received considerable scholarly attention, the topic of education development was discussed in only a few instances. Therefore, the present article sets out to explore why this radical methodological shift happened, and more concretely, how the individual learning trajectories of the reforms' leading actors, and their involvement in specific communities, influenced the way the reforms unfolded. The author analyses the work and life of three generations of Buddhist reformers, namely the layman Yang Wenhui, and the monastic masters Taixu, Hsing Yun and Cheng Yen, employing Étienne Wenger's social theory of learning. The theory's main assertion that communities of practice provide the main fora of learning for individuals, and its description of the concrete ways in which this learning takes place can provide new insights regarding the specific unfolding of late-nineteenth to early-twentieth-century Buddhist education reforms in China.

On 23 August 2003, the Hong Kong rock and roll band Beyond played a concert for their twentieth-year anniversary at Beijing’s Workers’ Stadium. Only two months after the end of the SARS outbreak in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong, Beyond played one of the first public concert in Beijing, in front of a full house, ten years after the death of their lead singer Wong Ka-kui 黃家駒. Many PRC newspapers covered the event, citing Beyond as one of the most influential rock band of the Sinosphere, comparing them with other major rock and roll figures of the PRC and Taiwan. China Yunnan Music (Yunling gesheng 雲嶺歌聲) stated that “just as Cui Jian 崔健 represents Beijing rock (yaogun 搖滾), Lo Ta-yu 羅大佑 created Taiwanese folk music, Beyond brought the dispirited Hong Kong pop music to an era of original innovation […] Someone once said: Hong Kong has no rock and roll, it only has Beyond”.

El artículo habla del envejecimiento de la población china y los problemas que esto conlleva debido a que, en este país, el desarrollo y el envejecimiento no van de la mano. Examina las actitudes tomadas hacia la vejez en un país donde el respeto y el cuidado de los mayores son considerados esenciales de acuerdo con el código moral confuciano, siendo éste el respaldo de los valores tradicionales de la sociedad china. De esta manera, en el pasado, el cuidado de los ancianos era considerado una responsabilidad de la familia. Hoy en día, como resultado de una planificación familiar con medidas estrictas que tuvieron como consecuencia una familia más pequeña, de la mano con un nuevo entorno económico, se han creado situaciones que obligan al gobierno a tomar medidas que aseguren el bienestar de los mayores, tarea que se está llevando a cabo pero que resulta difícil de alcanzar.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, Britain’s strategic role in the Cold War in East and Southeast Asia shaped the post-WWII contours and ramifications of what Winston Churchill famously dubbed the Anglo-American ‘special relationship’. Through its clandestine Information Research Department (IRD), Britain targeted anti-communist propaganda, focusing on neutral nations and the overseas Chinese communities. The IRD assessed communist influence among emigrant Chinese communities along with their views of the United States. The IRD served to support American goals while bolstering Britain’s regional influence. Despite occasional divergences, the IRD and the United States Information Agency (USIA) coordinated efforts to counter communist expansion, reflecting the adaptability of their ‘special relationship’.

Dans cette contribution j’esquisserai certains des «usages» qui ont gouverné la lecture des ‹Odes›,9 et je procèderai de façon thématique plutôt que chronologique. La première partie retrace les lignes d’interprétation du recueil suggérées par leur exégète autorisé, le Confucius des ‹Analectes› ; bonne part de cet héritage sera systématisée par les commentaires officiels ultérieurs, mais on peut découvrir aussi en Confucius un lecteur plu moderne et plus surprenant qu’on ne l’imagine habituellement. La deuxième partie nous transporte au début du vingtième siècle lorsque les ‹Odes› sont lues par Marcel Granet en fonction de leur contexte rituel et du rôle qu’elles y reçoivent, en insérant la lecture dans la découverte ou la redécouverte de la «littérature orale» – approche des plus innovantes mais dont certains présupposés restent sujets à débats. La troisième partie élargit l’approche de Granet et montre comment les ‹Odes› peuvent être abordées comme un document ethnographique, et particulièrement d’ethnographie religieuse. La quatrième partie évoque certaines des lectures qui ont trouvé dans les ‹Odes› une norme esthétique, dans la Chine classique d’abord, au début de l’histoire de leur transmission en d’autres langues ensuite. La cinquième partie prolonge cette analyse en portant l’accent sur la mise à jour de la rhétorique structurelle propre aux ‹Odes›, une tâche initiée dans la première moitié du 20ème siècle. Enfin, la dernière partie fait un retour à Confucius, non pas celui des ‹Analectes›, mais celui de l’auteur-fonction associé à un texte excavé durant les dernières décennies, texte par lequel sera relancée la question de l’intention à attacher à la lecture des ‹Odes›.

The point of departure in this study is to assess the effectiveness of China's cultural diplomacy in Malaysia by looking at the employment of three main strategies and its limitations. The study utilises the methods of interview and empirical case study by firstly, giving a detailed look into the Kong Zi Institute (Confucius Institute) in Malaysia, and secondly, investigating some rarely-noticed diplomatic undertakings from the provincial or city governments of China. While the Confucius Institute and some image-building efforts represents the aspect of China's central government's soft power policy in Malaysia, the Chinese officials from local governments tend to focus on cultural and economic initiatives with the ethnic Chinese social organisations in Malaysia. After examining the Kong Zi Institute and discussing China's provincial-local governments' cultural outreach activities, the third aspect that this article examines is the narrative of Chinese Dream propagated by the Chinese officials in Malaysia. The article ends with an assessment of Malaysian perceptions and responses towards the Chinese official initiatives. Overall, the impact of China's cultural diplomacy, either the Confucius Institute or other initiatives, in raising the positive image of China, may not be said to be either a success or failure. Malaysian's positive image of China may have been caused by other factors not directly related to China's cultural diplomacy, Ngu Ik Tien and Ngeow Chow Bing 56 but other factors, including the foreign policy of China and the remarkable economic achievement.

Alongside the giants of Chinese philosophy, such as Confucius, Zhu Xi, and Li Zehou, the selection includes philosophers often neglected from traditional surveys, figures such as Huan Tan, Cheng Xuanying, Ye Shi, Jiao Xun, Zhang Shenfu, and Li Xiaojiang. A focus on the rhetoric form and cultural background of Chinese philosophical thought runs through each volume, together with a discussion of seismic political, social, and economic events: the fall of dynasties, the rise of the imperial examination system, the modernization of Chinese academia, up to post-1978 politics. Thinkers and traditions are connected to broader, topical themes – Zhuangzi and the idea of perspectivism; Tiantai and the problem of evil; Zhang Junmai and models of democracy – and interconnections between theories and meditative, moral, and medical practices are explored. This is a history of Chinese philosophy that handles recently excavated bamboo texts, women philosophers in ancient China, Buddhist logic, medieval aesthetics, Sino-Muslim thought, and modern ethnic minority philosophy. Close attention is paid to the mutual exchange of ideas between China, East Asia, and Europe, providing a much-needed perspective that captures the monumental contribution of Chinese thinkers and builds a truly global history of philosophy.

This chapter discusses the fate of Chinese Confucianism in the state-building process during, and slightly beyond, the war period between 1931 and 1945 by focusing on the concept of filial piety. While Japanese Confucians developed the notion of “the unity of loyalty and filial piety” (chūkō ippon), which used the value of filial piety for statist and militaristic purposes, most Chinese intellectuals, including the New Confucians, refused to develop a similar ideology serving China’s state-building project. This chapter shows that this disparity can be attributed, in part, to the divergent traditional social structures in China and Japan. Filial piety in China was deeply intertwined with the kinship-based clan system, a societal framework that state-builders sought to dismantle. As a result, many Chinese intellectuals who recognized the urgent necessity to build a modern state in wartime conditions, the New Confucians included, found little appeal in filial piety as a foundational element for constructing a nationalist ideology.

The so-called "Tiananmen Papers" (TAMP) are definitely not the top-secret Politburo documents as claimed by the editors. Many knowledgeable China watchers have pointed this out. Despite the editors' claims of authenticity, their various pronouncements have revealed the unreliable provenance and faulty authentication process. The secretive Zhang Liang, who claims to own the original documents, has never provided the editors with them. Instead, he only agreed to provide computer printouts of these documents to the editors. The TAMP does contain many authentic open sources such as newspapers editorials, official pronouncements, news summaries, etc. But on closer examination, the so-called top secret Politburo minutes are really cut-and-paste jobs stitched together by using the vast body of open sources, sources that were unknown to the editors. Zhang Liang, using another pseudonym Zong Hairen, also supplied Prof. Nathan with another alleged top-secret documents Disidai (The Fourth Generation), which the latter (with Prof. B. Gilley) translated into the book China New Rulers: The Secret Files (2002), although the editors gave Zhang and Zong different and contrasting identities. It is high time to recognize, in the interest of ascertaining historical truth, that the so-called top-secret Politburo documents in TAMP are not real transcripts, as Prof. Nathan has admitted.

Dongjing Chinese folk music, a traditional musical form deeply embedded in the cultural heritage of the Naxi people, combines elements of Han and Naxi cultural traditions. This study explores the role of Dongjing Chinese folk music in enhancing musical literacy and education among students and communities in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. From ancient Chinese religious practices, Dongjing music has evolved into a significant cultural expression, serving the community’s social and religious functions. The research explores how integrating Dongjing music into educational practices can enhance musical literacy and foster cultural preservation. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with sixteen informants, including cultural leaders, musicians, and educators. The analysis revealed that incorporating Dongjing music into curricula significantly improves students’ musical literacy by providing practical experience with traditional instruments and fostering a deeper connection to their cultural identity. However, challenges such as globalization and the dominance of Western music education highlight the need for more structured and innovative programs. The study suggests further research on integrating traditional music across different regions, the role of digital technology in music preservation, and the importance of intergenerational transmission in sustaining these musical traditions.

Historical Evolution of China

A discussion with Yasheng Huang
Led by Lily Ottinger and Jordan Schneider
China Talk

In three parts:
1. Autocracy and Stagnation: How Imperial Exams Shaped China's Destiny
2. Imperial Legacy: 1949 to Xi's Rise
3. Imperial Legacy Part 2: 1949 to Xi's Death

Conclusion of the First Part:
For those concerned with economic growth, development, technology, and science, China should celebrate diversity rather than suppress it. The evidence from China’s own history supports this conclusion.

Since the interpretive turn in the social sciences some fifty years ago, the study of conflict, and of long-running disputes in particular, has given prominence to the role of narrative and discourse in the perpetuation of antagonisms. As Peter Coleman wrote in a much-cited essay in the 1990s, conflicts of all kinds are driven and sustained by stories: once “contradictory narratives emerge for each of the disputing groups and become promoted to unquestioned fact or truth,” he wrote, those disputes “often cross a threshold into intractability”. But how do such narratives emerge? How do they relate to the original events that triggered the dispute? And how much change do these narratives undergo in their early stages?
Divergent Discourses is a joint SOAS-Leipzig University project, funded by the UK and German research bodies (the AHRC and DFG), that aims to explore these questions by studying the earliest accounts of the Sino-Tibetan conflict. That conflict began with the entry of China’s People’s Liberation Army into Tibet 74 years ago. At that time, the two parties to the dispute immediately turned to public media – primarily to newspapers – to convey their interpretations of events. By collecting and studying newspapers from the late 1950s and early 1960s, the project aims to trace the early formation of these accounts, which evolved into the deeply divergent narratives that have sustained the conflict till today.
Since very few Tibetans in the 1950s or 1960s would have been able to read Chinese, many of the newspapers produced by the new Chinese rulers in Tibet were published in Tibetan, among them the Bod ljongs nyin re’i gsar ’gyur, the Tibetan version of the official organ of the Chinese Communist Party in Tibet, Xizang ribao (“Tibet Daily”). Such publications were then, as now, primarily vehicles for praising the Party and its policies, often couched in difficult jargon and polemic. Unsurprisingly, historians of Tibet have not treated newspapers as important sources; their focus has been instead on the rare archival documents released by the Chinese government or on testimonies of survivors and refugees. Tibetan newspapers, however, served in effect as daily instructions to local cadres as well as providing contemporaneous accounts of events and political thinking at the time. They remain significant historical documents and a primary source for narrative analysis.

In the early 1950s, China turned to the Soviet Union for help in restructuring colleges and departments around the nation. Tsinghua University (also simply referred to as "Tsinghua") went from an American-style multi-college comprehensive university to a Soviet-style polytechnic university, with a total of sixty-five Soviet experts invited to work there between 1952 and 1960. Tsinghua University reformed the existing engineering disciplines and established new departments such as engineering physics and automatic control, thus creating a new system of primary and secondary disciplines. By 1960, Tsinghua University no longer provided a "general education" and focused instead on "orienting its various disciplines toward the process of industrialization." The Soviet experts were involved with the various new departments and research groups, where they offered new courses, wrote textbooks, built laboratories, and trained graduate students and young teachers, playing an important role in the transformation of Tsinghua. Similar transformations of colleges and departments during the 1950s in China were not uncommon and indicate a major shift in the history of Chinese higher education.

Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is primarily aimed at strategic interconnectedness of Asia, Europe and Africa and regional economic connectivity in South Asia, East, West and Central Asia by maintaining connection among partner countries in highly interconnected globalised World. Pakistan's integration into BRI through CPEC can play a vital role in terms of regional economic and political development encompassing variety of opportunities for Pakistan. This Chinese initiative will diffuse geopolitical rivalries, giving leverage to geo-economics over geo-politics in South Asian region. BRI also poses multiple and critical geo-strategic challenges for the region especially for Pakistan. The objectives of the study are to explore the possible outcomes of Belt and Road Initiative, Prospects of regional economic developments, Challenges and Opportunities for the region especially for Pakistan. The study brings out the emerging trends concerning primacy of the geo-economics over geopolitics albeit in the nascent stage amid CPEC. The challenges likely to be faced by Pakistan by these developments would equally present numerous opportunities. These, if capitalised through prudent policies and execution would enhance strategic relevance of Pakistan among comity of nations. The paper attempts to proffer relevant policy level recommendations for the implementation.

Li Zehou believes that human psychology, just like humanness or "human nature", is not fixed or given, but is rather something characterized by changing developmental forms of human pragmatic reason, which is formed over millions of years, and is still continuously accumulating and changing. However, reason alone is by no means something that would absolutely separate humans from their sensuality and thus from other animals. The difference between human beings and animals primarily occurs somewhere else, namely in the very realm of the specifically human social existence, which is defined by "subjectality" (zhutixing 主體性) and includes specific human values. In this context, Li shows that Confucian pragmatic reason is formed and functions within the "emotio-rational formation" (qingli jiegou 情理結構), which is deeply rooted in the human world. It is based on actual human conditions and arises from human social emotionality, transforming these culturally integrated general communal emotions through rites in the process of "condensation of reason" (lixing ningju 理性凝聚) into rational concepts of right and wrong, good and evil. The rationality of these concepts governs the subjective personal feelings of each member of a community; the pragmatic nature of this rationality, however, is tightly linked to and intertwined with human emotions. In the concrete social life, these rational concepts can nevertheless dissolve-through the process of the "melting of reason" (lixing ronghua 理性融化)-in the heart-minds of people and thus become an integral part of individual emotions. This paper aims to posit the Confucian pragmatic reason into the framework of Li Zehou's ethics and political axiology.

This paper aims to bring into the global ethics debate concrete alternative models of specific relational ethics developed in the context of Sinic traditions that have not yet been widely introduced into Western scholarship or integrated into the framework of global discourses on ethics and morality. Although much research has been done on certain elements and aspects of such ethical models, there have been no concrete attempts to incorporate them into a global axiological framework that could have helped humanity develop strategies for solving the current global crises we face. The paper first provides a critical overview of the conceptual history, specific characteristics, and social relevance of relationism. It then addresses the question of how relational ethical models could be integrated into the value system of contemporary global ethics without reproducing the still dominant normativity of Western epistemology and its corresponding axiology. After highlighting some problems related to the methodology and structure of traditional models of comparative philosophy and ethics, the author suggests that this integration of relationism into the general framework of global ethics could be done by applying a new method, which can be tentatively called the method of transcultural philosophical sublation. Starting from different frames of reference that define the basic tenets of modern Western and traditional Chinese axiology, the author demonstrates the application of this method on the example of different conceptions of the human self.

This paper examines Deng Xiaoping’s role in the Anti-Rightist Campaign (ARC) of 1957 and his adherence to Leninist principles, which guided his political maneuvers throughout this pivotal event in the People’s Republic of China’s early history. While Deng is often remembered as a pragmatic reformer, this paper argues that his leadership during the ARC reveals his deep-rooted commitment to Leninist ideals of party discipline, unity, and ideological control. By analyzing archival documents, speeches, and party records, this study repositions Deng as a key architect of the ARC, not merely a participant. It highlights how his ideological convictions and political strategies shaped the trajectory of the campaign, establishing him as a central figure in consolidating the Chinese Communist Party’s autocratic governance. This paper also critiques the selective historiography of Deng’s legacy, which often overlooks his role in controversial movements like the ARC. Through an in-depth analysis, this work offers a more nuanced understanding of Deng’s early political career and its long-term impact on Chinese governance, including its foreshadowing of later state violence, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

“Shakespeare and East Asia is a comprehensive and enlightening work accessible to readers interested in the cultural exchange between the East and the West through performances of Shakespeare in various forms. Equally important, it also serves as an inspiration for future studies on global Shakespeares and their receptions.”

Ecocriticism, a rapidly growing field that investigates the intricate interplay between literature and the environment, raises a pivotal question: How can we effectively decolonize ecocritical practices within both Asian and global contexts? Robin Visser's Questioning Borders: Ecoliteratures of China and Taiwan offers a compelling examination of this question by systematically engaging Indigenous studies within Asian ecoliterature, challenging both Eurocentric and Sinocentric discourses. Visser's comparative and theoretical approach underscores how narratives of eco-exceptionalism rooted in imperialist cosmologies perpetuate across nation-states. Visser contends that Beijing's adoption of "ecological civilization" policies (and the Belt and Road Initiative that extends this model overseas), along with Taipei's celebration of trans-Indigenous maritime ties, strategically utilize Indigenous perspectives in ecoliterature to further geopolitical goals, even while these accounts highlight environmental awareness. Drawing on field research conducted in Southwest China, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan from 2007 to 2019, Visser's book comprises an introduction, an epilogue, and five main chapters, each dissecting ecoliterature and environmental perspectives from Han and non-Han authors across diverse regions, navigating the complexities of climate crisis, interimperial dynamics, and global neoliberalism. The theoretical groundwork laid out in the introduction deconstructs and decenters "'borderlands' paradigms that reinforce imperial cosmologies of center and periphery" (3). By delineating processes rather than fixed border or boundaries -whether between species, genders, nations, or other entities -Questioning Borders challenges the dominant core-periphery cosmology of Hanspace, thereby enriching the discourse of Chinese, Asian, and global ecocriticism. Chapter 1 analyzes the historical and ideological roots of, as well as continued contentions within what Visser terms as "Beijing westerns": ecofiction set in "remote" and ethnically diverse southwestern provinces by Beijing-based urban youth sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. Visser observes that Beijing westerns objectify and appropriate Indigenous ecological perspectives to critique Maoist environmental destruction (and the concomitant erosion of moderate ecocivilizational values) as well as Dengist developmentalism. In contrast, Indigenous authors resist such objectification and offer a radical recentering of border locales as spaces of home and civilizational heritage. Moving from the Southwest to the grasslands and deserts of northern China, Chapter 2 examines Inner Mongolia through the lens of the Grassland Culture Research Project, illustrating the state's attempt to contain Indigenous cultures within national narratives, yet also reveals the nuanced resistance found in local ecoliterature. For example, Mandumai's writings, while occasionally aligning with Sinocentric stereotypes, subvert prevailing narratives through conveying the radical nonattachment to life foundational to Buddhist and Shamanistic philosophies.

Chen Ronghui (b.1989) is a Chinese photographer based in Shanghai. His work focuses on China's urbanization and de/industrialization, particularly the issues arising from the position of the individual within their shifting urban environment. While China's drastic urbanization since its 1980s’ economic reform has been examined by various photographers, Chen's “urban landscape” trilogy, completed over the past decade, offers neither a panoramic view of China's urbanization nor close-ups of specific social and environmental issues; rather, it captures China's uneven development in three distinct locations and moments in time: chemical plants outside Hangzhou after an acid spill, Shanghai after the opening of the first Disneyland in mainland China, and the shrinking cities in the northeastern Rust Belt. In this interview, Chen speaks on his transition from photojournalism to art photography, specifically his experiment with large-format photography, as well as the conundrum of depicting social issues while exploring photography as a universal language.

Studies of environmental governance in China mainly discuss bilateral encounters, such as popular protests against polluting companies, NGO collaboration with local authorities, or local government collusion with enterprises which can lead to the sabotage of effective pollution controls. This article studies a case in which a communication mechanism involving multiple actors created a basis for the innovative and successful enforcement of air pollution regulation. Pressurized by popular protests and superior level policy mandates, the Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) in Hangzhou City started to employ a dialogue forum which ultimately brought residents, enterprises as well as government agencies together to implement local air pollution control measures. Through information-sharing, interest mediation and trust building in a gradually more horizontal process, the government-led multiple stakeholders' dialogue helped to overcome the agency's structural weakness, regulate the polluting companies and address residents' complaints. We conclude that this case study can provide some insights into the ways in which opportunities for driving forward innovative and effective environmental governance strategies at the local level emerged against the background of recently enforced top-level environmental protection policies in China.

Аннотация. Благодаря своему уникальному подходу к языку и коммуникации современный художник Сюй Бин бросает вызов языку, как одному из устойчивых средств, являющихся частью китайского семиотического поля, и призывает зрителей переоценить свои представления о культурной идентичности. Цель данной статьи -выявить новые интерпретации творчества Сюй Бина, рассматривая его через призму ключевых идей теоретиков постструктурализма и исследователей семиотики, а именно Жака Деррида, Юлии Кристевой и Ролана Барта. В тексте изучается новаторская работа Сюй Бина «Книга с неба» как один из его первых экспериментов с языком, служащий платформой для обсуждения роли языка в формировании смысла. Анализ опирается на философские концепции языка Жака Деррида, Ролана Барта и Юлии Кристевой, раскрывая сложные слои семиотики и лингвистического значения в инсталляции Сюй Бина. Научная новизна данной статьи заключается в попытке проанализировать произведение художника, обращаясь к идеям теоретиков поструктурализма и исследователей в области семиотики. Предлагая новый аналитический подход к «Книге с неба», мы расширяем понимание роли языка и его влияния на конструкцию смысла в искусстве. Этот анализ также призван обогатить диалог о взаимосвязи между языком, культурой и идентичностью через исследование семиотических аспектов инсталляции Сюй Бина. В ходе проведенного исследования были достигнуты значительные результаты, позволившие глубже понять произведение Сюй Бина «Книга с неба». Анализ через призму теорий Жака Деррида, Юлии Кристевой и Ролана Барта выявил ключевые концептуальные аспекты работы, такие как "différance" Деррида, интертекстуальность Кристевой и роль активного читателя Барта, что позволило раскрыть, как инсталляция деконструирует привычные представления о языке и значении, вызывает чувство дезориентации и отвращения и трансформирует зрителей в активных интерпретаторов, переоценивающих культурную идентичность. Статья также способствует более широкому пониманию художественной практики Сюй Бина и дает представление о сложностях языка как социальной и культурной конструкции.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

Kashmir is the most beautiful place on the earth which is always under the shadows of fear due to relentless humanity. Kashmir is a disputed territory between India and Pakistan and its occupation is divided amidst three states, Pakistan, India and China. Over the time, China adopted different policies regarding this issue. China has interests in both Indian occupied Kashmir as well as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. These interests are purely related to energy and military superiority of India. In South Asian region, China considers India a big rival and in order to counter India, it supports Pakistan. Both Pakistan and China maintained strong strategic partnership in all circumstances and China supported Pakistan at the time of military conflict between Pakistan and India. Currently, China is in favor of some peaceful solution of Kashmir by both South Asian Nations.

Since China's reform and opening up in the 1980s, nearly three decades of economic development have given Chinese society a strong economic force. The use of the strategy of the "first rich" is a key factor in the strengthening of the economy, and many scholars in China have studied the economic aspects of the reform and opening-up policy to varying degrees, but the history of the development of the strategy of the "first rich" is almost blank under the existing research. The biggest difference between this paper and the existing research lies in the discussion of the historical background of the development of the doctrine of the first rich, in addition to the historical development of the Chinese society at that time also made little mention of the historical development. Although this paper is based on the historical development of the strategy of the doctrine of the first rich in China, the actual elaboration of the paper is based on the unique political environment of Chinese society. The exploration of China's problems can not be separated from the unique political attributes of China, although we often say that "if you want to understand a country's economy, you should understand the changes in the world economy", but for Chinese society, it is necessary to add to the political basis of the Chinese society to explore the political attributes of the exploration may be closer to the political attributes of the benchmark to understand the pace of development of Chinese society. A search based on political attributes may be closer to an understanding of the pace of development of Chinese society.