Fragmented Memories and Screening Nostalgia for the Cultural Revolution argues that films and TV dramas about the Cultural Revolution made after China’s accession to the WTO in 2001 tend to represent personal memories in a markedly sentimental, nostalgic, and fragmented manner. This new trend is a significant departure from earlier films about the subject, which are generally interpreted as national allegories, not private expressions of grief, regret or other personal feelings. With China entering a postsocialist era, the ideological conflation of socialism and global capitalism has generated enough cultural ambiguity to allow a space for the expression of personalized reminiscences of the past. By presenting these personal memories—in effect alternative narratives to official history—on screen, individuals now seem to have some agency in narrating and constructing history. At the same time such autonomy can be easily undermined since the promotion of the sentiment of nostalgia is often subjected to commodification. Sentimental treatments of the past may simply be a marketing strategy. Underplaying political issues is also a ‘safer’ way for films and TV dramas to secure public release in mainland China. Meng concludes that the new mode of representing the past is shaped by the current sociopolitical conditions: these personal memories and micro-narratives can be understood as the defining ways of remembering in China’s postsocialist era. ‘Fragmented Memories and Screening Nostalgia for the Cultural Revolution takes a comprehensive look at contemporary screen depictions of the Cultural Revolution. The book convincingly ties close readings of the works analysed with broader social and cultural phenomena that already are hot topics of study and debate, offering something original while also being closely engaged with existing scholarship.’ —Jason McGrath, University of Minnesota ‘Breaking through the tired dichotomy between personal and collective narratives, individual memory and grand history, this refreshing book sheds much light on film memories of the Cultural Revolution in the post-socialist millennium. In a limpid and engaging style, Jing Meng probes memory’s nostalgia and imbrication with the collective destiny, and critiques the personal focus aligned with neoliberal economy and commodification.’ —Ban Wang, Stanford University
Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide, third edition, is an innovative reference guide to Mandarin Chinese, combining traditional and function-based grammar in a single volume. The Grammar is divided into two parts. Part A covers traditional grammar points such as phrase order, and the structure of noun phrases and verb phrases. Part B is carefully organized around language functions and situations such as: • Asking questions • Communication strategies • Making comparisons • Giving orders and making requests • Expressing apologies, regrets, and sympathy The two parts of the Grammar are closely linked by extensive cross-references, providing a grammatical and functional perspective on many patterns. The Grammar is coordinated with the Workbook, which provides grammar-focused and situation-focused exercises to facilitate practice and reinforce language use. All grammar points and functions are richly illustrated with examples presented in simplified and traditional characters and Pinyin romanization, with a strong emphasis on contemporary usage. This third edition includes new sections on character structure, social media, speaker perspective, and more, as well as updated illustrative sentences and an expanded index. Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar is ideal for all learners of Mandarin Chinese, from beginner to intermediate and advanced students.
Clay sculpting is an ancient traditional Chinese folk art. In the hands of the artists, fine clay is transformed into colorful sculptures. Subject matters of the sculptures usually come from characters in traditional Chinese folklore, classic literatures of operas and novels. It enjoyed the height of its boom between Tongzhi and Guangxu era in the Qing dynasty. Each piece reflects more than 300 years of Chinese folk art with life-like characteristics. The color of the sculptures are elegant, natural and harmonious. In the 1980's, due to severe economic downturn, many Chinese clay sculpture artists were forced to abandon their lifelong career for livelihood. Having witnessed the hardships the old master experienced, the nest generation of apprentices were reluctant to pick up the craft. Therefore, this traditional art is no well preserved, its history and works are not adequately organized, and valuable collections of clay sculptures have been largely destroyed. To avoid the complete loss of authentic craft of handmade clay figures, it has been recognized and protected as a national heritage.
Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Workbook, third edition, is a book of exercises and language tasks to facilitate practice and reinforce language use. Divided into two sections, the Workbook initially provides exercises based on essential grammatical structures, and moves on to practice everyday functions such as making introductions, apologizing, and expressing needs. With an extensive answer key at the back to enable students to check on their progress, main features include: Exercises at various levels of challenge for a broad range of learners Cross-referencing to the related Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar A comprehensive index to exercises alphabetically arranged in terms of structures, functions, and key Chinese structure vocabulary This third edition also offers a revised and expanded selection of exercises including new task-based exercises. Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Workbook is ideal for all learners of Mandarin Chinese, from beginner to intermediate and advanced students. It can be used both independently and alongside Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar, which is also published by Routledge.
This book evaluates the past, present, and future habitat suitability of giant pandas based on spatial observation technology involving optical remote sensing, microwave remote sensing, and LiDAR to discover the mysterious ecological environment of giant panda habitat. Considering the problems faced by the world natural heritage site protection, it takes the world natural heritage site “Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries – Wolong, Mt Siguniang and Jiajin Mountains” as the research area, exemplifies systematically the various techniques and methodologies of spatial information technology for monitoring, evaluation, and prediction of rare and endangered species habitats, and provides scientific suggestions for sustainable development of giant panda habitat based on a series of comprehensive case analysis at Wolong national nature reserve and Ya'an prefecture, Sichuan province, China. The book serves both as a textbook in the field of natural heritage protection, remote sensing, and GIS application, as well as a reference for managing natural heritage sites.
Ocean covers 70.8% of the Earth’s surface, and it plays an important role in supporting all life on Earth. Nonetheless, more than 80% of the ocean’s volume remains unmapped, unobserved and unexplored. In this regard, Underwater Sensor Networks (USNs), which offer ubiquitous computation, efficient communication and reliable control, are emerging as a promising solution to understand and explore the ocean. In order to support the application of USNs, accurate position information from sensor nodes is required to correctly analyze and interpret the data sampled. However, the openness and weak communication characteristics of USNs make underwater localization much more challenging in comparison to terrestrial sensor networks. In this book, we focus on the localization problem in USNs, taking into account the unique characteristics of the underwater environment. This problem is of considerable importance, since fundamental guidance on the design and analysis of USN localization is very limited at present. To this end, we first introduce the network architecture of USNs and briefly review previous approaches to the localization of USNs. Then, the asynchronous clock, node mobility, stratification effect, privacy preserving and attack detection are considered respectively and corresponding localization schemes are developed. Lastly, the book’s rich implications provide guidance on the design of future USN localization schemes. The results in this book reveal from a system perspective that underwater localization accuracy is closely related to the communication protocol and optimization estimator. Researchers, scientists and engineers in the field of USNs can benefit greatly from this book, which provides a wealth of information, useful methods and practical algorithms to help understand and explore the ocean.
Does what it sets out to do and serves as a Chinese history text teenagers might actually read." —Asian Review of Books on Division to Unification in Imperial China The fourth volume in the Understanding China Through Comics series covers the stunningly productive Ming dynasty and its fall to the Manchus under the Qing, the last Chinese dynasty. The book also addresses Wang Yangming's School of Mind and the painful process of modernization and conflict with the West and Japan, including the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion. Includes timeline. Jing Liu is a Beijing- and Davis, CA–based designer and entrepreneur who uses his artistry to tell the story of China.
In the tradition of Katy Tur, Jane Pauley, and Peter Jennings, Chai Jing shows us the power of television news and the complex challenges of reporting in China. After becoming a radio DJ in college and a TV interviewer at 23, Chai Jing is thrust into the spotlight when she takes on a position as a news anchor at CCTV, China’s official state news channel. Chai struggles to find her role in a male-dominated news organization, discovering corruption, courage, and hope within the people she meets while honing her talent for getting people to reveal themselves to her. In eleven propulsive and deeply felt chapters, Chai recounts her investigations into SARS quarantine wards, a childhood suicide epidemic, the human cost of industrial pollution, and organized crime, while looking back at her growth as a journalist. Chai Jing shares the philosophical and emotional complexity of the ethical challenges that are always present in such revealing reporting, while she also finds hope and purpose, time and again, in the vital and intimate stories of her interviewees. This candid memoir from one of China’s best-known journalists provides a rare window into the issues which concern us most, and which face contemporary China and the whole world.
This well-documented study discusses the social and economic changes in Shandong province before the influence of the West was felt at the end of the nineteenth century. The authors show that by the sixteenth century, commercial and handicraft towns linked to national and local markets had already begun to emerge. Urban growth was made possible by increased agricultural production, which in turn stimulated specialization and increased commercialization in the agricultural sector. Another important change in rural society at this time was the emergence of a new stratum of wealthy landlords who managed their estates with wage labor. Case studies of managerial landlords, who form the main focus of this study, are included as well as generalizations drawn from questionnaire materials. Luo Lun and Jing Su wrote this book while they were young researchers at Shandong University in the late 1950s, using data they had gathered in the culturally relaxed period of the Hundred Flowers. In his introduction, Endymion Wilkinson analyzes the authors’ thesis and concludes that their Leninist model is inapplicable to premodern Chinese history. The value of this study lies not so much in its conclusion that even without the impact of Western imperialism China would of itself have developed a capitalist society, but rather in the wealth of data the authors present, in this first in-depth study of a relatively advanced region in north China.
If I were a god, there would be no evil under the heavens!If I become a demon, I'll slaughter all the gods!I am a Fiendgod. There is no longer any difference between the heavens and the earth!Stepping into the sky to become a god, purgatory to become a devil, all within a single thought!
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