This book pays critical homage to the eminent comparatist of Chinese and Western literature and religion, Anthony C. Yu of The University of Chicago. Broadly comparative, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary in scope, the volume consists of an introductory essay on Yu's scholarly career, and thirteen additional essays on topics such as literary texts and traditions of varying provenance and periods, ranging from ancient Greece, medieval Europe, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century England and America, to China from the classical to modern periods. The disciplines and areas of research that the essays draw into constructive engagement with one another include comparative literature, religion and literature, history of religions, (or comparative religion), religion and social thought, and the study of myth. Eric Ziolkowski is Professor and Head of the Department of Religious Studies at Lafayette College.
Two young gentry women meet by chance at a nunnery in Yangzhou, where they fall in love at first sight. After they exchange poetry and recognize each other’s literary talents, their emotional bond deepens. They conduct a mock wedding ceremony at the nunnery and hatch a plan to spend the rest of their lives together. Their schemes are stymied by a series of obstacles, but in the end the two women find an unlikely resolution—a ménage-à-trois marriage. The Fragrant Companions is the most significant work of literature that portrays female same-sex love in the entire premodern Chinese tradition. Written in 1651 by Li Yu, one of the most inventive and irreverent literary figures of seventeenth-century China, this play is at once an unconventional romantic comedy, a barbed satire, and a sympathetic portrayal of love between women. It offers a sensitive portrait of the two women’s passion for each other, depicts their intellectual pursuits and resourcefulness, and celebrates their partial triumph over social convention. At the same time, Li caustically mocks the imperial examination system and deflates the idealized image of the male scholar. The Fragrant Companions is both an indispensable source for students and scholars of gender and sexuality in premodern China and a compelling work of literature for all readers interested in China’s rich theatrical traditions.
College student Lin Xiao had accidentally entered the world of demons. Humans and demons had actually survived for thousands of years! Fuxi Nuwa? Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors? Three Thousand Worlds? Myth is myth after all. Was the end of time and space a new era, and the cause of all the ancient grudges ... Three thousand six hundred lines, and a single dream that spanned the ages. In the blink of an eye, fate had sprung up within him. Close]
This study makes a linguistic case for the twentieth century revolution in Chinese language and literature. It offers a history of reform and change in the Chinese language throughout the country’s history, and focuses on the concept of ‘baihua’, a language reform movement championed by Hu Shi and other scholars which laid the foundation for the May fourth New Literature Movement, the larger New Culture Movement and which now defines modern Chinese. Examining the differences between classical and modern Chinese language systems alongside an investigation into the relevance and impact of translation in this language revolution - notably addressing the pivotal role of May Fourth leader Lu Xun - this book provides a rare insight into the evolution of the Chinese language and those who championed its development.
The analysis of the impediments to political development is one of the most important discussions which has major theoretical and political consequences. This analysis has been controversial and many different aspects have been introduced as elements for political underdevelopment. In this study, Dal Seung Yu takes culture, a key element in this discussion, and explains the major cultural impediments to political development in Iran. He focuses on the historical attitudes of people towards the political management of the society and the effect these attitudes have on slowing the development of this political system in the society. Those concerned with Iran, the Middle East and political culture will be extremely interested in this provocative text.
Heritage Sites in Contemporary China: Cultural Policies and Management Practices focuses on cultural heritage policies in China emerging in the period of the 11th and 12th Five Year Plans. Various important Chinese sites across China are investigated, including Luoyang Sui, Daming Gong, Niuheliang, Xinjiang, and Nanyuewang through the dual perspective of archaeological debate and as a case study of policy making. It explores the relationship between policy and the institutional and administrative conditions, such as budgeting and land concerns, which affect it. Building on the research project implemented by the China Academy for Cultural Heritage (CACH) from 2012–2014, which focused on the impact of the Dayizhi Policy for Great Archaeological Sites, the book provides an interdisciplinary insider’s approach to viewing archaeological discoveries; policies and emerging practices in site and archaeological management; and public administration in China. Featuring contributions from experts within CACH and from the Chinese community of archaeologists, and including numerous tables, data and maps, it will appeal to researchers and scholars in disciplines such as archaeology, heritage management, public administration, and policy making.
This book combines empirical research and theoretical discussions to demonstrate that the civil society paradigm as a western concept could be applicable to the study of state-society relations in contemporary China. However, the growth of Chinese civil society does not necessarily present an adversarial or confrontational relationship between state and society, but rather it is a cooperative relationship based on common interests and mutual benefits between industrial associations and local governments. The findings of this research confirm that, in contrast to the conventional civil society model in Western and Eastern Europe, where civic organizations are independent of the state, challenging the state hegemony, Chinese civic organizations, however, still lack autonomy and even remain closely linked to the state, but they are growing and expanding their public space and important role in public affairs through active participation. This non-western path for civil society development is a precise reflection of reality that is profoundly shaped and constrained by Chinese institutional, sociological, and cultural context. Through close investigation into the industrial, organizational, and social governance of industrial associations in Wenzhou and in-depth analysis of their challenges and developments within the institutional context, this book provides fresh empirical evidence and insightful analysis of how industrial associations have actively participated in local industrial governance and conduct of public affairs, gained greater space for their development, and become indispensable partners of local government in social governance.
Yu Hua’s populist voice and exquisite wit have made him one of the most celebrated and bestselling writers in China. These visceral, flawlessly crafted stories explore the line between cruelty and warmth on which his country is precariously balanced. In the title story, a shopkeeper confronts a child thief and punishes him without mercy. “Victory” shows a young couple shaken by the husband’s infidelity, each scrambling to stake claims to the components of their shared life. Other tales show, by turns, two factory workers who spoil their only son, a gang of townsfolk who bully an innocent orphan, and a spectacular fistfight outside a refinery bathhouse. Taken together, these stories form a snapshot of a nation, lit with the deep feeling and ready humor that characterize its people. A sensation in Asia, Boy in the Twilight affirms Yu Hua’s place at the very forefront of literary fiction.
The Mellin transformation is widely used in various problems of pure and applied mathematics, in particular, in the theory of differential and integral equations and the theory of Dirichlet series. It is found in extensive applications in mathematical physics, number theory, mathematical statistics, theory of asymptotic expansions, and especially, in the theory of special functions and integral transformations. It is essentially used in algorithms of integration in computer algebra systems. Since the majority of integrals encountered in applications can be reduced to the form of the corresponding Mellin transforms with specific parameters, this handbook can also be used for definite and indefinite integrals. By changes in variables, the Mellin transform can be turned into the Fourier and Laplace transforms. The appendices contain formulas of connection with other integral transformations, and an algorithm for determining regions of convergence of integrals. The Handbook of Mellin Transforms will be of interest and useful to all researchers and engineers who use mathematical methods. It will become the main source of formulas of Mellin transforms, as well as indefinite and definite integrals.
The harshness of the modern Communist regime has far exceeded that of all past despots, as the PRC’s founder Mao Zedong openly acknowledged: “What was Emperor Qin Shi Huang? He only buried 460 scholars, but we buried 46,000. During the suppression of counter-revolutionaries, didn’t we kill some counterrevolutionary intellectuals? I’ve discussed this with pro-democracy advocates: ‘You call us Qin Shi Huang as an insult, but we’ve surpassed Qin Shi Huang a hundred-fold.’ Some people curse us as dictators like Qin Shi Huang. We must categorically accept this as factually accurate. Unfortunately, you haven’t said enough and leave it to us to say the rest”. In fact, the number of writers killed under CPC rule far exceeds 46,000, and the number imprisoned is incalculable. This volume collects 64 cases occurring from 1947 to 2010, with one emblematic case for each year, but these represent just the tip of the iceberg. The CPC has officially acknowledged that 550,000 people were labeled “Rightists” from 1957 to 1959, mostly through various types of literary inquisition, making the 130-plus cases of the Qianlong period pale in comparison. This volume describes the cases of 12 “Rightist” victims – Sun Mingxun, Feng Xuefeng, Lin Xiling, Ding Ling, Ai Qing, Lin Zhao, Wang Ruowang, Wang Zaoshi, Chen Fengxiao, Yuan Changying, Nie Gannu and Liu Binyan, obviously only a minute proportion. In the single case of the “anti-Party” novel Liu Zhidan, more than 10,000 people were persecuted, the most wide-ranging literary inquisition in Chinese history. In the case of Wang Shenyou’s love letter, Wang ripped up the letter before sending it, but he was forced to rewrite it and was then executed for his “unspoken criticism”. A multitude of such cases demonstrates that literary inquisition has reached its fullest flowering under CPC rule.
‘He looked down at his watch and saw that the long hand was overlapping the short, pointing towards twelve. The old year had passed and the new year had begun. He was swept by a feeling of loss and attachment to a past that was no longer there: If I were in China now, I would be…’ A father and son muse on the value of fame and fortune and the path of chu jia or receding from the world by becoming a monk. On Christmas Eve a lonely immigrant travels from his deserted outer suburb to the city in search of life. Spouses navigate their adult son’s need to ‘rebrand’ himself with an English name. Between Shanghai and Montreal, a Chinese student and a Canadian man who has fallen in love with him exchange correspondence. Haunted by the sounds of piano and violin and the long-lost friend who returns only to him in dreams a man confronts the past. Can we ever really trust a car salesperson or those friends who say we must catch up soon but never do? Ouyang Yu’s first collection of stories in English is both assured and tender and at times surprisingly funny. It includes stories set in China and Australia that revel in the truth and candour of lived experience and the joys and constraints of language. In The White Cockatoo Flowers Ouyang Yu deftly peels back the layers on what it means to move from one culture to another, and what it means to be a writer, a husband, a parent and a stranger on foreign and familiar ground.
As Su Qinghuan put her hands on her hips, she said, "With medical skills in hand, I have all the skills in the world!" What? You're accusing me of not marrying seventeen? No problem, buy a sickly guy, sit and wait to become a widow, earn a chastity memorial archway! However, with a change in his bearing, how did he become a powerful general? Su Qing Huan: Hey, hey, hey. You took the wrong script. This is Tian Wen! The female lead likes to take off the tease, kind-hearted and tough; the male lead is overbearing and affectionate, playing the pig to eat the tiger; Joy and tears, sorrow and joy, but deep love never let down.
Li Su's life was very exciting. Last month, he married his thirteenth beautiful wife, a young international model, in the United States. Last week, he bought a fifteenth private island in the South Pacific and planned to make a golf course. A few days ago, he even rejected the investment invitation of the Roschell family. Hm, he looked down on that small amount of money! He's a genius, he's a legend! At the age of 20, he had millions of properties and at the age of 23, he was evaluated as the youngest rich man in Asia. His life was filled with glory and glory. Of course, he also had a weakness of wanting to boast to the best of his ability, and that was that even at the end of his life, he still hadn't changed his habit of bragging. Yes, it was all bragging.
The eighteenth-century Hongloumeng, known in English as Dream of the Red Chamber or The Story of the Stone, is generally considered to be the greatest of Chinese novels--one that masterfully blends realism and romance, psychological motivation and fate, daily life and mythical occurrences, as it narrates the decline of a powerful Chinese family. In this path-breaking study, Anthony Yu goes beyond the customary view of Hongloumeng as a vivid reflection of late imperial Chinese culture by examining the novel as a story about fictive representation. Through a maze of literary devices, the novel challenges the authority of history as well as referential biases in reading. At the heart of Hongloumeng, Yu argues, is the narration of desire. Desire appears in this tale as the defining trait and problem of human beings and at the same time shapes the novel's literary invention and effect. According to Yu, this focalizing treatment of desire may well be Hongloumeng's most distinctive accomplishment. Through close readings of selected episodes, Yu analyzes principal motifs of the narrative, such as dream, mirror, literature, religious enlightenment, and rhetorical reflexivity in relation to fictive representation. He contextualizes his discussions with a comprehensive genealogy of qing--desire, disposition, sentiment, feeling--a concept of fundamental importance in historical Chinese culture, and shows how the text ingeniously exploits its multiple meanings. Spanning a wide range of comparative literary sources, Yu creates a new conceptual framework in which to reevaluate this masterpiece.
In the first systematic study of its kind, Hua-yu Li tackles one of the most important unresolved mysteries of the early history of the People's Republic of China_the economic policy shift of 1953. As a result of this policy shift, the moderate economic policies of 'New Democracy' were abruptly terminated_much sooner than specified by the official party line_and replaced with a radical Stalinist economic program called the 'general line for socialist transition.' Utilizing the rich archival materials released in China since the mid-1980s and Russian archival information released since the early 1990s, Li presents a compelling explanation for the policy shift. Placing the analysis within the larger context of the world communist movement, communist ideology, and Mao's complicated relationship with Stalin, this book makes it clear that the policy shift was initiated by Mao and that he did so for two reasons. First, he was committed to a history text compiled under Stalin's guidance that purported to describe the Soviet experience of building socialism in the 1920s and 1930s. Mao relied heavily on this text as a road map for China to follow in building socialism in the early 1950s. Second, Mao was driven by feelings of personal rivalry with Stalin and of national rivalry with the Soviet Union: he wanted China to achieve socialism faster than the Soviet Union had. The precise timing of the change, Li argues, resulted from Mao's belief that China was economically ready to build socialism and from his decision to interpret an ambiguous statement made by Stalin in October 1952 as a clear endorsement of a policy shift. Li asserts that Mao was a committed Stalinist, that he dominated domestic policy decision-making, and that he skillfully maneuvered his way through his negotiations with Stalin in advancing his own agenda. Situating its analysis within the larger context of the world communist movement, this carefully researched book will have a profound impact on the fields of communist studies and Sino-Soviet relations and in studies of Mao, Stalin, and their relationship.
This thesis reports on essential advances in the design, synthesis and biomedical applications of multifunctional Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles (MSNs). It provides several examples of multifunctional MSN-based drug delivery nanosystems and demonstrates successful synergistic cancer therapies combining MSNs and high-intensity focused ultrasound. The book will especially be of interest to researchers and graduate students in the fields of biomaterials, biology, chemistry, medicine and the life sciences who are working to develop new methods and technologies to combat cancer.
Xiong Shili 熊十力(1885-1968) was one of the most important Chinese philosophers of the twentieth century, and a founding figure of the modern New Confucian school of philosophy. At the core of his metaphysics is one of the key conceptual polarities in traditional Chinese philosophy: Reality (ti 體) and Function (yong 用). Xiong Shili’s Understanding of Reality and Function, 1920-1937 presents a detailed examination and analysis of the development of Xiong Shili’s conception of Reality and Function between 1920 and 1937. While scholars have tended to focus on Xiong’s mature ti-yong philosophical system, which was initially established in the early 1930s, this study explains how that system was gradually formed, providing a more comprehensive basis for understanding the development of Xiong’s philosophical thought in later periods.
While the loss of sight—whether in early modern Japan or now—may be understood as a disability, blind people in the Tokugawa period (1600–1868) could thrive because of disability. The blind of the era were prominent across a wide range of professions, and through a strong guild structure were able to exert contractual monopolies over certain trades. Blind in Early Modern Japan illustrates the breadth and depth of those occupations, the power and respect that accrued to the guild members, and the lasting legacy of the Tokugawa guilds into the current moment. The book illustrates why disability must be assessed within a particular society’s social, political, and medical context, and also the importance of bringing medical history into conversation with cultural history. A Euro-American-centric disability studies perspective that focuses on disability and oppression, the author contends, risks overlooking the unique situation in a non-Western society like Japan in which disability was constructed to enhance blind people’s power. He explores what it meant to be blind in Japan at that time, and what it says about current frameworks for understanding disability.
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