Chinese Studies Commons^™

The Role Of The Chinese Communist Party In The Covid-19 Crisis, Matthew Farrell

Management Faculty Publications

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has received plaudits from international press and organizations for their handling of the COVID-19 crisis, with some describing it as a win for China in terms of propaganda. In this essay, I explore an alternative view: That the CCP is responsible for the origin and extent of the pandemic, and that much of their perceived altruism is carefully disguised opportunism and propaganda. Facts are drawn from scholarly work and the popular press to support my arguments. This essay carries strong implications for interpretation of recent events.

Zheng He And The American Liberal Arts Education: Contexts And Complications, Marla Lunderberg

Faculty Publications

Zheng He was a eunuch of Moslem family heritage who held great authority early in the Ming Dynasty, primarily under the Yongle emperor (reign: 1402–24), as he led seven maritime expeditions, of which three reached the eastern coast of Africa. Of recent English language projects on Zheng He, Henry Tsai (1996) explores the context of the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty in defining Zheng He’s work, and Edward Dreyer (2007) and Timothy Brook (2010) portray Zheng He within the context of the Chinese tributary system. However, other images also hold power over the Western imagination: Louise Levathes (1994) portrays Zheng …

Cultural, Social And Family Shadows: Finding A Place In The Rainbow, Lingfeng Xu

Master's Projects and Capstones

Due to Chinese traditions, certain living environments are not friendly towards the LGBT community in China, who experience immense pressure to keep silent in society. They often are discriminated against, and in the case of most, their families do not support them. It is difficult to have healthy self-identification for sexual minorities. Besides cultural and family pressure, and representation in media, the current legal framework and society are unfriendly to this community. There is no legislation on homosexuality in China at present, and China does not make any clear provisions on homosexual marriage.

In this environment, most LGBT people are …

The Antagonist Of The Sino-Children, Danielle Earley

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

My research declares that the One-Child Policy has had a huge impact on foreign adoption and causes Chinese adoptees to have similar patterns of behavior, such as unique identity issues despite different life experiences. In addition, I researched effective coping mechanisms for adoptees and hypothesized that conversing and openness with adoption is beneficial. This topic is crucial for aiding scientific understanding of psychological processes in adopted individuals as well as aid others and adoptees themselves on how to effectively cope with the unique adoption experience. I personally deem this topic important not only because I was born in China, but …

A Concise Consideration On The Legal Status Of Taiwan For Japan From The Perspective Of The Customary International Law Of Recognition, Hiroshi Saito

Japanese Society and Culture

Taiwan is one of the most important entities for Japan in the international relations and history. Beijing government has emphasized “One-China Policy” and doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state until the present. The issue, whether Taiwan is a de jure state, is a legal issue for only Japan based on the international legal systems of recognition and treaty. In those systems, it is evident for Japan that two peace treaties exist until the present with the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China. The existence of two treaties means that two sovereign states who did battle against …

A Global Hybridity: Snakehead Influence On Identity And Migration, Teeana Cotangco

CMC Senior Theses

Through introduction of Fujian Province as home to the largest migrant population in the world, this article aims to address the negotiation of intersections between local and global forces that form new spaces throughout the diaspora. The "third space," a term coined by Homi Bhabha, addresses the fluid identity of Chinese-Filipino individuals that both acknowledges the traditional notions of "Chinese" while being influenced by a history of colonization in the Spanish Philippines. I incorporate my own personal experience as an American-born Chinese-Filipino navigating new spaces, and also the experience of my family members through interviews.

Treatment And Evolution Of Digital Rights: A Comparative Analysis Of China, Russia, The United States, And Germany, Karina Barbesino

Honors Program Theses

The internet and digital technologies allow for the recognition, advocation, and protection of human rights. People around the world have access to faster and exponentially more information than ever before. The possibilities for education, politics, healthcare, work, and equality have greatly expanded. The internet provides new opportunities for the progression of humanity, but not without a cost. The transformative power of the internet to both empower and infringe on human rights has not been lost on states. As a relatively new domain, the policies in cyberspace remain in their trial periods. Each state is implementing, redacting, and implementing again policies …

A Thesis Is A Product Is A Tracking, Yixue Li

Theses and Dissertations

In this work, I discuss how global products/ identities are made, transported and consumed, and the inevitable ‘mis-’ in acts of transmission. This research ranges from the miscommunication in languages and linguistics, to the gap between production and consumption. I investigate how things and humans are misread, mispronounced, misfit and mistranslated when they traverse social and cultural borders, arriving at a place in between languages, holding on to and letting go of things that are familiar to neither and both cultures. This work explores diverse media such as publications, videos and installations, and examines how they maybe used to address …

Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 16 No. 1, Fall/Winter 2018-2019, University Of San Francisco

Asia Pacific Perspectives

Contents:

Editor's Introduction by Melissa S. Dale

Within this issue, we share three examples of the latest research on cultures of dress, clothing, fashion and the formation of identity in the Asia Pacific region. These articles reveal the innovative work that scholars are currently pursuing in this area of research, ranging from the history of the tattooing in Japan, to fashion exchange between China and Mozambique, to the phenomena known as cosplay.

Fashioning Tattooed Bodies: An Exploration of Japan's Tattoo Stigma by John M. Skutlin

This article uses a cultural anthropological approach to examine tattooing stigma in contemporary Japan, particularly …

Sinolization Of Christianity: Increasing Gospel Relevance Or Distorting The Gospel Message?, L. Asher

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"This study aims to address the concept of the Sinolization of Christianity in light of cultural studies, biblical principles, and the Great Controversy perspective. It will then set forth some ideas on how it could affect the communication of the gospel in the Chinese context. It will attempt to see if Sinolization makes the gospel more relevant or further distorts the Christian message through the lens of the Chinese culture. The answers to these questions should help Chinese Christians, and especially Adventists, better understand their mission in China."

Friend Or Foe: Perceptions Of China In Africa, Shahn M. Savino

Student Publications

China's rush to Africa for resources and a sphere of influence has inspired much debate in the academic world. Many western scholars generalize China's Africa strategy or African perceptions of that strategy. These are both grave mistakes. While China's objectives in Africa are the same all over, the way it achieves that strategy varies from nation to nation. In addition, African perceptions of China vary from nation to nation. Using Algeria and Niger as main case studies, this paper will show that the wealth of a nation changes the way that the Chinese government and Chinese nationals interact with that …

What Drives Consumers In China To Buy Clothing Online? Application Of The Technology Acceptance Model, Zhenqian Wei, Min-Young Lee, Hong Shen

Retailing and Tourism Management Faculty Publications

An enormous number of Internet users have made China a profitable e-commerce marketplace, and clothing is one of the most frequently purchased items. This study explores the predictors of consumers’ motivation to buy clothing online in China by extending the technology acceptance model. Data were collected via an online questionnaire, resulting in 504 returned responses. The results indicate that perceived usefulness has a significant effect on consumers’ intention to buy clothing online; however, no direct relationship between perceived ease of use and buying intention was found. Furthermore, perceived convenience, perceived money saving, and perceived time-saving can explain why consumers perceive …

Great Powers Have Great Currencies: Popular Nationalist Discourse And China's Campaign To Internationalize The Renminbi, Michael Stephen Bartee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Why did the Chinese government begin promoting the internationalization of its currency, the renminbi, after the 2008 global financial crisis? Only a few years earlier, Beijing balked at U.S. demands to reform its currency regime, which would require dismantling many of the country's long-preferred tools for promoting growth and maintaining domestic stability. Similar concerns about the dilution of monetary policy independence motivated previous rising economies Germany and Japan to proactively discourage the internationalization of their currencies. While China's central bank had long explored promoting greater international use of the renminbi, and such a policy would generate some benefits for China, …

Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 15 No. 2, Spring/Summer 2018, University Of San Francisco

Asia Pacific Perspectives

Contents:

Editor's Introduction by Melissa S. Dale

The editor reflects on this issue's new articles, which focus on climate change as it is being experienced across Asia, and the different local responses it has provoked. From China to India to Southeast Asia, the relationship of nature to each local worldview shapes how communities view climate change, its effects, and their responses to it.

Fengshui Forests as A Socio-natural Reservoir in the Face of Climate Change and Environmental Transformation by Christopher R. Coggins and Jesse Minor

Chinese lineage villages are social-ecological systems (SESs) designed according to principles of fengshui (“wind-water”). Fengshui …

Will War's Nature Change In The Seventh Military Revolution?, F. G. Hoffman

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article examines the potential implications of the combinations of robotics, artificial intelligence, and deep learning systems on the character and nature of war. The author employs Carl von Clausewitz’s trinity concept to discuss how autonomous weapons will impact the essential elements of war. The essay argues war’s essence, as politically directed violence fraught with friction, will remain its most enduring aspect, even if more intelligent machines are involved at every level.

China And The Politics Of Cross–Cultural Representation In Interwar European Fiction, Carles Prado-Fonts

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "China and the Politics of Cross–Cultural Representation in Interwar European Fiction" Carles Prado-Fonts analyzes Joan Crespi's La ciutat de la por (The City of Fear, 1930) to illustrate the varied representations of China in interwar Europe. In the 1920s and 1930s, a plurality of views on China and the Chinese people became widespread across different parts of Europe, mainly shaped by English, French, and German representations. Contradictory images of China coexisted in literature, thought, and popular culture. Crespi's work exemplifies these contradictions: China appears as both an attainable reality and an unreachable fantasy, two tropes that prevailed …

Academic Freedom As A Human Right: The Problem Of Confucius Institutes, Jay Todd Richey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Academic freedom is the ability to explore, research, and analyze any topic without prohibitions or repercussions. In the Anglo-American tradition, it is both a fundamental aspect of academia and, as this thesis argues, a fundamental human right. Although the United States embraces this core principle of academia within American universities, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) seeks to suppress the acquisition of knowledge through restrictions on topics deemed politically-sensitive to the Chinese government. Although human rights abuses pervade the PRC and academic freedom is suppressed, PRC-funded entities known as Confucius Institutes (CIs) are widely embraced at universities in liberal democracies. …

Xinghun: A "Cooperative Marriage" Ties Chinese Lesbians And Gays, Rongdian Zhu

Master's Projects and Capstones

In modern China, although the normality of homosexuality has been officially admitted, misconception and discrimination against homosexuals are still prevalent in the mainstream of Chinese society. Chinese LGBT people endure two main sources of pressure: one is from the external and another is from the internal. From the outside, Chinese LGBT people bear the suppression made by the normality of sexual orientation and the hegemonic culture of heterosexuality, in particular heterosexual marriage. And such discrimination is still occurring now in our society. LGBT people themselves are heavily tortured by the pain and pressure of self-denial. A lot of them cannot …

From A Traveling Daughter: A Photographic Memoir, Lilian Murnen

Honors Projects

“World sits outside the door, A voice in your heart is calling, The ends of the world await, Traveling daughter, Feel the sunshine on your face, Starlight guides your feet, Earth and Sky will carry you, Journey after journey, One mountain to the next, Voice in your heart is calling.” (Abigail Washburn, “Song of the Traveling Daughter” translated from Mandarin Chinese)

My family keeps me safe, but it is this safety that protects me from the discomfort that is necessary for growth. Like Abigail Washburn’s “voices,” my discontent and my curiosity call me to venture far beyond what I can …

Measuring Quality Of Life For Shanghai’S Floating Population Employed In Urban Renewal Sites, Jacob A. Watkins, Gregory Veeck

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Chinese internal migrants continue to struggle to obtain social and economic equity in some of China’s largest cities. Shanghai, China’s largest city, houses one of the largest floating populations in the country. As city officials and the CPC continue to spend on urban renewal sites in the city proper, new opportunities may be emerging for migrant workers. These sites contain hundreds on new commercial and service based businesses that could potentially provide stable employment for rural-to-urban migrants in Shanghai and influence migrant quality of life as well as provide the means for migrants to remain in the city long-term. This …

Impacts Of Migration On Mosuo Cultural Identity: A Case Study Of The Mosuo People In Lijiang, Isabel Ullmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

China is currently in the midst of the largest labor migration in human history and yet we know very little about the cultural impact on the migrants themselves. For many ethnic minorities, like the Mosuo, who have been isolated from urban, if not Han, influence for much of their history, this migration is sure to result in some cultural disruption. As a matrilineal culture defined by large extended families traced by the matriline, a distinct, non-exclusive sexual-reproductive system, a housing layout that reflects religious beliefs and social structure, and a fluid interplay of the local ddaba religion and Tibetan Buddhism, …

The Paradox Of Power: Principal-Agent Problems And Fiscal Capacity In Absolutist Regimes, Debin Ma, Jared Rubin

ESI Working Papers

Tax extraction in Qing China was low relative to Western Europe. It is not obvious why: China was much more absolutist and had stronger rights over property and people. Why did the Chinese not convert their absolute power into revenue? We propose a model, supported by historical evidence, which suggests that i) the center could not ask its tax collecting agents to levy high taxes because it would incentivize agents to overtax the peasantry; ii) the center could not pay agents high wages in return for high taxes because the center had no mechanism to commit to refrain from confiscating …

Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 15 No. 1, Fall 2017, University Of San Francisco

Asia Pacific Perspectives

Contents:

Editor's Introduction by Melissa Dale

The editor reflects on this issue's new articles, which focus on historical and contemporary expressions of masculinity in China, Japan, Korea, and India.

Asian Masculinity Studies in the West: From Minority Status to Soft Power by Kam Louie

Material focusing on Asian men and sexualities which had in the past resisted analysis, has sparked original and innovative modes of analysis that have become commonplace. In this exciting period, Asian masculinity studies have attracted some adventurous minds and new territories are being explored every day. While carving out an interdisciplinary field for itself, Asian masculinity …

Ji Sor (1997): Self-Realization Of Women In Cinema And In History, Tong (Hilary) Lin

CMC Senior Theses

100 years ago, there was a group of women called Zishunu who stood up against the whole society and swore off marriage for life. Zishu offered an escape for many women in the Pearl River Delta area. As forerunners in female independence and liberation, Zishunu never had the chance to be the spokesman of themselves or the recognition they deserved. Ji Sor (1997), a groundbreaking work in lesbian-themed movies, beautifully depicts this special and unparalleled historical phenomenon in detail. Released a few months after the Handover of Hong Kong in 1997, this critically acclaimed movie by Hong Kong New Wave …

Crime And Culture : A Thematic Reading Of Sherlock Holmes And His Adaptations., Britney Broyles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes character and stories into the television shows Sherlock and Elementary on air today. The project will consider three central questions: 1) Why is this Victorian detective hero still popular in the twenty-first century and what has remained constant and still resonates with modern audiences? 2) Both television shows transport Holmes in time by setting their narratives in the present day; therefore, what has been changed in this process of adaptation? 3) How do these changes represent shifts in our cultural thinking about important aspects of humanistic inquiry? The …

Actually, Let’S Not Talk About Sex: The Value-Laden Sex Education Received By China’S Young Women, Allyson Tsu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

The Construction Of Touristic Modernity In Xizhou, Katherine E. Benton

Student Publications

Tim Oakes’ (1998) concept of touristic modernity accurately describes how the Chinese national discourse surrounding tourism, as both a tool for economic growth and nation-building, has shaped what the local reality has become for many towns and villages in the peripheral regions of China, especially those with large populations of ethnic minorities. Specifically in the Dali Bai Autonomous Region, foreign tourism followed by nostalgia-fueled domestic tourism has transformed Dali into a commercialized tourist destination, which has begun to spill out to other towns around the lake such as Xizhou. Touristic modernity is not, however, a singular homogenous force that culturally …

A Visit To The Shanghai Library., Xiaoming Xu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Moon Festival And The Stories Behind, Haiwang Yuan

DLPS Faculty Publications

A presentation that traces the evolution of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, or the Moon Festival with regard to the elements that were added to the myth of the moon fairy and other elements needed for the celebration of the festival such as the moon cake and examines the differences between the Western and Chinese view of and attitude toward the Moon in history through English and Chinese literature.

Evolving Patterns: Conflicting Perceptions Of Cultural Preservation And The State Of Batik’S Cultural Inheritance Among Women Artisans In Guizhou, China, Katherine B. Uram

Lawrence University Honors Projects

My exploration features Miao batik-making in Guizhou Province and explores several sets of overlapping questions. The first set focuses on the status of the craft of Miao batik-making and the perceptions of its future. Is batik-making a dying art form? To what extent is Batik-making a thriving cultural practice today, or do Miao in China (and other ethnic groups involved in batik-making) perceive an inheritance crisis? My next focus is on the role of institutions and the tourism industry. If taught less and less in the domestic sphere (traditions passed from mother to daughter), what role do public domains such …