Chinese Studies Commons^™

Made In Chimerica, Austin Wang

Masters Theses

This thesis seeks to answer how prop design may function as an effective vehicle to challenge notions of orientalism, an inquiry grounded for the purposes of this thesis in contemporary Asian diasporic experiences within the United States, and spark deeper questions regarding notions of assimilation, erasure, and cultural ownership. Cultural understanding of Asian American experiences have long been tethered by White-dominant frameworks to orientalist stereotypes that range from early xenophobic caricatures to more modern dehumanization attempts via techno orientalism and model minority myths. At its fundamental core, orientalism centralizes White-dominant narratives as the major filter by which to judge, interpret, …

Ontological Complexity Of Interpolity Orders: The Encounter Between Chosŏn And Tibet In Qing, Inho Choi, Minju Kwon

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

This article examines the ontological complexity of interpolity orders with a focus on peripheral polities in the Qing order. Existing multiculturalist studies of the Qing order emphasized diverse cultural representations of a single imperial reality, lacking an understanding of multiple realities experienced by peripheral participants. Our analysis reveals the ontological complexity—rather than cultural diversity—of the Qing order, in which multiple ontological agents experienced different lived worlds, from the encounter between Chosŏn Korean envoys and the Tibetan Panchen Lama at Emperor Qianlong’s birthday ceremony. By analyzing the Chosŏn envoy member Pak Chiwŏn’s travelog and Tibetan records, we argue that the Chosŏn …

根據《世説新語》某條疏證晋、齊、楚區域之學術、文化記憶與分歧, Chunhong Wang

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

文化絶非一成不變的，此在時間和空間之兩端，俱可體會中國文化與時俱進，它在各個時代分别借用不同區域的文化資源，而匯總起來就形成整體的中國文化。中國古代任何時期士人或政治人物都具有兩面性，他既是傳統的，又是現實的，所謂傳統就指他受某種區域或學派的思想學術之熏染，所謂現實乃指其人現實處境中的具體反應，而此種人生際遇下的現實表現又必然與其文化傳承存在著某種關聯，或者説其人所受文化觀念之影響又鮮活地體現在其人生應對之間，尤其面臨巨大挑戰時候，其言行舉止必然與其人知識結構、學術積累及思想意識保持一定程度的契合，而《世説新語·言語》某條所記述王坦之、伏滔和習鑿齒三者之間的對話，恰好牽涉三晋、齊地與荆楚的歷史文化之歧異和衝突，而此三者又與秦、漢、魏晋三個時代依稀有著對應關係，所以既是時間的流轉，又屬空間理念之此消彼長，由此入手，揭示此三地文化歷史之記憶與分歧，亦涉獵中國文化版圖之犖犖大端，或藉以呈現朝代更替間的必然性邏輯，而此種分析和研究也既屬歷史的推流溯源，又可一窺接受文化路徑依賴的王、伏、習三者之不同的現實處境和内心世界。

Chinese culture advances by drawing cultural resources from different regions at different times, which come together to constitute its totality. Scholars and officials in ancient times were both traditional and realistic: the former meaning that they were influenced by the scholarship of a certain region or school of thought; the latter referring to their responses to their immediate realities. In life’s twists and turns, the choices they made were necessarily linked to cultural lineage or reflected the influence of cultural ideas vividly, and their writings and behaviors were in sync with their knowledge structures, intellectual cultivations, and ideologies, especially …

Culturally Responsive Teaching: Understanding And Embracing Cultural Diversity In The Chinese Classroom, Jing Gao

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Schools and society have become more diverse. Culturally responsive teaching as an effective teaching method has been applied in different school subject areas. This article introduces the concept of culturally responsive teaching and discusses its implementation in the Chinese classroom. This article addresses the establishment of an inclusive, safe, and academically rigorous learning environment, diversification of curriculum content knowledge and instructional strategies, and incorporation of culturally responsive assessment. Culturally responsive teaching in the Chinese classroom provides an opportunity for teachers not only to develop students' language skills and cultural understanding, but also to cultivate students' attitudes and dispositions toward diversity …

Small-Family Mindset: An Analysis Of The Impact Of China's Family Planning Policies On Family Culture, Sarah Ansley Croft

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the impact of China’s family planning policies on women’s attitudes towards family culture and the implications on China today. The family planning policies began in the 1970s as an emergency measure intended to create a short-term voluntary small-family culture by decreasing fertility rates. My research, comprised primarily of primary and secondary qualitative sources, discusses the development and implementation of the policies, the economic reforms beginning in the 1980s, and their joint effects on fertility rates, sex ratio at birth, women’s liberation, and changes in family culture, particularly in rural areas. This study found that the family planning …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Teaching Proficiency Through Reading And Storytelling, Jing Gao

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

When the demographics in American public schools becomes more diverse, educators have been challenged how to be prepared to work with diverse student learners. In education field, culturally relevant pedagogy has been widely recognized as an effective practice for teaching about diversity and used across different school subject areas. This article discusses four aspects that teachers can implement culturally relevant pedagogy in TPRS language classrooms, including a caring learning community, establishing meaning, story asking, and story reading. Teachers can include and empower students by validating them as learning subjects and engaging them in knowledge creation and representation in curriculum and …

A Polite And Respectful Acceptance —— Implicit Function Of Refusal In Chinese From Pedagogical Perspective, Yawei Li

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

This paper discusses the implicit function of refusal expressions that has been used by Chinese native speakers when responding to people’s offerings. By analyzing three conversations regarding how Chinese people have accepted people’s offerings during different time periods (1960’s, 1980’s, and 2000’s), the author argues that the verbal refusal in reacting to people’s offerings (especially gifts) does not literally mean “No, I don’t want it.” Instead, it is a way to show humility, politeness, and respect to the gift giver, and it functions as an implicit form of acceptance. By referring to three excerpts chosen from The Book of Rites …

Mulan: An Exploration Of Culture And Representation In Hollywood, Annie Okuhara, Bernadine Cortina, Hung Le, Ryan Nakahara, Jerry Zou

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

'Mulan: An Exploration of Culture and Representation in Hollywood' is a presentation and detailed analysis of various representational, cultural, and minority-related issues in the context of Hollywood and western media. The presentation will focalize specifically around the recent live-action remake of the 1998 film "Mulan". The remake, premiered in March 2020, received critical backlash from various audiences (mostly from the BIPOC community), bashing the film for its misrepresentation of Ancient China and Ancient Chinese culture. Through this misrepresentation, the Hollywood film ultimately reflects views of cultural appropriation, misogyny, and overall minority underrepresentation in the United States. The research presents the …

The Yin And Yang Of Conflict Management And Resolution, Guo-Ming Chen

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

The increasing interaction among cultural groups due to the impact of globalization has not only made the relationship between conflict and culture more interdependent and complicated, but also demands that a new way be found for studying conflict management and resolution from a more dynamic perspective. Eastern and Western cultures are distinct societies in terms of axiological, epistemological and methodological assumptions. The axiological assumptions are especially useful for understanding the differences between Eastern and Western conflict behaviors. From the perspective of human interaction, the dynamic nature of culture can be more specifically displayed intraculturally by internal variations and interculturally by …

Theravada Buddhism, Identity, And Cultural Continuity In Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, James H. Granderson

Student Publications

This ethnographic field study focuses upon the relationship between the urban Jinghong and surrounding rural Dai population of lay people, as well as a few individuals from other ethnic groups, and Theravada Buddhism. Specifically, I observed how Theravada Buddhism and Dai ethnic culture are continued through the monastic system and the lay community that supports that system. I also observed how individuals balance living modern and urban lifestyles while also incorporating Theravada Buddhism into their daily lives. Both of these involved observing the relationship between Theravada monastics in city and rural temples and common people in daily life, as well …

Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities And The Game Of Weiqi In China (Book Review), Wenqing Kang

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Reviving Project:A Chinese-American Culture Exchange Project, Yushan Cassie Sun

Undergraduate Research Posters

Through art exhibitions in Beijing, China and Richmond, Virginia, Reviving project 01 aims to help promote/ revive a craft technique in Qinghai, China that is disappearing due to the urbanized surroundings.

American artist were invited to collaborate with people from Qinghai to make new pieces incorporating original crafted pieces.

Men And Masculinities In Contemporary China (Book Review), Wenqing Kang

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Contemporary Spin On Tradition: Xu Bing's Cultural Exploration, Karen Obermeyer-Kolb

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This paper analyzed the artwork of Xu Bing and his exploration of cultural values, specifically of language in China. Chinese is one of the oldest written languages of the world, with forms established by 1000CE. One of the purposes of classical Chinese calligraphy was self expression. The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s brought a shift to this tradition by using large characters as propaganda. Xu Bing uses prominent symbols of culture and language, stemming from the classical teaching of his parents and his work experience during the Cultural Revolution, to convey views of society, as well as to …

China's 80后 And 90后: The Next Generation Of Leaders In The World's Next Superpower, A Students-Teaching-Students Course, Patrick Slavin

Senior Honors Projects

In light of China’s recent reemergence as a global superpower, it is becoming increasingly important for westerners to understand its history and culture. For current college students, the culture of China’s youth is particularly pertinent.

In this project, a course, HPR 107: Chinese Youth Culture, was designed and taught through the Students-Teaching-Students program, which provides senior Honor’s Program students the opportunity to design and teach their own Honor’s Program course. The HPR 107 course focuses on China’s 80后 and 90后 generations, those born in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively.

This multi-faceted project includes: subject matter research, course development, pedagogy development, …

Across The Red Steppe: Exploring Mongolian Music In China And Exporting It From Within, Thalea C. Davis

Masters Theses

Mongolian music culture as it exists in China is a unique entity unto itself as it features a base of traditional Mongolian practice and also includes aspects of Chinese music and culture. As the world becomes more interconnected and as China continues to display a markedly Han society to the world at large, Mongolian musicians and Mongolian-music enthusiasts in China maintain and evolve their musical culture in a nebulous middle-ground between Mongolian and Han-Chinese culture. How Mongolian music culture in China came to be and its ultimate function in global society are the key questions being investigated in this thesis. …

How Can A Chinese Democracy Be Pragmatic?, Sor-Hoon Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Early in the last century, some of John Dewey's Chinese students had a chance to influence the fate of the first Chinese Republic. These individuals, Hu Shih being the most prominent example, were identified as Chinese liberals in the political spectrum of that time and advocated education reforms as the chief means of "saving China." Despite the hope for radical social change engendered by the New Culture Movement, education reforms failed, and cultural transformation did not lead in a democratic direction, at least not a Pragmatic democracy as conceived by Dewey. A century later, China is again going through a …

Confucianism And The Legalism: A Model Of The National Strategy Of Governance In Ancient China, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

The Confucian school emphasizes family value, moral persuasions, and personal relations. Under Confucianism, there is a free-rider issue in the provision of efforts. Since national officials are chosen through personal relations, they may not be the most capable. The Legalist school emphasizes the usage of incentives and formal institutions. Under the Legalism, the ruler provides strong incentives to local officials which may lead to side effects because some activities are noncontractible. The cold-blood image of the Legalism may alien citizens. By exploiting the paternalistic relationship between the ruler and the ruled under Confucianism and the strength of institution-building under the …

Male Same-Sex Relations In Modern China: Language, Media Representation, And Law, 1900–1949, Wenqing Kang

History Faculty Publications

The article discusses the tension in the Chinese indigenous terminology for male same-sex relations which was similar to Eve Sedgwich's description of the Western modern homosexual/heterosexual definition. It argues that the Western sexological concept of homosexuality was accepted in the early 20th century China and notes that its legal apparatus had no clear stipulations on sex between men. It indicates how writers during the first half of the 20th century were more concerned with the proper gender behavior and the image of the nation than sex itself.

Chinese Harmony Theory, Guo-Ming Chen

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Based on Chen’s harmony theory of Chinese communication, this entry explicated that the ability to reach a harmonious state of human relationship is the main criterion the Chinese use to evaluate communication competence. In order to achieve harmony interactants are required to follow three principles: (1) intrinsically to internalize jen (humanism), yi (righteousness), and li (rite); (2) extrinsically to accommodate shih (temporal contingencies), wei (spatial contingencies), and ji (the first imperceptible beginning of movement); and (3) strategically to exercise guanxi (inter-relation), mientz (face), and power in the behavioral level.

Brokaw, Cynthia J., Commerce In Culture: The Sibao Book Trade In The Qing And Republican Periods (Book Review), Thomas D. Curran Ph.D.

History Faculty Publications

Book review by Thomas D. Curran.

Brokaw, Cynthia J. Commerce in Culture: The Sibao Book Trade in the Qing and Republican Periods. Cambridge:. Harvard University Asia Center, 2007.

ISBN 9780674024496

The People's Peking Man: Popular Science And Human Identity In Twentieth-Century China, Thomas D. Curran Ph.D.

History Faculty Publications

Book review by Thomas D. Curran.

Schmalzer, Sigrid. The People's Peking Man: Popular Science and Human Identity in Twentieth-Century China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.

ISBN 978-0-226-73860-4.

Hao Bu Hao: A Survival Guide For Zhejiang University, Jenna N. D’Amico

Senior Honors Projects

In an ever-expanding global society, we must learn to embrace other cultures much different from our own. The University of Rhode Island’s International Engineering Program has opened several opportunities for students to work and live in an environment much different from that in Kingston, the most recent one being at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. The first group was sent to Hangzhou during the summer of 2006 for seven weeks to learn Mandarin and learn about the Far East. The fourteen of us lived in a dorm, studied Mandarin Chinese, visited cultural and historical sites, and took in all …

Culture And Communication: A Study Focused On Chinese Characteristics, Jui Ching Tsai

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.