Chinese Studies Commons^™

The Ethics Of Memory In Adorno's Aesthetic Utopia And Its Transform, Wenjun Ding

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Regarding how art exists after Auschwitz, Adorno argues that the legitimacy of post-war art is based on representing the memory of accumulated intergenerational suffering, which reflects on and criticizes Auschwitz and its roots in modernity with reference to Walter Benjamin's methodology of theological redemption. Memories of sufferings exist in artworks in a constellation-like structure, causing explosive production of meaning and breaking the monopoly of meaning and value by the identity system. With remembrance as the means, art presents the memory of suffering concerning Auschwitz, and offers a new understanding of the development of contemporary capitalism and possibilities for imagining a …

The Historical Genesis And Contemporary Development Of The Theory "Chinese Artistic Spirit" During The Twentieth Century, Shuiping Tao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The theory "Chinese artistic spirit" in this article is an important aesthetic trend and literary tradition, which has been lasting over the past hundred years in the study of Chinese aesthetics and literary theory. It has become frequently discussed by scholars in recent years. Considering the fact that existing scholarship is always limited to one of the different aspects, this article aims to promote the study of Chinese art and aesthetic spirit through a holistic theoretical description and illustration of the academic genealogy, historical context, philosophical basis, theoretical connotation, characteristics and value, and the contemporary development of the aesthetic trend …

The Research Style And Original Achievements Of Xu Zhongyu's Theories On Literature And Art, Xishan Zhou

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The 104-year-old Xu Zhongyu, whose academic career of over sixty years has been in tandem with the development of the PRC, has established his distinct style in the theoretical studies of literature and art, namely the combination of theory and practice, of the ancient and the modern, and of inheritance and innovation. His original achievements include initiating the methodology of comprehensively collecting and categorically compiling the materials of ancient Chinese literary theory, raising a series of original and significant academic viewpoints on ancient Chinese literary theory, advocating an interdisciplinary research on the theories of literature and art, envisioning a modern …

The Theoretical Misconceptions And Realistic Choices Of Modern Xiqu Creation: Additionally On The Historical Significance Of Zhang Manjun's New Opera Of Song And Dance, Wei Li

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

There are at least three theoretical misconceptions on the creation of modern xiqu: to consider conventionalization essential to xiqu, to consider typification of roles essential to xiqu, and to consider "xiquness," whose meaning is rather vague, as the creative goal and artistic criterion of xiqu. However, these misconceptions fail to hinder the practical development of modern xiqu creation. Directors like Zhang Manjun have created an innovative genre known as "new opera of song and dance." This maneuver, in fact, signifies a return to the comprehensiveness of traditional xiqu, which, centering on music, features a trinity of poetry, song, and dance. …

Unveiling Aestheticism: Reflections On The Dissemination Of Western Aestheticism In China, Chengyong Jiang, Xiang Ma

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

For over a hundred years, nineteenth-century Aestheticism's dissemination in China has been insufficiently examined, which leaves the intension and extension of Aestheticism still unclarified even to date. The key to defining Aestheticism is the concept's inherent link to aesthetics, that is, the self-awareness of sensibility, which explains why numerous forms of perceptual knowledge can be intuitively grasped from the works of Western Aestheticism. However, under the influence of natural sciences as well as the industrial and commercial civilization, the target of perceptual knowledge shifted from natural to artificial objects. Through manifesting the diverse forms of perceptual knowledge, Aestheticism conveys the …

"The Chinese Animation Industry: From The Mao Era To The Digital Age", Stephanie Jones

Master's Projects and Capstones

Since the 1950’s the Chinese Animation industry has been trying to create a unique national style for China. The national style of the 1950’s and early 1960’s was one of freedom, fantasy, and creativity. With the success of “Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland”/草原英雄小姐妹(1965), the government administration, namely Jiang Qing of the “Gang of Four”, demanded that all animation should follow specific guidelines based on Social Realism guidelines. This in turn, ushered in a new national style of animation during the Cultural Revolution(1966-1976). During this ten-year period government policies imposed strict restrictions on animators and cause a drain of creative …

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 …

Fresh Blood In The Labor Market: Challenges And Rewards Of China's Returning Millennial Generation, Xinyu Li

Master's Projects and Capstones

In recent years, fresh blood has begun to emerge in China’s workplace: Chinese millennials who have gone abroad to study and received an overseas education. This special experience has brought many obstacles for them when they return to the Chinese workplace, whether it is the lack of synchronization between recruitment and graduation periods in the early stage of job seeking, or the pressure they encounter later. However, this experience also creates a set of unique advantages for them. Accepting international higher education makes their resumes more attractive, brings them a global perspective, and cultivates their ability to learn new skills …

The Battle Of The Powers: Newly Obtained Benefits From The Revitilised Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Scott Halsted

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement would have been the most sizeable free trade agreement in history. The agreement was set up by the Obama administration as an economic benefactor plus geopolitical tool to maintain the balance of power in the Asia Pacific region, rivaling the power of China. However, numerous politicians within the Trump administration, plus multiple political opposers including Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, were major advocates for the U.S. removal after realistically adjusted estimates of the TPP showed economic benefits not equating to original estimates. However, the United States withdrawal raises significant successes that can be …

Winter Is Still: An Analysis Of The Chinese Game Industry, Jiahui Sheng

Master's Projects and Capstones

This capstone essay aims to analyze the current situation of the game industry in China. Most of the data has been collected from databases, newspapers, interviews, journals and governments reports. This essay especially addresses China’s current game industry strengths and limitations to position it for the future. This essay clarifies the challenges of game industry in innovation based on the scale of companies. My perspective also considers the continuous development of China’s game industry as well as the conflict between the teenagers and government restriction towards games. Meanwhile, the opportunities of the game industry are based on two unique aspects …

Du Fu And Chinese Poetic Expression: How Politics, Nature, And Self Become One, Binhnam Nguyen

Young Historians Conference

The Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu introduced a new style of writing to Chinese poetry with his new interpretation of how to write poetry and for what purpose it can serve. Living in the midst of political turmoil, Du drew inspiration from the instability and used poetry as a means of expressing his anguish, but nationalist sentiments that wished for the prosperity of China. His different stylistic approach to poetry personalized the art of poetic writing and changed its language to express something more lyrical and with feeling. Du’s role in changing the course of Chinese poetic expression can be …

Evaluation Of The Project P.A.T.H.S. In Mainland China: Findings Based On Student Diaries, Daniel T. L. Shek, Xiaoqin Zhu, Janet T. Y. Leung, Tak Yan Lee, Florence K. Y. Wu

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Objectives: Based on 859 student diaries, the present study evaluated a positive youth development program entitled “Tin Ka Ping (TKP) Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social programs (P.A.T.H.S.) ” project implemented in mainland China during the 2015–2016 academic year. Method: To understand the perceived effectiveness of the students, the study analyzed quantitative as well as qualitative data derived from the student diaries. Results: The students held very positive views toward the program and the implementers. The narratives of the students also showed that they perceived improvement in the intrapersonal, interpersonal, familial, and societal domains after joining the program. Conclusion: In …

The Search For Home: An Analysis Of American-Socialized Filipino American Identity In Literature, Julianna Marie Crame

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many studies on Filipino American literature focus on the first-generation’s struggle with assimilation; however, American-socialized generation 1.5 and second-generation Filipino Americans also face immense pressure. How do generation 1.5 and second-generation Filipino Americans develop their identities in compliance with and resistance to stereotypes created by the dominant American and Filipino communities? To answer this question, I use a postcolonial and Asian American Studies theoretical framework to do close readings of three novels written by American-socialized Filipino Americans from the 2000s-2010s and set in the 1990s. These novels are American Son (2001) by Brian Ascalon Roley for racial stereotypes, One Tribe …

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 …

Social Support And Discrimination: The Experiences Of Recovering Heroin Addicts In Kunming, China, Phoebe Li

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Opioids have had a long, complex position in Chinese society, dating all the way back to the Ming dynasty. In 1949, 5% of the overall Chinese population and 25% of the population in Yunnan smoked opium regularly, which led to societal collapse and economic downturn. Since then, the Chinese government has used many different methods to attempt to control drug use and trafficking, including registering all users, executing traffickers, and using Compulsory Rehabilitation Centers. Starting in 2008, the government switched to a harm reduction approach and began to invest in methadone clinics, community support groups, and needle exchange programs. Because …

Is Technology The Key To Prevention Of Falls Among The Elderly In Rapidly Aging Societies? A Case Study Of Kunming, China, Phoebe Kiburi

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As the aging society rapidly becomes more dominant in the world, there is a pressing need for different stakeholders to tend to the needs of the aging sufficiently. This is crucial in ensuring the robustness of the healthcare system as a whole; given that it can only be as strong as its weakest link. This study focuses on one of the areas of need of the ageing society: fall prevention.

Numerous studies have been done on interventions by the government, private entities, elderly people and their caregivers to prevent occurrence and recurrence of falls. However, most of these have been …

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 …

Art As The Foundation Of History: On The Historical Dimension Of Heidegger's Art Criticism, Congcong Song

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the latest years, the debate between Heidegger and Schapiro on Van Gogh's Shoes has received considerable attention among the Chinese scholars. Despite the controversy over Heidegger's interpretation of the painting, scholars have reached an agreement that Heidegger's art criticism derives from his philosophy of art and therefore lacks the insight of art history abundant in Schapiro's scholarship. This assertion, to a certain extent, misunderstands Heidegger's thought. This paper argues that Heidegger's art criticism also contains a historical dimension, for he not only investigates art history but also pays close attention to the relationship between art and history. The difference, …

Collected Essays Of The Qing Dynasty And The Concept Of Literary History In The Early Twentieth Century, Hengchang Chang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Dedicated to "preserving the essence of Chinese culture," Collected Essays of the Qing Dynasty was collaborated by many scholars, among whom Huang Ren possibly undertook the bulk of compilation. Known for its extensiveness, this anthology also features an author-centered editorial style inherited from Collected Poetry of the Ming Dynasty and possesses its unique characteristics. First, it incorporates the most recent articles to refresh the collection. Secondly, it achieves a balance between political practicality and aesthetic quality. Lastly, it encompasses copious articles on frontier geo-history and native-soil literature, which manifests the editors' conscious awareness of academic history. In general, the compilation …

Enlightenment Of "Affection": The Inner Construction And Historical Significance Of The Origin Of Lu Xun's Literary, Cheng Luo

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The research on "the May Fourth Movement" represented by Lu Xun studies needs an urgent shift from current paradigms that have been used over the past three decades. An interpretive framework that organically combines humanity with literature needs to be constructed so as to enrich the understanding of history by focusing on literature, instead of making literature history's footnote. In 1908, Lu Xun published five articles in the classical Chinese language, in which he in fact provided an inner vision of an alternative experience of art and literature, which differed from existing discussions that were mainly from a "logocentric" perspective. …

Renewing The Centurial Discourse Of Chinese Literary Theory Through The Genealogy Of Spirit: Case Study Of Zong Baihua And Li Changzhi, Yunyan Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

A disparity exists between the first and the revised edition of Zong Baihua's The Birth of Chinese Artistic Conception. Adopting a comparative methodology, the revised edition highlights the spiritual dimension of artistic conception. When Zong Baihua regards artistic conception as "incarnation of the supreme human mind," the word "incarnation" is more than a metaphor for an aesthetic expression; it also gestures at a deep meaning of religious spirit. "Symbol" is one of the ways to actualize such incarnation. Influenced by Zong's theorization of religious spirit, Li Changzhi's literary theory and aesthetical thinking further shows a modern Chinese genealogy of spirit …

The Genesis Of Wang Guowei's Theory Of "Jingjie", Zhi Geng, Pengcheng Kou

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

There are three main methods in studying Wang Guowei's theory of "jingjie" (artistic conception) — a study based on Western knowledge, a historical study within the Chinese academic tradition, and a comparative study between the West and China. However, all these three methodologies treat jingjie as a static concept with presupposed connotation, which derives from a disjunction between their interpretative approach and the construction of Wang Guowei's jingjie. The idea of jingjie is an organic and dynamic theoretical system that takes both Western philosophy and Chinese literary theory as its premise, complicated by Wang's own creative and reading experiences, and …

Habermas And Hermeneutics: From Verstehen To Lebenswelt, Wolin Richard

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Throughout his career, Habermas sought to remain faithful to the idea of a non-dogmatic and reflexive Marxism – Marxism as "critique." Although Habermas never adopted the framework of social phenomenology per se, by the same token, his reception of the later Husserl's notion of the lifeworld would play a central methodological role in his later work, enabling him to parry the well-entrenched scientistic biases of philosophy and social science. In "Knowledge and Human Interests" (1965), his inaugural lecture at University of Frankfurt, Habermas embraced Husserl's critique of modern science's misguided "mathematicization of nature." Yet his systematic employment of Husserl would …

A Probe Into The Conceptual Framework And Mechanism For Writing In Vernacular Chinese During The May Fourth Period: Focusing On The Three Schemes Proposed In New Youth, Wei Deng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The magazine New Youth publishes three systematic schemes for vernacular Chinese during the May Fourth Period, and they were proposed by described by Qian Xuantong, Liu Bannong and Fu Sinian to clarify, sort out and write down the views on the reforms on Chinese language. These schemes, to a considerable extent, define the appearance of modern vernacular Chinese, and the approach to transform the existing vernacular written Chinese through "Europeanization" and to achieve an ambiguity-free language for the practical needs in social communications results in the so-called "Europeanized Vernacular Language." The new vernacular Chinese functions to enhance cultural solidarity interrelate …

A Semantic Analysis Of Kant's Judgment Of Taste, Shuangyu Xue

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

A typical judgment of taste could be expressed as a subject-predicate structure in Critique of the Power of Judgment. The subject is connected with the predicate by a copula. In the third Critique, however, Kant grounds his theory of taste on the first Critique, from which his views and conceptual apparatus of epistemology have been transferred to a new aesthetic context, and interpreters are inclined to investigate Kant's theory of taste by virtue of his epistemology. It is common, if also necessary, to conduct in studies of the third Critique a semantic analysis of judgement of taste by referring to …

Does Lu Xun Subvert The Discourse Of National Character?, Dongfeng Tao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The author tries to elucidate his views on the debate concerning national character by responding to He Yugao and Liu He's related papers. Firstly, the author disagrees with He Yugao's argument that Liu He fails to criticize Lu Xun by pointing out Liu's denial of Lu Xun's artistic creativity. Liu's denial is shown in herrepeated highlight of the dominating impact from the missionary discourse of national character and she goes even further to claim that Lu Xun's Ah Q "gives a verbatim performance" of the national character script. Secondly, the author rebuts Liu's claim that critics in line with Lu …

Keywords In The Studies Of Regional Literature: A Case Study Of Jiangnan In The Qing Dynasty, Shining Luo

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The study of regional literature is attracting wide attention, which attests to its validity. Researches have flourished in this field in recent years, but problems have also arisen, such as similar or identical cognition, expression and conclusions between researches. The study of regional literature often has implicit value-orientation, which, to a large extent, tends to simplify the thinking process and undermine academic significance. In order to change the homogenizing tendency, researchers need to know commonalities, divergences, and particularities. Besides, as every event occurs in a specific geographical space, researchers should also value the possibilities of regional literature studies from the …

Kuang Zhouyi's Monthly Lessons For The Annotation Of Cheng Meng'an's Ci-Poems: A Summary Review, Yuping Peng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Learning how to compose ci-poems was an essential part of ci-poetry study. Therefore, revision and annotation played a very important part in ci-poetry learning, which was mainly conducted in two ways: the author's self-revision and discussion with teachers and friends. During the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, it was a fashion among young people to study ci-poems personally with a master, and thus the practice and theory of ci-poetry revision matured. A representative master in this period was Kuang Zhouyi. His monthly lessons for the revision of Cheng Meng'an's ci-poems in 1923-1924, which are still extant, …

On The Possibilities, Construction, And Functions Of Trauma Narratives, Weihua He

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Trauma narratives are made possible by the "traces" left by traumatic events. These narratives are not only therapeutic, but can also provide an access to historical reality. In recent years, critics begin to switch their attention from individual traumas to collective traumas. According to them, collective traumas not only affect people's identification with the community, but also play important roles in the formation, maintenance, and consolidation of the community. Due to the shaping influence of collective traumas, different forms of power are woven into the representation of trauma, making the representation of trauma a product of cultural construction. In the …

Reconsidering Yan Shu's "Worldly-Wise And Self-Preserving" Personality, Mingzhen Shao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Ouyang Xiu once evaluated his teacher, Yan Shu, with a verse, "Fifty years of affluence and leisure, always worldly-wise and self-preserving." However, the expression of "worldly-wise and self-preserving" has been misinterpreted as a criticism and further regarded as Ouyang Xiu's final evaluation of Yan Shu. In fact, neither "affluence and leisure" nor "worldly-wise and self-preserving" has derogatory meaning back then. On the philological level, "worldly-wise and self-preserving" (mingzhe baoshen) originates in The Book of Songs and is recognized by Zhu Xi as an accomplishment. In its original sense, people who are worldly-wise and self-preserving not only devote themselves to state …