East Asian Languages and Societies Commons^™

Readings Around The Web: Fun In The Sun Edition

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

• Heading for the beach and looking for the perfect book to toss in your tote bag? At Five Books, authors are interviewed and asked to recommend five books on a specific topic. Though the site covers far more than China, several of the features are China-focused and worth a look; check out Rod MacFarquhar on the Cultural Revolution, Isabel Hilton on China’s environmental crisis, and Richard McGregor on the Chinese Communist Party.

Expo Watch 2010, Shellen Xiao Wu

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In Shanghai these days it is impossible to avoid the World Expo. Hotels are packed with domestic tourists and school groups; subway and bus televisions show a constant news loop about events at the Expo; and Haibao, the rectangular, blue mascot of the Expo, graces numerous government offices, posters, and official merchandise stalls. To ensure the target of 70 million visitors is met and exceeded for the duration of the Expo from the beginning of May to the end of October, various government offices in Shanghai have handed out Expo “gift packs” of one free ticket per Shanghai resident family. …

Beijing Bibliophile, Part Ii: Market Change And New Technology, Eric Setzekorn

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Dozens of bookstores continue to dot Beijing but recent developments are changing the landscape for readers and publishers by forcing many smaller stores out of the market. Part of this trend is due to advances in public transportation, particularly the enlarged subway system, that make it possible to travel across town for a larger selection and lower prices, leading to a decline in neighborhood bookstores. A less positive part of the bookstore consolidation is the increasing leverage state sector bookstores such as Xinhua can exert on private booksellers using market and political forces. A mixed element in the dynamic Beijing …

Review: China’S Megatrends: The Eight Pillars Of A New Society, William A. Callahan

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The future is a hot topic in China; bookstores are full of tomes asserting the 21st century as China’s century: Liu Mingfu’s The China Dream(2010) and Chan Koon-chung’s The Gilded Era: China 2013 (2009) are but two of the most recent books that describe how China is destined to become the number one country in the world.

New Release: Coming To Terms With The Nation

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On Monday, China’s decennial census began, sending six million census workers door-to-door in a quest to record and count the country’s population over the course of only ten days. A key issue in this census, according to some observers, will be placing China’s population in terms of place of residence. One thing analysts are waiting to find out, for example, is how many citizens of the PRC are described as living in cities rather than villages, as this census, which comes after a period of massive rural-to-urban migration, is supposed to describe where people physically live and work, not their …

As China Goes, So Goes The World

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Karl Gerth is a tutor and fellow at Merton College and a historian of modern China at Oxford University. His new book is As China Goes, So Goes the World: How Chinese Consumers are Transforming Everything (Hill & Wang, 2010). (See this review by Christina Larson at the Washington Monthly and this oneat Kirkus Reviews for more on Gerth’s book.) Below, an excerpt from chapter 1 of As China Goes, which takes a look at one of the most notable phenomena of 21st-century Chinese life: the sudden boom in car ownership and its far-reaching consequences.

China Beat Is Heading To The Beach . . .

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

. . . well, not exactly. But we are taking a short vacation, to focus on wrapping up the academic year here at UC Irvine. We’ll be back online June 6 (though we will keep up our Twitter feed during the break, so follow us today!). Before we go, a few links we’d like to share:

“A Wildly Weird And Wonderful Event”

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

For updates and insights on the 2010 Expo, one of the first places we turn isShanghai Scrap, where Shanghai-based writer Adam Minter has been following the story for almost two years. Minter’s Expo posts cover topics such as the emergence of Haibao (September 2008), the renovation of the Bund (December 2009) and demolition of neighborhoods (October 2009), and an ongoing in-depth investigation of the twisted saga of the U.S. pavilion (most recent posthere; full archive here). Minter also has an article and slideshow about the Expo atThe Atlantic. In the wake of last Saturday’s opening ceremony, we posed a few …

Bloggers’ Breakfast At Aas

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

It’s become a tradition for China Beat contributors and friends of the blog to assemble at the Association for Asian Studies annual meeting (as well as at the American Historical Association’s meeting) for a “bloggers’ breakfast” that provides China Beatniks the chance to get together and meet face-to-face — often for the first time, since so much of our business is conducted via e-mail. Last Saturday morning, we gathered at a Starbucks near the AAS conference site and talked about China, writing, and many other topics over coffee and pastries. A couple of photos from the AAS 2010 bloggers’ breakfast:

What I Read On My Summer Vacation (Part Ii), Kate Merkel-Hess

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Moving across the country (from Irvine, California to State College, Pennsylvania) meant that most of my books—even the new ones—spent the summer packed in boxes. But alongside a rapid inhalation of all three Stieg Larsson novels, I still did a little China reading. Here, a few recommendations.

China’S Communist Party: Two Glimpses Inside, Thomas Kellogg

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On August 16, 2010, China reached yet another milestone in its decades-long breakneck run of economic development: it became the world’s second largest economy. According to official economic data, China surpassed a still-struggling Japan, leaving it behind only the United States in terms of overall economic size. Some analysts predicted that China could pass the US to become the world’s largest economy as early as 2030.

Jean-Philippe Béja On Liu Xiaobo

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In only a few hours, word will come from Oslo and the world will know whether or not this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner is Chinese activist and author Liu Xiaobo, currently serving an eleven-year prison sentence for “subverting state authority.”Speculation about Liu’s odds has been running at a fever pitch this week, so much so that Irish bookmaker Paddy Power made an early payout to those who had put money on Liu by Tuesday. Authorities in Beijing, however, have made it clear that this is one international prize that China doesn’t want to win.

Book Review: Shanghai World Expo Guide 2010, Adam D. Frank

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On first blush, one would think that reviewing Nick Land’s Shanghai World Expo Guidebook 2010 would be an exercise akin to reviewing a movie poster for Avatar—a kind of 2-D portrait of a 3-D experience.

Evasive Writing: Resistance To The Government And Modernization Hidden In Taiwanese Fiction, Harrison Paul

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Sometimes, it is best not to speak the truth—at least not directly. Under an authoritarian regime, the truth—whether of events or opinions—often hurts the one who reveals it more than anyone else. For this reason, writers throughout the world have long employed evasive writing tactics not only to avoid censorship of their ideas but also to escape imprisonment or execution at the government’s hand. Taiwanese writers under the period of Nationalist-imposed martial law were no different. Nativist writers, characterized by “use of the Taiwanese dialect, depiction of the plight of country folks or small-town dwellers in economic difficulty, and resistance …

The Contradictions Of Kitabatake Chikafusa's Jinno Shotoki: How The Jinno Shotoki Shows That Japan Is Not Shinkoku, Adam Wheeler

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

It is widely held by Japanese and non-Japanese historians alike that Japan has enjoyed an uninterrupted reign by a single royal family for at least the last 1,500 years, if not longer. This unprecedented system of government has given rise to much investigation as to how such a feat could have been accomplished and has also given rise to the belief that Japan is Shinkoku, or “divine land.” Theories on the longevity of the Japanese imperial family have been based on the relationship between them and surrounding families of influence, as well as the tenuous relationship that existed between …

Genre Paintings, Elisa Allan

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Artistic responses to the changing socio-political stability in Korea during the eighteenth-century indicate the growing disillusionment and dissatisfaction with yangban (gentry class) consolidated control, the thinning control of Confucianism over class, and the blossoming of contending ideas.

The National Imagination (Spring 2010), Robert D. Tobin, Belen Atienza, Alice Valentine

Syllabi

What images make people think of the United States of America? Cowboys? The flag? And are there similar icons in other cultures that help define cultural identity? The National Imagination explores the concept of a national community as constructed and critiqued through literary and cinematic narratives, as well as other cultural texts.

Our underlying premise is that national languages and cultures promote the identity of particular communities. We are interested in examining those subjective expressions of culture—images, symbols, narratives—that lead people to feel that they are members of the communities we call nations. We are also interested in discovering points …

Sexuality And Human Rights (Fall 2010), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

What happens when we think of sexuality, with all of its transgressive and individualistic energies, in terms of rationally established universal human rights? Literary texts that focus on individual cases in the context of larger cultural and social traditions with a particular attention to the power of language can help us sort through some of the complex ideas that emerge from a discussion of sexual rights. In this class, we will focus on controversial issues--like sadism, masochism, male homosexuality, lesbianism, age of consent, prostitution, polygamy and transsexuality—that bring rights conflicts to the forefront.

A photo of this Fall 2010 class …

Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 9 No. 2, June 2010, University Of San Francisco, University Of San Francisco

Asia Pacific Perspectives

Contents:

The Sea Otter Islands: Geopolitics and Environment in the East Asian Fur Trade by Richard Ravalli

The origins of the sea otter trade can be traced to inter-Asian fur markets that developed centuries prior to the well-chronicled journeys of Vitus Bering and James Cook in the North Pacific. Japanese merchants and Ainu hunters traded for otter pelts as part of a larger system of exchanges in the Western Pacific. Russian entry to the trade by the early eighteenth century intensified territorial disputes in the Kuril Islands. A series of Russo-Japanese showdowns in the region helped forge an international borderland …

Grounding "Language" In The Senses: What The Eyes And Ears Reveal About Ming 名 (Names) In Early Chinese Texts, Jane Geaney

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Scholarship on early Chinese theories of “language” regularly treats the term ming 名 (name) as the equivalent of “word.” But there is a significant difference between a “word” and a “name.”¹ Moreover, while a “word” is often understood to mean a unit of language that is identifiable in its sameness across speech and writing, there is reason to believe that a ming was mainly used to mean a unit of meaningful sound.² Analyzing the function of ming is a prerequisite for understanding early Chinese theories of “language”—if such a term is even appropriate. Such an analysis will also …

Literary Societies Of Republican China, Thomas D. Curran Ph.D.

History Faculty Publications

Book review by Thomas D. Curran.

Denton, Kirk A. and Michel Hockx, eds. Literary Societies of Republican China. Lanham: Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.

Percampuran Kod Dalam Bahasa Mandarin Di Kelantan., Lee Wei Ying

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study examined the phenomenon of mixed code in Mandarin language in Kelantan. The purpose of this study was to explore the extent of the phenomenon of mixed code that occurred in Mandarin language spoken by the Chinese in Kelantan as well as the factors influencing it. To complete this study, the two main methods used by the researcher were observation and questionnaire. Respondents selected by the researcher were Chinese youths in Kelantan who were in the range of 15-30 years of age. The results of this study showed that Chinese in Kelantan often mixed code when interacting in Mandarin …

The Sixth Tseten Zhabdrung, Jigme Rigpai Lodro, Nicole Willock

Philosophy Faculty Publications

(First Paragraph)

Jigme Rigpai Lodro ('jigs med rigs pa'i blo gros), the Sixth Tseten Zhabdrung (tshe tan zhabs drung), was born on May 31, 1910, the twenty-second day of the fourth month of the iron dog year in the fifteenth rab byung cycle. He was the second youngest of eight children born to his father Yang Cai, whose Tibetan name was Lobzang Tashi (blo bzang bkra shis), and his mother, Lhamotar (lha mo thar). His birthplace, Yadzi (ya rdzi), is more commonly known today by its Chinese name, Jishi Town (Jishi zhen 积石镇) in today's Xunhua Salar Autonomous County of …

Rekindling Ashes Of The Dharma And The Formation Of Modern Tibetan Studies: The Busy Life Of Alak Tseten Zhabdrung, Nicole Willock

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Considered one of the three great scholars¹ of twentieth century Tibet,² Alak Tseten Zhabdrung Jigmé Rigpé Lodrö (A lags Tshe tan Zhabs drung 'Jigs med rig pa'i blo gros 1910-1985) is credited with regenerating many aspects of Tibetan culture at a time of unprecedented socio-political change. Despite enduring twelve years in prison, Alak Tseten Zhabdrung energetically reclaimed his classical education to further transmit nearly all the traditional fields of knowledge including language, poetry, history, astronomy, calligraphy, and Buddhist philosophy.

Beyond Belief: Japanese Approaches To The Meaning Of Religion, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

For several centuries, Japanese scholars have argued that their nation’s culture—including its language, religion and ways of thinking—is somehow unique. The darker side of this rhetoric, sometimes known by the English term “Japanism” (nihon-jinron), played no small role in the nationalist fervor of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While much of the so-called “ideology of Japanese uniqueness” can be dismissed, in terms of the Japanese approach to “religion,” there may be something to it. This paper highlights some distinctive—if not entirely unique—features of the way religion has been categorized and understood in Japanese tradition, contrasting these with Western (i.e., …

Contention Of Lust, Caution: Sexuality, Visuality And Female Subjectivity, Yanjie Wang

Asian and Asian American Studies Faculty Works

This paper investigates the ways in which Ang Lee provides new insights into subject formation in his film Lust, Caution (Se Jie, 2007). In the paradigm of structuralism, the subject is defined, as well as confined, by the symbolic order or the dominant ideology. The puzzle therefore rests on how to explain the subject’s negotiation with its normative identity, its denial thereof, or even its subversion of said identity. In a close reading of the female protagonist’s subject formation in Lust, Caution, this paper acknowledges the power of ideology, specifically the power of its interpellative operation, in constructing a subject. …

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.

Toward Intercultural Competence : Intercultural Training For Japanese Students In The United States, Tomoko Harpster

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project explored how study abroad program administrators can help Japanese students develop intercultural competence through predeparture and ongoing intercultural training so as to improve their capacity to adapt effectively to American cultural norms. The ultimate purpose of this thesis project was to help Japanese students who were studying in the U.S. balance their involvement with their peer group from Japan and build relationships with people in the U.S. in order to fully experience American culture. To provide a context for this study, a review of the literature was conducted regarding the challenges faced by Japanese students while studying …

中國當代故事新編小說研究 (神話傳說類), Wenjun Jiang

Lingnan Theses

魯迅《故事新編》開創了現當代故事新編小說的先河，亦為後世有關此文類的創作奠下了穩固的基礎，在文學史上形成了重要的流派，其重要性與獨立創作一樣應得到重視。 本論文以神話與文學的研究方式為基礎，研究神話傳說類故事新編小說在 當代作家的創作下如何表現出創新意義。本論文共分為六章，第一章主要探討神話傳說類故事新編小說的特質，以釐定本文的研究範圍；第二章是對神話傳 說類故事新編小說在現當代的發展作概觀式介紹，以及顯示個別作家在故事新編創作上的貢獻；第三章是神話類故事新編小說研究，本文選取五個有關神話人物的改編文本(馬彬〈神農〉、劉以鬯〈盤古與黑〉、董啟章《少年神農》、李 碧華〈嫦娥〉和葉兆言《后羿》)，探討作家如何改變神話人物的形象，以達到新編的效果；第四章是白蛇傳故事的故事新編研究，本文以人妖戀的角度，研究不同文本(劉以鬯〈蛇〉、孔慧怡〈雷峰塔〉、李碧華《青蛇》、和李銳及蔣韻 《人間》)對傳說的新編方式，如何表現出故事新編獨特的一面；第五章是梁山伯與祝英台的故事新編研究，本文疏理出傳說忠貞愛情形象，並以此為基礎， 比較不同文本(張恨水《梁山伯與祝英台》、李碧華〈梁山伯自白書〉及〈祝英 台自白書〉、孔慧怡〈梁祝無恨〉和李馮〈梁〉及〈祝〉)對愛情主題的重新演繹；第六章則以文體討論的形式為基礎肯定故事新編小說的價值作結。

Rashomon Comes To The Courtroom: The Adoption Of The Lay Judge System In Japan, Its Impact On Jurisprudence, And The Implications For Civic Engagement, Bryan Matthew Thompson

Dissertations and Theses

In May of 2009, Japan began formal operations of the "saiban-in seido" or "lay judge system," a quasi-jury means of criminal trial adjudication that represents the first occasion since 1943 that average Japanese citizens will be required to fulfill a role in the criminal jurisprudential process. While the lay judge system promises to affect the methods and procedures of criminal trials in Japan, recent scholarship in the United States has raised an interesting question: to what degree can the lay participatory adjudication process facilitate greater levels of civic engagement in past citizen jurists once their service has completed?

It …