Asian History Commons^™

Indian Foundations And Chinese Developments Of The Buddha Dharma, Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun

Philosophy and Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

Determinism And The Problem Of Individual Freedom In Li Zehou’S Thought, Andrew Lambert

Publications and Research

Li Zehou’s work can be understood as an account of a Chinese modernity, a vision for Chinese society that seeks to integrate three distinct philosophical approaches. These are Chinese history and culture, which Li understands as largely Confucian; Marxism, which has exerted such influence on a modernizing China; and Western learning more generally, as expressed by figures such as Immanuel Kant and Sigmund Freud. Li also frequently expresses the hope that a Chinese modernity will be one in which the importance of the individual is recognized, and rights and freedoms upheld (e.g., 2006, p. 182). But this stance raises an …

Ancient China And Its Eurasian Neighbors: Artifacts, Identity, And Death In The Frontier, 3000-700 Bce, Katheryn M. Linduff, Yan Sun, Wei Cao, Yuanqing Liu

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

This volume examines the role of objects in the region north of early dynastic state centers, at the intersection of Ancient China and Eurasia, a large area that stretches from Xinjiang to the China Sea, from c.3000 BCE to the mid-eighth century BCE. This area was a frontier, an ambiguous space that lay at the margins of direct political control by the metropolitan states, where local and colonial ideas and practices were reconstructed transculturally. These identities were often merged and displayed in material culture. Types of objects, styles, and iconography were often hybrids or new to the region, as were …

Full Issue

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

No abstract provided.

Half The Sky, Or Half A Lie? Unfulfilled Promises To Women In Republican China, Rachel Finlayson

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

When the Qing dynasty fell in 1912, Chinese nationalist and communist forces fought to gain power. Both groups looked to build their base of support among the socially repressed, which included women and peasants. Thus, women’s emancipation became a central issue, and it remained primary until 1924, during an era known as the May Fourth Movement (Lan and Fong 1999, p. ix). Nationalist and communist forces both promised women better lives, in terms of education, love in marriage, value in family life, a role in the revolution and social activism, and emancipation. Mao Zedong summarized the enthusiasm of the time …

Confucius Institutes: Expelling A Trojan Horse Or Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth?, Michael J. Swain

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

During the past ten years, China has actively promoted its Confucius Institute (CI), a program of instruction in Chinese language and culture for college students outside of China. The program’s stated purpose is to meet an existing demand for education in Chinese language and culture, with the intent of strengthening relationships between China and other countries in order to promote a more harmonious world. However, many have viewed the CI program as nothing more than an expansion of Beijing’s soft power. Some Western institutions have even expelled CIs from their campuses. The growing concern suggests that China’s offering of what …

China And The North Korean Refugee Crisis, Christina Ahn

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

On 8 May 2002, shocking images of five North Korean refugees at a Japanese consulate in northeast China were captured. Although two members of the party—both men—successfully made it inside the consulate, two women and a child were dragged away from the gate of their safe haven by Chinese police (Gittings 2002). All five individuals were eventually detained—and though their fates remain unknown, it is likely they were immediately deported to North Korea, possibly the worst outcome for any North Korean defector.

Ukiyo-E: How Patterns In Edo Culture Shaped "The Floating World", Vanessa Hall

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Until the seventeenth century, it was exceedingly rare to find art depicting everyday Japanese life. It was only when artists began painting scenes from the street life in Yoshiwara, the red light district in the capital city of the time, that the popular school of art known as “Ukiyo-e,” a highly fashionable style of Japanese woodblock prints, was formed (J.E.L. 1914, pp. 1–4). Emerging from an era of Chinese philosophy that was against anything Japanese, early examples of Ukiyo-e were rare until Hishikawa Moronobu discovered a way to mass-produce the art through woodblock engraving prints, which ultimately established Ukiyo-e as …

The Permanence Of The Shanghai Communiqué, David Whitesell

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Since 1949, the U.S. has had to face a major issue when interacting with China. This issue lies in the contest between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) based in mainland China and the Republic of China (ROC) based on the island of Taiwan for recognition as the legitimate government of China. Since 1979, U.S. policy has been to recognize formally the PRC as the official government of China. This recognition, which ended years of froideur between Beijing and Washington, was possible because of the previous decade of rapprochement, which was marked by the episode of “ping-pong diplomacy” in 1971, …

17_淪陷歲月, 賽馬會香港歷史學習計劃

專題展覽

1941年12月至1945年8月，香港在日本軍政府的統治下，經歷了三年零八個月的黑暗歲月。日軍不但以殘酷的手段管治香港，又強迫遣返市民歸鄉，加上糧食嚴重不足，導致不少市民無辜喪命。即使有幸生存的人，他們的生活亦苦不堪言。面對物資短缺、物價飆升，以及日軍的嚴密監管，大部分市民都過著三餐不繼、誠惶誠恐的生活。另一方面，為鞏固在港統治，日軍多方面施行日化政策，除了下令採用日式地名，還透過教育和政治宣傳等手段努力灌輸日本文化及價值觀念。 本展覽將會展示日治期間香港社會的狀況，以及市民的日常生活。

18_自然瑰寶, 賽馬會香港歷史學習計劃

專題展覽

香港高樓大廈林立，人口稠密，卻擁有大片受保護地區，保護各種動植物及地質遺跡。1976年《郊野公園條例》通過，香港郊野公園的規模自此確立。海岸公園及海岸保護區自1980年末開始發展，現時共有五個海岸公園及一個海岸保護區，保護珍貴的海洋動植物。香港的岩石亦具有重大研究價值，政府設立地質公園，保護有過億年歷史的地質遺跡。米埔自然保護區是雀鳥天堂，上世紀各種漁農業活動促成今天的生態面貌；建立香港濕地公園旨在補償天水圍新市鎮發展所損失的生態環境，園內的人工濕地已成為不少動物的棲息之所。

The Dmz Responds, Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

Seo-Young Chu’s “The DMZ Responds” appeared in Telos 184 (Fall 2018), a special issue on Korea edited by Haerin Shin.

20_基礎教育, 賽馬會香港歷史學習計劃

專題展覽

教育被視為培養人才和推動社會流動的主要途徑，香港的教育發展源遠流長，始於宋朝已有相關的文字記載。直至晚清時期，香港的教育制度與中國各省縣無異，民辦學塾是主要的教育場所。香港開埠後，由華人及宗教團體籌辦的學校紛紛成立，中西式教育並行發展，而港英政府亦逐步承擔教育策劃者的角色。戰後政府分階段發展教育，並以普及化作為發展方向，成功推行九年免費教育。此後，政府不斷增加對教育的投放，市民的教育水平持續提高，為香港社會及經濟發展提供了良好的基礎。

15_四大工業, 賽馬會香港歷史學習計劃

專題展覽

「穿膠花」、「剪線頭」是不少老一輩香港人的集體回憶。1950年代，韓戰禁運、內地移民等因素促使香港工業起飛，使這個轉口港搖身一變成為世界工廠。當中「紡織及製衣業」、「塑膠及玩具業」、「鐘錶業」和「電子業」發展尤為突出，獲得了「四大工業」的美譽。這些港製產品價廉物美，遠銷歐美市場，取得了驕人成績，使「香港製造」品牌蜚聲國際。然而隨著內地在1978年推出改革開放政策，香港工廠相繼北移，四大工業亦逐步轉型。本展覽將介紹四大工業的發展，重溫香港製造業的黃金歲月。

19_運動競技, 賽馬會香港歷史學習計劃

專題展覽

現時不少香港人都熱愛參與足球和游泳等運動，原來許多體育項目最早是由英國人傳入。自1842年香港成為英國殖民地後，各種西式體育項目逐漸引入香港。起初，體育活動只是洋人的消遣娛樂。直至清末民初，中國屢遭西方列強侵略，人們提倡以「體育救國」，體育運動才開始在華人間流行。1960年代以後，政府著手推廣體育事務，不但加快興建各種運動設施，更投放大量資源培育人才，使體育運動愈加普及，香港的運動健兒在不同項目都有出色表現。

16_中英禁區, 賽馬會香港歷史學習計劃

專題展覽

中英街是香港最具特殊意義的一條街。嚴格而言，中英街並不算一條街，它是港深兩地接壤的禁區中的一處邊界，只是中間沒有鐵絲網或圍牆之類的分界物而已。香港只擁有這條街一半的管轄權，另一半屬於深圳。冷戰時期，中英街是分隔世界兩大政治陣營的主要邊界之一；一邊是社會主義的中國，另一邊則由資本主義的英國管治。不過，中英街的邊界線只有疏落的幾座界石，兩邊分屬中港兩地的居民可以自由往來。中國改革開放之初，中英街是內地居民都期望一到的地方。最熱鬧時，一天就有近十萬人湧到這裏購物。本展覽將帶你走過中英街近百年潮起潮的變遷。

Confrontations With Colonialism: Resistance, Revivalism And Reform Under British Rule In Sri Lanka 1796-1920, Vol 1, C. R. De Silva

History Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In one of the most challenging and thought-provoking history books published in Sri Lanka in the last decade, P. V. J. Jayasekera has used a wide variety of sources to challenge a number of existing interpretations relating to Sri Lanka under British colonial rule in the nineteenth century. While the book is based partly on his own doctoral dissertation completed in 1970, in Jayasekera’s own words “The scope and the foci of the original study have been substantially changed” (p. ix) in view of new theoretical approaches in the study of colonial history and the debates on history …

Comfort Women: The Unrelenting Oppression During And After Wwii, Alexandrea J. Riddell

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Comfort women is a term used to describe approximately two-hundred thousand young women that were forced into sexual slavery. While the physical torture of the women ended after the war, the conflict over the government’s role in recognition and restitution of comfort women between the Japanese and the comfort women continues to be heated on both sides with little end in sight. By analyzing the testimonies, I explore the horrendous torture of the women by the Japanese army. Furthermore, the paper reveals the present-day struggles of these women for recognition and compensation. The plight of the comfort women will continue …

Silent Cities: Sensationalism And Removed Populations Within Fourteenth Century Western Christian And Muslim Travel Accounts Of Baghdad And Jerusalem, Abby Gibbons

Theses and Dissertations

This research explores the removal of surrounding populations within fourteenth century travel literature in the cities of Baghdad and Jerusalem, I analyze two Christian travelers, Marco Polo and John Mandeville, and one Muslim traveler, Ibn Battuta. As a basis of comparison, I discuss the twelfth century Muslim traveler, Ibn Jubayr. I specifically analyze Baghdad and Jerusalem due to the fact that they represent cities of centrality for Muslims and Christians, respectively, within medieval geographic understanding. I argue that fourteenth century travel literature presents a paradigm based in sensationalism and population removal due to their focus on entertainment and wonder, rather …

Mansplaining Vietnam: Male Veterans And America's Popular Image Of The Vietnam War, Gregory A. Daddis

History Faculty Articles and Research

Of the more than 3 million Americans who deployed to Southeast Asia during the United States' involvement in the Vietnamese civil war, only some 7,500 were women. Thus, it seems reasonable that memoirs, novels, and film would privilege the male experience when remembering the Vietnam War. Yet in the aftermath of South Vietnam's collapse, Americans' memory of the war narrowed even further, equating the conflict as a whole to the male combat veteran's story. This synthetic literary review examines some of the more lasting works sustaining the popular narrative of Vietnam, one that was constructed, in substantial part, by veterans …

The Joss House As An Insight Into 19th Century Chinese Immigration, Joshua Bernhard

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

“From the theater we went to the principal church or joss-house,” an anonymous author wrote about the San Francisco Chinatown for the Christian Recorder in September 1875. “Up three flights of stairs, rickety, worn, and uneven, and through the dark passages full of sickening odors, I reached a dismal, dreary, mysterious, and silent worship-house of this mysterious and superstitious people. Here and there in the temple a dim taper burned, but there were no lights in the halls, stairs, and passages, and the flickering flames only added to the oppressive and, if I may so call it ghostly feeling that …

The Chinese Cultural Influence On Filipino Cuisine, Brandon Chase Lantrip

Master's Theses

This paper illustrates the impact of the Chinese cultural influence upon the Philippines with the primary focus being on Filipino cuisine. It examines how the Chinese cultural influence not only contributed to the development of Filipino cuisine, but how Chinese culture has also influenced the everyday life and culture of the Philippines through language and customary practices for over a millennium. The first section of the paper analyzes the cultural connection between China and the Philippines. The second section illustrates the Chinese language influence and it’s effect upon Filipino cuisine and culture. The third section explores the contested origins of …

The Eitc’S Fall And The Opium Wars, Charles Barrett

Student Works

The East India Trading Company (EITC) was one of the first companies to establish a monopoly over goods traded around the world. The EITC spread goods that were typically only found where they originated, such as tea, spices, and opium.

The Chinese had access to poppy before the EITC began importing it, and when China levied a ban on opium being imported China, the EITC ignored it and continued to profit off China’s opium addiction. The EITC, and Britain, saw the ban, and the actions taken by China to enforce the ban, as an act of war and reacted as …

The Role Of Historians In East Asia’S History Problem, Hiro Saito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

At first glance, historians may not look like the best candidates for facilitating a resolution of the history problem. This is because historians have traditionally used the nation as a primary unit of analysis, helping to naturalize it as a primordial entity. They have also created professional associations and delimited their membership along national borders, consistent with the nationalist logic of self-determination; for example, when Japanese historians write about the history of Japan, they often talk among themselves without consulting with foreign historians who study Japan. This nationally bounded content focus and membership reinforces the logic of nationalism that divides …

Strange Women: The Evaluation And Comparison Of Female Characters In Akira Kurosawa's Films, Alice Jiron Jang

History

The successes of Akira Kurosawa’s films have shaped and influenced Western views on Japan after World War II. While the male characters in Kurosawa’s films have been analyzed extensively, there is a focus on the subservience of this female characters. With the growing number of independent working women in a seemingly patriarchal society, it is important to study what has caused these women to break free from their traditional roles as housewife and mother. While some of Kurosawa's female characters are designed to be powerful and independent, others are submissive and obedient. The events that occur in postwar Japan have …

The Geopolitics Of Rare Earth Elements: Emerging Challenge For U.S. National Security And Economics, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Rare earth elements (REE) contain unique chemical and physical properties such as lanthanum, are found in small concentrations, need extensive precise processes to separate, and are critical components of modern technologies such as laser guidance systems, personal electronics such as IPhones, satellites, and military weapons systems as varied as Virginia-class fast attack submarines, DDG- 51 Aegis destroyers, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and precision guided munitions. The U.S. has some rare earth resources, but is heavily dependent on access to them from countries as varied as Afghanistan, Bolivia, and China. Losing access to these resources would have significant adverse economic, …

Geopolitics Of Rare Earth Elements, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Rare earth elements (REE) contain unique chemical physical properties such as lanthamum, are found in small concentrations, need extensive precise properties to separate, and are critical components of modern technologies such as laser guidance systems, personal electronics such as IPhones, satellites, and military weapons systems as varied as Virginia-class fast attack submarines, DDG-51 Aegis destroyers, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and precision guided munitions. The U.S. has some rare earth resources, but is heavily dependent on access to them from countries as varied as Afghanistan, Bolivia, and China. Losing access to these resources would have significant adverse economic, military, and …

12_調景嶺的青天白日, 王 國儀

專題講座

今日的西貢以「香港後花園」見稱，位於新界東部的離島地區，環抱山水，景色優美，是各歐美人士和影視紅星聚居之地，亦是各行山愛好者的週末好去處。不過，有誰會想到數十年來西貢經歷了滄海桑田？西貢調景嶺曾經是國民政府遺民的聚居點，依靠港英政府的救濟；而萬宜灣則曾是數個客家聚落的鄉土，村民以耕種和捕魚維生。1970年代起，調景嶺居民的經濟改善，逐漸遷出區外居住；而萬宜水庫的興建則使西貢移山填海，舊村落從此淹沒水底。是次是講座和考察將帶領參加者回到過去，認識西貢已消逝的歷史，感受昔日山區水鄉的情懷。

Withdrawal: Reassessing America's Final Years In Vietnam, Gregory A. Daddis

History Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Withdrawal is a groundbreaking reassessment that tells a far different story of the Vietnam War. Daddis convincingly argues that the entire US effort in South Vietnam was incapable of reversing the downward trends of a complicated Vietnamese conflict that by 1968 had turned into a political-military stalemate. Despite a new articulation of strategy, Abrams's approach could not materially alter a war no longer vital to US national security or global dominance. Once the Nixon White House made the political decision to withdraw from Southeast Asia, Abrams's military strategy was unable to change either the course or outcome of a decades' …

Peradeniya's Contribution To The Rewriting Of The History Of Sri Lanka, Chandra Richard De Silva

History Faculty Publications

In the last 75 years, scholars at and alumni of Peradeniya have transformed the writing of the history of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has had a long and distinguished tradition of chronicles and histories. However, with the advent of colonial rule, with exceptions like the hatan kavyas, the writing of the history of Sri Lanka fell largely into the hands of the colonizers. Though the rewriting of history by Sri Lankans through the critical reading of sources began before 1942 as a response to the colonial depiction of local history, with the foundation of the University at Peradeniya there …