Developing a Discipline: The Recent Study of Western Church History in the People's Republic of China

2005 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 514-528
Author(s):  
LONG XIUQING
Keyword(s):  
Great Degree ◽  
Church History ◽  
The West ◽  
The Real ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Chinese Scholars ◽  
Interpretative Framework

The growth in the study of church history in China is one outcome of Deng Xiaoping's policy of ‘reform and opening’, as well as a result of increasing exchanges of scholars and ideas between China and the west during recent years. Since the 1980s Chinese scholars have to a great degree abandoned the Marxist interpretative framework, and gradually developed their own interpretations and methodologies for the study of church history. In consequence, academic studies in the 1990s displayed a fair, honest and objective character which marked the process of maturation in the development of church history as a discipline. In this process Professor Yu Ke played an important role, of inheriting the past and ushering in the future as the real founder of the discipline in China.

scholarly journals Inspiration from the Development of Public Administration in the West for Studies of Public Administration in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-51
Author(s):  
Lisheng Dong
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
The West ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Government Role ◽  
Research Programmes ◽  
Chinese Scholars ◽  
Chinese Public ◽  
Theoretical Developments

Many Western-based theories of public administration have had some traction in the Chinese setting. However, they also point to the importance of context and the need to ensure that the theory is relevant to the setting. In this regard, theory needs to be both clearly developed and there are various routes that can be taken. In this article, I share with readers some of my thoughts emanating from my teaching and research over the past two decades, namely, inspiration from the development of public administration in the West for studies of public administration in China. The two analytical lenses that I use for this article are the five essential attributes of public administration and the instrumental and value rationalities as the fundamental nature of the various schools of thought in the development of public administration in the West. The five essential attributes refer to core value, assumptions about human nature, methodology, government role, and disciplinary positioning. They serve as references for my review of the field of public administration in China. Over the last four decades, public administration research in China has resulted in the restoration of the discipline, the flourishing of teaching and research programmes, and active exchanges with colleagues around the world. However, Chinese public administration is facing an “identity crisis”. Chinese scholars have become used to playing the role of consumers of imported concepts, theories, and methods. At this stage it is urgent that they develop their own unique paradigm, including concepts, theories, and methodologies, and contribute to the progress of the whole discipline. The goal of forming their own theoretical framework is urging our Chinese colleagues to challenge themselves to consciously engage in independent theoretical thought. More specifically, they should try to keep abreast of the theoretical developments in the West and lay emphasis on cutting-edge research, avoid not seeing the forest for the trees, and practise timely adoption of dominant theories.

THE ROLE OF THAI PEOPLE IN VIETNAM – LAO TRADITIONAL FRIENDSHIP

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pham Van Loi
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Border Crossing ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Thai People ◽  
Northwest Region ◽  
Coherent Relationship ◽  
National Borders

Vietnam - Laos has more than 2,000 km of common national borders. The coherent relationship between the two nations and the inhabitants of the two countries has been formed and fostered in history and especially developed over the past 7 decades. The Thai ethnic group in Vietnam has over one million people, residing permanently, concentrated in the Northwest region, the region consists of 8 provinces, of which 4 provinces have the Vietnam-Laos border crossing. This paper focuses on clarifying the practical basis for the Thai people to play a role in the traditional Vietnam-Laos friendship and propose some solutions to promote the role of Thai in maintaining, developing the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Laos, now and in the future.

A corpus-based investigation of techno-optimism and propositional certainty in the National Intelligence Council’s ‘Future Global Trends Reports’ (2010–2035)

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-57
Author(s):  
Jamie McKeown
Keyword(s):  
Global Trends ◽  
Future Role ◽  
Ideological Bias ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
Discursive Representations

This article reports the findings from a study of discursive representations of the future role of technology in the work of the US National Intelligence Council (NIC). Specifically, it investigates the interplay of ‘techno-optimism’ (a form of ideological bias) and propositional certainty in the NIC’s ‘Future Global Trends Reports’. In doing so, it answers the following questions: To what extent was techno-optimism present in the discourse? What level of propositional certainty was expressed in the discourse? How did the discourse deal with the inherent uncertainty of the future? Overall, the discourse was pronouncedly techno-optimist in its stance towards the future role of technology: high-technological solutions were portrayed as solving a host of problems, despite the readily available presence of low-technology or no-technology solutions. In all, 75.1% of the representations were presented as future categorical certainties, meaning the future was predominantly presented as a known and closed inevitability. The discourse dealt with the inherent uncertainty of the subject matter, that is, the future, by projecting the past and present into the future. This was particularly the case in relation to the idea of technological military dominance as a guarantee of global peace, and the role of technology as an inevitable force free from societal censorship.

scholarly journals Where Does the World Historian Write From? Objectivity, Moral Conscience and the Past and Present of Imperialism

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 671-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Drayton
Keyword(s):  
Iraq War ◽  
Imperial History ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Academic Subject ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Ethical Responsibilities

The contemporary historian, as she or he speaks to the public about the origins and meanings of the present, has important ethical responsibilities. ‘Imperial’ historians, in particular, shape how politicians and the public imagine the future of the world. This article examines how British imperial history, as it emerged as an academic subject since about 1900, often lent ideological support to imperialism, while more generally it suppressed or avoided the role of violence and terror in the making and keeping of the Empire. It suggests that after 2001, and during the Iraq War, in particular, a new Whig historiography sought to retail a flattering narrative of the British Empire’s past, and concludes with a call for a post-patriotic imperial history which is sceptical of power and speaks for those on the underside of global processes.

scholarly journals Mnemicity vs. Temporality: Distinguishing between components of episodic representations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Mahr
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Orientation ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Past ◽  
Episodic Simulation ◽  
The Future ◽  
Event Simulations

Human beings regularly 'mentally travel' to past and future times in memory and imagination. In theory, whether an event is remembered or imagined (its ‘mnemicity’) underspecifies whether it is oriented towards the past or the future (its ‘temporality’). However, it remains unclear to what extent the temporal orientation of such episodic simulations is cognitively represented separately from their status as memories or imagination. To address this question, we investigated whether episodic simulations are more easily distinguishable in memory by virtue of their temporal orientation or their mnemicity. In three experiments (N = 360), participants were asked to generate and later recall events differing along the lines of temporal orientation (past/future) and mnemicity (remembered/imagined). Across all of our experiments, we consistently found that participants were more likely to confuse in recall event simulations that shared the same temporal orientation rather than the same mnemicity. These results show that the temporal orientation of episodic representations can be cognitively represented separately from their mnemicity and have implications for debates about the role of temporality in episodic simulation.

scholarly journals CHINESE SCULPTURE IN THE NEW ERA

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 125-135
Author(s):  
Wei Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The West ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
National Spirit ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Cultural Content

With the advent of a new era, universal social changes pose new challenges for the art of sculpture. In terms of cultural content and practice, sculpture needs to keep pace with time. Chinese sculpture should participate in the global processes of modern sculptural development, guided by the literary and artistic concept «do not forget the past, absorb the foreign, look into the future». Not only should it receive inspiration and stimuli for development from the West but find its voice, preserving Chinese cultural tradition and Chinese national spirit.

scholarly journals Role of Creative Industries in the Post-Socialist Urban Transformation

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz ◽  
Michał Męczyński ◽  
Krzysztof Stachowiak
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
The West ◽  
Local Networks ◽  
The Past ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
Basic Features

Abstract Over the past two decades the cities in Central and Eastern Europe have witnessed a wide-ranging transformation in many aspects. The introduction of a market-oriented economy after half a century of socialism has brought about deep social, economic, cultural and political changes. The first stage of the changes, the 1990s, involved the patching up of structural holes left by the previous system. The post-socialist city had to face challenges of the future while carrying the ballast of the past. Rapid progress in catching up with the West transformed the city a great deal. Later on, the advent of the 21st century brought a new wave of development processes based, among other things, on creativity and innovation. Hence our contribution aims to explore the role of creativity and creative industries in the post-socialist urban transformation. The article consists of three basic parts. In the first we present the concept of a ‘creative post-socialist city’ and define the position of creative industries in it. We also indicate some similarities to and differences from the West European approaches to this issue. In the second part, examples from Central and Eastern Europe are used in an attempt to elucidate the concept of a ‘creative post-socialist city’ by identifying some basic features of creative actions /processes as well as a creative environment, both exogenous and endogenous. The former is embedded in different local networks, both formal (institutionalised) and informal, whereas the structure of the latter is strongly path-dependent. In the third part we critically discuss the role of local policies on the development of creative industries, pointing out some of their shortcomings and drawing up recommendations for future policy measures.

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