China’s Wall: Space, Power, and Culture

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-119
Author(s):  
Song Mei Lee-Wong
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Administrative System ◽  
Household Registration ◽  
Spatial Metaphor ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
China Today ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Mao Era

China’s wall is part of Chinese history—both as habitation (walled settlements) and as an icon of Chinese civilization. More significantly, China’s wall, as a configured part of social space is a spatial metaphor of division and differentiation. According to Bourdieu, space is about social organization and power. This article is a sociohistorical discourse on China’s wall, specifically on social space as conceptualized and perceived in imperial China, during the Mao era and in China today. Bourdieu’s concept of space as social and relational lends itself to the deconstruction of the metaphorical wall. It is contended that the age-old hukou/household registration, reestablished by Mao in conjunction with the danwei/work/administrative system, constitutes a part of this wall. The intent behind this discourse is to gain insight into Chinese conceptualization and perceptions of space within a sociohistorical framework.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Guo
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Late Qing Dynasty ◽  
Late Qing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Modern Chinese History ◽  
Chinese Perceptions ◽  
History Of ◽  
China Today

Ever since the concept of press freedom was first introduced into China during the late-Qing dynasty, Chinese perceptions of the function of a free press have frequently changed. This research has shown that the social and cultural context shaped the unique interpretations of press freedom in China and impacted the extent to which it was realized in modern Chinese history. There were numerous problems that permeated the history of press freedom in China, problems that continue to influence the experience of press freedom in China today. This chapter concludes by exploring the theoretical and contemporary implications of the conceptual history of press freedom in China.

scholarly journals An Inquiry into the Semiotic Thought of Laozi

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-39
Author(s):  
Dong Zhu ◽  
Wei Ren
Keyword(s):  
Social Stability ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Tao Te Ching ◽  
The World ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Natural Life ◽  
Origin Of The Universe ◽  
The Way

Abstract Tao Te Ching, the masterpiece of Laozi the renowned philosopher of Pre-Imperial China, plays an important role in Chinese history. Laozi’s philosophy centres on such concepts as ming (names), li (rituals), and dao (the way). Ming, originally developed as a result of human beings’ endeavours to understand the world in which they live and to bring order to their society, has degenerated into the sources of evils and the reason for turbulence when people stop at nothing for fame and fortune; Li, an effective and efficient means for the kings of West Zhou Dynasty to maintain social stability, has become but a collection of empty sign vehicles with the disintegration of rituals and music; Dao concerns Laozi’s metaphysical reflection on the origin of the universe and its ultimate laws. Ming and li are but artificial restraints imposed on human intelligence whereas dao provides the way out. Therefore, to lead a simple and natural life, it is advisable to eliminate ming and li, and worship dao. In semiotic terms, this means that desemiotisation is the solution to the crisis.

scholarly journals Inpatients’ Spatial Experience: Interactions Between Material, Social, and Time-Related Aspects

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margo Annemans ◽  
Chantal Van Audenhove ◽  
Hilde Vermolen ◽  
Ann Heylighen
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Hospital Environment ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Spatial Experience ◽  
Hospital Environments ◽  
Hospital Boards ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Insight Into

For inpatients who spend a longer time in the hospital, the built environment plays a significant role in their experience. While many hospital boards aim to create a patient-centered hospital, few have a specific idea about what this means in terms of spatial qualities. This creates a major challenge for those involved in designing hospital environments. Therefore, we aimed to identify which elements play a role in inpatients’ spatial experience, and how these elements relate and interact. Patients were followed during transport and afterward interviewed. In this way, we gained insight into their spatial experience, static, and in motion. This experience turns out to be shaped by material, social, and time-related aspects. An analysis of the interactions between these aspects yields a nuanced understanding of how inpatients’ experience of the hospital environment is shaped by the spatial and social organization, movement, and perspective. This understanding should allow informing hospital boards, architects, and staff to start designing hospital buildings in a more patient-centered way.

scholarly journals Sted, trivsel og skoleavbrudd - individuelle og strukturelle mekanismer i skolen synliggjort gjennom ungdoms fortellinger

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-141
Author(s):  
Torill Aagot Halvorsen ◽  
Mette Bunting
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Educational Science ◽  
Henri Lefebvre ◽  
School Activities ◽  
School Practice ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Insight Into

The aim of this article is to examine young people’s narratives about place in the dropout process and how they make sense of everyday practices in social places. Studying young people’s experiences about place can provide insight of how change and continuity can influence decisions and practices. This article is based on preliminary findings from the longitudinal ethnographic study [Name of project] in which 71 youths from the county of Telemark are regularly interviewed. The article presents excerpts from the stories, which give us insight into everyday practices, relationships and experiences from school activities. The French professor, philosopher and sociologist Henri Lefebvre, known to city planners and architects, was also engaged in education and teaching. However, in the Nordic countries, his work has largely been ignored by the pedagogical and educational science. In this article, we want to highlight his critical thinking on education where he introduces pedagogical concepts, principles and mind-sets that might have a significant importance when analyzing the young people’s narratives, trying to understand their everyday practice. The results in this study indicate that young people struggle in different ways with their everyday school practice, social space and the place they grow up, which again influence their endeavors in completing their education. Hence, it is imperative for educators to comprehend the influence the extended meaning of place, space and relationships have on young people’s opportunities to succeed in completing school.

The 1895 Taiwan Republic: A Significant Episode in Modern Chinese History

1968 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry J. Lamley
Keyword(s):  
Chinese History ◽  
Modern Chinese ◽  
Modern Chinese History ◽  
The Future ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
The Creation

On May 25, 1895, amid a festive atmosphere at the governor's yamen in Taipei, China's island province of Taiwan (Formosa) was declared a republic. News of this extraordinary event was received in Peking and elsewhere with reactions of dismay and skepticism. Most Ch'ing authorities and foreign observers suspected that the creation of a republic was merely a desperate scheme to keep Taiwan from being ceded to Japan as an outcome of the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95. Nevertheless, to a few witnesses the unprecedented move of establishing a republic in an area of imperial China suggested at first more hopeful signs for the future. James W. Davidson, then a Taipei news correspondent, initially surmised, “If it has been conceived and carried out altogether by Celestial minds we are emboldened to believe that there is, after all, a new China in the nursery from whom great things may eventually be expected.”

The Reorganisation of Higher Education in Communist China, 1949–61

1964 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 128-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Immanuel C. Y Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Technical Institutes ◽  
Communist China ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
China Today ◽  
Types Of Instruction ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

Within the short span of twelve years since their rise to power in 1949, the Chinese Communists have completely revamped their educational system. Private institutions of higher learning have been abolished and the number of universities vastly reduced; in their place hundreds of technical institutes have been created, with an unprecedented increase in enrolment and graduates. The faculties of various universities and colleges have been amalgamated in an effort to train more and more scientific and technical personnel. New types of instruction, known as “specialty” (spetsial'nost) and “specialisation” (spetsializatsiia), have been introduced to accelerate the training of industrial experts. Emphasis on science and technology has completely replaced the traditional respect for the humanities; the highest learned organisation in Communist China today is the Academy of Sciences, and not the Academy of Letters (Hanlin Yuan) of Imperial China. A Twelve-Year Science Programme was adopted in 1956 with the avowed objective of producing 10,500 top scientists and some two million technicians by 1967, and towards this end a new University of Science and Technology was established in 1958.

Contemporary Chinese Buddhist Traditions

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Poceski
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Chinese Buddhism ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Female Participation ◽  
Republican Era ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
Contemporary Chinese ◽  
Governmental Control ◽  
Mao Era

The chapter presents an overview of contemporary Chinese Buddhism, broadly conceived, along with a survey of the major historical developments and defining responses to modernity articulated in the course of the turbulent twentieth century. After situating the growth and adaptation of Buddhism within the broad sweep of Chinese history, it highlights the ways in which the Buddhist community tried to revive and to reform its tradition during the Republican era. The central part of the chapter describes the institutional revival and renewed interest in Buddhism during the post-Mao era, along with a discussion of the mechanisms of governmental control over Buddhism. Also covered are the remarkable Buddhist resurgence that over the last several decades has been taking place in Taiwan, the scope of female participation in the development of contemporary Buddhism, and the ongoing globalization of Buddhist organizations and practices.

scholarly journals Portents in Early Imperial China: Observational Patterns from the “Spring and Autumn” Weft Profoundly Immersed Herptile (Qiantan ba 潛潭巴)

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-287
Author(s):  
Grégoire Espesset
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Woven Fabric ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Imperial China

Abstract Still neglected by modern research, the “Weft” (or “Apocrypha”) contain a wealth of unexploited data relevant to Chinese history in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Sometimes ascribed to Confucius, these texts, whose Chinese name (wei 緯) denotes the crosswise threads of woven fabric, have long been perceived as arcane supplements to the “Classics,” called jing 經, the lengthwise threads. Repeatedly prohibited and destroyed, they survive mainly as citations today. This paper focuses on one of them, anonymous, undated, and fragmentary, titled Qiantan ba 潛潭巴. Most of its remnants present extrapolations derived from observed phenomena interpreted as signs. By comparing the observed patterns to the typology of portents in the official monographs on celestial phenomena and the Five Agents of the era, the paper sheds light on the logic at work in the interpretative process.

scholarly journals Individual foraging variation drives social organization in bottlenose dolphins

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Séverine Methion ◽  
Bruno Díaz López
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Central Position ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Shellfish Farms ◽  
Generalized Affiliation Indices ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Identifying foraging variation within a population and assessing its relationship with social structure is essential to increase knowledge about the evolution of social systems. Here, we investigated individual foraging variation in bottlenose dolphins and its potential influence on their social organization. We used generalized affiliation indices and applied social network analysis to data collected over four consecutive years of research in a coastal area subject to significant use and pressure by humans. Our findings revealed variation in foraging behavior among individual bottlenose dolphins, which in turn shapes their social organization. Our results indicated that individuals that frequently foraged within human-altered areas (i.e., shellfish farms) exhibited weaker Strength, Reach, and Affinity compared to others. These bottlenose dolphins profit from a reliable and easily located food source, which may increase their energy intake and interindividual competition. In contrast, individuals that foraged less frequently within the shellfish farms occupied a central position within the network and exhibited strong associations. These individuals may benefit from increased cooperation and reduced intragroup competition, thus increasing learning and information sharing, as they may face a patchy and irregular distribution of prey. We also demonstrated that bottlenose dolphins preferred to affiliate with other individuals with similar foraging strategies (i.e., homophily), which could promote, through time, a segregation of the population into behaviorally distinct groups. These findings provide valuable insight into the evolution of bottlenose dolphin social systems and their response to human-induced changes in the marine environment.

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