China: a new cultural history

Journal of Chinese History, 2017

empire's borderlands, which were often reduced, in Chinese (and even Manchu) sources, to the realm of "birds and beasts" (see the quotes from Cenggunjab's 1758 memorial on page 143). For example, through a quantitative analysis, Schlesinger reveals major changes in the Uriankhai tribute system, a conclusion that gestures at the serious ramifications that animal scarcity and ecological crisis had on these people's lives (159-65). This analysis establishes a strong foundation for future research on the question of how increasing consumption in China proper, together with state policies, affected the modes of life and environments of the native peoples of Mongolia and Manchuria. Moreover, Schlesinger's study prompts us to think about why there were differences (and sometimes similarities) in the way the Qing state administered the different frontiers of the empire and legitimized its policies in each case. Research in the field has hitherto shown that the Qing state did not perceive and govern all of the frontiers (and the regions of China proper, for that matter) in the same manner; a striking contrast emerges, for instance, when we compare Qing governance in the southern frontiers with that in Manchuria and Mongolia. The case presented in A World Trimmed with Fur helps us to explain some of the reasons for this divergence. Chinese History and Culture, by YÜ YINGSHI. 2 volumes. With the editorial assistance of Josephine Chiu-Duke and Michael S. Duke. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. 432, 448 pp. Each volume: $65.00, £54.95 (cloth), $64.99, £54.95 (ebook).

2008

Over the past century, China has undergone a protracted period of extraordinary change and instability, including wars and revolutions, the founding of two modern republics, social and economic reforms, and, more recently, rapidly rising levels of socioeconomic inequality. While China’s growing stature and importance on the world scene has occasioned feelings of both alarm and curiosity in the West, many are largely unfamiliar with Chinese culture and society. This course encourages students to think critically about many of the major developments in Chinese culture and society during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries with an emphasis on understanding both cultural change and continuity in China. Drawing on ethnographic material and case studies from rural and urban China over the traditional, revolutionary, and reform periods, we will examine a number of topics in the anthropological study of China, including family and kinship; marriage, reproduction, and death; popular religion; women and gender; the Cultural Revolution; social and economic reforms; gift exchange and guanxi networks; changing perceptions of space and place; as well as globalization and modernity. Throughout the course our discussions will focus on how an informed understanding of China’s past can help us make sense of China’s present as well as give us an inkling of where China may be headed in the future.

2009

the papers of this issue were first presented at the international interdisciplinary seminar in sinology, Human in the sciences of traditional and contemporary china, which was held on 4–5 october 2007 at the Vilnius University Centre of oriental Studies. the original intention of the organizers of the seminar was to gather for the first time in lithuania sinologists from various countries, east and West, for discussion about various aspects and perspectives of human beings as they were investigated in the sciences of traditional and contemporary china. of course, the most problematic term in the title was science, especially having in mind its different understanding in Chinese and Western cultures. our decision was to follow the broadest definition of this term, as suggested by Geoffrey lloyd and nathan sivin, namely, to use it ‘as a conventional placeholder’ that covers the studies of things and their changes, the human body, and variety of living beings and intends to indicate ‘...

2011 was the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. The centennial is relevant not only in terms of state ideology, but also plays a significant role within academic research into Chinese society and culture. This historic turning point likewise represents the symbolic and concrete linkages and tensions between tradition and modernity, progress and conservatism, traditional values and the demands for adjustment to contemporary societies. The book shows that Chinese transition from tradition to modernity cannot be understood in a framework of a unified general model of society, but rather through a more complex insight into the interrelations among elements of physical environment, social structure, philosophy, history, and culture. The present book carefully maps the Chinese modernisation discourse, highlighting its relationship to other, similar discourses, and situating it within historical and theoretical contexts. In contrast to the majority of recent discussions of a “Chinese development model” that tend to focus more on institutional then cultural factors, and are more narrowly concerned with economic matters than overall social development, the book offers several important focal points for many presently overlooked issues and dilemmas. The multifaceted perspectives contained in this anthology are not limited to economic, social, and ecological issues, but also include political and social functions of ideologies and cultural conditioned values, representing the axial epistemological grounds of modern Chinese society.