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Kategorie: China Branch Office

China Branch Office

[Review] 李立 、史青：《清代雲南「夷人圖說」研究》(Li Li & Shi Qing: Research on Qing Dynasty Ethnographic Albums from Yunnan Province)

Li Li 李立 & Shi Qing 史青, Qingdai Yunnan ‘Yiren tushuo’ yanjiu 清代雲南「夷人圖說」研究 (Research on Qing Dynasty Ethnographic Albums from Yunnan Province), Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2021. ISBN 9787101153354, 164 pages, 68 RMB. Reviewed by Li Yutong 李雨桐 (Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg) This book provides a comprehensive examination of ethnographic albums in Yunnan during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). The authors Li Li (Yunnan Normal University) and his co-author Shi Qing (Yunnan Forestry Technical College) focus on two central aims. The first is to concentrate on […]

China Branch Office

Chinese-European Academic Lecture No. 203

Typically scribes are not considered craftsmen but rather clerks or bookkeepers. This is also true for ancient Mesopotamian scribes (in Akkadian, ṭupšarrum): administration and bookkeeping fell within their everyday duties. There were, however, small groups of scribes whose tasks were very different from their colleagues: with the secret knowledge of the divine world transmitted for generations, they maintained the world order at whose center, the king stood as the ultimate intermediatory between the gods and humans. By studying ancient scriptures, they constantly attempted to […]

China Branch Office

[Review] 曹新宇：《祖師的族譜—明清白蓮教社會歷史調查》 (Cao Xinyu: A genealogy of the patriarchs. A social historical investigation of the White Lotus Teachings in the Ming and Qing dynasties)

Cao Xinyu 曹新宇, Zushi de zupu—Ming Qing Bailianjiao shehui lishi diaocha 祖師的族譜—明清白蓮教社會歷史調查 (A genealogy of the patriarchs: A social historical investigation of the White Lotus Teachings in the Ming and Qing dynasties), Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 2023. ISBN: 978-7-1001-8416-8, 316 pages, 128 RMB. Reviewed by Barend J. ter Haar (University of Hamburg) Everybody working in the field of new religious groups in late imperial China will be familiar with Cao Xinyu’s 曹新宇 essential contributions, especially the 2012 donation of a cache of northern Chinese religious […]

China Branch Office

Chinese-European Academic Lecture No. 202

Abstract: Lacquer is a natural secretion of the lacquer tree, mainly containing lacquer phenol, laccase, gum and water. At room temperature, it is oxidised and polymerised into a film by the action of laccase. Lacquer film is hard, glossy, water and moisture resistant, resistant to chemical media and soil corrosion. It is one of China’s major specialties, and world-famous with its long history. The flute is a popular wind instrument in China, and the flute made of bamboo is called ‘bamboo flute’. Having a […]

China Branch Office

Chinese-European Lecture Series 2024

Crafting Legacy: Tracing the Threads of Traditional Craftsmanship The making of things to fulfill daily and luxury needs is probably as old as mankind. However, it was only the emergence of industrial mass production that led to the separation between craft object and machine-made object and thus the concept of traditional craftsmanship in contrast to the former came into play. This has by no means led to the frequently invoked death of the traditional crafts though. Craftsmanship, in the sense of unique skills and […]

China Branch Office

[Review] 王锐：《革命儒生：章太炎传》 (Wang Rui: The Revolutionary Confucian Scholar. A Biography of Zhang Taiyan)

Wang Rui 王锐, Geming rusheng: Zhang Taiyan zhuan 革命儒生：章太炎传 (The Revolutionary Confucian Scholar. A Biography of Zhang Taiyan), Guangxi shifan daxue chubanshe, 2022. ISBN 9787559855367; 344 pages; 88 RMB. Reviewed by Fabian Hiller (PhD candidate @ University of Tübingen) Wang Rui’s new biography of Zhang Taiyan, entitled The Revolutionary Confucian Scholar, is part of a wave of new research on Zhang Taiyan in China sparked by the publication of the revised version of the Zhang Taiyan nianpu changbian  章太炎年谱长编 (Nianpu biography of Zhang Taiyan) […]

China Branch Office

[Review] 賈麗英:《出土簡牘與秦漢社會身份秩序研究》(Jia Liying: Unearthed Manuscripts and the Study of the Order of Social Identities during the Qin and Han Dynasties)

Jia Liying 賈麗英. Chutu jiandu yu Qin Han shehui shenfen zhixu yanjiu 出土簡牘與秦漢社會身份秩序研究 (Unearthed Manuscripts and the Study of the Order of Social Identities during the Qin and Han Dynasties). Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2023. ISBN: 978-7-5227-1694-7, xiii+447 pages, 218 RMB. Chun Fung Tong 唐俊峰 (Heidelberg University) Since the seminal work by Nishijima Sadao 西嶋定生 in the early 1960s, the nature, institutional design, and social implications of rank (jue 爵) during the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BCE–220 CE) continue to attract scholarly […]

China Branch Office

[Review] 王永平：《信仰與習俗—社會文化史視野下的唐代道教》（Wang Yongping: Beliefs and Customs. Tang Dynasty Daoism from the Perspective of Socio-Cultural History）

Wang Yongping 王永平, Xinyang yu xisu: shehui wenhua shi shiye xia de Tang dai daojiao 信仰與習俗—社會文化史視野下的唐代道教 (Beliefs and Customs: Tang Dynasty Daoism from the Perspective of Socio-Cultural History), Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2023. ISBN 9787522811406, 725 pages, 128.80 RMB. Reviewed by Franciscus Verellen (EFEO) Wang Yongping is a Professor of History at the Capital Normal University in Beijing and a leading scholar of Daoism under the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Following in the wake of his earlier books on Tang entertainments (1995), the cultural […]

China Branch Office

[Review] 张翔：《大同立教——康有为政教思想研究》(Zhang Xiang: Establishment of Confucianism on Datong: A Study of Kang Youwei’s Political and Religious Philosophy)

Zhang Xiang 张翔, Datong lijiao: Kang Youwei zhengzhi sixiang yanjiu 大同立教——康有为政教思想研究 (Establishment of Confucianism on Datong: A Study of Kang Youwei’s Political and Religious Philosophy), Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2023. ISBN 9787520185844, 356 pages, 128 RMB. Reviewed by Federico Brusadelli (University of Naples “L’Orientale”) Since the beginning of the 21st century, studies on Kang Youwei (1858–1927) have experienced a steady and consistent surge, especially in the context of reassessing the late Qing period beyond the traditional interpretation of the “Western shock” as the […]

China Branch Office

[Review] 张西平：《中国和欧洲早期思想交流史》(Zhang Xiping: History of the Intellectual Exchange between China and Europe in the Early Modern Period)

Zhang Xiping 张西平, Zhongguo he Ouzhou zaoqi sixiang jiaoliushi 中国和欧洲早期思想交流史 (History of the Intellectual Exchange between China and Europe in the Early Modern Period), Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe 北京大学出版社, 2021. ISBN: 978-7-301-32228-4, 531 pages, 138 RMB. Reviewed by Zhou Yuping 周宇平 (Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg) This monograph by Zhang Xiping, distinguished professor at Beijing Language and Culture University (北京语言大学) and Beijing Foreign Studies University (北京外国语大学), focuses on the intellectual exchange in philosophical and religious fields between China and Europe. This includes classical and medieval […]

China Branch Office / Rezension

[Review] 魏善玲《國民政府對海外留學生的救助》(Wei Shanling: The Guomindang Government’s Aid to Overseas Chinese Students, 1937–1946)

Wei Shanling 魏善玲, Guomin zhengfu dui haiwai liuxuesheng de jiuzhu 國民政府對海外留學生的救助（1937—1946） [The Guomindang Government’s Aid to Overseas Chinese Students (1937–1946)], Nanjing: Nanjing daxue chubanshe 南京大學出版社, 2022. ISBN 9787305250149, 385 pages, 88 RMB. Reviewed by Christina Philips Wei Shanling’s book on the Guomindang Government’s Aid to Chinese Overseas Students is an in-depth analysis of the discourse between various government institutions on the disbursement of financial aid for living expenses and return tickets to struggling overseas Chinese students during the Second Sino-Japanese War and its aftermath […]

China Branch Office

[Review] 常建华《清前期国家治理与民生政策》(Chang Jianhua: Policies on Governance and People’s Livelihood in the Early Qing Period)

Chang Jianhua 常建华, Qing qianqi guojia zhili yu minsheng zhengce 清前期国家治理与民生政策 (Policies on Governance and People’s Livelihood in the Early Qing Period), Beijing: Zhonghua shuju 中华书局, 2021. ISBN 9787101153910, 535 pages, 88 RMB. Reviewed by Royston Lin (Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg) Chang Jianhua’s Policies on Governance and People’s Livelihood in the Early Qing Period represents a growing interest and trend among Chinese scholars in revisiting Qing (1644–1911) history in recent years. It includes eighteen essays, all of which were previously published in various Chinese […]

China Branch Office

[REVIEW] 胡星亮《中国现代戏剧思潮 —— 戏剧现代化与社会现代化》(Hu Xingliang: Trends of Thought in Modern Chinese Theater – The Modernization of Theater and the Modernization of Society)

Hu Xingliang 胡星亮: Zhongguo xiandai xiju sichao – Xiju xiandaihua yu shehui xiandaihua 中国现代戏剧思潮 —— 戏剧现代化与社会现代化 (Trends of Thought in Modern Chinese Theater – The Modernization of Theater and the Modernization of Society), Beijing shifan daxue chubanshe 北京师范大学出版社, 2022. ISBN 978-7-303-27803-9; 344 pages; 79 RMB. Reviewed by Stefan Christ (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg) I am interested in the relationship between theater and society, and so I was excited to read the new book by Hu Xingliang, Trends of Thought in Modern Chinese Theater – The Modernization […]

China Branch Office

[Review] 陳松長《馬王堆帛書研究》 (Chen Songchang: Studies on the Mawangdui Silk Manuscripts)

Chen Songchang 陳松長, Mawangdui boshu yanjiu 馬王堆帛書研究 (Studies on the Mawangdui Silk Manuscripts), Beijing 北京: Shangwu yinshuguan 商務印書館 2021. ISBN 9787100196345; 6, 440 pages; 198 RMB. Reviewed by Michael Friedrich (Universität Hamburg) Almost fifty years ago, tomb 3 of the early Han Mawangdui 馬王堆 site (hereafter MWD) in Changsha was excavated in December 1973 and could be dated to 168 BCE. The archaeologists unearthed a wealth of artefacts similar to those found in tomb MWD 1 which had already been excavated in 1972. However, […]