突破"行话"障碍:19世纪早期来华传教士对话语冲突的反应

Tracing the origin and circulation of the “jargon” spoken at Canton, the paper examines how “jargon” became an issue of Sino-foreign communication conflicts in the early 19^th century, and how Westerners responded to it. As a lingua franca spread extensively in the Canton trade, the so-called “jargon” (a pidgin form of patois) played an essential role as communication tool between Chinese and foreign traders. However, in the eyes of missionaries in early 19^th century China, the normal Sino-foreign contact process was interrupted and distorted by both parties’ overusing of the jargon. In this regard, early Protestant missionaries’ support of Chinese language study reveals an initial effort to break through the “jargon” barrier.      

"中国"与"天下"的重合——古代中国疆域形成的历史轨迹

“The Central Kingdom” is pregnant of political implications as well as of geographical and cultural significance. It was believed that whoever controlled Zhongguo (the Central Kingdom or China) would be the legitimate ruler over Tianxia (the realm under heaven or all under heaven). It was the contention for “the Central Kingdom” among the varieties of dynasties, notably those established by the Han-Chinese and the various ethnic groups in the northern borderland, that lead to the alternation of disintegration and unification of the territory. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the unified “Central Kingdom” composed of a variety of ethnic groups turned into the ideal “realm under heaven” with “the Central Kingdom” at its core, which naturally put an end to the formation of territory in ancient China. Translated by Chen Dan from Zhongguo Bianjiang Shidi Yanjiu 中国边疆史地研究 (China’s Borderland History and Geography Studies), 2007, (3): 1–15     

近代中国城市大众文化史研究笔谈

The studies of urban popular culture in modern China in recent years have attracted wide attention from scholars in China and abroad. The symposium, which is composed by Ma Min’s “Injecting vitality into the studies of urban cultural history,” Jiang Jin’s “Issues in the studies of urban popular culture in modern China,” Wang Di’s “The microcosm of Chinese cities: The perspective and methodology of studying urban popular culture from the case of teahouses in Chengdu,” Joseph W. Esherick’s “Remaking the Chinese city: Urban space and urban culture” and Lu Hanchao’s “From elites to common people: The downward trend in the studies of Chinese urban history in the United States,” provide valuable insights on the perspective, trend, and methodology of the studies. Four articles of the symposium are translated by Yang Kai-chien and Jin Xueqin from Shixue Yuekan 史学月刊 (Journal of Historical Science), 2008, (5): 5–19; Joseph W. Esherick provides the English version of his article.     

"封建主义"概念辨析

The Western terms “feudal” and “feudalism” have been widely and improperly translated as “fengjian” in contemporary China. The early Western Sinologists and Chinese scholars, including Yan Fu, did not originally make such a translation. Yan initially transliterated the term “feudalism” as fute zhi in his early translations. It was not until the 20th century, when Western classical evolutionism found its way into China, that “feudalism” was reduced to an abstract concept, and the Western European model was generalized as a framework for understanding development in China and the whole world. Only then did Yan Fu first equate “feudalism” with “fengjian,” and China was believed to have experienced a “feudal society” in the same sense as Europe. From the perspective of intellectual history, using evidential and theoretical analyses, this article attempts to show that feudalism was a historical product in the development of Western Europe and existed only in Europe, “fengjian” is a system appropriate only in discussions of pre-Qin China, and China from the Qin to the Qing experienced instead a system of imperial autocracy. The medieval periods in the West and in China evidence widely divergent social forms and hence should not be confused with the same label. __________ Translated from Zhongguo Shehui Kexue 中国社会科学 (Social Sciences in China), 2005, (6): 173–188     

Ancient “Red Cliff” battlefield: a historical-geographic study

The famous battle of Chibi, or “battle of Red Cliff”, took place in 208 CE, the 13^th year of the Jian’an period of the Eastern Han dynasty. This paper holds that the whole battle consisted of three inseparable stages, namely the initial clash at Chibi, the chase battle to Wulin, and Cao Cao’s disorganized escape along Huarong Road. The Red Cliff battlefield thus extended across a distance of more than 300 li (150km). Even if the Chibi where the initial military engagement took place (that is, Chiji Hill, southwest of Wuchang in modern Wuhan City) has already disappeared, it should be restored to its proper historical position. The chase battle along the Yangzi River came to an end at Wulin, across the river is Chibi Hill in today’s Chibi City. Although this Chibi is not the Chibi where the initial combat took place, it nonetheless forms an integral part of the ancient Chibi battlefield as a whole. The Huarong Road along which Cao Cao escaped runs through the middle of today’s Jianghan Plain. Finally, the text aims to show that Chibi (Red Nose) Hill in modern Huangzhou City has nothing to do with the Chibi of the “battle of Red Cliff.” __________ Translated from: Fudan Xuebao 复旦学报: 社会科学版 (Fudan Journal, Social Sciences), No.3, 2004, by Han Zhaoqing and Fabien Simonis. Han Zhaoqing thanks Merrick Lex Berman for his help in revising this version     

欧洲人等级制世界地理观下的中国——兼论地图的思想史意义

Maps act not only as the carrier of the geographical information but also as the symbolic expression of particular cultural and political concepts, by which we can understand those people’s knowledge about themselves as well as about others. The maps drawn by the Europeans from the 16^th to the 18^th centuries vividly express the self-centeredness of the Europeans influenced by both the Christian and modern civilization concepts, and the maps also expressed their comments on the other parts of the world in such a mentality. Some characteristic maps and illustrations in the atlas of European history demonstrated how the Europeans formed and expressed their hierarchical perspective of the world geography. The position of China in the hierarchical world is one of the most important expressions of the European concept of China, and well served the purpose of our reflection on the cultural intercommunion. Translated by Deng Hegang from Zhongguo Shehui Kexue 中国社会科学 (Social Sciences in China), 2007, (2): 188–203     

唐宋时期寡妇的家产权益与生存处境

By investigating the Tang-Song examples of widows remaining chastity or inviting a jiejiaofu (second husband) into the deceased husbands’ families, this article analyzes widows’ lives and their right to inherit their deceased husbands’ family properties. The conclusion is that widows had only “rights of management,” but not the “possessive right,” over their deceased husbands’ properties. Moreover, the qualities of widows’ lives in their in-law’s families depended on their relationships with the deceased husbands’ brothers. When being treated unfairly, widows often resorted to “the power of the maternal uncle” in order to defend their benefits. Translated into English by Yang Kai-chien     

追寻现代性:民国上海言情文化的历史解读

The rise of the melodrama as a literary and theatrical genre appears to have had a co-relation with the rise of industrial cities in modern times around the globe from Europe, North America, to East Asia. In China, this phenomenon manifested itself in the yanqing (lit. speaking of feelings) genre that dominated the popular culture scene in Shanghai in the most part of the twentieth century. While the yanqing genre was an expression of particular Chinese modern experiences, it also provided a channel for these local experiences to partake in and enrich a global experience of modernity. This study shows how yanqing arts helped ordinary Shanghai residents deal with changing patterns of gender, love, and family relations in the fast-growing and modernizing city. Through such re-examination of the yanqing culture this study tries to shed new light on some important questions in modern Chinese history and help correct traditional elite views of this history. Translated from Shilin 史林 (Historical Review), 2006, (4): 70–79 Parts of this article have been presented at the international conference, “As China Meets the World: China’s Changing Position in the International Community, 1840–2000,” held at Vienna, May 15–19, 2004; and “The First Modern Chinese Social History Conference,” held in Qingdao, Shandong, August 2005. It is modified by the author when translated into English.     

从供给制到职务等级工资制——新中国建立前后党政人员收入分配制度的演变

Around the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the income distribution system of party and government officials has experienced a great reform from the supply system featured by equalitarianism to the duty-graded salary system with strict ranks and wide gaps. This change runs against the convention of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and proposition of Marx Karl. Chairman Mao Zedong was never satisfied with this distribution system marked by strict ranks and tried to amend it. It amounted to the same at the end as his failure to prevent the generation of this system, even though it experienced “the Cultural Revolution.” Translated by Luo Hui from Lishi Yanjiu 历史研究 (Historical Research), 2007, (4): 111–137     

Breaking through the “jargon” barrier: Early 19th century missionaries’ response on communication conflicts in China

Tracing the origin and circulation of the “jargon” spoken at Canton, the paper examines how “jargon” became an issue of Sino-foreign communication conflicts in the early 19th century, and how Westerners responded to it. As a lingua franca spread extensively in the Canton trade, the so-called “jargon” (a pidgin form of patois) played an essential role as communication tool between Chinese and foreign traders. However, in the eyes of missionaries in early 19th century China, the normal Sino-foreign contact process was interrupted and distorted by both parties’ overusing of the jargon. In this regard, early Protestant missionaries’ support of Chinese language study reveals an initial effort to break through the “jargon” barrier.