The Story of A Photograph

SoinamZholma,motherofthelatelothPanchenErdeni,receivedanunexpectedphonecallthisspring,whenshewasattendingtheannualNationalPoliticalConsultativeConferenceinBejing.ThecallsaidthatanuniversityteachernamedZhangHongwouldvisither.SoinamZholma,81,couldn'trecalle…     

A discussion of the concept of “feudal”

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.     

A land of mañana

For many centuries before statehood arrived in 1964 Malta was controlled by outsiders, some of whom valued the location as a military base. During this period Malta came to depend on external finance. Since then there has been a new dependence, on tourism. The small size of the country and its limited resource options arguably make one or other form of dependence inevitable, with consequent imprints on the Maltese landscape. This paper examines the changing nature of the dependence and looks at some of its land‐use implications for the spatial structure of the islands.     

A Report on the British Premiere of Death of Yazdgerd: A Cross-cultural Adaptation?

In the spring semester of 2010, the students of the module “Non Western Performances” at Loughborough University were directed by Sudipto Chatterjee to stage the UK premiere of Bahram Beyzaie's canonical play, Death of Yazdgerd (1979). The play, which was initially supposed to be a student-led workshop as part of the module's practice, took a life of its own and turned into a full-blown production. The production consisted of all the registered students of the module who formed the cast and the crew, the main tutor and director Sudipto Chatterjee, the co-tutor and dramaturge Proshot Kalam) and the two technical tutors (Dave Hill and Mark Simpson). The present essay is an attempt to analyze the cross-cultural aspects and the practical approaches undertaken by the crew for the production of the play.     

A united states of Australasia?

Australia and New Zealand have always been close, and the adoption of the Closer Economic Relations Agreement has brought them closer. In the context of public debate in Australia about constitutional reform it is appropriate to discuss the possibility of political union between the two countries. This article looks at some of the processes and politics involved with five scenarios under which union might or might not take place. They are: New Zealand as one or more Australian states; the Canadian model; an Australasian Parliament like the European Parliament; the abolition of the Australian states; and the secession of the Australian states.     

A Faithful Daughter of the Snowland

EDITOR'SNOTE:SpringcameandweepingwillowsatthefootofthePotalaPalacebeganbudding.However,itsnowedallofasudden,turningtheareaaroundthePalaceintowhitesheet.At4:35ontheafternoonofMarch25,Yamzin,aTibetanjournalist,diedatthetenderageof36tothedeepgriefofXinhuaNewsAgency,journalistsinTibetandallthosewhoknewher.YamzinwasbornintoapoorpeasantfamilyinXigaze.In1978,shebecameoneof40TibetanstudentswhopassedtheexaminationsforstudyintheMiddleSchoolAttachedtotheCentralEthnicinstituteinBeijing.Plantin…     

A Model of Social Security?

This essay provides historical perspective to Senator Bernie Sanders’ appropriation of elements of the Nordic model in the 2016 campaign by studying how Scandinavia was used as a political image in 1930s United States. Departing from previous scholarship, this essay argues that accounts of Scandinavian achievements were variable in their ideological outlook and sometimes deliberately challenged the existence and goals of New Deal policies. Moreover, this essay explores the usage of Scandinavia in New Deal social legislation by examining the policymaking rhetoric of the Social Security Act and its 1939 amendments. The surprising plasticity of the Scandinavian image amongst policymakers ultimately reveals the fluid nature of both New Deal-era politics and the Scandinavian images it appropriated.     

Criticism of Humanity——A Case Study of A Dog’s Taleby Mark Twain

对人性的讨论自古就有,圣经中的亚当夏娃,教宗额我略一世的七宗罪等早已被人们所知晓;从马克思,恩格斯对人性的阐述,到刑事人类学派创始人龙勃罗梭的《犯罪人论》,都可以看出人们不断地对人性进行着探索。人们试图从中发现人性的本真,善恶,以使人类更为深刻地了解自己。人性的善恶之争从未停止,而本文将以马克·吐温狗的自述为例,来对人的趋利性、攻击性、忘恩负义等恶性进行批判,以使得人们更为深刻地自省,最终能够减轻或摒弃人类恶的本性,以达到自我的提升。     

Inheritance and Vicissitude of the Tibetan Diet——A Case of A Tibetan Rural Community

The dietary structure and customs of the Tibetans1 include both simple and complex elements.The transition from a diet composed mainly of tsampa and butter tea to the integration of alien and industrialized foodstuffs into the Tibetan dietary culture reflects,in a way,the processes of adaptation,integration and vicissitude of the Tibetan rural community during modernization.This article attempts to discuss the relationship between the traditional culture and modernization in Tibetan rural communities during the process of cultural interaction and modernization by studying the dietary structure and customs of Tibetan farmers in Nyang-re Township located in the north outskirts of Lhasa,Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).     

The Wilsons — A Line of Engineers

Abstract

In addition to his enduring engineering works, Thomas Telford was the inspiration of several lines of engineers whose progenitors worked for the great man. This paper describes such a line, continuing for five generations of engineers. Its founder was one of the two John Wilsons who worked as managing overseers for Telford. The John Wilson here considered, worked on the Caledonian Canal, the Göta Canal and the Glencorse dam. Two of his sons became civil engineers, one establishing his own business in London and the other travelling the world. They in turn were succeeded by two nephews, one of whom carried on the London consultancy whilst the other became Chief Engineer to the Great Eastern Railway. They in turn had sons who continued as civil engineers, and grandsons who have diversified into newer branches of engineering.     

A Review of “Decision Points”

Abstract

A large body scholarship demonstrates that the population size of an electoral district affects elections in important ways, yet little is known about the implications of population size for campaigning and fundraising. I posit that the challenges of running a campaign in a populous electorate require candidates to focus their fundraising efforts on the wealthy. I analyze campaign finance records published by the Federal Election Commission during the 2006–2014 Senate elections and find that Senate candidates running in large states receive fewer donations per capita from in-state donors, but they tend to receive larger donations on average and more money from contributions of $1,500 and above. In sum, candidates running in populous states appear to rely upon comparably smaller pools of wealthy constituents writing larger checks to finance their campaigns. In the context of rising campaign costs, these findings suggest that constituency population growth may exacerbate representational inequalities between citizens and contribute to the growing influence of the wealthy in U.S. politics.