NEW BOOKS

A Study of the Political Landscape of Tibet During the Republic of China Considering the Tibetan political landscape in the early stages of the Qing Dynasty in conjunction with an analysis of the structure of the local Tibetan government(oligarchy,the two reincarnation systems:the Dalai system and Panchen system,both the secular and the clerical groups,the Dalai and his regent),Dr.Li Zhinong expounds his views on the relationship between local government and the central government.He comments that under ...     

Sow One Seed, Gain One More Life

The meadow on the highland is as broad as an ocean, yet it is also as quiet as a painting, without the limitation of a frame. It seems more natural and lively than a painting. It is as simple as the clear eyes of a Tibetan sheep, reflecting the rippling green grass and the scent of the soil as carried by the breeze. This scent followed me all the way as I followed spring＇s progress across the highland and as we drove deeper into the wide prairie in the County of Hongyuan. A Tunnel Enclosure in Camouflaged Clothing On average, Hongyuan is more than 3600 meters above sea level and is mainly involved in animal husbandry. It is the only county largely inhabited by Tibetans in the Prefecture of Aba. There is a vast area （777,200 ha.） of lush native grassland, 91.8 percent of the whole county. ＂Tashi Delek, welcome my reporter＂ said Tsepudan, Chairman of the Karlama Village Committee in the Township Village of Achok in the County of Hongyuan. He greeted me with smiles. He looked tall and strong in his traditional Tibetan robe, with a large-screen cell phone at his waist. ＂What＇s the fence for＂ I asked in curiosity. Before me was a huge fenced paddock. ＂A tunnel enclosure, they helped us build it,＂ said Tsepudan, pointing towards our companions （Professor Li Jian, and Professor Tang Cheng from the Southwest University for Nationalities, as well as Mr. Liu Gang from the Sichuan Prairie Institute）. Made of steel, the tunnel enclosure is shaped in a hexagon, 10 meters long. At first sight, it seems to be without any technical content. Actually, it contains a certain delicacy in its awkwardness. It saves a lot of labor and time when it is used to give an injection or medicine, or shear sheep, weighs something, or transport yaks and sheep. The Southwest University for Nationalities, the Sichuan Prairie Institute and local herdsmen produced it together, including its design, site selection and construction. Eight national     

Official Life： Homoerotic Self-Representation and Theater in Li Ciming＇s Yuemantang Riji

Homoerotic play was central to the recreational culture of theatergoing from the mid-Qing to the beginning of the twentieth century, especially in Beijing. Theatergoing literati in particular played an important role in the production and reproduction of an elite, theater-based, homoerotic sub-culture, heavily investing themselves in the pursuit of social distinction. While it is important not to underestimate the importance of lower-status audiences in the popularisation of Peking opera, the literati doubtlessly considered themselves the aesthetic vanguard in terms of both the judgment of staged drama and the literary promotion of romances between themselves and the boy-actors offstage. Unlike ＂flower-guides＂ （Huapu） that circulated between friends, diaries from the period record private thoughts on the scene that would not, and could not, be expressed in public. Drawing on the diary of the influential late-Qing scholar-official Li Ciming （1830-94）, I focus on the question of how an understanding of public participation entered Li＇s diaries, as well as examining what his self-representations have to say about Qing literati ownership of homoerotic sensibilities and spaces, which is to say, how he saw himself as presenting to others and how that self-presentation is （re-）presented in his writing.     

TO SUPPORTAND EXTEND THE INDUSTRIALCHAINON THE QINGHAI-TIBET PLATEAU BY DEVELOPING AND ADVANCING TECHNIQUE

At 9 am, May 17th, 2013, we set out through heavy snow from the County of Honvuan forthe Xiaman Goat Husbandry Farm in Western Ruoergai. Along the way, we saw few humans but there were groups of yaks grazing with a quiet, masterful air on the snowcovered prairie. The road was uneven and our young driver, Tashi, seemed to like playing ＂dodgem cars＂ in this playground while trying his best to avoid every puddle along the way. Our SUVjolted up and down, splashing muddy water on the still falling white snow. In Secretary Norbu＇s car, and warmed by the heater, we arrived at tfhe Goat Husbandry Farm at ten thirty. Due to a power cut, that big farmyard was deserted but Tashi heated instant noodles for his breakfast in a pressure cooker on a wood stove. We were about 3500 meters above sea level so water boiled at only 80 degrees Centigrade. Half an hour later, a man rushed into the room, bringing the cold air with him from the outside wind and snow. He immediately extended his hand to us. ＂Welcome You are from the Southwest University for Nationalities Last year, President Wang helped us with monitoring and earmarking. We appreciated it very much.＂ The ＂President Wang＂ just mentioned by Secretary Song Dingbin of the Xiaman Goat Husbandry Farm, was Wang Yong, Vice President of the Southwest University for Nationalities and Director of the Institute for Qinghai Tibet Plateau. He is tutor for the graduate students majoring in ＂Animal Genetic Breeding andPropagation＂, an expert who has made outstanding contributions in Sichuan. Privately, people would call him ＂Goat Wang＂. Jianzhou Big Ear Goat Actually, the name ＂Goat Wang＂ is not unique to Wang Yong. There is another ＂Goat Wang＂ in the school,Prof Wang Jie. Both ＂Wangs＂ study goats with considerable achievements, so both are given this excellent name. The difference is their respective ages. Professor Wang Jie has retired, so it is natural that Wang Yong is ＂Junior Goat Wang＂. For quite some time, our country has imported breeding goats from overseas. Secretary Song Dingbin said that in 1958 the state purchased some Merino sheep from Australia and New Zealand with gold, and established the Xiaman Goat Breeding Farm to produce high quality wool. As for meat production, the Boer goat has long dominated the market. Wang Yong, a Doctor in＂Animal Genetic Breeding and Propagation＂, determined to change it. In 1998, supported by the Jianyang government, Doctor Wang Yong and his research team started to breed and cultivate the new ＂Jianzhou Big Ear Goat＂. They used the foreign Nubian goat to crossbreed with the local Jianyang goat. So a new population was produced and improved by crossbreeding and selection for the next generation by way of open herd breeding. The team employed a strict and complicated standard to select breeding goats. If any detail, no matter if it was appearance,     

New Books

Outline of Tibetan Historical and Intellectual Theory In producing his book of seven chapters, the author Wang Pu sums up his study by finding that Tibetan historiography did not have any ＂precepts＂ in the compilation of Tibetan history over generations. This is because the motivation behind writing history, from the perspective of Tibetan historians, is neither the seeking of a professional position nor concerning employment, but rather the responsibility of inheriting a culture and obtaining happiness by sharing knowledge. The Tibetan historical and intellectual ideology has been formed by a rich and apparent Buddhist tradition with contemporary characteristics in the expression of each individual historian. The book is priced at 28 Yuan and published by China Social Sciences Publishing House.     

New Books

Thangka Paintings of the Tibetan Oral Epic King Gesar The book is co-authored by Zhou Aiming and Jambian Gyamco. King Gesar is an oral epic widely sung and performed today by the broad masses of Tibetans. It has been preserved, spread and expanded with an ever- growing length and ever-enriched contents because of the balladeer, or ＂Zongken＂ in Tibetan.     

Kroll,Stefan, Normgenese durch Re-Interpretation--China und das europ~iische VOlkerrecht im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert （Genesis of Norms via Re-interpretation--China and European International Law in the 19th and 20th Centuries）

In Stefan Kroll＇s book Genesis of Norms via Re-Interpretation, the authoranalyzes the reception and adaptation of the European discipline of international law during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in China. Combining philological methods taken from sinology with methods in the fields of legal history and sociology, he is able to create an analytical framework that describes the genesis of international norms as a process of isomorphic strategy, a term that is discussed in what follows.     

Uspensky,Vladimir L., Tibetskiy Buddizm v Pekine （Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing）

The new book by Vladimir Uspensky （alternatively, Uspenskiy）, Professor and Chair of the Department of Mongolian and Tibetan Studies, Faculty of Asian and African Studies of Saint Petersburg State University （Russia）, deals with various aspects in the history of Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing; the time is mainly the period from the middle seventeenth to the early twentieth century. During the reign of the Qing dynasty, the ruling class, namely Manchu and Mongolian nobility, patronized Tibetan Buddhism. This aspect of Qing history is studied too little in Chinese and foreign works, and Uspensky＇s book fills this lacuna. One can see that the author successfully achieved his aim, as he has drawn a vivid picture of institutions and cultural activity among Tibetan Buddhists in Beijing.     

Visit to Rich Farmer's Families In Tibet

Recently, this reporter visited the family of farmer-turned taxi driver Baima Chagsi in Namkar Village, Donggar Township of Duilungdeqen County in the suburbs of Lhasa City. Hostess Baima Chagsi, now in her early 40's, welcomed us hospitably. The courtyard of her house is very large with a garage for four automobiles and with an enclosure for cattle. Outside the kitchen hangs a great deal of dried     

成也萧何 败也萧何——解读盛懋及其绘画

Sheng Mao was an important landscape painter in the late period of Yuan Dynasty, learning from Dong and Ju. His style was minute and delicate, gaining great reputation at that time. However, his position was shaken since four maters of Yuan Dynasty grew up later. Anyway he is a great painter with unique style. The author draws an instructive opinion on his painting.