The merchants of chang’an in the Sui and Tang dynasties

As the capital of the Sui and Tang dynasties, Chang’an brought together large numbers of high-ranking officials, aristocrats, local residents, and sojourners. The promise of profits caused by the high demand for consumer goods attracted merchants. Chang’an was also the starting point of the renowned Silk Road. For all these reasons, Chang’an became a gathering point for Small and medium-scale merchants, rich merchants, ethnic-minority merchants, and foreign merchants. All these merchants engaged in a wide variety of business activities and made money by surprisingly diverse means. Those with great economic power were quite active politically. The activities of these merchants symbolize the unprecedented growth of commerce in Chang’an and reveal the high level of development of urban trade in the Sui and the Tang dynasties. __________ Translated from: Shaanxi Shifan Daxue Xuebao 陕西师范大学学报: 哲学社会科学版(Journal of Shaanxi Normal University, Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), No.2, 2004, by Fabien Simonis. Fabien Simonis wish to thank Alexei Ditter for his help in translating poetic passages.     

∗The Senate,Small Parties and the Balance of Power

The recent change to the number of senators to be elected from each state will alter the quota for election of senators in a way which will have the consequence of making it harder for minor party and independent candidates to secure representation in the Senate. This, in turn, will have the effect of reducing the likelihood that minor party and independent senators will hold the balance of power in the Senate with a consequent decline in the ability of the chamber to continue to make the major contribution to the governmental process at the national level that it has done in recent times. This proposition is examined first in terms of the logic of the quota system of proportional representation given various patterns of voting support for large and small parties, and secondly in terms of the performance of minor party and independent candidates in Senate elections since 1949.     

Zarrow,Peter, After Empire： The Conceptual Transformation of the Chinese State, 1885-1924

The centennial of China＇s 1911 revolution in 2011 provided an opportunity for commemorative symposiums that explored the multiple dimensions of the revolution and its meanings. Besides micro studies of details occurring before, after, and during the revolution, as aspects of a sociopolitical process, and general social inquiries about its success or failure.     

The Politics of Empire: Douglas Hailsham and the Imperial Policy of the National Government, 1931–38

While the majority of high-profile imperialists were excluded from Britain's National Government during the 1930s, at least one leading imperialist of the era, Douglas Hogg, first Viscount Hailsham (1872–1950), was at the heart of British policy-making. Although historians have largely overlooked the multifaceted contribution of this leading Conservative to inter-imperial affairs, as a senior cabinet minister he made significant interventions in Britain's policy towards both India and Ireland. He was, both publicly and privately, at the forefront of attempts to resist Irish violations of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty and, at the same time, became one of the government's leading advocates of a progressive solution to India's constitutional development. The article demonstrates that the simplistic image of Hailsham as a diehard reactionary requires significant modification. His approach was characteristically underpinned by a belief in the sanctity of existing agreements and pledges—whether or not he intrinsically approved of them.     

The Chinese–Korean co-production pact: collaborative encounters and the accelerating expansion of Chinese cinema

Official film co-production treaties are designed by policymakers to stimulate a range of collaborations, technology transfers, and joint funding initiatives in the industry. Since July 2004, the Chinese government has used this top-down approach to cultural diplomacy as a symbolic tool for advancing Chinese cinema and opening the domestic market to a host of willing international partners. Korean filmmakers in particular have exploited the (often informal) opportunities presented, engaging in vigorous cooperation with Chinese colleagues across all sectors of the production ecosystem. The continuing flow of Chinese–Korean transnational film encounters, underpinned by influential personal networks, resulted in the signing of a formal China–Korea co-production agreement in July 2014. To examine the efficacy of this policy intervention, this article analyzes the diversity of film collaboration that preceded this agreement and its impact on transnational filmmaking in China. It investigates the strategies used in the remaking of Korean auteur Lee Man Hee’s 1966 melodrama Late Autumn (2010), technical innovation in the VFX-heavy Mr. Go (2013), and the making of mega-distributor CJ E&M’s romance drama A Wedding Invitation (2013) to illustrate how Korean firms and practitioners are expanding the commercial entertainment boundaries of Chinese cinema. In so doing, it also reveals how Chinese film companies are enabling the Korean film industry to internationalize its approach to overseas markets beyond the kind of conspicuous policy initiatives tailored for a globalized cultural economy.