Different Symbolic Meaning of Color in Chinese and Western Cultures

Colors are embodied with different meanings and symbols in different countries. Not only should we understand their basic and literal meanings, but also we should focus on their deep contents in symbolic meanings, because their symbolic meanings vary from culture to culture. The differences in the symbol of colors are due to different cultures and history backgrounds as well as aesthetic psychology. This paper, mainly based on the Chinese and western culture, approaches the symbols of colors represented in the two different cultures through analyzing the different understanding of colors, which can help us understand culture difference in colors better during intercultural communication.     

A little known atlas by Vesconte Maggiolo, 1518

ABSTRACT

The rediscovery of the Selden Map of China (MS Selden Supra 105) in the Bodleian Library in 2008 provides an opportunity to reassess the history of Chinese cartography and debates about maritime dimensions of the Ming Empire. The map depicts a network of Chinese shipping routes, reaching from Japan to Aceh, Sumatra, and suggests previously unknown map-making techniques. In this article I draw attention to the map's unique components, notably its portrayal of shipping routes and vegetation, consider its sources, and suggest a possible patron and location of composition.     

Study on Response Spectral Acceleration from the Great Wenchuan,China Earthquake of May 12, 2008

The M _w7.9 Wenchuan earthquake produced a rich set of over 1,400 accelerograms, which helped us to better understand strong ground motions from such a large event. Using the abundant data, we investigated the characteristics of response spectral accelerations from this event. This study includes: the spatial distribution of spectral amplitudes at three periods selected to represent ground motions at short, short-middle, and middle-long period ranges; attenuations of response spectral accelerations at periods between 0.05 and 10 s; comparison between the observed ground motions and predicted motions from empirically based equations [Abrahamson and Silva,1997 Abrahamson, N. N. and Silva, W. J. 1997. Empirical response spectral attenuation relations for shallow crustal earthquakes. Seismological Ressearch Letters, 68: 9–23. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Boore et al., 1997 Boore, D. M., Joyner, W. B. and Fumal, T. E. 1997. Equations for estimating horizontal response spectra and peak acceleration from Western North America earthquakes: a summary of recent work. Seismological Ressearch Letters, 68: 128–153. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Campbell, 1997 Campbell, K. W. 1997. Empirical near-source attenuation relationships for horizontal and vertical components of peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and pseudo-absolute acceleration response spectra. Seismological Ressearch Letters, 68: 154–179. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Huo, 1989 Huo, J. R. Ph.D. 1989. Study on the attenuation laws of strong earthquake ground motion near the source, Dissertation, Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Earthquake Administration. (In Chinese) [Google Scholar]] commonly used in America and China; comparison between the average response spectra at three distance bins and the Chinese seismic design spectra under major earthquake (with the recurrent interval of over 2,000 years);, the vertical-to-horizontal ratio of response spectra and its dependence on the rupture distance, period, and local site condition; and comparison between the fault-normal and fault-parallel component spectral accelerations within the rupture distance of 60 km. Based on these analyses, we finally drew some conclusions regarding the engineering characteristics of spectral accelerations from large earthquakes, such as Wenchuan of M _w 7.9.     

On Chinese-Sanskrit Comparative Indexing

Heinrich Heine’s ?Two Chinese Scholars“ Revisited

Twenty-five years ago, the author published a treatise dealing with the two Chinese mentioned by Heinrich Heine in The Harz Journey as well as in a private letter. These men served as teachers for Wilhelm Schott, the future first professor of Chinese at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität of Berlin. Since then, a number of scholars turned to this topic and consider the two of them as pioneers of Chinese immigration to Berlin, Prussia or Germany respectively. Most of these scholars interpret certain facts according to their own liking, though there are no sources at all to support their suppositions. The present paper addresses all these misinterpretations. Moreover, newly discovered contemporary reports about the two Chinese are quoted verbatim.     

Angelo Zottoli's Cursus litteraturæ sinicæ as Propaedeutic to Chinese Classical Tradition

One of the most impressive landmarks in Western Sinology must be the Cursus litteraturæ sinicæ by Italian Jesuit Angelo Zottoli (1826–1902). This four-thousand page work, presented as a Latin introduction to the written Chinese language, is actually a synoptic guide to the Chinese tradition, encompassing a vast range of texts from the Shijing 詩經 (Book of Songs) to Qing-era examination essays, poetry, and letters. The Cursus was regarded even in its own time as an overly demanding text for beginners, but it remains a useful model for thinking about how scholars of premodern China should approach the linguistic and rhetorical features of texts. Though specialized study is essential, an appreciation of premodern China also demands comprehensive perspective. Conscious reflection on the Cursus and its potential may thus help to clarify some of the challenges faced by Sinology in the 21st century.     

Provenance research by INAA on ancient Chinese white porcelain excavated from the Maojiawan site of Beijing

More than one million shards of ancient Chinese porcelain were excavated at the Maojiawan pit in Beijing in September 2005. Among these shards, four types of ancient Chinese white porcelain were identified. The ages and provenances of three of these types of porcelain were accurately determined by archaeologists based on typology. However, different archaeologists interpreted the other/fourth type differently. According to the colour of the porcelain body, it was easily identified as the product of the Jingdezhen kilns of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD). However, based on the vessel shape, this fourth type of porcelain was also identified as the product of the Cizhou kilns of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368 AD). In order to determine the provenance of this type of ancient Chinese white porcelain, 131 shards comprising the four types of white porcelain identified at the site were selected as experimental specimens and analysed by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). After the processing of experimental data by principal component analysis and geochemical analysis, the results show that the provenance of this type of ancient Chinese white porcelain is the Jingdezhen, not the Cizhou kiln.     

Cultural rights and citizenship in cultural policy: Taiwan and China

From the 1990s, academia has paid increasing attention to cultural rights and cultural citizenship. This paper reviews existing literature on the construction of cultural rights and cultural citizenship and argues that cultural citizenship expands the concept of ‘citizenship’, promotes citizens’ consciousness, and confirms the content of ‘cultural rights’. The concept of cultural citizenship provides a new perspective from which to examine the challenges of cultural inequality, taste differences, symbolic struggle in cultural participation, and consumption. Based on western theories, this paper discusses the development of cultural citizenship and cultural rights in cultural policy in Taiwan and China, and it finds the tension between control and autonomy and between the government and the civil society in the practice of cultural citizenship. In Taiwan, most cultural policies are developed and implemented by the government, and those affected by them often do not have the necessary critical awareness to judge or examine them. In China, the protection of cultural rights provides a new type of control rather than autonomy from the Chinese Government. In both Taiwan and China, it is important to empower civil society to balance the governments’ control over the practice of cultural citizenship.     

Following the caterpillar fungus: nature,commodity chains,and the place of Tibet in China's uneven geographies

Following caterpillar fungus as it travels from the Tibetan Plateau to wealthy Chinese consumers, this article makes several interventions into geographical studies of commodity chains. First, it argues for an expansion beyond the usual call to connect the political economy of production with cultures of consumption; the cultural politics of production and political economies of consumption must also be considered. Second, it argues for bringing together political economy and more-than-human analytical approaches to commodity chains, showing how nature and the nonhuman play a key role in an assemblage that has allowed Tibetans to navigate livelihoods in a rapidly changing economy. This challenges a tendency to assume a universal figure of ‘the human’ in more-than-human geographies. Third, by connecting the erasure of Tibetans from representations of various natures used to sell caterpillar fungus with the broader politics of Tibetans within the People's Republic of China, we show that commodity fetishism can conceal not just labor relations, but also political struggles not reducible to class. Finally, we show that following a small fungus can shed light on the unevenness of China's capitalist development obscured in monolithic narratives of China's rise, demonstrating the value of expanding commodity chain studies beyond those that end with Western consumers.