Insularity, Sovereignty and Statehood: The Representation of Islands on Portolan Charts and The Construction of The Territorial State

This article investigates the cartographic origins of the idea that the territorial state is a unified, bounded, homogeneous and naturally occurring entity, in a world of equivalent but unique entities. It is noted that this image of the territorial state closely resembles the representation of islands on sixteenth‐century portolan charts, and this suggests a historical link between the Renaissance‐era imagination of islands and the modern imagination of states. The article posits that the concept of territorial unity and boundedness, which appeared on portolan charts to signify islands as obstacles amidst maritime routes of movement, migrated in the late sixteenth‐century to form the basis for representing the emergent concept of the territorial state. It is suggested that the conceptual and aesthetic links between these representations of islands and states has led to an ongoing dilemma for those who seek to comprehend (or cartographically represent) islands that are divided between multiple states.     

建国以来党坚持依法执政的基本经验

党坚持依法执政的历史始于建国执政之初。经过50多年坚持依法执政的探索和实践,中国共产党已避步清晰地认识到“什么是依法执政和怎样坚持依法执政”的这一重大命题。总结和汲取建国以来党坚持依法执政的基本经验,不仅有助于我们认识和把握坚持依法执政的基本规律,而且对于推劝党的依法执政能力建设具有重要的现实意义。     

陈云与粮食统购统销

陈云是20世纪50年代起实行的粮食统购统销政策的提出者和设计者。他提出和制定这一政策,可以追溯到抗战时期在陕甘宁边区对棉花、食盐实行统购统销的尝试。陈云提出该政策的最初动机是为了解决当时粮食供销矛盾,但其根本目的,则是要将这些商品的生产和分配纳入国家计划之内。粮食统购统销实行后,陈云向中央提出“三定”办法,平息了统购统销过程中国家与农民的冲突。该政策最初是一种临时性、过渡性的政策,但后来逐渐演变为一种经济运行体制,成为社会主义计划经济体制形成的一个重要标志。     

Archaeological Perspectives on the Rise of the Okinawan State

This paper presents an examination of processes of secondary state formation that occurred during the emergence of the Ryukyu Kingdom, in southwestern Japan, from the tenth to seventeenth centuries A.D. These processes include the influx of new populations, the appearance of new subsistence strategies and political groupings, shifting patterns of long-distance trade, the development of new patterns of foreign relations with China and Japan, the creation of indigenous culture and new ideology, and the transformation of gender hierarchy. I examine these processes from the perspective of political leadership and the nature of political hierarchy, concluding that the Okinawan case is distinctive in its heterarchical organization. The corporate, collective nature of Okinawan communities was overlain by a state-level network system that developed at the time of tributary linkages with China in the fourteenth century A.D.     

Interpreting Enterprise,State, and Society: A Critical Review of the Literature in Modern Chinese Business History, 1978–2008

This article offers a critical review of literature in the area of modern Chinese business history from 1978 to 2008. It focuses on four interconnected topics: (1) the evolution of industrial capitalism, (2) the adoption of corporate hierarchies and/or social networks, (3) the change of financial institutions and monetary system, and (4) the development of state-owned industries and the formation of the (central) state enterprise system. The review reveals not only significant growth of the field of modern Chinese business history over the last three decades but also the existence of major gaps. The article concludes by considering the implications of its findings for understanding the political economy of business enterprises and enterprise systems in different national and historical contexts.     

A Historical and Jurisprudential Analysis of Suzerain-Vassal State Relationships in the Qing Dynasty

Studies of suzerain-vassal state relationships in the Qing dynasty have been a focus of domestic and overseas academic circles. This paper examines the origins, semiotics, and legal principles of suzerain-vassal state relationships in the Qing dynasty with some innovative viewpoints. Translated from Studies in Qing History, No. 1, 2004     

Globalization and the politics of local and regional development: the question of convergenc

Globalization, and the increased exposure to international competition that it has supposedly induced, has led to expectations of institutional convergence in, among other things, local and regional development policy and the politics surrounding it. There have been changes in the United Kingdom, but not of the decentralizing, neo-liberalizing form anticipated. A comparison of the British with the very different, highly decentralized, American case seeks to shed light on this. Emphasis is placed on both the strongly embedded nature of institutions and on misunderstandings about the strength of the forces of globalization.     

杨光先与清初"历案"的再评价

康熙初年,杨光先和传教士汤若望间发生的历法之争,杨光先被视做守旧士大夫的典型,几成史界共识,这种评价有失公允。其实,清初“历案”是明末清初中国以儒学为主的传统化与西方基督教化冲突的继续。杨氏这一做法的本质,不能简单地理解为愚顽守旧和盲目排外,而应看做是中国有识之士对西方早期殖民活动中的宗教、化侵略的抵制与反抗。     

汉代中国经济、社会和国家权力--评许倬云的《汉代农业:早期中国农业经济的形成》

许倬云所看的《汉代农业：早期中国农业经济的形成》是美国西雅图华盛顿大学”汉代研究丛书”之一种。该著作不仅为西方读者考察和介绍了关于汉代农业的重要史料,而且还进一步诠释了古代中国农业经济、社会和国家发展的历史。但是,受魏特夫“亚细亚型社会”和“东方专制主义”观点的影响,作者在运用相关考察汉代农业经济时,却忽略了对传统史料的考证和诠释。这种倾向,导致了作者在论述水利工程、人口增长、佃农人数、国家权力和田租数量等影响农业经济发展的要素时,忽略或误读了传统史料所表达的基本信息。同样,作者对汉代地主阶级势力所作出的过低的估计也存在着相当问题。实际上,整个汉代,地主阶级的发展是极为活跃的：西汉后期,地主豪强兼并土地已愈演愈烈;迨至东汉,随着田庄的兴起,汉朝统一的根基不断被腐蚀,最后终于瓦解了汉王朝的统治。