A Textual Study of the Myth of Manchu Origin

The myth of Manchu origin was narrated in different versions with the same theme and variant details. Based on Manchu documents, the myth of Manchu origin has two early versions that were written in Manchu with minor differences in the narration of the story. From the earliest version of 1635 to the version compiled in the nineteenth century, all the authors highlight that the origin of the Manchu people as coming from a heavenly being, with the purpose of reinforcing the Qing dynasty’s legitimacy as coming from the heaven, as was officially declared by the Qing government throughout the dynasty. This article makes a comparative study based on evidential research on the facts contained in different versions of the myth and the time periods of composition.     

Legal heritage and urban slums

This paper studies the effect of legal origins (common law vs. civil law) on contemporary slum formation in developing countries. First, we provide a cross-country correlation analysis. Second, we provide a regression discontinuity analysis using household data from Cameroon. The results suggest that a common law heritage is associated with a lower probability of slum conditions. The legal philosophies transplanted through colonization appear to be associated with the pattern of contemporary urban housing stocks in developing countries.     

Place in legal geography: Agency and application in agriculture research

Systemic failure of our land management, legal, and regulatory institutions is revealed by the serious and adverse social and environmental impacts of land use practices in private agriculture, evident in severe land and water degradation, precipitous decline in biodiversity, and reduced resilience to natural hazards and climate change. The efficacy of the standard treatment of environmental law and regulation is often hampered by the cultural and legal priority of property rights. We take a different approach, using legal geography to refocus attention on the salience and agency of place and responses to degradation, such as conservation farming and regenerative agriculture, which are reforming dominant land management cultures and institutions from within. By recognising the role of place in leading geographically responsive land use decision-making and more sustainable, resilient, and productive agricultural practices, an alternative model of private land ownership may be possible, as well as greater environmental sustainability. For researchers, our approaches too must be sensitive and responsive to place agency and our methodologies must evolve to acknowledge the agency of place. Place agency in legal geography has great potential for application in reforming suboptimal industrial agricultural practices and legal models of property ownership, and also for revitalising our scholarship.     

健康城市化:新的发展理念及其政策含义

我国城市化已进入一个新阶段,高速推进的城市化面临许多突出问题。在研究和政策方面也陷入困境,对未来城市化发展取向和道路认识不一。本文提出健康城市化的发展理念。它有3个理论来源:健康观的演变与系统健康科学的兴起,发展观的演变与人类发展指数评价,人地关系演变与可持续发展理论。在归纳其对健康城市化的启示的基础上,界定了健康城市化的概念,明确提出三个内涵:人的发展、城乡互动、资源环境,并与传统城市化进行比较。相应的政策含义是:资源环境是城市化的基础,城乡协调和互动是城市化的关键环节,"人的发展"是城市化的出发点与最终目标。     

试论我国的社会救助法律制度

本文认为,社会救助法律制度的产生和发展是社会进步的标志之一,但我国目前的社会救助法律制度还不够完备,满足不了现实要求。因此,建立完备的社会救助法律制度已是当务之急。     

日本女性离职问题及其劳动权的法律保障

日本经济的长期不振,导致了失业率急剧上升,女性失业尤为突出。随之,也带来了女性失业性离职的诸多问题。察其女性离职的原因,社会的、公司的、个人的等多种因素同时并存,相互交织,呈复合态势。离职带来的直接影响是收入的锐减;就心态而言,乐观向上与消极处世并存。由于年龄的差异,日本女性再就业呈“M”型态,再就业形势仍十分严峻。对此,日本采取了改进和完善女性劳动权保障制度和修改《雇佣保险法》和《男女雇佣机会均等法》等举措。     

说“商”

本文在前人研究的基础上,认为玄鸟、帝、商、汤四名是相通的,“商”是成汤灭夏后建国才有的国号,“商”音由“汤、唐”来,字形由帝(玄乌)来。商族自建国后一直自称“商”,武王克商后,周人才改称“商”为“衣”、“殷”。     

非洲与现代人的起源

德国慕尼黑和美国宾夕法尼亚两个实验室的科学研究小组,在没有研究一根尼安德特人骨头的情况下,可能一劳永逸地解决了尼人问题。这两个实验室的专家称,他们在1856年发现的尼人骨架上提取了尼人的...     

唐寅治生探微

唐寅虽一直享有才子之名,但他因出身于"屠酤"之家,又受到科举弊案的牵连,失去了仕进之路,不得不从事治生。先是到宁王朱宸濠府上做门客,不过时间较短,其后长期以出售书画为生。唐寅由于自身的人生经历和对下层文士生活状况的了解,十分重视文人治生,认为文人读书不如先治生。他认为出售书画是一种可行的治生之道,应依靠自己的才能进行治生,反对赚昧心钱。     

Contesting captive cetaceans: (il)legal spaces and the nature of dolphins in urban Singapore

Drawing on the debate over dolphin captivity in Singapore, we examine the ways in which human–animal relationships are contested. Departing from most animal geography studies which often focused on the conflictual spatial transgressions of animals into human spaces, we use the idea of ‘captivity’ as a heuristic to posit that human–animal relationships are necessarily moral, spatially enmeshed in contestations over what is (un)natural and increasingly entwined in legal geographies. While such an argument mirrors other sites of animal captivity (for example, zoos), dolphin captivity sits in a more ambiguous legal terrain than most other captive animals in zoos. Moreover, the very ‘nature’ of dolphins makes debates over their ‘authenticity’ ever more complex. The moralities of cetaceans are simultaneously underpinned by questions of the spatial (‘captive sites’ and ‘open seas’), the socio-cultural (‘charismatic animals’) and the legal (‘regulatory frameworks governing their welfare and whether they are endangered or not’). Hitherto, cetaceans are less researched (compared to terrestrial creatures) in animal geographies with even fewer studies focusing on cetacean captivity. We call for an expanded notion of ‘captivity’ that is relative, relational and non-absolute and underpinned by the notions of ‘nature’. In so doing, we align ourselves more with the anti-captivity camp.