Imperial power, gentry power and clan power: Western and Chinese cultural traditions in a comparative perspective

The differences between China and Western countries in human and physical environment has brought about two distinctive models of state. In the Chinese-style state of quasi-consanguinity, in which family and state have a similar structure, imperial power, gentry power, and clan power are the product of common ownership of consanguineous groups. The similarity in the structures of these three kinds of power derives from the fact that they are all restricted by the power of lineage generated from the self-sufficient small farmer economy, and must obey the conventions of ancestors which hold the benefits of the group as supreme. The relationship between these three kinds of power, is definitely not the one that is based on the division of power that is founded on individual private ownership in Western countries, where ‘public power’ and ‘individual private ownership’ are antithetic, but are three aspects of the patriarchal dictatorship that complement each other. Therefore, village rule in China and autonomy in the West are two totally different concepts, and gentry power is also not the ‘authorized power’ from the state. __________ Translated from the Journal of Tianjin Normal University, 2004: 1     

从突破部族社会桎梏的意义去认识周初变革——兼谈五种社会形态问题

周初的政治变革,打破了殷商时期以血缘纽带为依托的族邦方国结构,使中国历史从此走上了一条崭新的发展道路。它使生活于广大地域的人们开始突破狭小的、具有极强稳定性的族邦结构社会的桎梏,而形成了一种以语言文字、道德伦理和风俗习惯等文化认同为纽带的、强固紧密的精神凝聚力量,从而具有了不断向更高社会阶段发展的现实基础。     

MODELLING OF RC BEAM-COLUMN JOINTS AND STRUCTURAL WALLS

The deformation of beam-column joints may contribute significantly to drift of reinforced concrete (RC) frames. In addition, failure may occur in the joints due to cumulative concrete crushing from applied beam and column moments, bond slip of embedded bars or shear failure as in the case of existing frames with nonductile detailing. When subjected to earthquake loading, failure in RC structural wall is similar to failure of frame joints as it may occur due to cumulative crushing from high flexural stresses, bond slip failure of lap splice, shear failure or a combination of various mechanisms of failure. It is important to include these behavioural characteristics in a simple model that can be used in the analysis of RC frames and RC walls to predict their response under earthquake loading and determine their failure modes.

Global macro models for the beam-column joint and for RC structural walls are developed. The proposed models represent shear and bond slip deformations as well as flexural deformations in the plastic hinge regions. The models are capable of idealising the potential failure mechanism due to crushing of concrete, bond slip or shear with allowance for the simultaneous progress in each mode. The model predictions are compared with available experimental data and good correlation is observed between analytical results and the test measurements.     

上海私营金融业与1950年人民胜利折实公债

1950年新中国政府发行了第一笔公债———人民胜利折实公债,上海私营金融业在认购初期态度比较谨慎,不久转为积极认购,但进入缴款阶段,各行庄公司之间的情况出现了差别,超额、足额和欠缴、停缴并存。从整体上看,虽然面临前所未有的实力下降和业务经营不景气的状况,上海私营金融业仍努力完成认购任务甚至继续认购,为国民经济的恢复作出了贡献。     

古代饱水木材脱水定型机理探讨

从木材干缩的一般理论出发,探讨了古代饱水木材脱水变形的主要影响因素。阐述了古代饱水木材与新鲜木材的区别,提出饱水木材发生形变的主要影响因素同现代木材一样,是由于氢键缔合的结合水挥发,从而引起干缩和开裂。要保持脱水后的定型一方面要加固细胞壁外壁,更重要的从细胞壁内壁进行加固。     

上海私营工商业与人民胜利折实公债

1950年发行的人民胜利折实公债,是新中国成立后发行的第一笔国家公债,也是唯一一次折实公债,是国家克服当时困难、稳定金融物价的重大举措.第一期全国发行1万万分,上海承担了其中的3000万分,占华东的2/3,占全国的近1/3的份额,而这主要是由上海私营工商业者承担的.上海私营工商界响应政府号召,努力克服自身暂时的困难,顾全大局,积极认缴公债,表现了他们的爱国主义精神.     

Did the Nationalist Government Manipulate the Chinese Bond Market? A Quantitative Perspective on Short-Term Price Fluctuations of Domestic Government Bonds, 1932–1934

Based on a newly constructed set of data, this paper offers a quantitative perspective on the Nationalist Government’s relations with China’s domestic bond markets during the period 1932–34. For all the recent revisionist scholarship on the achievements of Nationalist state-building, the perception of the Nationalist elite as corrupt is still widely accepted. In order to demonstrate the empirical potential of quantitative financial history, this paper tests one particular assertion: that members of the Nationalist elite manipulated the issue price of domestic government bonds in order to enrich themselves and their associates. We test this by calculating two price data correlations: that of a first sample of government bonds, all of them issued before 1932, and that of a second sample of government bonds, which includes bonds issued during the period under review. The price fluctuations of the first sample are correlated with each other to a much higher degree than those of the second sample. This indicates that the prices of bonds in the first sample were reacting similarly to the same range of influences, while the bonds issued during the period under review and included in the second sample were displaying individual price fluctuations. One possible explanation for this is that members of the Nationalist elite enriched themselves or their associates by issuing domestic government bonds at artificially low prices. In sum, the article illustrates both the potential and the limitations of quantitative history: it allows us to test and dismiss a precisely formulated hypothesis about Nationalist corruption, but it is only one possible way in which statistical analysis can be applied and does not cover the whole realm of state practices.     

1954～1958年国家经济建设公债述论

国家经济建设公债是解放初期继人民胜利折实公债后,新中国中央人民政府发行的第二次国内公债。从1954年至1958年连续发行5年,尽管发行规模较小,没有流通性,占国家预算收入比重不大,但它在国民经济基础十分薄弱的条件下,为顺利完成一五计划提供了部分资金保障。全国各阶级阶层都为公债的顺利发行发挥了重要的作用,体现了全国上下对新政权的高度认同和爱国热忱。     

北洋政府时期的九六公债述评

1922年北洋政府对逾亿元的盐余抵押借款进行整理,发行九六公债。九六公债从议起、发行到偿还均遇到困难,遭到非议,并先后造成两次影响很大的公债风潮。北洋时期这样一项重要的公债个案,体现了北洋政府时期发行公债的一些特点并折射出京沪两地证券市场的一些差异。     

Innovation and the Entrepreneurial State in Asia: Mechanisms of Bond Market Development

Abstract

Bond markets have expanded rapidly in emerging East Asian economies in recent years. Asian policymakers have played a pivotal role in this development. This process presents an interesting challenge to the developmental state literature associated with bank-based financial systems. We argue that it is best to understand the role of the state as an entrepreneurial state in the construction of these markets, focusing on institutional innovation in three mechanisms of state-led market infrastructure: national or local credit rating agencies, mortgage corporations and bond pricing agencies. National credit rating agencies rate the creditworthiness of debt in local currency. Mortgage corporations create markets in securitised housing loans. Bond pricing agencies put a value on illiquid debt instruments to enable mark-to-market portfolio management. Together, these three mechanisms constitute the core determinants of the market (demand for creditworthy products, supply of tradeable assets, and the fixing of a price to those assets). In so doing they influence the nature of market operations, producing outcomes very different from the free market ideal type. We also consider cross-country commonalities and variations in this general pattern.