Chinese Print Research Articles

Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon ed. by Jiang Wu and Lucille Chia

Reviewed by: Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon ed. by Jiang Wu and Lucille Chia Elizabeth Morrison (bio) Jiang Wu and Lucille Chia, editors. Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon, Sheng Yen Series in Chinese Buddhist Studies. New York: Columbia, 2015. xx, 405 pp. Hardcover $75.00, ISBN 978-0-231-17160-1. E-book $74.99, ISBN 978-0-231-54019-3. [End Page 413] Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia is an ambitious treatment of a crucial subject. Although we often refer to the Chinese Buddhist canon in the singular, it exists in many editions and forms, from manuscript to stone to print. This volume takes on the full historical range of the Chinese Buddhist canon, from the first known translations of Buddhist texts into Chinese in the second century to the initial attempt a few centuries later to catalogue Buddhist texts to the contemporary electronic Tripitaka project of the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association (CBETA) based in Taiwan. In addition to the canon's inherent importance as a major body of religious literature, the process of its emergence represents a major aspect of the process by which the Buddhist tradition took root in China. This volume on the Chinese Buddhist canon is, simply put, essential reading for anyone concerned with the study of East Asian Buddhism. It also has much to offer for others as well, especially those interested in canon formation, state–religion relations, and the history of printing. Depending on one's needs, it may serve as a reference work, a volume to be pored over from cover to cover, or both. For those of us who research and teach from the Chinese Buddhist canon, this volume offers the experience of walking into a library complex one often uses, only to encounter a number of specialized guides. These guides introduce the deep history of the complex (and precursors lost to war or neglect), point out architectural details never before noticed or understood, and lead the way into rooms never before glimpsed. They also tell stories of monastics, laypeople, emperors, officials, scholars, scribes, woodblock carvers, printers, and artists, bringing to life not only these people but also the intricate and varied political, social, cultural, economic, and religious motives and circumstances at work throughout the long history of the canon. Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia represents the collaboration of two editors especially well prepared to take on the topic of the Chinese Buddhist canon. Jiang Wu is a leading scholar of Chinese Buddhism, and Lucille Chia is an expert in Chinese print history. The volume includes a preface by Lewis Lancaster, four sets of chapters organized by issue or period, an appendix by Li Fuhua and He Mei surveying printed editions of the canon, and an appendix by the late Aming Tu, translated by Xin Zi, describing the CBETA project. Notably, the contributors range from eminent senior scholars to junior scholars and reflect the strength of East Asian Buddhist studies in East Asia, Europe, and North America. Their contributions vary considerably in the ratio of broad intellectual questions to technical and historical details, but as a whole, the volume does a very good job of combining the large-scale questions of canon formation and the smaller-scale questions of particular editions. The first set of chapters, following a helpful introduction by the editors, consists of two excellent chapters by Jiang Wu. In the first, he addresses the issues at play in defining the Chinese Buddhist canon: Is it singular? Is it [End Page 414] Chinese? Is it a canon? He also takes up overarching concerns, including its relation to Indian Buddhist text collections and the common scholarly characterization of the Chinese Buddhist canon as "open," which he disputes. In the second, Wu describes a "cult of the canon," connected to the Mahäyäna "cult of the book." Included among these devotions are some fascinating innovations. Wu narrates, for example, the rise of the "revolving repository," a bookcase for the canon that could be rotated or circumambulated. He also describes the appearance of a...

Book Review: Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Individualism in Modern China: The Chenbao Fukan and the New Culture Era, 1918-1929, by Xiaoqun Xu

Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Individualism in Modern China: The Chenbao Fukan and Culture Era, 1918-1929. Xiaoqun Xu. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2014. 254 pp. $23.70 pbk.In this book, Xiaoqun Xu explores complicated interactions between and nationalism in Chinese intellectual life by examining history of journalism in early 20th-century China. It is a thought-provoking addition to rapidly expanding body of literature on history of modern Chinese mass media, cultural globalization, and discourse on nature of Chinese nationalism/internationalism. To explain current trends in intellectual discourse among Chinese media and intelligentsia, author focuses his research in turbulent 1920s, which he claims are essential to understanding Chinese history and culture.Xiaoqun Xu is a professor of history at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. He specializes in history of Chinese modernization and intellectual discourse. In work under review, Xu addresses three important questions: Which materials were published in The Chenbao Fukan? What was role played by this newspaper supplement in growing Chinese print media, in forming and informing the and public opinion? And what does all this say about historical significance of cultural era in China?The six chapters of monograph discuss various aspects of what author calls New Cultural Era spanning 1918 to 1928, post-World War I years that saw consolidation of China as a republic and an emerging modern nation-state (the Chinese Empire was abolished in 1911). The issue of media and cultural globalization in China has of course been quite intensively researched by both Western and Chinese scholars (Doug Guthrie 2006, Huike Wen 2013, etc.). Yet, Xiaoqun Xu believes he can offer a fresh look at political and cultural discourses through analysis of a single, but very influential media outlet: The Chenbao Fukan, literary supplement to Morning Post newspaper published in Beijing. He argues that importance of The Fukan derives from the growing role of newspaper supplements in shaping men and women's reading habits and engaging their political, intellectual and literary interest. In turn, emerging media contributed significantly to influencing opinion on various issues, such as rising nationalism and what he terms cosmopolitanism and individualism throughout new cultural era.The book conceptualizes dynamics of political and intellectual history, and specifically history of Chinese journalism, by utilizing content analysis and case studies of The Chenbao Fukan. The first chapter deals with background of cultural debates in China in general and its capital Beijing in particular, and role of Chinese media in these debates. In addition, Xu looks at editorial policy of newspaper, attempting to explain how and why The Chenbao Fukan became so popular and influential. Chapter 2 assesses emergence of three important topics in newspaper: cosmopolitanism, nationalism, and what author calls Colonial hierarchy. …

Neural specialization for print in Chinese-English language learners

Abstract Visual specialization for print is an essential structural element of fluent reading. Previous research suggests that lateralization of N1 print tuning may depend on both the writing system and the skill level. Here, we tested which of these effects was more prominent in beginning readers of Chinese (L1) and English (L2). Using an ERP measure with an implicit one-back repetition detection task, we investigated the neural basis of visual specialization for print in Chinese and English among eleven 7-to-8-year-old Hong Kong children, who were learning to read Chinese and English in parallel, though showing lower skills in English. N1 print tuning was found for both Chinese and English words, but was bilateral for Chinese and right-lateralized for English. In addition, the specialization effect of print started as early as in the time window of the P1, with a reduced P1 for Chinese and English words as compared to the visually matched control stimuli. These findings suggest that Chinese readers in 2nd grade show clear visual specialization for both Chinese and English print and that right-lateralized N1 specialization may be driven by less reading experience in English rather than by writing-specific effects induced by Chinese.

Contemporary Chinese Print Media: Cultivating Middle-Class Taste, by Yi Zheng. London: Routledge, 2013. xii + 119 pp. £85.00/$145.00 (hardcover).

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsContemporary Chinese Print Media: Cultivating Middle-Class Taste, by Yi Zheng. London: Routledge, 2013. xii + 119 pp. £85.00/$145.00 (hardcover).Shuyu KongShuyu KongSimon Fraser University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The China Journal Volume 74July 2015 Published on behalf of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/681744 Views: 58Total views on this site Copyright 2015 by The Australian National University. All rights reserved. For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Depictions of Mulan with Her Family and with Her Horse in Chinese Prints

The legend of Mulan is well-known. She was the daughter who took her father’s place in the army, and after years of service, her martial colleagues were amazed to discover that their comrade was a woman. Interpretations of her action, her story and its variations have been the subject of many studies of Chinese women. Mulan is pictured in illustrated books and other printed material; nevertheless, analysis of her image has largely been neglected. This study focuses on two components of her pictorial history: First, her emotional relationship with her family in scenes of her departure from home and her return; and second, images of Mulan with her horse. Initially, in late-Ming dynasty representations, her horse, often physically disassociated from Mulan, has played a minor, passive role in domestic scenes of Mulan’s departure from home and her return home. In the late nineteenth-century, Mulan’s relationship with her horse became more personal when she was depicted as a member of the “One Hundred Beauties” genre. Finally, the portrayal of Mulan with her horse is dramatically dynamic: they both anticipate participation in battle as depicted in politically motivated advertisement calendar posters relating to the Japanese invasion of China during the 1930s.

Chinese Kindergartners Learn to Read Characters Analytically

Do Chinese children implicitly extract information from Chinese print before they are formally taught to read? We examined Chinese kindergartners’ sensitivity to regularities in Chinese characters and the relationship between such sensitivity and later literacy ability. Eighty-five kindergartners from Beijing were given a character-learning task and assessed on word reading and word writing twice within a 1-year interval. Sensitivity to the structural and phonetic regularities in Chinese appeared in 4-year-olds, and sensitivity to the positions of radicals in Chinese characters emerged in 5-year-olds. Such sensitivities explained unique variance in Chinese word reading and writing 1 year later, with age and nonverbal IQ statistically controlled. Young children detected regularities in written Chinese before they received formal instruction in it, which underscores both the importance of early statistical learning for literacy development and the analytic properties of Chinese print.

Power and Carbon Sovereignty in a Non-Traditional Capitalist State: Discourses of Carbon Trading in China

Carbon markets devolve governance to external institutions and displace power from sovereign states. Major producers in these markets, notably China, have expressed concern about the adverse implications for national interests and sovereignty associated with selling off the rights to emit carbon emissions abroad. This article suggests that such concern has shaped the discursive context in which emission trading schemes have gained popularity in the country. Our discourse analysis shows that notions of market power are made manifest as a powerful storyline. In the Chinese language, “power,” “sovereignty,” and “rights” all use the same character. The storyline captures all these expressions and allows for a positive view about active engagement in carbon trading as a way to protect development rights and redeem carbon sovereignty. Thus, the contested policy of emissions trading becomes embedded in the more appealing narrative of national development and made politically attractive, despite unfavorable realities against it.

Book review: Contemporary Chinese Print Media: Cultivating Middle-Class Taste

Book review: Contemporary Chinese Print Media: Cultivating Middle-Class Taste

Typography for a Modern World? The Ways of Chinese Movable Types

This article presents a brief history and poses questions about traditional Chinese movable type printing. This is a technology that developed in the pre-modern period and never underwent in the mechanization in the ways that Western movable type printing did. Nevertheless, even today, Chinese traditional movable types continue to be used in some places in China. The authors not only describe the chronology of but also analyse significant cultural, political, and social factors affecting the development traditional Chinese typography. The first part of this article discusses the movable type made of earthenware and of wood, which are described in various sources written by scholar-officials. In the case of movable type for the Tangut script, however, the main evidence come from chiefly religious imprints which provide information about material evidence as well as a few about printers, typesetters, etc. The second section describes the long hiatus from the Yuan until the second half of the fifteenth century in the utilization of metallic typography in the private circles in Wuxi in Jiangnan, whose publications still survive, and how during the last dynasty, the movable type production reflects some trends in book publishing in general, with the important engagement of some of the Manchu emperors. In the last section of the paper, the authors explain why although wooden types existed in the Kingdom of Xixia (1032-1227) and in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), it was only in the Ming (1368-1644) to Qing (1644-1911) periods that their use became more widespread in China. Wooden movable type played a key role in the printing of genealogies in various areas (e.g. Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hunan, and Fujian). That all also indicates that wood is the “material medium” of traditional Chinese printing, never mind if employed in blocks or types.

Contemporary Chinese print media: cultivating middle class taste

Contemporary Chinese print media: cultivating middle class taste

Measuring Language Effects of Bilingual Advertisements on the Language Preference among Chinese students in a University

The influence of advertising language on the readers’ emotion is pertinent in sustaining customer loyalty and long-term relationships. This study is a contrastive analysis of Chinese New Year seasonal greetings on English and Chinese print advertisements that identifies the language preference and its impact on the emotional affect of Chinese undergraduates. The quantitative study was carried out amongst 63 university students based on a questionnaire constructed on the PANAS-X Manual for the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The Basic Positive Emotion Scales (PANAS-X Manual) components identified in this study are Joviality, Self-Assurance and Attentiveness that covered several sub-components of affects. The overall scale for the three adverts in the English and Chinese adverts showed that the English adverts recorded a lower scale of the emotional affect compared to the Chinese adverts. Among the three different emotional affects too, the Attentiveness component recorded a higher emotional scale compared to Self-assurance and Joviality whereby reunion themes are preferred by the respondents’ in both the Chinese and English adverts. The study gives insights into language forms that evoke emotional interest and would be useful for planning the language writing tasks in various ways. Keywords: Language preference, Relationship marketing, Emotional affect, Bilingual advertising

Recent Development and Trends of Chinese Printing Industry

Recent Development and Trends of Chinese Printing Industry

A Study on the Relationship between Encoding and Decoding in the Chinese New Year Prints

A Study on the Relationship between Encoding and Decoding in the Chinese New Year Prints

Media Reports of Olympic Success by Chinese and American Gold Medalists: Cultural Differences in Causal Attribution

Our study examines media reports of attribution of success by American and Chinese gold medalists at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Broadcast interviews were selected from official websites of NBC from the United States and CCTV from China. In addition, news reports from Chinese and American print media were selected through the Access World News database between August 8, 2008 (start of the Olympics) and August 31, 2008 (1 week after the closing ceremony). Results show that Chinese athletes, as reported by both Chinese broadcast and print media, attributed success to situational factors such as support and encouragement from socially important others, societal motivation, and national pride. American athletes were reported by American media to attribute success to dispositional factors such as personal characteristics and self-motivation. These results suggest that individual accounts of success as reported in the media are consistent with cultural norms and values.

Chinese newspaper coverage of genetically modified organisms

BackgroundDebates persist around the world over the development and use of genetically modified organisms (GMO). News media has been shown to both reflect and influence public perceptions of health and science related debates, as well as policy development. To better understand the news coverage of GMOs in China, we analyzed the content of articles in two Chinese newspapers that relate to the development and promotion of genetically modified technologies and GMOs.MethodsSearching in the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Core Newspaper Database (CNKI-CND), we collected 77 articles, including news reports, comments and notes, published between January 2002 and August 2011 in two of the major Chinese newspapers: People’s Daily and Guangming Daily. We examined articles for perspectives that were discussed and/or mentioned regarding GMOs, the risks and benefits of GMOs, and the tone of news articles.ResultsThe newspaper articles reported on 29 different kinds of GMOs. Compared with the possible risks, the benefits of GMOs were much more frequently discussed in the articles. 48.1% of articles were largely supportive of the GM technology research and development programs and the adoption of GM cottons, while 51.9% of articles were neutral on the subject of GMOs. Risks associated with GMOs were mentioned in the newspaper articles, but none of the articles expressed negative tones in regards to GMOs.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that the Chinese print media is largely supportive of GMOs. It also indicates that the print media describes the Chinese government as actively pursuing national GMO research and development programs and the promotion of GM cotton usage. So far, discussion of the risks associated with GMOs is minimal in the news reports. The media, scientists, and the government should work together to ensure that science communication is accurate and balanced.

Dividing lines at the word boundary position helps reading in Chinese

Unlike in English, the Chinese printing and writing systems usually do not respect a word boundary when they split lines; thus, characters belonging to a word can be on two different lines. In this study, we examined whether dividing a word across two lines interferes with Chinese reading and found that reading times were shorter when characters belonging to a word were on a single line rather than on adjacent lines. Eye movement data indicated that gaze durations in a region around the word boundary were longer and fixations were closer to the beginnings and ends of the lines when words were split across lines. These results suggest that words are processed as a whole in Chinese reading, so that word boundaries should be respected when deciding how to split lines in the Chinese writing system. They also suggest that the length of return sweeps in reading can be cognitively guided.

Multiple impressions: contemporary Chinese woodblock prints

Multiple impressions: contemporary Chinese woodblock prints

The Printed image in China: from the 8th to the 21st centuries

The British Museum holds one of the finest collections of Chinese prints outside Asia, with particular strength in the modern period. Its wide range includes examples dating back to the invention of printing in China through its development, both technically and aesthetically, over more than a millennium, from the 8th to the 20th century. This book features 100 of the most iconic and important examples from the British Museums collection, all illustrated with color photographs taken specially for this publication. Many have never before been published. The accompanying text explains the important features of each print, including techniques, aesthetic principles and cultural context, to open up this fascinating subject to a wider audience. The introduction gives a concise survey of the subject, explaining how revolutionary the invention of printing in China was and how its influence spread worldwide. Contributions from three international experts give context for the major sections. The unique range and scope of the British Museums collection offer the material for a stunning overview which provides a long overdue introduction to the Chinese printmakers art.

From woodblocks to the internet: Chinese publishing and print culture in transition

From woodblocks to the internet: Chinese publishing and print culture in transition

Boris Riftin and Chinese Popular Woodblock Prints As Sources on Traditional Chinese Theater

Boris Riftin (a.k.a., Li Fuqing 李福清), Professor at the Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Science, was born in Leningrad in 1932 (fig. 1). He is recognized for his extensive publications on Chinese popular literature. Two aspects of his career are less well known. First, that he often used Chinese popular woodblock prints in his research on Chinese oral performing literature. Second, that he made Chinese popular prints held in Russian collections available to a broader audience for investigation. The purpose of this essay is threefold: to introduce Riftin‘s work with Chinese opera prints, his efforts to publicize Chinese prints in Russian collections, and how depictions of traditional Chinese theater (referred to as opera below) in the prints might be of value in understanding aspects of the history of the genre. Chinese popular prints are inexpensive, mostly colored woodblock prints destined for the mass market. They often are termed ―new year prints‖ (nianhua 年畫). This term is misleading because only some, but not all, of these prints were printed to replace earlier versions of themselves during the New Year season. Pairs of door guard prints pasted on exterior doors, exposed to wind and rain, easily became tattered and so needed to be replaced annually. Images of the Stove God placed in the kitchen, ritually burned in New Year ceremonies, would be replaced each year with a new one. Prints in demand at other times of the year include images of protective deities, sometimes used in rituals observing their birthday. Some prints containing auspicious motifs were considered