Chinese Symbolism Research Articles

Implementation of Chinese-styled branding in global fashion: ‘Guochao’ as a rising cultural identity

Culture-specific Chinese-styled branding as a rising trend in cultural and branding studies has provided new discourse for the discussion on the national identity of Chineseness or chinoiserie that has long existed, with further reflections on the Chinese fashion brand design known as ‘Guochao’, which has become an increasingly ubiquitous new conceptual identity in the past five years. Chinese fashion brands are changing their peripheral cultural status and impacting global fashion, transforming the global recognition of Chinese national identity and style in the field of fashion. This article investigates this emerging phenomenon in the global fashion system and theorizes ‘Guochao’ as a rising cultural identity that reconfigures and readdresses the national identity in Chinese fashion branding practices in terms of its connotations and industry applications. It shows that the ‘Guochao’ identity can be separated into two sub-connotations: one that addresses the connotations of ‘Guo’ that symbolize, rejuvenate and rematerialize Chinese historical and material culture, and one that emphasizes the ‘Chao’ discourse, featuring subtle Chinese symbolism that incorporates strong western street style and further blurs the boundaries in the West–East aesthetic binary system. Through case studies on the brand designs and campaigns of two Chinese designer brands that are paradigmatic of the ‘Guo’ identity, Angel Chen and MUKZIN, and two classic Chinese sportswear brands that are representatives of the ‘Chao’ identity, Li-Ning and Warrior Shanghai, the theoretical connotations of ‘Guochao’ as a rising cultural identity in Chinese-styled branding are discussed. This article theorizes ‘Guochao’ as a recreated representative cultural identity in global fashion that challenges the world’s understanding of chinoiserie in the field of fashion and further showcases the popularization of Chinese-styled branding in Chinese fashion.

Heroic pastoral and its national-style reception IN THE CANTATA “YELLOW RIVER” BY XIAN XINGHAI

Heroic pastoral and its national-style reception IN THE CANTATA “YELLOW RIVER” BY XIAN XINGHAI

THE UNIVERSAL LAW OF INVARIANT TRANSFORMATIONS IN SPACE OF CONTRARY AND CONTRADICTORY LOGICAL FORMS

The article describes the features of the human mind in constructing logical categories and his ability to construct reality, which constitutes itself in the form of a network of interrelated logical categories belonging to contrary or contradictory type, based on the concept of constructivism. Consideration of the relationship between grammatical and logical forms leads to the understanding that the latter can manifest itself as combinatorial - topological structures that are well modeled by the trigrams and hexagrams of the ancient Chinese symbolism of the Book of Changes (I Ching). The use of such symbolism allows to identify linkages between structures, hidden in the analytical record through the expressive means of hexagrams. Subsequent application of operations of contrary and contradicting type allowed to identify four types of invariant transformations that are combinations of contrary and contradictory relations in a model space with a basis of two opposite elements, indicating new, previously hidden ontology of reality. In this ontology, invariants are not represented by objects but with transitions between different states, connecting contrary characteristics with contradictory ones. Examples from various fields of knowledge illustrate the fundamental role of a quad-state in a variety of real world processes.

Concept of the Manifestation of God in Chinese Symbolism

This article’s hermeneutic approach accommodates transcultural interpretation of symbols and metaphors, providing for a “fusion of horizons” between civilizations with different cultural heritage. The idea that seemingly incompatible symbols can be allusions to a common underlying meaning makes it possible to develop connections between worldviews and perspectives commonly considered incommensurable, in our case between the Bahá’í concept of the Manifestation of God and corresponding Chinese philosophical and religious concepts. This paper demonstrates that there are elements of the Chinese tradition that resonate deeply with the Bahá’í notion of the Manifestation of God.

Historical and contemporary perspectives of the Nyonya food culture in Malaysia

Nyonya cuisine echoes the cultural identity of the Peranakans, who are both Chinese and localized. Despite the fact that the food is much localized, its symbolism remains traditionally Chinese. This paper explores the history, ingredients, and cooking methods crucial in the production of the cuisine, the types of food served for daily consumption, festivities and ancestral worships, as well as their Chinese symbolism. Furthermore, this paper also discusses factors that contributed to the obscurity of the culture and the cuisine after the Second World War. Lastly, the revival of the culture through the immense interest in its cuisine, especially from the 1980s, and the extent of globalization of this cuisine are also examined. Findings reported are expected to highlight the significance of Nyonya cuisine in Malaysia in the past and the present.

Back Cover: An Electrophilic Hypervalent Iodine Reagent for Trifluoromethylthiolation (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 12/2013)

A powerful and valuable reagent for direct trifluoromethylthiolation is reported by L. Lu, Q. Shen, and co-workers in their Communication on page 3457 ff. This new electrophilic hypervalent iodine reagent reacts with a wide range of substrates under mild conditions. The image shows the reagent and its products within the context of the ancient Chinese symbolism of the round sky and square earth.

Li Tongxuan's Utilization of Chinese Symbolism in the Explication of the Avataṃasaka-sūtra

This article deals with Li Tongxuan's explication of the Avataṃasaka-sūtra in terms of the Sinification of Buddhism. While the affirmation of the present human condition is shared by other Chinese Huayan masters as well, this attitude is most evident in Li Tongxuan's explication of the scripture where the Chinese symbolisms such as yin-yang and five phases are amply employed. For him, every scriptural description on ordinary objects and names, especially directions, had profound religious implications. In order to reveal these meanings in a lively and concrete language, the lay exegete Li Tongxuan freely alluded to the non-Buddhist ideas when elucidating or justifying the scriptural phrases. Although his interpretation sometimes resulted in a forced one, his intuitive adoption of the indigenous philosophy served to illumine the vision that an ordinary human condition is the foundation of the ultimate realization.

The Book of Chuang Tzu (review)

Reviewed by: The Book of Chuang Tzu John Dye (bio) Martin Palmer , translator, with Elizabeth Breuilly, Chang Wai Ming, and Jay Ramsay. The Book of Chuang Tzu. New York: Arkana/Penguin, 1996. xxx, 320 pp. Paperback $13.95, ISBN 0-14-019488-6. Perhaps I should begin by saying that I wanted to come away with a favorable impression of this book. I really did. The Zhuangzi, perhaps more than any other work in the classical Chinese corpus (and despite the monumental efforts of some very noteworthy translators, among them James Legge and Burton Watson), still wants for a lucid translation and exposition that is philosophically attuned to the native version. Given the abundance and complexity of linguistic turns within the Zhuangzi (that often rely on tropes that work only within the language itself), such an English rendition may be too much to ask. This does not mean, however, that efforts to translate and elucidate the Zhuangzi will inevitably come up short. In fact, the scholarly community should encourage and embrace the efforts of those who try to bring this captivating Chinese text to a broader Western audience. Having said that, it is with no small disappointment that I found this work wanting. It (unintentionally, one hopes) makes a mockery of that which it attempts [End Page 507] to honor, despite what certainly appears to be the noble intentions of those involved. Martin Palmer, the principal author/translator, is Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture and has been a student of the Chinese language for more than twenty years. His chief collaborator, Elizabeth Breuilly, "is really the main other translator … [and] knows no Chinese but she has a rigorous and vigorous understanding of English" (p. xi). Jay Ramsay, like Elizabeth Breuilly, "cannot read a word of Chinese" (p. xi). Nonetheless Palmer asserts that Ramsay "has a sense of Chinese symbolism and literature which is quite extraordinary" (p. xi). One wonders how it is that those lacking concrete training in and experience with Chinese can convincingly capture the flavor of a Chinese text—unless it is by dumb luck, and luck is not something to which we should entrust any translation effort. Of course, it is a great idea to enjoin the collaboration of a number of different voices and perspectives,especially for a project as daunting as this text (and it certainly seems in the spirit of Zhuangzi to do so). What is puzzling, however, is Palmer's implicit claim that people who lack familiarity with the Chinese language (let alone guwen) can significantly contribute to a translation. As editors and refiners of the English rendition, sure, but certainly not as translators. Palmer cites three prior translations as serving as reference points for his own: those of Legge and Watson and Fung Yu-lan's A Taoist Classic: Chuang-Tzu. With such esteemed scholars at his disposal, it is surprising that Palmer so unfortunately misrepresents the text (not to mention contradicts himself) on numerous occasions in the introduction. Palmer proffers too many trite, throwaway phrases to be worth mentioning here, but one example should serve to illustrate the point: "Taoism is the search for the Tao, the Way of Nature which, if you could become part of it, would take you to the edge of reality and beyond" (p. xiii). The phrase "the edge of reality and beyond" (which is repeated on p. xx) is never explained, nor are we provided with any citations from the text to indicate whence Palmer might have deduced it. Palmer compares the Zhuangzi to "the writings of Kung Fu Tzu" (Confucius) (pp. xx-xxi), apparently unaware that the Analects was not authored by the text's central figure. As for contradiction, in the midst of his introduction Palmer claims that "you will find no great theories set out in this Introduction as to what Chuang Tzu means" (p. xx), but he has just provided us with one such theory (albeit an erroneous one): "if there is one constant theme in the book, it is that logic is nonsense and that eclecticism is all" (p. xx). Any serious scholar of the Zhuangzi is well aware that the author was a powerful...

Chinese Poetry and Symbolism

Chinese Poetry and Symbolism

Encyclopedia of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives: An Alphabetical Compendium of Legends and Beliefs as Reflected in the Manners and Customs of the Chinese throughout History

Encyclopedia of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives: An Alphabetical Compendium of Legends and Beliefs as Reflected in the Manners and Customs of the Chinese throughout History

Antler and Tongue. An Essay on Ancient Chinese Symbolism and Its Implications

Antler and Tongue. An Essay on Ancient Chinese Symbolism and Its Implications

Antler and Tongue: An Essay on Ancient Chinese Symbolism and Its Implications

Antler and Tongue: An Essay on Ancient Chinese Symbolism and Its Implications