ABSTRACT This study re-examines the 1907 “Expel Fujianese Incident” at the Anhui Higher School, situating it not as an isolated local struggle but as a pivotal expression of the cultural identity conflict embedded in China’s late Qing educational reforms. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s theory of cultural identity, it explores how regionalism, linguistic authorities, and cultural hierarchies shaped the contested pursuit of modernisation. Through historical and discourse analysis of different primary sources, the article contends that the expulsion of Fujianese elites – including the prominent reformer Yan Fu – did not signify resistance to Western learning but a deeper struggle over who possessed the right to define and transmit “modern knowledge”. The study outcomes underscore the decisive role of cultural politics in educational transformation and challenge macrostructural narratives by emphasising local agency. By adopting a microhistorical perspective, this study enriches debates on identity, representation, and the contested meanings of modernity in early twentieth-century China.

This paper attempts to recreate and reconstruct the process of 'translation-transformation-application' of arsenical knowledge in the late Qing Dynasty by examining the four representative medical translations: An Outline of Western Medicine (Xi Yi Lue Lun), Explanations of Western Medicine (Xi Yi Lue Shi), Universal Prescriptions (Wan Guo Yao Fang), and A Compendium of Western Drugs (Xi Yao Da Cheng). It was found that in terms of nomenclature, the early coexistence of heterogeneous vernacular names such as Xin () and Xin Shi () underwent evolution and adjustment within medical texts, eventually coexisting with chemical nomenclature such as Shen (、). This resulted in a hybrid terminology system that integrated traditional experiences with modern chemical elements. In terms of dosage forms and quantity, arsenicals expanded from a single medicinal liquor into five major categories - solution, ointments, solids, pastes, and pills. This evolution presented a trajectory from an early phase of 'extensive collection' to a later phase of 'simplified consolidation' based on chemical classification. In terms of chemistry and toxicology, the translated works helped to establish a quantifiable and verifiable framework of modern pharmacology for substances long regarded as 'poisons' initially by successively introduced experimental detection techniques (such as the Marsh test), valence-based classifications, and semi-sinicized chemical formulas. In terms of authoritative citation, translators attempted to establish a chemical basis for arsenicals, facilitating their transformation from empirical poisons into 'scientific drugs' by drawing extensively on experimental data from European and American chemists and physicians. This study argues that the transfer of Western arsenical knowledge in the late Qing Dynasty was a process of continuous communication between translators and the medical community by introducing the knowledge and local practice rather than a simple linear process of scientization.

The nature of medical practice involves both technical dimension of pathology and treatment and the socio-cultural dimension in terms of doctor-patient interaction, as a core components of the human health protection system. The gynecological and pediatric treatment narratives in the Class Compilation of Ancient and Modern Medical Cases of China (Zhong Guo Gu Jin Yi An Hui Bian) in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China is believed to provide a typical sample for exploring multidimensional interactions in the traditional medical field at that time. With the increasing popularization of medical professional knowledge in this period, patients might use their own medical knowledge to self-diagnose and implicitly made contrast with the professional diagnosis and treatment of doctors, indicating the conflict of knowledge and power in the traditional medical field. Additionally, patients and their families might question the diagnosis and treatment plan due to the various standards of Chinese medical groups and the frequent occurrence of misdiagnosis. However, they might choose to trust doctors at the critical treatment stage, showing the contradictory characteristics of doctor-patient interaction. Confronting the infiltration of Western medical knowledge, the traditional Chinese medicine community strengthened the humanistic care and emotional interaction in the consultation process as an adaptive strategy for traditional medicine to cope with the challenges of modernity while maintaining its professional authority and consolidating the trust of the patients.

This study aims to trace the evolution trajectory of the concept of "facial aesthetics" in modern Chinese literature (from the Late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period) and its social and cultural roots; by integrating the clinical practice and aesthetic orientation of contemporary craniofacial aesthetic surgery, it explores the operational reference significance of the literary aesthetic concept for the "personalization and localization" development of contemporary craniofacial aesthetic surgery, thereby providing humanistic support for clinical aesthetic decisions and addressing prominent clinical issues such as aesthetic homogenization and excessive plastic surgery. This study adopted a combined research design of qualitative textual analysis and comparative research. (1) Qualitative textual analysis: we included 56 representative works of Modern Chinese Literature from 1840 to 1949, covering late Qing satirical novels, May Fourth Literature, and popular literature of the Republic of China. Using NVivo 12 software, we conducted standardized coding analysis on the facial aesthetic descriptions in the texts, with a double-coder back-to-back coding procedure to ensure coding reliability (kappa ≥0.85). (2) Comparative research: we systematically retrieved clinical research literature on craniomaxillofacial aesthetic surgery from 2015 to 2026, extracted the core elements of clinical aesthetic orientation and surgical practice, and conducted dimensional matching analysis with the coding results of literary aesthetic concepts from 3 dimensions of "individuality, localization, and humanistic care." Close textual reading and cultural interpretation were used to analyze the evolutionary characteristics of aesthetic concepts against the background of social transformation in modern China. The facial aesthetic concepts in Modern Chinese Literature have gone through three core stages: the adherence to the traditional paradigm of dignified countenance in the Late Qing Dynasty, the aesthetic awakening of natural vividness in the May Fourth Period, and the aesthetic compatibility of Chinese-Western integration in the Republic of China Period. Statistical results of textual coding showed that 100% of positive facial descriptions in the Late Qing Dynasty conformed to the "dignified countenance" paradigm, 81.6% of facial descriptions in the May Fourth Period focused on "natural vividness" of individual traits, and 76.8% of facial descriptions in the Republic of China Period presented the feature of "Chinese-Western integration". Its evolution is closely related to ideological emancipation, the impact of Western culture, and social stratum mobility. Contemporary craniomaxillofacial aesthetic surgery is undergoing a transformation from "standardized templates" to "individualized adaptation", and from "pure pursuit of morphology" to "equal emphasis on function and aesthetics". The concepts of "respect for individual traits", "conformity to local aesthetics", and "balance between external form and inner verve" in literature are highly consistent with the development orientation of contemporary craniomaxillofacial aesthetic surgery, with clear clinical convergence points verified by comparative analysis. The evolution of facial aesthetic concepts in Modern Chinese Literature provides abundant humanistic and clinical references for contemporary craniomaxillofacial aesthetic surgery, which is conducive to promoting the realization of "technical precision, aesthetic localization, and humanistic individualization" in clinical aesthetic practice, and avoiding problems such as excessive plastic surgery and aesthetic homogenization. This study provides a standardized interdisciplinary research framework for the integration of literary aesthetics and clinical aesthetic surgery.

From the perspective of cultural history, this article examines how Western photography of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries turned China into an object of the imperial gaze, and how the same images were later reinterpreted by Chinese intellectuals as a resource for internal critique. The object of the study consists of war photographs, images of public punishment, and selected illustrative materials related to late Qing China. These images were published in Leslie’s Weekly, The Illustrated London News, Le Petit Journal, as well as in photo albums and other printed publications of the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The subject of the study is how these visual materials constructed a discourse of difference between “civilization” and “backwardness.” This discourse served to justify imperialist aggression and participated in the rewriting of the cultural memory of the colonized space. At the same time, these images were later used by Chinese revolutionaries as material for internal self-reflection. Through comparison of historical materials and textual analysis, the author shows how camera angle, frame composition, staging, and mechanisms of image circulation turned Chinese society into an object of visual control. Special attention is given to how the writer and thinker Lu Xun and other intellectuals of early Chinese modernity reread these photographs, moving them from the sphere of imperial spectacle into the space of national self-reflection. The novelty of the article lies in its treatment of photography not as a final statement about past events, but as visual material used to construct a discourse of difference, which could later be reassessed, reinterpreted, and transformed by other historical actors into a tool of intellectual enlightenment. The article argues that late Qing photography performed a dual historical function: it served as an instrument of visual domination and at the same time became a medium of critical self-observation. The article concludes that late Qing photography should be understood not only as a means of colonial representation of China, but also as one of the factors in the formation of modern Chinese subjectivity.

As inspector-general of the Imperial Maritime Customs, Robert Hart (1835–1911) was arguably the most powerful foreigner in late Qing China. This article discusses a rare Chinese work that he authored entitled A Bystander's Three Views (Pangguan san lun 旁觀三論). It contained his three memoranda on China's “self-strengthening” written at different times over a period of several decades. His first memorandum, “A Bystander's View,” was submitted to the Zongli Yamen (“Foreign Office”) in 1865 and later included in the Qing collection of documents on foreign contact, A Complete Account of the Management of Barbarian Affairs (Chouban yiwu shimo 籌辦夷務始末). Not as well-known is that he eventually composed and presumably submitted two more “bystander's views,” in 1884 and 1898, respectively, and that shortly after his third submission, he had all three jointly published in book form. This article aims briefly to introduce this work as a testimony to Hart's persistent hope, as a self-styled “bystander,” for China's transformation by adopting Western practices.

ABSTRACT Railway architecture often embodies the innovation and globalisation processes characteristic of industrialisation. In China, many early examples of railway architecture demonstrate these processes, as seen in the stations of Imperial Railways of North China (IRNC, later known as Peking-Mukden Railway). Built between 1881 and 1912 combining Chinese, British and other countries’ actants, this line brought to Beijing new building solutions, techniques and typologies. This article adopts an archaeological approach to analyse the physical and documentary evidence of 11 station sites. Using field recording and architectural analyses, it defines the original designs of these constructions and explains them within their cultural context. It is concluded that the railway architecture of IRNC in Beijing reflects the influence of the European engineers who came to China to work in the development of its early railway network, as well as the country's timid process of globalisation and modernisation at the end of the imperial era.

This paper takes Li Jieren's novel "The Ripples in the Stagnant Water" as its research object, adopts Wittgenstein's "language-game theory" as the analytical framework, and conducts in-depth analysis of the linguistic characteristics and narrative functions of Sichuan dialect in the novel through literature analysis and close reading methods. The discussion unfolds around the three core propositions of the theory: dialect, as a form of linguistic practice embedded in specific social contexts, vividly reproduces the features of urban life in western Sichuan during the late Qing Dynasty; clusters of synonymous dialect terms, through the partial similarities within their semantic fields, collectively portray the distinct and multi-faceted images of the novel's characters; the contextualized connotations of dialect words not only drive the progression of the plot, but also deeply reflect the evolution of social norms and the ups and downs of the characters' fates. By systematically exploring the dialect narration in "The Ripples in the Stagnant Water", this study attempts to reveal that beyond serving as a carrier of local culture, dialect also functions as an invisible tool for shaping character personas and reconstructing social rules through local cultural logic, thereby providing new perspectives and approaches to the research on regional narration in modern Chinese literature. 本文以李劼人的长篇小说《死水微澜》为研究对象，运用维特根斯坦的“语言游戏说”理论框架，通过文献分析和文本细读的方法，深入剖析小说中四川方言叙事的语言特点及其作用。文章从“生活形式”、“家族相似性”和“意义即使用”三个层面展开论述：方言作为特定社会情境下的语言实践，生动再现清末川西市井生活的风貌；方言中的类义词群通过语义场的局部相似性，共同勾勒出小说人物鲜明立体的形象；方言词汇在具体语境中产生的特殊含义，不仅推动故事情节的发展，更深刻反映社会规则的变迁和人物命运的起伏。本文通过对《死水微澜》中方言叙事的深入分析，尝试揭示方言除了作为文化载体，同时如何塑造人物形象、成为地方文化重构社会规则的隐形工具，为中国现代文学地方叙事的研究提供新的视角和思路。

Abstract The integration of spatial methodologies into historical research has reshaped traditional narratives by foregrounding geography as both an analytical framework and an epistemological lens. This paper combines Historical GIS (HGIS) with a spatial epistemological approach to investigate how heterogeneous historical sources can be aligned and interpreted through space. Using the CHMap and LoGaRT platforms, this study spatializes diverse materials, including local gazetteers, land survey maps and IIIF-based open map resources, and examines two contrasting case studies: the evolution of riverine sandbanks and flood processes along the Jingjiang section of the Yangtze River, and the spatiotemporal distribution of the material embodiments of Confucian learning in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. These cases demonstrate that spatial alignment operates bidirectionally: it both restores the spatial attributes embedded in historical sources and generates new relational knowledge across domains. By establishing a shared spatial coordinate system for disparate data, the study validates the methodological value of space as a mechanism of knowledge alignment and positions spatial reconstruction as an epistemological framework for historical knowledge production.

Since the late Qing, Christianity helped reconfigure China’s modern intellectual landscape not simply by importing “Western knowledge” but by constructing the epistemic frameworks through which knowledge was named, classified, and circulated. This article examines how the Christian idea of “homemaking” was scientized through translation and became jiazheng (家政, Home Economics) in Republican China, emerging as a new discipline within women’s education. It centers on Laura Marsden White (1867–1937), an American Protestant missionary and pioneer of women’s education who founded China’s first Christian women’s monthly, Nüduo (The Woman’s Messenger, 1912–1951) and initiated its jiazheng column as an institutional infrastructure for domestic science knowledge. Foregrounding White as a missionary–translator and translingual mediator, this study argues that her work participated in the construction of modern home economics rather than merely transmitting a ready-made field. Strategically aligning her translation with Confucian gendered ethics, White rendered home economics intelligible as jiazheng while simultaneously reorganizing household practices into a systematic, science-based curriculum. By circulating scientific knowledge, standardized curricular categories, and credentialed forms of expertise, White recast women’s domestic responsibilities as socially recognized knowledge and employable labor. Her translation offered Chinese women a historically specific route into schooling, writing, and public service, allowing them to negotiate the traditional gender divide without abandoning the culturally legible language of the family. Translation thus serves as both a medium of Protestant moral pedagogy and an engine of disciplinary formation and gendered social change.

ABSTRACT The Dutiful Son’s Mound (孝子坟) in Changchun is a marginal yet symbolically charged sacred site located in Northeast China. It offers a unique vantage point not only onto the logics of colonial spatial governance, but also onto the ongoing processes through which heritage is constructed, symbolised, and negotiated under changing regimes. Through a diachronic analysis of archival records, official publications, news reports, and oral histories, the study identifies three key transformations: its moral monumentalisation during the late Qing and Republican era (1900s-1930s); its negotiation and appropriation in Manchukuo under Japanese colonial rule (1932–1945); and its marginalisation, followed by selective revival in the post-reform era in socialist China (1948-present). This trajectory illustrates how the mound functioned as a dynamic arena where state power and local experiences are continually produced and contested. As a case study of a marginal heritage, this study responds to the call for decentralisation of heritage studies. By situating this case within broader debates on authorised heritage discourse, landscape politics, afterlives of colonial urbanism and Confucian modernity, the study offers comprehensive perspectives for understanding heritage as an ongoing political project of negotiation and re-inscription.

Pawnshop buildings are places where pawn transactions are conducted. They are usually composed of a front shop and a back building, and their shape resembles a fortress. As a typical gambling city, pawnshops in Macau appeared as early as the Qing Dynasty. By the late Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) and early Republic of China (1912–1949), they had become a common market. They reached their peak during the Anti-Japanese War and were an important financial institution for the people to solve their urgent needs. Today, many pawnshop buildings have become architectural heritage sites and are distributed around the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site. Their location is consistent with the evolution of urban space and the development of gambling and tourism industries. However, existing research lacks systematic research based on spatial quantification technology and it has yet to be determined whether there is a spatial alignment relationship between pawnshop location and urban spatial structure. This paper takes the whole of Macau as the research area and combines DepthmapX space syntax, GIS analysis, and historical data comparison of pawnshop buildings to explore the path dependence characteristics of pawnshop building location and the service radius law in urban space. The study found that the location of pawnshop buildings in Macau has evolved through three stages: initially relying on traditional market spaces, then gathering around casino areas during a stable phase, and finally becoming closely tied to the core areas of gambling venues in the prosperous stage. It shows a path dependence that is continuously strengthened on nodes with low traffic resistance. The service radius of pawnshop buildings exhibits an unbalanced characteristic, with a dense core area and a blank peripheral area, forming a multi-level system of a 200 m core service circle, a 400 m extended service circle, and an 800 m radiation service circle. This study proposes pathways for the adaptive reuse and activation of traditional pawnbroking architectural heritage. For instance, by drawing on the operational model of the Tak Seng On Pawnshop, the integration of cultural exhibition and livelihood services can be realized, thereby providing practical references for the adaptive reuse and conservation of heritage assets. This study offers dual theoretical and practical support for the conservation of pawnbroking architectural heritage in Macau, the site selection and planning of modern pawnbroking establishments, and the optimization of the city’s urban spatial structure. Meanwhile, it enriches the research system on the spatial alignment between the peripheral financial industry and urban space.

ABSTRACT This study examines ‘Shun Wu Tang’, a traditional martial arts community organisation in Yunlin County, privately operated by martial arts masters. It specifically focuses on the narratives of the third- and fourth-generation inheritors after World War II, aiming to reveal the transmission and development model of traditional Taiwanese martial arts, which are deeply influenced by Minnan culture. By analysing journals, newspapers, and oral histories, we uncover how the century-long history of ‘Shun Wu Tang’ reflects the landscape of Taiwanese migration and settlement since the late Qing and early Republican periods. The key factors enabling its deep-rooted presence in Taiwan include its hereditary family-based operation, its role in local security and social stability, and its integration with folk religious rituals through martial performances dedicated to deities. The opportunity for international dissemination arose from Taiwan’s pressing need to enhance its diplomatic image through cultural exchange in martial arts. The subsequent expansion and consolidation of its overseas presence can be attributed to the profound martial expertise and charismatic leadership of the recent two generations of inheritors, as well as the unwavering commitment of their disciples to upholding the core values of martial ethics and integrity within ‘Shun Wu Tang’.

This paper examines Ningbo Chinese Pidgin English (CPE) during the late Qing Dynasty, with a focus on the seminal textbook Annotation of English (1860). It investigates the phenomenon through a four-part framework: what it was, why it emerged, how it functioned, and its modern implications. The study argues that Ningbo CPE was not merely “broken English” but a systematic, functional contact language driven by urgent trade needs post the Treaty of Nanjing (1842). Its linguistic features, analyzed through memetics, were characterized by simplification and the dominance of Ningbo dialect phonetics and Chinese grammar. Functioning as a crucial socio-commercial tool, it empowered the Ningbo merchant group. Finally, the paper explores its contemporary relevance, offering insights for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) pedagogy and cross-cultural communication studies, highlighting the ingenuity embedded in early Sino Western linguistic encounters.

Situated within the field of modern Chinese political history, this study investigates the Late Qing New Policies (1901–1911) as a pivotal transition from a traditional tributary empire to a modern multi-ethnic nation-state. A critical limitation in current scholarship is the tendency to reduce these reforms to mere expedients for dynastic preservation, thereby overlooking the complex mechanisms by which they fundamentally reconstructed national identity and interethnic power structures amidst the “triple crisis” of territory, sovereignty, and nationality. To address this, the article employs a comprehensive historical analysis to explore how institutional restructuring in administration, military, and ideology catalyzed the transformation from imperial autocracy toward a “responsible government” framework. The research is distinguished by its innovative application of Anthony D. Smith’s theories of “ethnic” versus “civic” nationalism to deconstruct the “myth-symbol complex” of the Chinese nation, bridging the theoretical divide between the “New Qing History” paradigm and empirical modernization narratives. Findings demonstrate that while the Manchu leadership aimed to secure formal primacy, the practical implementation of reforms engendered a de facto Han-supported power structure, compelling the reconceptualization of the state as a “multi-ethnic constitutional monarchy” and establishing the institutional logic for the “Five Races Under One Union” model. Consequently, this study offers significant academic value by redefining the New Policies as the foundational phase of modern China, providing a crucial theoretical framework for understanding the continuity of China’s multi-ethnic statehood and national identity beyond the dynastic collapse.

This article explores the evolving Chinese representations of Queen Victoria from the First Opium War (1839) to her Diamond Jubilee (1897), beginning with early Qing official histories that deliberately omitted or delegitimized her presence, portraying her implicitly as a female usurper whose rule violated Confucian gender norms and dynastic orthodoxy. Such initial silencing is later juxtaposed with increasingly complex portrayals across a broad spectrum of textual and visual sources, including painting captions, diplomatic travelogues, private poems, newspaper reports, and illustrations. Focusing on envoys like Binchun, whose cautious official diary contrasts with his more admiring private poetry, and Zhang Zuyi, whose pseudonymous writings convey ambivalence and critique, the essay examines how rhetorical strategies were shaped by genre, anonymity, and audience. The analysis also extends to popular and elite print culture, particularly Dianshizhai Pictorial and Shenbao , to trace how Queen Victoria’s image circulated among both literate and semiliterate readers. Throughout, the article argues that acts of translation and mediation—visual, linguistic, and ideological—shaped not only perceptions of the British monarch but also reflected the fractured modernity of the Qing empire. The study contributes to global Victorian studies by foregrounding non-Western receptions and complicating imperial iconography through a Sinocentric lens.

There were controversies in academic circles regarding who was the founder of Scalp Acupuncture (SA), while Dr. Yunpeng Fang or Dr. Shunfa Jiao claimed themselves as the earliest founder and some believe that SA was founded by Dr. Xuelong Huang (Huang) in the 1950s. To investigate Huang and his acupuncture practice and research, to uncover the history of Huang's contribution to SA therapy. Huang and his SA therapy are introduced and discussed in five aspects, including the transformation from a local traditional scholar in the late Qing Dynasty to an expert in acupuncture-moxibustion, the formation of scalp acupoints and acu-zones, clinical indications, multiple stimulation modalities, and clinical experience. The fact is that in the 1950s, Huang was the first to develop SA therapy. Its theoretical basis is that the 14 Channels and the brain are a sole system: when divided, they are demonstrated as 14 Channels, and when combined, the Channels are all unified in the brain. The longitudinal stimulating line (acu-zones) is located on the scalp above the sagittal suture, centered at the Baihui (DU20) acupoint, and with the other scalp acupoints on the Governor Vessel (Du Mai). The horizontal stimulating line (acu-zones) is formed with the acupoints Naohu (DU17), Yuzhen (BL9), and Naokong (GB19). Both lines form a shape of "". The stimulating modalities include single-point needling, one needle piercing through two or multiple acupoints, moxibustion, and plum-blossom dermal needling (extensive shallow acupuncture). When acupoints on the head are selected, the local scalp zones of the "cerebral cortex" directly underneath are often introduced first, and then based on the indications recorded in traditional classics such as A-B Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Huang's SA accumulated extensive experiences. His stimulation does not have to be limited to single-acupoint and more focus on acu-zones, and there are many stimulating modalities adopted; therefore, Huang's method can be called "scalp acu-zone therapy." In the 1970s, "SA therapy" rose again under the first advocacy of Dr. Yunpeng Fang, and many SA "schools" formed, such as Fang, Jiao, Tang, Lin, Zhu, and many more. The promulgation of international standards for SA in the 1980s marked the formal acceptance of SA by international acupuncture societies, it has been incorporated into the Channels and acupoint system of traditional Chinese medicine. Starting by Huang, the main operating method of all schools of SA is using needles to penetrate acupoints on the scalp instead of stimulating every single acupoint, and the stimulating methods are becoming more and more diverse, it is suggested to change the term "scalp acupuncture" to "scalp acu-zones therapy" for reflecting the real clinical practice.

Since the 19th century, Protestant missionaries in Guangdong have extensively engaged in the translation and publication of religious texts, employing localized strategies in the illustration of Christian novels. Within the local cultural context of late Qing Guangdong, missionaries collaborated with local scholars, used Cantonese for writing, and designed novel illustrations to overcome barriers in doctrinal dissemination, thereby facilitating the spread of Christianity. The illustrations in missionary-published novels, such as The Pilgrim’s Progress in Vernacular and The Spiritual Warfare in Vernacular, adopted the stylistic features of Ming and Qing novel woodcuts in terms of lines, composition, character attire, and settings. Furthermore, they skillfully incorporated the Confucian moral framework of loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness, as represented in the Sacred Edict, into their narrative ethics, while integrating elements such as Buddhist causality and Daoist imagery into a “didactic” system. This localization strategy, combined with a “trinity” reading guidance model comprising images, text, and biblical annotations, visually elucidated the tenets of the Bible and encouraged the public to embrace Christianity. The localized practice of missionary novel illustrations served as a conscious and effective visual strategy aimed at bridging cultural divides and promoting the dissemination of the Gospel. It profoundly reflects the visual agency in modern Sino–Western cultural exchanges and significantly advanced the propagation of Christianity.

Abstract This article examines the 1905 Chinese translation of The Swiss Family Robinson through an ecocritical lens and explores how ecological themes are adapted and reinterpreted within a non-Western cultural context. The study draws on traditional Chinese literary and philosophical concepts such as 山水 shanshui ‘mountain and water’, 风景 fengjing ‘wind-light’, and 无为 wuwei ‘non-action’ to expound the relationship between humans and nature in translation. By comparing the translation with the original text, this study finds that while the original text presents a utilitarian view of nature, the Chinese version accentuates the aesthetics of the island, elevates it to a utopian space, and emphasizes moral obligations toward nonhuman life. Despite its strong ecocentrism, the translation also reveals a predilection for anthropocentrism and positions human beings as superior to animals. The coexistence of both ecocentrism and anthropocentrism suggests that they are not mutually exclusive. The article also contextualizes these shifts within the tumultuous socio-political landscape of the late Qing dynasty and argues that the translation responds to the broader social milieu of the time. By situating ecological consciousness within the practice of translation, this study forges a link between ecocriticism and Translation Studies. It further demonstrates that ecological awareness existed in historical contexts where it had not yet emerged as a dominant framework, which reveals its embeddedness in cross-cultural exchanges.

With the acceleration of China's population aging and shifts in family structures, the traditional guardianship system based on family blood ties increasingly reveals its limitations in addressing diverse elderly care needs. The system of designated guardianship, gradually established since the enactment of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, represents a significant innovation in guardianship arrangements. It fully respects the personal wishes of the ward, reflecting new legislative trends and shifts in social ethics, and propels China's adult guardianship system from family representation toward individual self-determination. This paper traces the legislative evolution of the designated guardianship system in China, examines the development of guardianship for incapacitated persons from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republican era, and integrates John Eekelaar's analysis of the core principles of modern family law. By exploring the continuity and transformation within the guardianship system, it aims to elucidate the underlying ethical progress and legal innovation reflected in these changes.