Late Qing Research Articles

The Use and Meaning of the Appellation ‘Goryeo’ During the Late Qing Dynasty and Republic of China

The Use and Meaning of the Appellation ‘Goryeo’ During the Late Qing Dynasty and Republic of China

A Study on the Interpretation of Music in the Late Qing and Early Republic of China

A Study on the Interpretation of Music in the Late Qing and Early Republic of China

The Patronage and Changing Roles of the Water-Land Paintings from Baoningsi: Focus on their endowment by Ming Emperors and repairs in the Qing Dynasty

The 136 Water-Land paintings from Baoningsi, now at the Shanxi Museum in Taiyuan, China, are a set of hanging scrolls of the Ming dynasty that have been preserved almost completely. In addition, three documents related to the paintings survive: two records on the repairs to the paintings made in the Jianshen Year of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign (1704) and the twentieth year of the Jiaqing Emperor’s reign (1815), and a list of patrons who contributed to the repair. Although previous studies only mention them as supplementary documents, they offer new insights in the understanding of the paintings.</br>The earliest record on the Baoningsi Water-Land paintings is about their bestowment by the emperor. As the Youyu area in Shanxi, where Baonignsi is located, was being threatened by the nomadic Mongol tribes and the chaos of the Crisis of Tumu at the time, the paintings were likely gifted to make a display of the Ming imperial power.</br>In 1704, the Eight Banners garrisons stationed in Youweicheng led the patronage for the paintings’ repair, with the local gentry and merchants also participating. In the eighteenth century, this was a way to bring people together and for local groups to demonstrate their power and exercise social influences. In the nineteenth century, the paintings’ social function changed once again. They were displayed every year on Buddha’s Birthday and was instrumental in bringing in financial contributions to the temple.</br>This study has focused on the changing roles of the Water-Land paintings. The records of their repairs enables the understanding of different functions a set of paintings can have according to political and social circumstances from Ming to late Qing.

Does the history of opening ports and trading influence the long-term business credit environment of cities? Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta region of China.

Based on the China City Commercial Credit Environment Index (CEI), a more scientific spatial DID model was used to examine the long-term impact of the opening of ports and trading in the late Qing Dynasty on the urban commercial credit environment, taking cities above the prefecture level in the Yangtze River Delta as a sample. The study confirms that: (1) the opening of ports and commerce in the late Qing Dynasty had a significant contribution to the urban commercial credit environment, which was conducive to the transformation of production methods and interpersonal relationships from traditional to modern, and to the improvement of the urban commercial credit environment. (2) Before the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the local forces of the late Qing Dynasty were resistant to the economic aggression of the Great Powers, and the positive impact of the opening of ports and trading on the commercial credit environment of port cities was more significant, but the impact was not obvious after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. (3) From the history of the opening of ports for trade in the late Qing Dynasty, the economic aggression of the Western powers against the non-patronage areas by means of the buying class objectively strengthened the concept of rule of law and credit awareness in the local market and exerted a long-term influence on the commercial credit environment of the cities, but the impact of the opening of ports for trade on the commercial credit environment of the patronage areas was not prominent. (4) Cities located in the sphere of influence of the common law powers had a more pronounced impact on the commercial credit environment as their institutions and concepts were more easily transplanted, while the impact of the opening of ports and trading on the commercial credit environment of cities in the sphere of influence of the civil law powers was not significant. Policy Insights: (1) Enhance the ability to negotiate with foreign countries on economic and trade matters from a level-headed world perspective, and be bold and adept at fighting unreasonable rules, standards and requirements in order to better optimise the business credit environment; (2) Regulate the use of administrative resources and avoid undue administrative intervention, which is an important prerequisite for improving the basic system of the market economy to enhance the business credit environment; (3) Emphasise both connotative development to follow a Chinese style modernisation path, and (3) emphasising selective cooperation to promote outward development, promoting the interaction, convergence and matching of domestic and foreign regulations, and continuously improving the regional commercial credit environment.

Alexander von Humboldt in China

The dissemination of Alexander von Humboldt’s ideas in China can be traced back to the late Qing dynasty, where a few articles in English-language newspapers served as the earliest means of exposure. However, the reach and availability of these articles were highly limited. It was not until the Republican era that Humboldt gained a relatively broader publicity through the translations of foreign academic works. The general public’s acquaintance with Humboldt mostly came from the extensive distribution of textbooks as well as biographical dictionaries of renowned scientists and explorers. Nevertheless, Humboldt’s reputation coexisted with a lack of comprehensive academic research. While his ideas were referenced in various fields, such as geography, social sciences, and humanities, there was a notable absence of in-depth exploration. The underlying reason can be the disparity between Humboldt’s global perspective and encyclopedic knowledge and the gradual subdivision of academic disciplines in the modernization process of Chinese universities. In recent years, Chinese literary researchers have taken the lead in revisiting Humboldt’s works, signaling a renewed interest. It reflects the growing recognition of interdisciplinary research in China and the significance attributed to holistic knowledge in fields like philosophy of science and anthropology. These developments offer an opportunity to dismantle the barriers that have impeded the blending of Humboldtian knowledge into the Chinese intellectual landscape.

Denigrating Taoism in the West: A typology of Late Qing Chinese scholars’ discourse in Western languages

Abstract The purpose of this short article is to offer a typology of the speech acts deployed by Chinese scholars who wrote in Western languages in the late Qing era. By identifying passages dealing with Taoism in their writings, and classifying them into five types of arguments – 1) using the orthodox-heterodox dichotomy; 2) ignoring it; 3) presenting it as an already defeated rival to Confucianism; 4) describing it as a superstition; 5) claiming that it is a form of extremism – the present paper argues that the denigration of Taoism by these Chinese scholars writing in Western languages was profoundly affected by transcultural writing practices, and that in the end Taoism was often but a pawn in the intellectual and political projects of these intellectuals. It served as an awful counterpoint when one tried to project a positive light on Confucianism.

Reflection on China’s higher vocational education entrance examination: lessons from the imperial examination in modern China

AbstractThe higher vocational education entrance examination is crucial not only for improving China’s vocational education system but also for promoting economic development. Although China has placed an unprecedented emphasis on reforming the higher vocational education entrance examination in recent years, this reform is still fraught with many challenges. Very few studies have attempted to draw lessons from history for China’s current reform of the higher vocational education entrance examination. This study fills this gap by examining the connections between the imperial examination and China’s vocational education during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic period to shed light on China’s current reform of higher vocational education entrance examination. The institutional logics theory has provided useful tools for this study. Drawing lessons from the past, this study makes the following suggestions: (1) the need to transform a social environment dominated by academic and official oriented institutional logics into a one that is more influenced by the logics of craftsmanship spirit; (2) the need to readjust the examination content for the higher vocational education entrance examination; and (3) the need to establish a national unified higher vocational education entrance examination system to ensure students’ equity and fairness. This study calls for more research on the imperial examination to shed light on the reform of China’s contemporary higher vocational education entrance examination.

Bid‘a and evolving conceptions of the shari‘a in Qing and Republican China

Abstract In this article I revise the conventional account of the contestation over Islamic reform in late Qing and Republican China. I argue that previous scholarship has overlooked important similarities between so-called “reformists” or “Yihewani” and “traditionalists” or “Gedimu.” Based on an analysis of several texts and their exposition of the concept of bid‘a, I show that scholars associated with opposite sides of this divide in the early twentieth century shared a legalistic understanding of the shari‘a as a system of categories for classifying human action; and that this classificatory conception of the shari‘a differed from the practice-centered approach reflected in earlier Chinese Islamic works.

Watercolor Painting under the Background of Industrial and Commercial Development in the late Qing Dynasty

In the late Qing Dynasty, Western painting techniques and artistic concepts were gradually introduced into China, which had a profound influence on the development of watercolor painting. This paper will discuss the western influence of watercolor painting in the late Qing Dynasty, including the introduction of Western painting techniques, the promotion of watercolor painting by missionaries and diplomatic missions, and the influence of western artistic concepts on watercolor painters in the late Qing Dynasty. By studying these aspects in depth, we can better understand the background and characteristics of the development of watercolor painting in the late Qing Dynasty.

A New Study on Fushi of Early Quanzhen Daoism

Fushi (服食), a method for treating diseases and nourishing life to achieve longevity, is highly valued and widely used in traditional Taoism. Regarding whether Quanzhen Taoism, a new form of Taoism founded in the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234), practices Fushi, contradictory opinions have been recorded in Collected records written on Qingyan Mountain (Qingyan conglu 青巖叢錄) from the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) and The History of the Taoist School founded by (Qiu) Changchun (Changchun daojiao yuanliu 長春道教源流) from the late Qing Dynasty (1636–1912). Today’s scholars generally believe that Quanzhen Taoism emphasizes the cultivation of heart and mind and thus has nothing to do with Fushi. This article, centered around early Quanzhen Taoism representatives Wang Chongyang 王重陽 (1112–1170) and the “Seven True Ones (Qizhen 七真)”, combines their writings, quotations, biographies, and other materials and discovers that while Wang Chongyang and others heavily criticized the traditional method of Fushi, they also carried out extensive Fushi activities and accumulated rich practical experience in areas such as taking medicine (fuyao 服藥), breathing exercises (fuqi 服氣), fasting (bigu 辟穀), dieting (yinshi 飲食), and using talismans (fufu 服符). Early Quanzhen Taoism both denied and utilized Fushi leading to a contradiction between words and deeds. The reasons for this contradiction can be attributed to two aspects: the internal alchemy thinking of the early Quanzhen Taoism that prioritized Tao over technique (shu 術), and dual cultivation of inner nature (xing 性) and life (ming 命) and prioritizing the former over the latter.

Paratexts as a site of cultural reflection

Abstract In the Ming and Qing dynasties the translation of Western books fueled the phenomenon known as Eastward Transmission of Western Sciences. In this context, the collaborative translation of The Chinese Classics by James Legge (1815–1897) and Wang Tao (1828–1897) was of particular significance because it promoted the transmission of Eastern learning to the West in the late Qing dynasty. This process of collaborative translation provided an opportunity for cultural interaction between China and the West; at the same time, it also generated competition between the two cultures. This paper sets out to investigate the paratexts written by the two co-translators, namely Legge and Wang, and aims to answer the following questions: How did the translation process of The Chinese Classics generate a dialectical interaction and why did it create a cultural struggle between the two translators? What impact did such a cultural collision exert on the translation and interpretation of The Chinese Classics and its reception in the West?

REALIST SCULPTURE IN CHINA - DISCOVERY AND FORMATION OF ART METHOD

Chinese sculpture has a long history and is a world-renowned art treasure and cultural heritage. With the changes in the global political structure and China's internal social system in the past two hundred years, they have directly affected the development direction of Chinese sculpture. The traditional Chinese sculpture system has gradually weakened. In line with the trend of 'learning from the West' at the end of the Qing Dynasty, students, policymakers, and practitioners of sculpture-related industries began to reach a tacit agreement, with many factors contributing to a new choice for Chinese sculpture, which had long been closed to the outside world and self-development. During the Republic of China period, the popularization of Western theories of sculpture and the cultivation of Westernized talents made Chinese sculpture present the budding trend of realism in this period. These include the enlightenment of European sculpture, the establishment of art schools and the self-cultivation of talents, and the staged upsurge of studying abroad. This article explores the origin and development of realism art in China by describing the history of modern Chinese sculpture art in the context of a specific historical period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Of course, Chinese realism has its special presentation and historical significance. There is no necessary connection between the birth of realism consciousness and the germination of Chinese realist sculpture. The realist sculpture from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China was the natural choice of artists who learned from the West and met the needs of society. Therefore, this article will not cover a broader discussion of the origins of realism.

Reconstructing the Archaeological Context of Free-Standing Buddhist Images: Considerations of the Wanfosi Hoard in Chengdu (Sichuan)

Unlike a modern archaeological excavation of a Buddhist hoard, this article focuses on a collection of free-standing Buddhist images retrieved from at least four unofficial and intermittent excavations between 1882 and the 1950s. The excavation site in question is associated with the former site of Wanfosi, a historical monastery that has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times from the early Tang to late Qing. By examining various sources, including antiquarian scholarships, local gazetteers, pre-modern maps, and important Buddhist images found within the hoard, I aim to provide essential information that pertains to modern archaeology. This article seeks to address issues such as the accurate identification of the excavation location, the provenance of all materials from a single Buddhist hoard, the historical lineage of the monastery from which insights are gathered into the image cache, and the noteworthy observation that the preservation of the pre-Tang images occurred long before the final burial.

Characteristics, origin, and processing of Poria in Qing Dynasty Palace:evidence of both historical relics and documents

Poria(Fu Ling) is a bulk traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)with a long history and complex varieties. The royal medical records of the Qing Dynasty include multiple medicinal materials of Fu Ling, such as Bai Fu Ling(white Poria), Chi Fu Ling(rubra Poria), and Zhu Fu Ling(Poria processed with cinnabaris). The Palace Museum preserves 6 kinds of specimens including Fu Ling Ge(dried Poria), Bai Fu Ling, Chi Fu Ling, Zhu Fu Ling, Bai Fu Shen(white Poria cum Radix Pini), and Fu Shen Mu(Poria cum Radix Pini). After trait identification and textual research, we found that Fu Ling Ge was an intact sclerotium, which was processed into Fu Ling Pi(Poriae Cutis), Bai Fu Ling and other medicinal materials in the Palace. The Fu Ling in the Qing Dynasty Pa-lace was mainly from the tribute paid of the officials in Yunnan-Guizhou region. The tribute situation was stable in the whole Qing Dynasty, and changed in the late Qing Dynasty. The cultural relics of Fu Ling in the Qing Dynasty Palace confirm with the archival documents such as the royal medical records and herbal medicine books, providing precious historical materials for understanding Fu Ling in the Qing Dynasty and a basis for the restoration of the processing of the Fu Ling in the Qing Dynasty Palace.

Polyphonic Poetics: Reading Yang Shaoping’s Pidgin Bamboo Branch Lyrics

Pidgin English appeared in China along the Pearl River Delta as a contact language composed of a mixture of English, Cantonese, Portuguese, Hindi, and Malay as early as the eighteenth century. It spread to the Yangzi River delta in the mid-nineteenth century when an increasing number of Cantonese merchants and workers traveled to other treaty ports after the First Opium War. Focusing on a series of poems called Pidgin Bamboo Branch Lyrics (Bieqin zhuzhici) published in the newspaper Shen Bao in 1873, this paper explores how pidgin was appropriated in Chinese poetry and altered the literary soundscape in late Qing China. I argue that these pidgin English terms created a heteroglot poetic space wherein Sinographs and European words, literary language and local tongues, and classical images and contemporary anecdotes intertwine to generate diverse and contradictory meanings. Through an innovative collocation of the graphic, literal, and phonetic features of Chinese characters, the pidgin words and expressions in these poems produce a multilayered structure of meanings with various possibilities for interpretation. Moreover, unlike traditional bamboo branch lyrics in which non-Chinese words are incorporated to domesticate strangeness and consolidate the imperial order of center and periphery, these poems have an inverse effect: their use of pidgin English instead alienates the native, the conventional, and the familiar landscape/soundscape. This poetry made of language crossings depicts modernity as an uncanny sonic experience and makes foreignness appear not in a faraway land but in one’s own poetic language and everyday life.

Research on the Establishment of New Schools in Leshan Area during the Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty (1901-1911)

Research on the Establishment of New Schools in Leshan Area during the Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty (1901-1911)

Towards a Cross-Cultural Hybridisation: An Exploration of Furniture Design and Advertising in Shanghai, China (1912-1949)

ABSTRACT This paper uses furniture advertisements to explore interactions between Eastern and Western design forms in semi-colonial Shanghai during the Republic of China (1912–1949). 1 By analysing historical advertisements during this period, it identifies three distinct trends in furniture design that integrated Eastern and Western influences in an innovative manner, reflecting, to varying degrees, a “cross-cultural hybridization” of forms. 2 The first trend celebrated Western design, which was introduced to Shanghai during its colonisation in the late Qing Dynasty (1845–1912), rendering it in traditional Chinese materials and construction techniques. The second trend, which aligned with the anti-imperial sentiment of Shanghai society after the founding of the Republic of China, celebrated local craftsmanship either by referencing traditional Chinese furniture design, or highlighting local production. These two trends led to the creation of a truly integrative third trend, the “Modeng” style, which blended Eastern and Western design elements and became a hallmark of Shanghai design and culture after the 1930s. Overall, by tracing the evolving trends of Shanghai furniture design, this article enhances our comprehension of the intricate relationship between Western cultural influences and local adaptations and integrations, highlighting how furniture advertisements reflected Shanghai’s unique cultural context.

Research on the Phenomenon of Characters Used in the Translation of Element Terms in the Late Qing Dynasty

Research on the Phenomenon of Characters Used in the Translation of Element Terms in the Late Qing Dynasty

A Historical Study on the Introduction of Tax Sharing System during the Late Qing Dynasty and the Beginning of the Republic of China

A Historical Study on the Introduction of Tax Sharing System during the Late Qing Dynasty and the Beginning of the Republic of China

수용에서 이탈로

This paper examines how the Chinese government’s perception of Japan before and after the pneumonic plague epidemic in Manchuria in 1910-1911 influenced China’s disease control and prevention efforts as well as how disease control measures were utilized in the context of the China-Japan relationship. During the New Policy Reform in the Late Qing, the Qing government established a government-led health care system, adopted from the Japanese model, to enhance national prosperity. In Manchuria, the central government’s plan was implemented immediately, in response to Japan’s attempt to expand its influence through disease control, which had been in place since the late 19th century.
 During the pneumonic plague in Manchuria in 1910-1911, cooperation and containment between Qing and Japan continued over the initiatives in epidemic control. The Japanese authorities approached the Qing government’s anti-epidemic efforts based on an assumed image of “Japanese assisting Chinese.” However, the Qing government sought to thwart it by implementing systematic and autonomous measures for disease control. Furthermore, at the Japan-Qing Joint Epidemic Prevention Conference, the Qing government constrained Japanese authorities’ involvement in epidemic control, and through the International Plague Conference, it internationalized the issue of pneumonic plague prevention.
 The government of the Republic of China that succeeded Qing accepted resolutions submitted by the representatives who participated in the International Plague Conference, and set up the North Manchurian Plague Prevention Service. The North Manchurian Plague Prevention Service, which had to make achievements to garner international recognition, mostly appointed members from the British-American faction, who were considered to have a higher level of medical skill than those of the Japanese faction that held the majority in the Western medical community in China at the time. This was in line with desire of the British-American faction, who sought to expand their influence in China.
 As anti-Japanese sentiments increased after Japan’s Twenty-One Demands in 1915, the central government of the Republic of China appointed members of the British- American faction as field practitioners to take leadership in epidemic prevention. Thus, China was able to distance itself from Japan by going through a wide range of options for disease control and prevention.