Traditional Chinese Concepts Research Articles

Cultural Obstacles to Political Dialogue in China

This essay asks how we can explain why, in contrast with Western responses, a large number of Chinese citizens from all walks of life appear to have little sympathy with the spate of recent cases of dissidents having fallen foul of government regulations pertaining to public political criticism. The answer proposed in the essay is that there are cultural obstacles to the emergence of political dialogue in China beyond the well-canvassed official strictures on political critique. The essay addresses two of these obstacles under the headings of the Confucian meta-rule of obedience and normative nominalism, argued to be characteristic of traditional Chinese conceptions of language. The reasons why these two cultural features are able to contribute so effectively to the retardation of political dialogicity in China, this essay claims, are to be sought in their deep roots in Chinese thought and the political unconscious of China to this day.

The Inspiration of Traditional Chinese Created Conception on the Eco-Design of Modern Architecture

In today's world, the core of sustainable development is considered to be 3R, which is REDUCE, RECYCLE and REUSE. The implementation of the principle of sustainability is exactly the same with the ancient Chinese created conception and design. This thesis provides Chinese modern sustainable design with a feasible principle and method from traditional Chinese ecological concept of creation, and is a constructive inspiration to the modern architectural design. It encouraged the life of mankind to develop towards a scientific, civilized and healthy way, achieved the aesthetic concept of architectural design based on the harmonious coexistence of human and nature, and prevent modern architectural design from being over materialized as well as the further deterioration of the natural ecological environment.

Humble Opinion about the Chinese Medicine and Local Architecture Creation

Local architecture is a complex system with historical and dynamic evolution, having formed in the superposed action of regional natural, social environment and the other more factors. The evolution of its development is a dynamic symbiosis process restricted by many factors mentioned above. Facing to the complex phenomenon of regional architecture, local architecture creation is always to be fettered which confining to the architecture body analysis and solving. Thus, it’s hard to break through it in most cases. This paper attempts to merges the traditional Chinese medicine theory into the theoretical study of the local architecture. From the concept of traditional Chinese medicine such as the whole system balance philosophy, harmony between human being and nature idea, this paper analyses and discusses the concept and consciousness of local architecture through the review of the origins of local architectural and characteristics. Then, it also put forward some methods of the local architectural creation by the inspiration of traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis concept.

Shadow on My Heart: A Culturally Grounded Concept of HIV Stigma Among Chinese Injection Drug Users

Although stigma is a significant barrier to HIV prevention and treatment globally, the culture-specific psychosocial processes through which HIV-infected Chinese experience stigma have not been described. This study used grounded theory to explore the social and psychological processes of HIV-related stigma experienced by Chinese injection drug users and proposed a culture-specific concept of stigma. The focus group had six participants, and we conducted 16 individual interviews. The core category emerged as "Double struggle: Returning to normalcy." Key concepts were dual stigma and family support, while keeping secrets and active drug use were factors influencing the struggle to return to normalcy. Family responsibility played an important role in bringing family members together to cope with HIV. Recommendations for Chinese health care providers include leveraging the traditional Chinese concept of family responsibility to establish a family alliance in response to the dual stigma and providing psychological counseling and education in treatment clinics.

Clinical symptoms and chemotherapy completion in elderly patients with newly diagnosed acute leukemia: a retrospective comparison study with a younger cohort

BackgroundCancer affects older adults disproportionately. The disease is often difficult to diagnose and treat due to co-morbidities and performance status, and patients tend to discontinue chemotherapy prematurely. There are no systemic studies of the reasons and factors that create a higher withdrawal rate in older acute leukemia patients. This study tried to understand the initial characteristics, blood counts and bone marrow measurements in older acute leukemia patients by comparing them with a younger group to provide information and assistance in early clinical diagnosis, treatment and reasons for treatment withdrawal.MethodsUsing retrospective medical record reviews, we examined clinical characteristics and chemotherapy completion status in the patients of two groups (age ≥ 60, n = 183 and age <60, n = 183) who were diagnosed with acute leukemia for the first time and were hospitalized in Union Hospital Affiliated with Fujian Medical University from 2004 to 2008.ResultsThere were no statistical differences in initial presenting symptoms of fatigue (67.2% vs. 57.9%, P>0.05) and pallor (53% vs. 59.6%, P>0.05) between the two groups, but older patients demonstrated more underlying diseases including lung infections (25.7%, P = <0.001), cardiovascular disease (4.4%, P = 0.007), and hypertension (20.8%, P =< 0.001). The complete remission rate after chemotherapy (1 to 2 courses) was 49.5% in the older group and 66.7% in the younger group (χ2 = 6.202, P = 0.013). The percentage of patients age 60 and older who prematurely discontinued chemotherapy (50.3%), mainly due to the influences of traditional Chinese concept of critical illness, financial difficulties, and intolerance to adverse reactions to chemotherapy, was significantly higher than that of younger patients (37.7%) (χ2 = 5.866, P = 0.015).ConclusionsA comprehensive approach to diagnosis, treatment selection, and toxicity management, and implementing strategies to enhance treatment compliance may improve outcomes in older adults with acute leukemia.

The formation of modern concepts of “civilization” and “culture” and their application during the late Qing and early Republican times

In the historical context of the late Qing and early Republican period, the traditional Chinese concepts of “civilization” and “culture” generally experienced the following changes: these concepts at first shed their neglect of material, economic, and military content and developed a new concept of “civilization” in the modern sense which included the idea of evolution, that is to say the modern concept of “culture” in a broad sense. Then these concepts went through another process in which they partially, from a different angle, rediscovered the key components of the traditional “civilization” and “culture” of China, in opposition to “militarized” and “materialized” concepts. In this way they were able to regain some new intellectual resources and to reestablish a new concept of “culture” in a narrow sense. Finally, a modern concept of “culture” was born, with a contradictory structure in which the contents of both a broad and a narrow sense coexisted at the same time. The process of formation and evolution of two such important modern concepts, at the same time, reflects how the modern Chinese applied these new concepts in their social reforms and practice. During the Hundred-Day Reform of the late nineteenth century, the modern concept of “civilization” began to spread among members of the literati, bringing along with it a whole series of concepts dominated by modern values that would unavoidably become the ideological basis on which the reforms could be put into comprehensive practice. Meanwhile the concept of “culture” in a narrow sense appeared to merge with its counterpart in a broader sense and had an impact on the early development of the future May Fourth New Culture Movement.

The Two Hidden Childbearing Periods and the Death of Ximen Qing in the Jin Ping Mei

This essay will consider how some basic concepts of traditional Chinese thought inform the plot of the Jin Ping Mei by analysing the development of two hidden pregnancies and the death of the protagonist, Ximen Qing. Interpreting the Jin Ping Mei means paying close attention to the author’s hidden messages, which can only be understood within the framework of such traditional Chinese concepts as Yin and Yang and the five elements, which are interwoven throughout the novel. There are countless situations in the narrative where traditional Chinese thought plays a significant role and, undoubtedly, much more work needs to be done concerning these features. However, for the purposes of this essay, I will only focus on the pregnancies of Ximen Qing’s first and the sixth wife and on his own death. Both the pregnancies and the death may serve as examples illustrating how traditional Chinese concepts are pervasive in Ming Literature.

A ‘Third Culture’ in Economics? An Essay on Smith, Confucius and the Rise of China

China’s rise drives a growing impact of China on economics. So far, this mainly works via the force of example, but there is also an emerging role of Chinese thinking in economics. This paper raises the question how far Chinese perspectives can affect certain foundational principles in economics, such as the assumptions on individualism and self-interest allegedly originating in Adam Smith. I embark on sketching a ‘third culture’ in economics, employing a notion from cross-cultural communication theory, which starts out from the observation that the Chinese model was already influential during the European enlightenment, especially on physiocracy, suggesting a particular conceptualization of the relation between good government and a liberal market economy. I relate this observation with the current revisionist view on China’s economic history which has revealed the strong role of markets in the context of informal institutions, and thereby explains the strong performance of the Chinese economy in pre-industrial times. I sketch the cultural legacy of this pattern for traditional Chinese conceptions of social interaction and behavior, which are still strong in rural society until today. These different strands of argument are woven together in a comparison between Confucian thinking and Adam Smith, especially with regard to the ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments’, which ends up in identifying a number of conceptual family resemblances between the two. I conclude with sketching a ‘third culture’ in economics in which moral aspects of economic action loom large, as well as contextualized thinking in economic policies.

Semantic Criticism: The “Westernization” of the Concepts in Ancient Chinese Philosophy—A Discussion of Yan Fu’s Theory of Qi

Every philosophical mode has a unique conceptual system. “Qi” has consistently been a fundamental part of ancient Chinese philosophy, and its significance is obvious. Guided by the idea of “re-evaluating all values,” Yan Fu, who was deeply influenced by Western philosophy and logic, used “reverse analogical interpretation” to present a new explanation of the traditional Chinese concept of qi. Qi thus evolved into basic physical particles. Yan’s philosophical effort has great significance: The logical ambiguity that had haunted qi was overcome. However, qi gradually evolved into a particular existence as it was “Westernized.” It completely lost its internal “flavor” as indigenous Chinese philosophy. Its previous philosophical abstraction and universality diminished and at the same time it was not “Westernized” into the “pure concept” of Hegel’s philosophy.”

The Anti-stress Effects of Guangdong Herbal Tea on Immunocompromise in Mice Loaded with Restraint Stress

Guangdong Herbal Tea (GHT) has been consumed as a traditional remedy for Shanghuo in southern China for a long time. Shanghuo, a traditional Chinese concept, is a physiological process of uncoordinated response to stress with physical and mental fatigue syndromes. In this study, we investigated the main components and anti-stress effects of GHT in restrain-stressed mice. The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint of GHT extract was recorded and the chemicals of main peaks were identified. The effects of GHT on number and activity of nature killer (NK) and T cells, cytokines and the antioxidative activity of splenocytes were studied in restrained mice. Results showed oral administration of GHT prevented stress-induced immunocompromise by improving splenocyte number, NK cell response against mouse T cell lymphoma cells (YAC)-1 cell and antitumor T cell response against syngeneic P815 in the spleens of mice loaded with acute restraint stress. GHT also significantly improved the proportion of T-helper (Th) type lymphocyte, the production of Th cell-dependent cytokines and the antioxidative activity of splenocytes. These results indicated that GHT attenuates stress by increasing the numbers and activities of immunocytes in restraint mice, by exerting antioxidative activity directly or indirectly in immunocytes.

Yin and yang of continental crust creation and destruction by plate tectonic processes

Earth's continental crust today is both created and destroyed by plate tectonic processes, a balance that is encapsulated by the traditional Chinese concept of yin–yang, whereby dualities act in concert as well as in opposition. Yin–yang conceptualizations of crustal growth and destruction are mostly related to plate tectonics; both occur mostly at subduction zones, by arc magmatic creation and by subduction removal. Crust is also created and destroyed by processes unrelated to plate tectonics, including losses by lower crust foundering and additions at hotspots. At present, creation and destruction of continental crust is either in balance (∼3.2 km3/year, or 3.2 AU) or more crust is being destroyed than created; the uncertainty comes from unknown deep losses of continental crust at collision zones and due to lower crustal foundering. The yin–yang creation–destruction balance changes over a supercontinent cycle, with crustal growth being greatest during supercontinent break-up due to high magmatic flux at new arcs and crustal destruction being greatest during supercontinent amalgamation due to subduction of continental material and increased sediment flux due to orogenic uplift. These conclusions challenge the widely held view that continental crust volume has increased over time due to plate tectonic activity; it is just as likely that this volume has decreased.

Confucius Computer: bridging intergenerational communication through illogical and cultural computing

Confucius Computer is a new form of illogical cultural computing based on the Eastern paradigms of balance and harmony. The system uses new media to revive and model ancient Eastern and Confucius philosophies and teachings, presenting them in new contexts, such as online social chat, music and food. Based on the model of Eastern mind and teaching, the system enables users to have meaningful social network communication with a virtual Confucius. The Confucius Computer system offers a new artistic playground for interactive music-painting creation based on our Confucius music filters and the ancient model of Cycles of Balance. Confucius Computer also allows users to explore the traditional Chinese medicine concept of Yin-Yang through interactive recipe creation. Detailed descriptions of the systems are presented in this paper. Our user studies showed that users gave positive feedbacks to their experience of interacting with Confucius Computer. They believed that this media could improve intergenerational interaction and promote a sense of calmness.

Metabonomic phenotype and identification of “heart blood stasis obstruction pattern” and “qi and yin deficiency pattern” of myocardial ischemia rat models

The traditional Chinese medicine concepts of "Xinxueyuzuzheng (heart blood stasis obstruction pattern)" and "Qiyinliangxuzheng (qi and yin deficiency pattern)" for myocardial ischemia rat models were constructed in the present study. Endogenous metabolites in rat plasma were analyzed using the GC/TOF-MS-based metabonomic method. Significant metabolic differences were observed between the control and two model groups, and the three groups were distinguished clearly by pattern recognition. Compared with those of the control, the levels of hydroxyproline, threonic acid, glutamine and citric acid were strikingly up- or down-regulated in model rats. The metabolites contributing most to the classification between the two "pattern" rats were identified, such as valine, serine, threonine, ornithine, hydroxyproline, lysine, 2-hydroxybutanoic acid, 3-hydroxybutanoic acid, galactofuranose and inositol. These compounds were indicated as the potential biomarkers. The results suggested that the two "patterns" are involved in dysfunction in oxidative stress, energy metabolism and amino acid metabolism. These findings also provided the substantial foundation for exploring the scientific connotation of these two "Zhengxing (pattern types)" of myocardial ischemia, and "Bianzheng (pattern identification)".

A Humanist Synthesis of Memory, Language, and Emotions: Qian Mu’s Interpretation of Confucian Philosophy

While Qian Mu intentionally avoided systematic philosophical arguments, his references to memory, language, and emotions, as expressed in a book he wrote in 1948, were suggestive of new interpretations of traditional Chinese, and especially Confucian, ideas such as human autonomy, mind, human nature, morality, immortality, and spirituality. The foremost contribution of Qian’s humanist synthesis rests in its articulation of the idea of the person. Across the context of memory, language, and emotions, the tiyong dynamics of mind and human nature recreate, in modern terms, the traditional Chinese concept of the person who is individually unique and simultaneously interrelated. Avoiding the extreme polarities of individualism and collectivism, he stresses rather their coexistence. His synthesis explains to the Chinese people something about who they are, the meaning in life in the framework of their culture, and how their (revitalized) way of life is at its best in the most important area, that of human relations.

Romantic Relationship and “Yuan”: A Preliminary Study of Chinese in Hong Kong

This study investigated how the traditional Chinese concept of “yuan” influences perceptions of romantic relationships. A small-scale survey of young people in Hong Kong indicated that the belief in yuan was prevalent among respondents. In addition, a significant, positive correlation was observed between participants' belief in yuan and relationship satisfaction. However, romantic love was a better predictor of satisfaction and commitment than was the belief in yuan.

Beliefs in Traditional Chinese Medicine Efficacy Among Chinese Americans

We examined how community attitudes towards traditional Chinese conceptions of health and Western dichotomization of illness might affect perceptions of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) efficacy in order to identify factors underlying psychiatric service underutilization among Chinese-Americans. We administered an experimental vignette to assess perceived illness, severity, and beliefs of TCM efficacy for physical and psychiatric disorders among 90 Chinese-Americans ascertained through a national telephone survey. Perceived illness severity was unrelated to assessment of TCM effectiveness. However, psychiatric conditions tended to be viewed as distinct from physical disorders, and TCM use was endorsed as less effective for psychiatric illnesses when compared with physical illnesses. Furthermore, differences in perceived TCM efficacy appeared to be magnified among US-born respondents, with US-born respondents endorsing lower efficacy for psychiatric disorders than foreign-born respondents. These findings suggest that TCM use for psychiatric disorders may decrease with Westernization, but might delay access to psychiatric services among first-generation immigrants.

Hong taiyang shi zenyang shengqi de (review)

Reviewed by: Hong taiyang shi zenyang shengqi de David Cheng Chang (bio) Gao Hua 高華. Hong taiyang shi zenyang shengqi de 紅太陽是怎樣升起的: 延安整風運動的來龍去脈 (How did the red sun rise over Yan'an? A history of the Rectification Movement). Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2000. 705 pp. Paperback $24.00, isbn 962-201-920-X. Published in Hong Kong and now in its seventh printing but banned in China, Nanjing University history professor Gao Hua's Hong taiyang shi zenyang shengqi de is a historiographical tour de force, in terms of both sources and analysis. Unparalleled in scope and depth, and nuanced in approach, Gao Hua's work offers the most complete and convincing account of the Rectification Movement (1942–1945) to date. By tracing the Rectifications origin's and discussing its long-term consequences (來龍去脈), Party historian Gao makes a major contribution to the study of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in general. While it confirms the fact that the campaign emancipated the Party from Soviet-influenced dogmatism and unified the Party in its preparation for the final showdown with the Kuomintang (KMT), this book shatters the Party's orthodox version of this crucial history as a salubrious thought-reform process. In sharp contrast to the Party line and earlier Western scholarship influenced by Edgar Snow and John Service's impressions, and anti-Vietnam War sentiment (e.g., Selden 1971),1 Gao defines the campaign as a political process directed by Mao, in which Mao employed his political preponderance (shi 势) "to thoroughly reconfigure the upper structure of the Party, to redistribute upper-level power with himself as the absolute master." In terms of methods (shu 術), Mao applied his innovative dual process of thought reform and coercive cadre examinations and purges. In the realm of ideology (dao 道), Mao "used his own ideas and thoughts and fundamentally transformed the ethos of the CCP from a Russianized party to a party of Mao" (p. xii). Gao takes pains to argue that the Rectification dealt a fatal blow to any remnant of "the May Fourth idealism of freedom and democracy" within the Party and thus laid the foundation for a "total Mao Zedong-ization." Gao further emphasizes that "the institution of a full gamut of new Party traditions, concepts, and paradigms bearing Mao's hallmarks would change the lives and fate of several hundred million Chinese after 1949"(p. xii). This is an unmistakable reference to various political campaigns in the People's Republic of China (PRC), particularly the Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). In a sense, this book suggests that the origins of the Cultural Revolution should be sought in the 1940s, not in the 1950s as MacFarquhar has done in his famed trilogy.2 [End Page 515] Gao's book has two major strengths. One is its exhaustive and astute use of a wide range of available sources, including published official accounts, memoirs by former officials, rank-and-file participants of the campaign, Soviet observers, and CCP defectors. To sift through such an immense amount of data, which encompass complex and ever-evolving relationships between hundreds of historical actors in the span of decades, requires extraordinary sensitivity and tenacity. Gao states, "It could be said that my extensive life experience in the PRC and my wide-ranging reading of relevant historical materials sharpened my sensitivity, and gradually enabled me to read behind the lines" (p. 653). Second, while eschewing "excessive interpretation" in theoretical analysis (p. 654) and focusing on delineating historical facts, Gao draws from traditional Chinese concepts and he proposes an incisive analytical framework of "dao, shu, shi" (道術 勢), and offers a number of illuminating insights, such as the "double-faced" Mao and the "double-personality" of the CCP body politic. Historiographical Contribution In the fine tradition of "carrying the red flag to attack the red flag," Gao effectively uses CCP sources to subvert CCP orthodoxy. As Gao notes in his epilogue, with a few rare exceptions, the vast majority of archives related to the Rectification are still classified, including those pertaining to the CCP Politburo, Secretariat, the Central Organization Bureau, and the former Central Bureau of Social Affairs (Yan'an KGB). It is noteworthy that Gao acquired all his sources...

The heart of time: moral agency in twentieth-century Chinese fiction

By examining how narrative strategies reinforce or contest deterministic paradigms, this work describes modern Chinese fiction's unique contribution to ethical and literary debates over the possibility for meaningful moral action. How does Chinese fiction express the desire for freedom as well as fears of attendant responsibilities and abuses? How does it depict struggles for and against freedom? How do the texts allow for or deny the possibility of freedom and agency? By analysing discourses of agency and fatalism and the ethical import of narrative structures, the author explores how representations of determinism and moral responsibility changed over the 20th Century. She links these changes to representations of time and to enduring commitments to human-heartedness and social justice. Although Chinese fiction may contain some of the most disconsolate pages in the 20th Century's long literature of disenchantment, it also bespeaks, Knight argues, a passion for freedom and moral responsibility. Responding to ongoing conflicts between the claims of modernity and the resources of past traditions, these stories and novels are often dominated by challenges to human agency. Yet read with sensitivity to traditional Chinese conceptions of moral experience, their testimony to both the promises of freedom and the failure of such promises opens new perspectives on moral agency.

Concerning the use of Western medical terms to represent traditional Chinese medical concepts —Answer to Prof. Xie and his colleagues

This paper strongly rejects the notion that the use of biomedical terms to represent traditional Chinese medical concepts is helpful to the internationalization of Chinese medicine. It further argues that this practice destroys the integrity and independence of Chinese medical concepts. Taking the term fēng huo yan as an example, it shows that the biomedical term "acute conjunctivitis" often suggested as the translation for this term is unsatisfactory, because (1) the clinical reference is not identical, (2) it introduces the concepts of "conjunctiva" and "inflammation" , which are not Chinese medical concepts, and (3) destroys the Chinese medical concepts "wind" and "fire" expressed in the Chinese, which reflect the way the disease is traditionally diagnosed and treated. While for English readers not familiar with Chinese medicine, "acute conjunctivitis" may be immediately intelligible, for those seeking a deep understanding of the subject, the literal translation (loan translation) "wind-fire eye" is much more helpful. This paper supports these arguments with numerous other examples.

Essential oil therapy according to traditional Chinese medical concepts

Self medication with essential oils has become a popular phenomenon triggering considerable debate as to its merits. As the large number of components of essential oils can simultaneously interact with multiple physiological target systems, conventional pharmacological experimentation is difficult. Nonetheless valuable properties of essential oils have been established experimentally or empirically. Examples include Lavandula angustifolia (anti-inflammatory), Helichrysum italicum (anti-haematoma), Pinus sylvestris (adrenal cortex stimulant), Vitex agnus castus (oestrogen progesterone equilibrant) and Tanacetum annuum (anti-histamine).