Traditional Confucian Culture Research Articles

On the Characterization of Li Xiangjun in The Peach Blossom Fan

The Peach Blossom Fans is a significant literary work of the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, and there are numerous studies of its plot, characters and main themes, as well as a large number of studies surrounding the heroine Li Xiangjun. This study discusses the characteristics of the character Li Xiangjun and the way she is portrayed through the analysis of the text of The Peach Blossom Fans. The study concluded the following main features characterize Li Xiangjun: Firstly, it is distinguished from the specificity of the female figure in ancient literature, especially in the literature of the Ming and Qing dynasties; secondly, it is constrained by the limitations of traditional Chinese culture, especially the traditional Confucian culture; and finally, it is based on the complexity of the first two characteristics. The characterization of Li Xiangjun is both progressive and fails to transcend the limitations of the time.

Homeland, emotions, and identity: Constructing the place attachment of young overseas Chinese relatives in the returned Vietnam-Chinese community.

Little attention has been paid to the place attachment and homeland construction for refugees and their descendants in China. This study investigates the process by which the place attachment of Young Overseas Chinese Relatives is shaped in the context of resettlement sites. This qualitative research employed ethnographic fieldwork, and the author collected local literature and materials from February to December 2019 through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires. It is believed that the construction of a new homeland in the community, the emotional experience of the Young in childhood, and the cultural logic of place attachment shape place attachment. The process by which place attachment is shaped is interwoven with homeland construction, which indicates that the living state and mentality of the Young are becoming increasingly stable. The Young developed different mentalities on the basis of traditional Confucian culture in responding to the socio-cultural environments. The resettlement site has become a homeland to which young persons are solidly attached, people give this site meanings and experience certain emotions regarding it, which generates place identity and begins the process of homeland construction.

The Aesthetic Singer of East and West—Film Master Ang Lee

Chinese film director Ang Lee can be considered a benchmark figure in the film industry, his films are always deeply philosophical and intriguing. Growing up in Taiwan and studying in the United States, the interplay of two different cultures has created a distinctive aesthetic perspective in Ang Lee's work, which also combines the traditional Confucian culture of the East with the openness and liberality of the West. This unique experience has also enabled him to make Chinese films acceptable to the West, while blending the aesthetics of East and West to achieve a cross-cultural spread of film art.

The Leadership approach of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Africa: A Case Study of TECNO

The definition of leadership, as popularly conceived, comes from the West. In Chinese culture, the term ‘leadership’ is mainly reflected in the Chinese ‘Confucian culture’. Based on the analysis of the African market of Chinese enterprise ‘TRANSSION’ and its subsidiary TECNO, this article examines entrepreneurial leadership on the basis of Confucian culture. This article discusses the differences in entrepreneurial leadership in the context of traditional Chinese leadership culture vis a vis Western leadership approaches. It argues that the success of Chinese multinationals lies in a unique oriental wisdom that combines modern entrepreneurial ideas with traditional Confucian culture, and continuous improvement and upgrade of corporate practice. Through an analysis of the activities of TECNO and the company’s engagement with the African societies where it operates, this paper sheds light on the leadership of multinational companies in different contexts and the outcomes of their activities.

Confucian culture and executive compensation: Evidence from China

AbstractResearch Question/IssueThis study investigates how traditional Confucian culture affects executive compensation from three dimensions: CEO compensation level, CEO pay gap (the pay gap between CEO and other management members), and the gender pay gap.Research Findings/InsightsWe find that firms' exposure to stronger Confucianism is associated with less CEO compensation, a smaller CEO pay gap, and a larger gender pay gap in China. These findings are consistent with the core values of moderatism, collectivism, and patriarchalism rooted in the Confucian culture. Our findings are robust to different firms' exposure to Confucian culture measures. Endogeneity concerns are further addressed with a subsample of firms that experienced headquarters relocation. Cross‐sectional analyses show that the influence of traditional Confucian culture is more pronounced for firms facing less industry competition, owned by the state, or with a higher concentration of power. Additional analyses show that the Confucian culture also reduces the CEO's pay‐for‐performance sensitivity, weakens pay incentives, and leads to lower firm risk‐taking; however, it also mitigates firm agency problems by reducing firm earnings management and managerial perk consumption. The combination of these positive and negative effects reduces the firm's overall value.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsThis study expands our understanding of the role of informal institutions in corporate behavior. Corporate governance is embedded in the market's formal institutions, which, in turn, are embedded in local informal institutions. Academically, our study suggests further corporate governance research on informal institutions, especially in emerging markets where institutional development is not yet complete and informal institutions play a particularly important role.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsThis study could help practitioners better understand the business culture and compensation contract design in Confucian nations. It also suggests that policymakers consider the effect of informal institutions when designing formal institutions.

Impact of Chinese corporate social responsibility on purchase intention: Insights from traditional Chinese culture

Consumers' perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) varies in different cultural contexts. We examined whether and to what extent Confucianism, as a Chinese traditional cultural setting, can be applied as a sound foundation of CSR activities. We first constructed the Chinese CSR model, then explored the impact mechanism of Chinese CSR on consumers' purchase intention. Participants were 415 Chinese consumers who completed the measures. This study yielded the following results: First, consumer–corporate identity partially mediated the relationship between perceived Chinese CSR and consumers' purchase intention. Cultural identity not only strengthened the relationship between perceived Chinese CSR and purchase intention, but also moderated the mediating effect. We have provided a framework that directs management attention to Chinese CSR elements and practices in the traditional Confucian culture context, both strategically and operationally.

The Destiny of Women Lived in Traditional Feudal Society<br/>—A Simple Analysis on the Obedience and Rebelling of Women in Novel “White Deer Plain”

The reasons of the tragic suffering of women in the novel “White Deer Plain” are discussed. Three types of women facing feudal oppression are analyzed. The author of the novel “White Deer Plain” rethinks the traditional culture and shows its ruthlessness in some cases though it plays an important role in keeping social stability in feudal society. The novel shows author’s much sympathy on opposed women lived in feudal patriarchal system through several typical women characters. The author praises the awakening of self-consciousness of women and the rebelling spirit to the traditional culture. Though the author appreciates the traditional culture, he also realizes that part of the traditional Confucian culture is becoming the hindrance of history’s wheel.

Investigating factors affecting Chinese tertiary students’ online-startup motivation based on the COM-B behaviour changing theory

Purpose This study aims to present the Chinese entrepreneurial environment and explore Chinese tertiary students’ online-startup motivation on live streaming platforms. Based on the COM-B behaviour changing theory, this paper discovers various influencing factors from environmental opportunity and personal capability aspects. It analyses their effects under the cooperative system established among official departments, industries and universities. Meanwhile, considering social and cultural control, it also refers to the uncertainty-avoidance dimension from the Hofstede cultural theory and re-evaluates its influence on Chinese tertiary students’ online-startup motivation. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyse 474 responses from online questionnaires through partial least squares path modelling and variance-based structural equation modelling. The paper claims that environmental opportunity and personal capability factors positively affect students’ online-startup motivation, but uncertainty-avoidance thinking plays a negative role. The study also measures the importance-performance map analysis to explore additional findings and discuss managerial implications. Findings Both platform support and official department support positively impact Chinese tertiary students’ online-startup motivation and entrepreneurial skills learned from universities are beneficial for them to build online-startup confidence. Meanwhile, influenced by the cooperative system implemented among official departments, industries and universities, official department support positively affects platform support and entrepreneurial skills. Conversely, influenced by Chinese traditional Confucian culture, uncertainty-avoidance thinking negatively affects tertiary students’ online-startup motivation. Originality/value This paper demonstrates the analysis of Chinese tertiary students’ online-startup motivation drawing on the COM-B behaviour changing and Hofstede cultural theories. Specifically, this study divides influencing factors into three specific aspects as follows: environmental opportunity, personal capability and social and cultural control. Unlike existing research applying traditional research models, the combination of the COM-B behaviour changing theory and the Hofstede cultural theory could be conducive to making the research model reflect influencing factors and present their different relationships.

Older cancer survivors living with financial hardship in China: A qualitative study of family perspectives.

Financial hardship among older cancer survivors has not been well-studied, despite its debilitating effects on their health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of Chinese older cancer survivors who have experienced financial hardship following a cancer diagnosis. A qualitative study was conducted. Data was collected using in-depth interviews with 21 older cancer survivors (aged ≥ 60) with financial hardship and 20 family caregivers in Shandong Province, China between August 2020 and January 2021. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Four main themes emerged: (1) older survivors have insufficient ability to address cancer-related costs; (2) financial transfers from adult children to older parents became prevalent after a cancer diagnosis; (3) cancer-related financial worries and stress extended into children's families; (4) coping and adjustment strategies were used by the extended family. Traditional Confucian culture and the Chinese health care system considerably impacted the interpretation of financial hardship. Both older cancer survivors and their adult children experienced financial distress impacted by filial piety in China. Strategies adapted to Confucian family values and the health care system are needed to address cancer-related financial hardships.

A Note on the Role of Cultural, Institutional, and Urbanization Features in the COVID-19 Pandemic*

A Note on the Role of Cultural, Institutional, and Urbanization Features in the COVID-19 Pandemic*

Transnational Imagination of China in Ezra Pound’s and William Carlos Williams’ Poetics

As a modernist movement in poetry emphasizing the clarity of expression through the use of precise visual images, Imagism drew inspiration from the poetic forms of different countries, among which an influential one was Chinese poetry. As the pioneer of the movement, Ezra Pound is noted for his profound interest in Chinese ideograph and skillful appropriation of Chinese poetry in his own works which inspire and influence a host of American poets of the Modern period including William Carlos Williams. Though Pound and Williams were both labelled as imagist poets, they departed from each other in their later poetics. Researchers have long noticed this departure, but paid scant attention to the influence of Chinese poetry on it. This paper is intended to conduct a study on the influence of Pound’s and Williams’ transnational imagination of China on their poetics which leads to two opposing directions in dealing with Chinese poetry and culture in modern American poetry. It tries to point out that, while Pound’s appropriation of classical Chinese poetry and traditional Confucian culture is in the purpose of renovating post-Victorian poetic style and attaining a cosmopolitan poetics, Williams’ appropriation of Chinese poetry focuses more on refining stylistic techniques and enhancing an objectivist poetics to better accommodate the local American imageries and colloquial American English.

Прорыв в китайском кантоведении. Интервью с проф. Дэн Сяоманом

Prof. Deng Xiaomang’s translations of the Critique of the Power of Judgment (2002), the Critique of Practical Reason (2003), and the Critique of Pure Reason (2004), were the first Chinese editions of Kant’s three Critiques translated in their entirety from the German originals. This interview tracks his scholarship, placing it within the broader scope of historical and contemporary Kant scholarship in China. Among the topics addressed, the reception of Kantian philosophy among the so called “New Confucians”, as well as the utility of Kantian thought as a tool for the reformation of traditional Confucian culture, are given considerable attention. Professor Deng also shares some thoughts on the process of translating classical German philosophical texts into Chinese and provides an overview of his scholarship as a translator and thinker.

Exploring public attitudes of child abuse in mainland China: A sentiment analysis of China’s social media Weibo

Background:Influenced by traditional Confucian culture, the Chinese people believe that parents or nurturers have the right to educate their children, including physical punishment. Nowadays, child abuse has increasingly become a vital issue in China. Despite this, China still lacks a complete child protection system to protect children who are being abused. Objective:The purpose of this study was to apply sentiment analysis in text-mining technology to analyze the textual data of social media Weibo, explore people’s attitudes toward child abuse incidents and the reasons behind them, and discuss how their emotions will become the potential driving force for improving China’s child protection policies. Furthermore, the research creates a paradigm for further studies of child abuse and neglect in the big data era. Participants and setting:Using Barbalet’s macrostructural emotion theory, this study conducted sentiment analysis of social media Weibo comments on several highly publicized child abuse cases, including the incidents of Shanxi stepmother, RYB (Red, Yellow and Blue) kindergarten, Shenzhen child abuse, and Changsha nanny child abuse. Methods:Sentiment analysis was used to extract and analyze 51,068 comments on Chinese social media Weibo. Results:Findings revealed that the critical sentiments of Chinese people regarding child abuse in China are resentment and vengefulness. In addition, 36.9% of the emotional vocabulary was resentment, 29.1% was vengefulness, 19.5% was confidence, 11.9% was fear, and 2.6% was shame. The keywords of resentment are damage, disappointed, distressed, sad, and punish. The keywords of vengefulness are obscenity, rape, demon, devil, and dark. Conclusions:Incidents of child abuse caused by the inadequate child protection system in China may continue to negatively influence public opinions through social media. The main emotional response to child abuse was one of resentment and vengefulness. Through the keywords of these two emotions, this study found that resentment originates from the psychological harm caused by child abuse to children, and vengefulness originates from the insufficient enforcement by government departments in child abuse cases. This analysis may serve as a potential impetus for the government to develop child protection policies and build a robust child welfare system.

An analysis of the history and current situation of the integration of Chinese and Korean music

Since ancient times, China and South Korea have been deeply connected in politics, geography, culture, history and economy. Since the Han dynasty, the Korean peninsula was deeply influenced by Chinese culture in terms of ritual system, politics, economy, art and customs. Although there are intertwined musical elements in Chinese and Korean music, there are also many differences due to geographical, lifestyle, customs and other reasons, which forms different musical cultural systems with distinct national characteristics. After the division of North and South Korea, South Korea was greatly influenced by the western countries, and naturally formed a music style totally different from the traditional Confucian culture in terms of the development of music culture. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the South Korea in 1992, cultural communications and cooperation have become increasingly active, and the interaction and integration of music have been continuously expanded. Chinese music is also increasingly popular with South Koreans, but the breadth and depth remains to be improved. By studying the history and current situation of Chinese-Korean music integration, this paper finds that Chinese and Korean music in history interacted and integrated with Musical Instruments, instrumental music, music types, music theories and other aspects, which continuously promoted the innovation and development of their respective music art. In modern times, Korean music industrialization development model is mature, the smell of music is very sensitive, which can quickly capture the young people''s preference. And through creating singing and dancing combination and other forms to integrate the idol and music, using the power of the idol to promote the development of music, music culture output also showed a more active attitude, set off a wave of Korean music in China, the development of China''s music industry has had an important impact. Chinese music education should actively learn from the experience of Korean music development, combine the current situation and characteristics of Chinese music, take an open attitude, focus on innovation and exploration, develop closely with the modern market, achieve the goal of sound interaction between music education and music industry, and promote the diversified development of Chinese music.

Translation and negotiation of gender stereotypes: metamorphosis of female characters in the English version of a Chinese classical novel

ABSTRACT Feminist translation scholars have addressed a number of translation and gender issues since the 1980s; nevertheless, their strong political agenda has come under heavy criticism. Consequently, recent decades have seen a growing number of scholars involved in the study of translation and gender beginning to look beyond this early feminist perspective to approach gender-related issues. The present study follows this line of thought to examine how stereotypes against women are articulated in a well-known misogynist text, Shuihu Zhuan, a novel rooted in the social values of traditional Confucian Chinese culture, and more importantly, how translators bridge the language and cultural divide when trying to deal with such stereotypes. Through a descriptive comparison of the original misogynist text and one of its modern English translations from between the 1960s and 1970s, the study reveals how the translator has a wide range of options at their disposal to negotiate and temper the extreme patriarchal gender stereotypes of feudal China for a foreign readership less inclined to accept ethnic, racial or sexual discrimination. This analysis may inspire further studies in regard to the impact of gender issues on translation and how best to bridge differences in gender ethics across languages and cultures.

Review of the Decision-making of Living in Nursing Home

Nursing home is very common in western countries, and there have been many studies. Due to the influence of traditional Confucian culture, this is still a new thing in China. However, with the development of The Times, more and more Chinese people choose to stay in the nursing home. This paper tried to map the existing studies of nursing home and further locate the possible research gaps. Through reviewing the related studies, we summarized the main research themes. Then, provide suggestions for future research.

遺體捐獻行為的中國文化困境

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.在中國文化中，保留個人軀體的完整性具有重要意義，這導致醫學教學和科研中的屍源短缺現象成為制約醫學發展的一大問題。中國傳統文化一直被各界認為是阻礙遺體捐獻的根源，但本文基於訪談和文獻分析，發現導致這一現象的原因遠較傳統文化的影響更為複雜，其核心問題在於子女與父母在看待身體、死亡和“孝”上存在的多元價值觀衝突。價值觀衝突的文化根源不僅是多數研究指認的儒家傳統文化，而是一個包含著傳統文化、現代文化、精英文化與世俗文化相互交融和衝突的複雜問題。同時，兩者雖然在觀念上存在矛盾衝突，但所追求的終極目標具有高度一致性，即實現人的“尊嚴”。In Chinese culture, the preservation of the integrity of the body is greatly significant, which has led to a shortage of corpses in medical teaching and research and become a major problem restricting the development of medical research and treatment in China. Accordingly, it is generally believed that traditional Chinese culture has been a barrier to body donation in China. However, based on interviews and literature analyses, this paper shows that the factors leading to the body donation shortage in China are much more complicated than this simple “cultural” belief. The core problem, as our investigation finds, is that children and parents are in conflict over the value of the body and death and the virtue of filial piety. The cultural root of this conflict is not merely the nature or content of the traditional Confucian culture as identified by most researchers. Rather, it is a result of the complex interplay between modern scientific, revolutionary and traditional ethical views on the role of the body, the function of the Chinese patriarchal clan system and the blending of elastic spirit and modern secular culture. Finally, the paper argues that although donators and their children may have different understandings and value conflicts, their ultimate goal is highly consistent, that is, to achieve human dignity as expressed in modern Chinese society.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 6231 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

Lifestyle mobility in China: context, perspective and prospects

A transition in theoretical orientation from migration to mobility in the study of geographical and social movement in contemporary China highlights and resonates with significant political, social and cultural transformations in the past 40 years. Changes in mobility patterns also reveal a shift from production-led peasant worker migration, which has dominated international academic studies on China in the past few decades with a focus on working individuals driven by market forces, to a more individualized and diverse consumption-led mobility. Although the mobilities paradigm has not been an important lens for theoretical investigations of China to date, it provides insights into contemporary social changes that may otherwise be missed. In this paper, we use a focus on lifestyle mobility to investigate changes in mobility systems and new inequalities and dynamics. The analysis shows that the emergence of a new middle class, the arrival of a consumerist society, and traditional Confucian culture have substantially influenced a ‘mobility shift’ in China. However, misalignment still exists between the rapidly growing numbers of lifestyle migrants and the immobile social infrastructures that are not designed to accommodate such lifestyle mobility. A static social and political infrastructure continues to challenge traditional relationships between being at home and away, between individuals, families and communities, and between individuals’ aspirations for life elsewhere and obligations to be fulfilled in their home areas. The examination of middle-class lifestyles can also help in understanding those traditional relationships at a time when consumption-led mobility is becoming increasingly prominent in Chinese society.

„Schönheit ist Macht“

South Korea is a country where plastic surgery industry has been a roaring success. Beauty has become a dominant norm. Why? Some people try to explain this phenomenon in terms of the traditional Confucian culture of self-cultivation. However, this cannot be correct, as in Confucian culture a neat look cannot be equated with beauty. However, the rising dominance of lookism since the 1990s can be better explained through the interaction of pressures emanating from the labour market, of entertainment business, of the business strategies of medical industry and of economic policies of the government.

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in China: Regulation the Child Abuse in Schools

Child abuse occurring outside the home in China is inflicted on school-age children and can result in serious physical and mental harm. China is a developing country with a population of over 1.2 billion, of whom over 300 million are children under the age of 16. Making a commitment to respect the rights of children has profound implications for the status of children in China. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter CRC) requires that State Parties take all appropriate measures to protect child from abuse. China has ratified the CRC at domestic level and taken legislative, judicial and other measures to prevent children from abuse. Examination of the child abuse statutes and judicial practice of China reveals that China's domestic law has failed to provide adequate protection for children. Chinese traditional Confucian culture and deficiency of CRC both contribute to the soaring number of incidents of child abuse in schools. It is suggested that China review its legislation, establish the independent human rights commission, raise awareness of children's rights and improve cooperation with NGOs to ensure that it conforms fully with the requirements of the CRC.