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The article looks at the introduction of European savoir-faire to seventeenth and eighteenth century China, with particular attention given to the incorporation of imported mathematical and astronomical knowledge into local practices. It is suggested that the latter played a vital role in local politics, solidifying the rule of the emperor. Themes discussed include the history of China, the history of the Qing dynasty, and western imperialism.

This article considers how the Qing judiciary dealt with mentally ill individuals who had committed parricide. Archival cases show that parricide was always punished by dismemberment (lingchi), without taking the criminal's mental condition into account. Such inflexible attitude was not adopted without debate, however. It can be explained by the sacred nature of the filial relationship in traditional China, hence the barbarity of parricide; strengthening the legitimacy of the regime and the legality of the judicial process may also have been a factor. Yet an examination of the fundamental principles of traditional Chinese law and of the laws in force under the Qing shows that the punishment of parricidal lunatics was lacking firm legal grounds. Only with the first attempts at reforming Chinese law in depth in the early twentieth century did things start to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Business Fashion Forum, convention for the fashion in industry in France, on June 17, 2011 and its theme of the potential benefits of continued business relationships with China. Topics mentioned include President of the Business Fashion Form Alain Bogé, the improvement of economic conditions in China, and the improvement of the range and quality of Chinese products.