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As one of the common physical materials in Chinese archaeological excavations, ancient bronzes are an essential basis for studying the development of Chinese bronze culture, which is of great significance for exploring the development law of ancient human civilization and reconstructing ancient human society. As China's infrastructure advances, the number of bronzes unearthed by archaeological excavations continues to increase. However, environmental damage to artefacts is very complex, whether the buried environment of the artefacts or the above-ground environment when the artefacts are unearthed, leading to different health problems for the excavated bronzes. A scientific assessment of these bronzes needs to be carried out prior to extraction to inform staff how they should be extracted, moved, and transported and how they should be restored afterwards. In response to the above problems, this paper takes excavated bronzes from archaeological sites as the research object and, by analysing and studying the relevant industry standards and the disease characteristics of bronzes, establishes a three-tier indicator framework for assessing the health of bronzes in a layer-by-layer refinement and proposes quantitative indicators with typical correlations. Through extensive research and testing, we screened out efficient, non-destructive, convenient and reliable assessment and testing methods and assessment models that combine subjective and objective aspects suitable for archaeological sites. On this basis, the paper achieves a scientific and practical assessment of the health status of bronzes excavated from archaeological sites. After repeated experiments, a set of comprehensive methods for quickly and conveniently assessing the health status of excavated bronzes was proposed for the first time and successfully applied to the archaeological excavation site of Sanxingdui site in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a new definition of "Chinese characteristics" in recent propaganda works in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The definition associates the expression with ancient Chinese civilization and traditional Chinese thought. As the new definition is gaining currency in state propaganda, some scholars interpret it as a signal that the Chinese Communist Party is ready for reconciliation with Confucianism or an experiment to replace, at least partially, Marxism with Confucianism as the state ideology. Some Confucian scholars thus try to formulate an account of Confucianism that could negotiate power with Marxism. This phenomenon shows that the practice of state ideology and propaganda in the PRC sometimes does not aim to shape people's beliefs or value systems. Instead, it aims to channel the intellectual efforts of the educated toward memorizing the official interpretations of the settled state ideology or decoding new propaganda messages. The function of new propaganda messages resembles "calls for papers": they invite academics to participate in building theoretical grounds for new formulations (such as mottos or slogans) or making policy suggestions that resonate with the formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is an ancient civilization. History has left us with a rich cultural heritage, of which ancient cultural sites account for a large proportion. As far as the current scientific research and technology are concerned, due to the particularity and complexity of the humid environment, the protection of ancient cultural sites in the humid environment is still an important topic before us. The research topic involved in this article is about the application of composite nano-calcium-based materials for the reinforcement and protection of soil sites in humid environments. Combined with the development of the research content of this article, the research thinking of the thesis is also adjusted accordingly, making the analysis and solution of the problem clearer. The first is a conceptual study, expounding the relevant concepts in this article. The main purpose is to sort out and study the reinforcement and protection measures and methods of relevant sites and ancient cultural sites, as well as the classification, characteristics, and protection value of ancient cultural sites. Through the analysis and research of these aspects, the composite nano-calcium bases for ancient cultural sites in the subsequent humid environment is proposed based on material basic information. The second is a descriptive research, qualitative and quantitative analysis of humid environment. On the basis of summarizing previous researches, this paper mainly conducts qualitative and quantitative analysis on the judgment of humid environment, the influence mechanism on ancient cultural sites, and the main diseases. Then, it is analytical research, studying the main diseases and causes of the underground palace site in the engineering case, and it is concluded that it is mainly affected by the combined effect of the characteristics of the site's soil and the environment. Through the collection of data from the site survey, field test, and indoor experiment of the underground palace site, the preservation status of the site is collected, and the disease problems faced by the site were analyzed, making it more difficult to protect. The main problem facing the protection of soil relics in humid environment, that is, the research focus, is the research on the development and applicability of reinforcement protection materials. This article attempts to explore the protective effect of composite nano-calcium-based materials on wet sites. Practical research was conducted to verify the feasibility of composite nano-calcium-based materials in practice through indoor site soil simulation. After the completion of a series of experiments, the applicability and compatibility of the composite nano-calcium-based material to strengthen the wet site soil was verified through data analysis, data collection, and mechanism discussion. The experimental results show that the sample with a solid content of 0.4% composite nano-calcium matrix has better salt and alkali resistance. Moreover, the unconfined compressive strength growth rate of 0.4% of the samples has a qualitative improvement over other solid content samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has long positioned itself as the ancient civilization of the Far East, which only makes geographical sense through the lens of the West. The literature on China resonates with this geographic illustration, about which, critical scholars have cautioned against the imperial hegemony of Eurocentric knowledge. In this paper, we attempt to answer the call for a Global East through the situated agency of the others in the geopolitics of knowledge circulation. The circulation of knowledge foregrounds transnational flows in a multifaceted and multidirectional process, and mimicry calls for attention to political/soft subversions beneath the camouflaged behavior of coping. By investigating scholarship on the particular topic of shanzhai, we probe into two layers of knowledge production: how the variegated scholarly citation behaviors reflect the situated agency that bears the effects of asymmetric power relations formed through multiple flows of people, idea and capital, but nonetheless demonstrates an endeavor of autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the unique academic culture in Chinese philosophy and social sciences, researches on method framework provide an opportunity for understanding the thinking model and value orientation of the ancient eastern civilization. The field of information science has achieved fruitful results in the method framework research closely related to the unique discipline history and academic mission. The paper reviews information science method frameworks in China and presents their academic features from three aspects: 1. levels of the framework, 2. research strategies, and 3. essential techniques. At the same time, we summarize the value of this Chinese academic wisdom and the practical experience of information science in China to promote this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese civilization, which stands as a shining star in human civilizations, is distinct in its nature and development path. Although it suffered numerous turns of devastation in its 5,000 years of history, it has resiliently remained uninterrupted in its growth and radiance. Characterized by continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness, and longstanding commitment to peace, it also exhibits strong cohesion, vitality, flexibility, and adaptability. These characteristics emerged in the Paleolithic Period, indicating that the Chinese civilization did not emerge overnight. Its roots run deep with a long history, sprouting in the Paleolithic Period, breaking ground in the late Neolithic period, and gradually growing into the towering trees it is today. How did the ancient people in China evolve into today's Chinese nation? How did the ancient culture of prehistoric times develop into the current Chinese civilization? What are the connections between the history buried underground and the society we see today? Obviously, there is no clear answer to these questions. There are still many gaps in prehistoric China that need to be filled, and the process of and reasons for the evolution of ethnic groups and cultures still need to be further interpreted. The author tries to trace the roots of the Chinese nation and its civilization back to the Paleolithic Period, using archaeological materials to connect the survival and reproduction process of ancestors and delve into studying the ancient roots of the Huaxia people and Chinese civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 4.2 ka event was one of Holocene abrupt-change events and characterized by dry and cool climatic conditions in many parts of the world. The event was reported to have played important roles in the collapses of those major ancient civilizations. This paper first attempts to portray a global picture of this "4.2 ka Event" and then reviews those reliably-dated sequences containing "4.2 ka Event" retrieved from the domains of four major civilizations. This review further confirms the proposition advocated by the International Stratigraphy Committee that 4.2 ka was the chronological divider between the warmer-wetter middle Holocene and the cooler-drier late Holocene. This review also lends a further support to early proposals that the declines or disruptions of Ancient Egyptian Culture, Mesopotamian Culture, and Ancient Indian Culture at ∼4.2 ka BP were directly or indirectly associated with the "4.2 ka Event". In Chinese cultural domain, the derailment of nearly all of the well-developed Neolithic cultures at ∼4.2 ka BP was also chronologically correlated with the proxy data-recorded abrupt climatic change at ∼4.2 ka BP. But, it should be admitted that either drying or cooling or drying and cooling at ∼4.2 ka BP might not be sufficient to collapse these well-developed cultures in presently warm and wet southern China. Surely, further studies are needed for constraining the climatic and environmental variables at ∼4.2 ka BP not only in southern China but also in the adjacent Central Plains of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Western Liaohe River Basin in northeastern China is one of the cradles of ancient Chinese civilization. Archaeological records from this region indicate that human occupation began about 8000 years ago and that agriculture and pastoralism were important activities from an early stage. Very little is known, however, about the effects that these activities had upon the landscape. This paper presents the results of a palaeoecological study from a 3.6 m sedimentary sequence in a relict oxbow lake in the Western Liaohe River Basin of southeast Inner Mongolia. The 5400-yr sequence indicates that human activities had a noticeable impact on an apparently open landscape. Buckwheat cultivation began as early as 5400 cal. yr BP with intensification of agricultural activities from approximately 4700 cal. yr BP. Nitrophilous plants such as Solanum and Cerastium, and also Artemisia were growing in the region at certain times, linked with fluctuations in the δ15N record and probably indicative of increased pastoralism and unintentional/intentional manuring. Burning was probably used for clearance of the steppe vegetation for agriculture with a close relationship apparent between increased influx of microfossil charcoal and the presence of buckwheat. Superimposed upon this record of human impact is also clear indication of three significant intervals of climate change between 2900 and 2600, 1200 and 600 and 600 and 30 cal. yr BP. The latter two are discussed in relation to the 'Mediaeval Warm Period' and 'Little Ice Age' apparent in sedimentary sequences across the Northern Hemisphere. Discussions are therefore made in terms of the impact that both climate change and ancient Chinese civilizations had upon shaping the present day landscape and vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Documentation of the causes and treatment of hearing impairment and deafness and of attitudes of hearing people towards the deaf can be traced back to the later millennia before the Common Era (BCE). Within the present paper early reports from Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and from the Hebraic and Graeco-Roman civilisations up to the end of the second century of the Common Era (CE) are discussed as well as some of the earliest reports on the Aztec, Maya and Inca civilisations dating from the century following the Spanish conquests in the first half of the 16th century CE. Some common themes throughout these civilisations are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2004, a Chinese claim that the ancient Kingdom of Koguryo (37 BC-AD 668) was China's vassal state ignited a firestorm of protest in South Korea. The decade-long South Korean love affair with China appears to have ended, as increasing numbers of South Koreans have begun to view their colossal neighbor with new suspicion. What were the causes and consequences of this controversy? Rather than forwarding the usual political, economic, and security explanations, this paper interrogates the deeper identity politics at stake, arguing that the Koguryo controversy implicates the very meaning of being Korean or Chinese in the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood control initiated Chinese civilization. Chinese civilization has a long history, and Chinese ancestors invented "aquatic engineering technology" for flood control and water management, including the Fascine body, as early as two thousand years ago. The Fascine body is a structure used to protect the bank and prevent breaching of an ancient Chinese flood control project. Excavation of the Shahe ancient bridge ruins in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, China led to discovery of a Fascine body structure. Through 14C dating, fibre, slice observations, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analyses and SEM energy spectrum analyses of the fascine material, microbes in the structure and the surrounding soil were identified, the dominant microbial community was analyzed, and microbial diseases were controlled in a targeted manner. Research on the fascine bank ruins identified the width and length boundaries of the Shahe ancient bridge, determined the exact age of the Shahe ancient bridge, provided important materials for research on ancient bridges, river embankments and other ruins, and provided important clues for the traffic and layout around Chang'an during the Qin and Han Dynasties of Chinese history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The four-decades long exchanges with Chinese scholars has provided me with a fresh perspective. Reading history makes me feel that the talents of the historical Chinese who created the country's glorious ancient civilization are still being carried on today, and have become the foundation enabling China to build an ideal type of society. Indeed, China regards "becoming developed" as its ultimate goal and "reform and growth" as its guideline. The progress of artificial intelligence would not remove its own weakness of democracy. On the contrary, as the technology grows mature, it might steer development of socialism in a favourable direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the chain stitch embroidery technique and examines interesting new findings made during my field research of Miao embroidery. The Miao people of Guizhou, China, use two different types of chain stitch. One is a standard chain stitch similar to Western style. The other one, which I termed "ancient" chain stitch, is distinctly different in execution and appearance, and is a technique that only Miao are known to practise currently. Numerous examples of fine chain stitch embroidery have been excavated from archeological sites in China, including the Jiangling Mashan No.1 Chu Tomb, Jingzhou, Hubei, Warring States period (770 - 221 B.c.) and the Mawangdui No.1 Tomb, Changsha, Hunan, Western Han period (206 B.c. - A.D. 8). These extant embroideries clearly illustrate a unique expression of fine, fluid, curvilinear lines which are only possible using "ancient" chain stitch. The relevance of this connection is highly significant in its implications of a shared history between the Miao people and ancient Chinese civilizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anesthesia is one of the main issues in surgery and has progressed a lot since two centuries ago. The formal history of surgery indicates that beginning of anesthesia backs to the 18th century, but reviewing the history of medicine shows that pain management and anesthesia has a long history in ancient times. The word "anesthesia", comes from Greek language: an-(means: "without") and aisthēsis (means: "sensation"), the combination of which means the inhibition of sensation. The oldest reports show that the Sumerians maybe were the first people that they cultivated and harvested narcotic sedative like the opium Poppy as early as 3400 BC and used them as pain killers. There are some texts which show us that Greek and Mesopotamia's doctors prescribed alcoholic beverages before their surgeries. In the Byzantine time, physicians used an elixir known as "laudanum" that was a good sedative prior the patient's operation. Ancient Persia and China were as the biggest civilizations, of which medicine anesthesia had a great role in. Also, Persian and other Muslim physicians developed the field of anesthesiology in early medieval era which is called Islamic Golden Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a review of the extant literature on the topic of comparing classical Greece and early China. The development of the field of Sino-Hellenic studies is discussed, mentioning that it has taken place against the backdrop of post-structuralism and post-modernism. The work of historian Geoffrey Lloyd in formulating Greek-Chinese comparisons through the fields of scientific and medical history is discussed, mentioning that other fields of Sino-Hellenic studies include comparisons in the fields of literature and historiography, philosophy, and religion.

The article focuses on the English quarrel between scholars William Temple and William Wotton, about the relative cultural achievements of China as an ancient or modern civilizations. The article proposes that, in a strong sense, the seventeenth-century debate about China produced the quarrel, the numerous published bulletins and reports on China that captured the imagination of seventeenth-century Europe contributed to the historiographical crisis that goes by the name of the quarrel between the ancients and the moderns.