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In China, the cult of Guanyin (also known as Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva), is one of the most widespread and influential Buddhist beliefs. In popular dramas, Guanyin is portrayed as a savior who delivers people from suffering and disasters. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, multiple Guanyin dramatic texts on the cultivation and enlightenment of Princess Miaoshan were created. These dramas, including the Xiangshanji, Haichaoyin, Nanyouji, and Daxiangshan, reflected market demand for Miaoshan Guanyin dramas in urban and rural areas that appealed to people of different social classes, including literati and court nobility. This article explores market demand and narrative variations of Miaoshan Guanyin dramas by comparing and analyzing textual narratives and investigating historical information about performances. The data presented focus on three dimensions, namely sacredness and entertainment, cultivation and filial piety, and the functions of ritual dramas. The findings presented below show that the success of Miaoshan Guanyin dramas in crossing social boundaries can be attributed to several factors: 1) Such dramas combined sacred and entertaining qualities by adding aesthetic effects to essential sacred scenes and strengthening the perception of sacredness through stage performances. 2) The embrace of feminist thought and Confucian ethics plus the incorporation of themes about women and filial piety from the Miaoshan legend attracted female audiences and met the demand for ethical education. 3) The spirit of guiding people towards cultivation in Buddhist texts was shifted to delivering the deceased and giving blessings, achieving one key function of ritual dramas. In short, Miaoshan Guanyin dramas presented different social functions and aesthetic features beyond entertaining effects due to multiple meanings of the Miaoshan legend as well as various connotations. The popularization and development trajectory of religious dramas can also be observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Seven Victories is one of the most influential works in Catholic literature from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The seven victories spiritual cultivation contained therein is the result of the localization of the practice of the Christian faith in the West. It is still a living tradition in the Christian religion and even in Western culture. Since the end of the Ming Dynasty, The Seven Victories has aroused significant repercussions in the ecclesiastical and academic worlds. Some scholars converted to Catholicism because of The Seven Victories and wrote preambles in response to it; some scholars wrote essays criticizing the ethical ideas of The Seven Victories; and some scholars were inspired by The Seven Victories to write about Confucian ideas of sin, the work of reform, and the liturgy of repentance. Together, these constitute the history of the reception of The Seven Victories in China. Through Confucian culture integration, Chinese Christian scholars have developed a localized interpretation of the seven victories spiritual cultivation, resulting in a localized Chinese spiritual cultivation of sin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between social factors and the formation of exported mug designs is blurred. This study addresses how they influence material design. Based on a quantitative typological analysis, this paper interprets the cultural relationships underlying the evolution of mug designs exported during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The study reveals: (1) the typology and handle styles of mugs can be categorized into six types, with a predominance of Cylindrical bodies and Ear-shaped handles. Notably, artistic emphasis is concentrated on Bulbous cup bodies and Tail outward curved handles; (2) the design of mugs in the eighteenth century exhibited diversity, morphological similarities, and feature continuity, evolving from representational (Ming Dynasty) to abstract and then to minimalistic styles (Qing Dynasty), particularly evident in the three-dimensional modeling of handles for ergonomic comfort (transitioning from a singular Outward curved form to Ear-shaped form, and then to Entwined branch form); (3) the body shape of mugs transformed from Arc-barrel bodies to Bulbous bodies (focusing on heat retention), and eventually to Cylindrical bodies (prioritizing heat retention, practicality, and cost-efficiency).; (4) the volume of mugs steadily increased from the early eighteenth century, generally classified into large volume (≥ 500 ml), medium volume (200-499 ml), and small volume (< 200 ml); (5) considering the extreme range of volume (11090 ml) and height (25 cm), it indicates that these two variables do not necessarily have a direct positive correlation; (6) the low center of gravity in handle design (average width of 3.4 cm against an average height of 9.9 cm for the body) reflects considerations for the distribution of liquid weight and operational convenience. The volume of sample-10 (11127 ml) notably exceeds the typical range for tea-drinking utensils, revealing the mechanism of wealth and status symbolism. Market demand orientation emerged as the primary driver for the evolution of export mug designs during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with adjustments in the merchant system playing a secondary role. The transformation in mug design reflects the interplay of multiple factors, with the trend toward minimalist design being a response to market demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Araucaria is the property of Araucaria-Revista Iberoamericana de Filosofia, Politica y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The rapid modernization in China has aggravated the reduction of the traditional settlements and aroused concern about the protection and research. This study aims to examine the spatial-temporal variations Tujia traditional settlements in China and to delineate the driving mechanism of the settlement distribution. Previous studies have focused on the characteristics of settlements in provincial or smaller areas, providing lacked information regarding spatial distribution heterogeneity of Tujia traditional settlements in China. In this study, the spatial heterogeneity and influence factors of the distribution of traditional Tujia settlements were examined using the GIS platform and statistical methods. The results reveal that the spatial distribution of settlements exhibits clustering with the pattern of "scattered distribution in a large region, while concentrated in small areas". The settlements were generally built in low hills, gentle slopes, sunny slopes and low-relief terrain areas, with elevation, relief degree of land surface (RDLS), slope and aspect were the key factors affecting the distribution. In Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, settlements showed significant clustering all through, though the location and number of clustering center kept changing. In this process, the history of the Tujia chieftain and the transportation and marketing lines of Sichuan salt had a profound influence on the historical evolution of the settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Franciscan Order was one of the most important missionary orders in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. While rooted in the local communities, they also engaged in various forms of interactions with Chinese literati. This article will begin by briefly discussing the issue of the Franciscans changing from religious habit into Chinese dress as well as their evolving attitude towards Confucianism and Chinese rituals, aiming to illustrate the process of shaping their "Western Confucian" image and their adaptation to Chinese culture. Subsequently, the focus of this paper will be shifted to exploring the modes of interactions between the Spanish Franciscans and the Chinese literati. The author argues that the interactions between the two sides were primarily power-based. These power-based interactions entailed establishing connections with officials and leveraging their influence to safeguard missionary activities. It can be further categorized into three types. The first type involved socializing with officials, while the second type included interaction with Jesuit officials in court, and the third type was direct involvement in official positions. In their engagement with literati, the Franciscans demonstrated a thorough understanding of and adaptation to Chinese societal and cultural norms, thereby facilitating the development of their mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Locust plagues and tidal disasters are primary natural hazards in China's eastern coastal regions, yet their interrelationship remains unclear. This study, drawing on historical documents from the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911 AD), focuses on Zhejiang Province and its Hangzhou Bay coastline, areas typically affected by tidal disasters. Employing advanced quantitative analysis and spatiotemporal models, the research aims to reveal the mechanisms behind tidal disasters and their impact on locust population dynamics. The findings indicate a limited spatiotemporal correlation between locust plagues and tidal or drought disasters but a significant association with flooding. The relationship between locust infestations and floods is notably strong in the unique geographical context of Hangzhou Bay's northern shore. The 'hydromarginal' nature of the north coast creates an ideal habitat for locusts. This study pioneers in identifying flooding as a crucial mediator between tidal disasters and locust plagues, shedding light on the 'typhoon-tidal-flood-locust' disaster sequence and offering new insights into understanding and mitigating natural disasters in the region. In this study, we primarily employ a quantitative methodology, utilizing advanced data analysis and sophisticated spatiotemporal modeling to investigate the interplay between locust plagues and tidal disasters. Although some progress has been made in the study of historical natural disasters, systematic studies of the relationship between tidal floods and locust breeding sites along the east coast of China during the Ming and Qing dynasties are still scarce. This study fills this gap by employing advanced GIS and time series analysis techniques, combining traditional historical documentary studies with modern scientific methods and providing a new methodological approach to the analysis of historical disaster patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a common cultural phenomenon in China and the West, alchemy not only embodies the scientific spirit of people before modern times, but also contains certain religious beliefs, and even creates unrealistic secular imaginations. When Catholicism entered China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Chinese also projected this imagination of alchemy onto the missionaries. Behind this imagination actually lays the strong interest of Chinese people in the financial resources of the missionaries. On the one hand, there is the historical influence of traditional Chinese alchemy, and on the other hand, there is the curiosity caused by the lifestyle of missionaries in China. The imagination of alchemy not only reflects a historical aspect of the encounter between China and the West during the Ming and Qing dynasties, but also reflects a complex social psychology of mixed curiosity, panic, suspicion, and vigilance in pre-modern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gunpowder is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, which once had an important impact on the world pattern and development process. However, after the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, gunpowder firearms gradually declined in China. Gunpowder moved to the West with the war and became black powder, which promoted the birth and development of modern chemical science. The development of chemical science is of great significance to the dynamite family. The brilliant achievements of China's modern king of dynamite revitalize the glory of Chinese gunpowder. This paper reviews the legendary development course and the groundbreaking role of dynamite, describes the properties, rich types and unique working principles of its special chemical energy, and tries to trace the internal mechanism of gunpowder combustion and explosion. It aims to highlight the importance of scientific thinking mode and the development of chemistry discipline to the study of explosives, so as to continuously enrich the knowledge connotation of chemistry students, stimulate their enthusiasm for innovative thinking, enhance their professional confidence, cultural confidence and national confidence, and promote the spirit of scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Longmen Xizhu Xinzong 龍門西竺心宗 was a Taoist sect that was active during the Qing Dynasty. The sect reportedly originated in India and has long been renowned for its Xizhu Doufa 西竺斗法. However, due to its secrecy and lack of literature, its true form remains a mystery. Examining the self-reported history of the Longmen Xizhu Xinzong, it can confidently be stated that Xizhu Doufa was often used in conjunction with Dharani and had deep roots in Tantric Buddhism. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Tantric Buddhism gained popularity in China and evolved into Tang Tantrism (Ch. Tangmi 唐密). There is a large amount of Dipper Method (Ch. Doufa 斗法)-related content in Tang Tantrism, which is a variant of China's original Dipper Method observed in India. After being passed back to China, it was named "Western Transmission". Many of the existing documents on the Dipper Method from the Ming and Qing Dynasties originated from Tang Tantrism. In terms of belief, they reflect the combination of Doumu 斗姆 and Marici; in terms of methods, they incorporate multiple elements, including the Taoist Thunder Method (Ch. Leifa 雷法) and Marici mantra. Overall, the ideas, lineage of transmission, and other aspects recorded in these documents are extremely similar to those emphasized by the Longmen Xizhu Xinzong, providing evidence for the origin of Xizhu Doufa. This evidence also provides a new reference for the direction in which Tang Tantrism developed after the Huichang Persecution of Buddhism 會昌毀佛. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic discussion of traditional zinc-smelting technology in China has been hampered by a paucity of physical data recovered from early production sites. In recent years, however, the discovery of former zinc-smelting sites in the municipality of Chongqing in south-western China has provided important evidence from archaeological excavations that contribute to the study of this topic. Taking the smelting furnace found at the Linjiangerdui site in Zhong County as an example, this paper introduces and discusses the form, use and maintenance of the zinc-smelting furnace of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368–1644), and makes a preliminary comparison with the smelting furnaces dating to the Qing Dynasty (AD 1636–1912) unearthed in Shizhu County and the mountainous Hunan Province in an attempt to elucidate the development and evolution of ancient Chinese zinc-smelting technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods had a massive impact on the development of ancient cities around the world and understanding this phenomenon constitutes an essential part of the history of long‐term and dynamic human–environment interactions. There remains, however, an enormous challenge in identifying records of ancient floods in urban environments due to various sedimentation and postdepositional processes that often remove, erase, and alter such environmental records. During archaeological excavations in the famous historic city of Kaifeng, we identified records of two historical floods at the Shuntianmen site. Related stratums were carefully studied, from which dating and sediment samples were collected. These excavated stratums were also scanned to obtain digital data for modeling. Combining these data, we then applied three‐dimensional modeling to reconstruct the evolution of the natural and cultural landscape of the site since the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127 AD), which was not possible in previous studies due to the deep burial of archaeological strata. Our results indicate that the two floods occurred during the late Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD) and the Qing Dynasty (1636–1912 AD), respectively. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Shuntianmen was an important part of Kaifeng, which was, at that time, the capital of China and one of the largest cities in the world. Later, during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Shuntianmen became a suburban settlement situated along various traffic routes. During the Qing Dynasty, the area became a small village. Subsequently, the area was completely abandoned and deserted until modern Kaifeng, which was built at the same place. The evolution of the regional landscape is the direct result of the interaction between the natural environment and human activities, among which the precarious alluvial processes of the Yellow River were playing an increasingly vital role. Over the centuries, the Yellow River floods, warfare, and wind‐blown sand accumulation reduced the Kaifeng region from a prosperous capital to a comparatively deserted area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any investigation of society's historical development should begin with the fundamental issue of productivity level. The Song witnessed at least 45 new advances in production technologies, items and tools, of which at least 15 took place in agriculture and 30 in handicraft. Although the Song surpassed previous dynasties in overall productivity, it was also affected by a number of limitations, seven of which were particularly relevant to productivity level. With the exception of agricultural technology and firearms, the Ming and Qing failed to make major breakthroughs in the remaining five fields. Although these dynasties outperformed the Song in terms of total productivity and technology, particularly in the introduction of crops, they fell behind in productivity per capita and quality of growth, due to the population boom and the stagnation and even regression of farm technologies. Whether compared with previous dynasties or with the Ming and Qing, the Song dynasty saw the zenith of productivity development in ancient China. The level of productivity underlies Song progress and Ming and Qing stagnation, as well as the rise of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wooden cantilever covered bridges are known for their marvelous shapes and manufacturing technique. Many wooden cantilever covered bridges were constructed during Ming and Qing Dynasties in Anhua province, China, due to the "Tea-Horse Trade" policy. The excellent performance of wooden materials and exquisite building techniques have kept these wooden bridges well-preserved and worthy of investigation. This paper conducted a comprehensive review of wooden cantilever covered bridges in Anhua, especially for the eight bridges listed as historical and cultural heritage protected at the provincial or the national level. The discussions covered the historical background of the bridges, their locations and dimensions, and the details of their structures including the cantilever systems, corridors, and roofs. Moreover, the cultural background was introduced to better understand the meaning of the decorations carved on the bridges and the logic of location selections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering & Architecture is the property of Journal of Beijing University of Civil Engineering & Architecture Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Little Ice Age was concurrent with frequent natural disasters in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368–1911 AD). Using historical documents created in the Yangtze River Delta during these dynasties, we reconstructed the severity and frequency of locust plagues. We uncovered their temporal and spatial patterns, the relevant influencing factors, and the applied control measures. These locust plagues occurred in the Yangtze River Delta during summer and autumn and were considered moderate-degree disasters. The locust plagues during the Qing Dynasty were less harmful than those during the Ming Dynasty. The locust plagues occurred north of 31°N and were concentrated around lakes and rivers. Regarding long-term changes, three periods of frequent locust plagues were identified: 1520–1540 AD, 1610–1670 AD, and 1850–1870 AD. The locust plague cycles were dominated by long-term changes of 100 and 350 years, alternating with short-term changes of 10–30 years. Locust growth and development typically occur under suitable climate conditions. However, in the Yangtze River Delta, the relationship between locust outbreaks and temperature changes was insignificant, whereas flood disasters provided suitable humidity conditions for locust nymph growth. Locust plague outbreaks had a series of social impacts, one direct result was rising food prices. When facing locust plagues, the Ming and Qing Dynasties formed effective top-down preventative measures corresponding to local conditions. The locust plagues in the Yangtze River Delta during the Ming and Qing Dynasties occurred with regularity, were responsive to local hydrological conditions, and impacted social economies and technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The society was filled with the emotions of self-examinations and restraining sins during late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The introduction of Catholic hamartiology undoubtedly further enriched the discusses of sins in the intellectual world in Ming and Qing China. This article explores the Catholic Hamartiology in details and its social significances during late Ming and early Qing dynasties by analyzing related literatures. It firstly discusses the concepts on sins by Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism before the Catholic Church entered China; secondly, it discusses the main contents of Hamartiology of Western Christianity represented by St. Augustine and St. Aquinas. Then it analyzes the thoughts of Hamartiology in the Catholic works in Ming and Qing dynasties, and the social responses to these thoughts. Catholic Hamartiology actually marks the boundaries of the Catholic community, so as to distinguish it from other social groups, and thus plays an important role in shaping the identity of the Catholics during late Ming and early Qing dynasties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The granary in the Ming and Qing dynasties was important to continue the previous agriculture, which required the official institution in the application process to stabilize the local area. The middle reaches of the Huang He River was an important agricultural area in ancient China. With the lack of land resources and the decrease of political attention, many problems occurred in grain storage operation in this area. In order to solve the problems caused by the expansion of the granary function, the local government gradually introduced local merchants in the middle reaches of the Huang He River since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, whose professional skills not only improved the insufficient use of grain storage in the region, but also maintained the social stability and development of the border areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Pulp & Paper is the property of China Pulp & Paper Magazines Publisher and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The advent of the Semantic Web and Linked Data initiative has contributed to new perspectives and opportunities regarding cultural heritage conservation. Museums have extensive collections of Chinese ceramic vases in China. Although some data sources have been digitized, the vision of cultural heritage institutions is not only to display objects and simple descriptions (drawn from metadata), but also to allow for understanding relationships between objects (created by semantically interrelated metadata). The key to achieving this goal is to utilize the technologies of the Semantic Web, whose core is Ontology. The focus of this paper is to describe the construction of the TAO CI ("ceramics" in Chinese) ontology and terminology of the domain of ceramic vases of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. The theoretical framework relies on the notion of essential characteristics. This notion is compliant with the ISO principles on Terminology (ISO 1087 and 704), according to which a concept is defined as a combination of essential characteristics, and with the Aristotelian definition in terms of genus and differentia. This approach is intuitive for domain experts and requires identifying essential characteristics, combining them into concepts, and translating the result into a Semantic Web language. This article proposes an approach based on a morphological analysis of the Chinese terms for vases to identify essential characteristics and a term-guided method for defining concepts. Such a term-and-characteristic guided approach makes ontology engineering less dependent on formal languages and does not require a background in Description Logics. The research presented in this article aims to publish the resulting structured data on the Semantic Web for the use of anybody interested, including museums hosting collections of these vessels, and enrich existing domain ontology building methodologies. To our knowledge, there are no comprehensive ontologies for Chinese ceramic vases. TAO CI ontology remedies this gap and provides a reference for ontology building in other domains of Chinese cultural heritage. The TAO CI ontology is openly accessible here: http://www.dh.ketrc.com/otcontainer/data/otc.owl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, while the social life, economic structure, and even cultural atmosphere underwent profound changes, the dominant aspect of political culture was still deduced along the traditional track of the imperial system. The prominent characteristics of China's social form in the Ming and Qing dynasties are the development of the commercial economy and the enhancement of social freedom; the developed trend of common people's culture; and the sustainable development of the centralized monarch-bureaucratic-aristocratic system, which constitute a self-consistent pattern. This paper on the political culture of political spirit, political value, political thought, the four dimensions, the specific period, specific social community, public power setting and operation, and the perspective of the Ming and Qing social form of political culture, this study helps people to the imperial environment of Ming and Qing rural political culture and understanding and exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with the Chinese language becoming the mother tongue of Muslims in mainland China, the religious education of Chinese Muslims faced a dilemma. Meanwhile, a rejuvenated educational system was established by Hu Dengzhou (胡登洲) in Shaanxi during the Wanli (萬歷) period. This system, which was called Jingtang education (經堂教育) after a long time, has epoch-making significance in the history of Chinese Islamic thought. Through Hu Dengzhou's disciples, this educational system gradually spread to North China and Jiangnan, where Shandong School and Jinling School were formed. Sufism played an important role in the two early schools' teaching arrangements and academic activities. In the middle and late Qing periods, Shaanxi School and Yunnan School emerged one after another. Scholars of these two schools paid more attention to rational sciences represented by philosophical theology and attempted to use theological theories to explain Sufi texts. Overall, the establishment of Jingtang education was not only an urgent requirement for Muslims in mainland China to explain Islamic classics in Chinese, but also a fruitful attempt to replace official schools with private schools. The early Shandong School and Jinling School attached great importance to Sufism for two reasons: (1) Sufism became a prominent study after the 12th century, and most of the teachers of early Jingtang education had a close relationship with the Sufis. (2) These scholars live in a Chinese cultural background with Neo-Confucianism as the mainstream, and there are many commonalities between Sufism and Confucianism, which helps Muslim scholars to use Confucian terms to explain Islamic teaching. In the later period, Shaanxi School and Yunnan School turned to pay more attention to philosophical theology for two reasons: (1) In order to deal with the emergence and ideological differences of Chinese Islamic sects in the mid-Qing era. (2) This change was not unrelated to the influence of the Shixue (實學) thought trends in China, especially the Qianjia School. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Poyang Lake is the property of Journal of Poyang Lake Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Three religions combined worship was an important spiritual belief in ancient China, which has become a common practice in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Three religions combined worship refers to offering sacrifices to the ancestors of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in the same temple, and such temples are called three-religion-hall. Zhijiao Three-religion-hall was built in the 15th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. After many repairs and expansion, it finally became today's pattern. Based on the culture of three religions combined worship, taking Zhijiao Three-religion-hall as research object, location, spatial characteristics and architectural decoration of Zhijiao Three-religion-hall are analyzed, and architectural art value of Zhijiao Three-religion-hall is expounded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese state sacrificial ritual represented a symbolic system of integrating religious belief, divine authority, and political legitimacy. The Northern Stronghold (Beizhen 北鎮, i.e., Mount Yiwulü 醫巫閭山) was equal in status to the other four strongholds, which, moreover, served as a strategic military fortress and represented the earth virtue in the early state sacrifice system. In the late imperial era of China, and during the Yuan (1279–1368) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties in particular, the Northern Stronghold swiftly achieved prominence and eventually became an instrument used by minority ethnic groups, namely the Mongolians and Manchus, when elaborating upon the legitimacy of their political regimes. During the Yuan dynasty, the mountain spirits of the five strongholds (Wuzhen 五鎮) were formally invested as kings and, as a result, were accorded equivalent sacrifices in comparison to those given to the five sacred peaks (Wuyue 五嶽). Given that the Northern Stronghold was located near the northeast of Beijing, the Yuan government considered it the foundation of the state. Thereafter, the Northern Stronghold was regarded as the most important of the five stronghold mountains. In the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the Northern Stronghold Temple (Beizhenmiao 北鎮廟) was reconstructed as both a military fortress and religious site, while its representation as a significant site for a foreign conquest dynasty diminished and its significance as a bastion of anti-insurgent suppression emerged. By the Qing dynasty, the Northern Stronghold was regarded as an integral component of the geographic origin of the Manchu people and thereby assumed once again a position of substantial political significance. Several Qing emperors visited the Northern Stronghold and left poems and prose written in graceful Chinese to present their high respect and their mastery of Chinese culture. The history of the Northern Stronghold demonstrates how the ethnic minority regimes successfully utilized the traditional Chinese state sacrificial ritual to serve their political purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought imposes serious challenges to ecosystems and societies and has plagued mankind throughout the ages. To understand the long-term trend of drought in China, a series of annual self-calibrating Palmer drought severity indexes (scPDSI), which is a semi-physical drought index based on the land surface water balance, were reconstructed during AD 56~2000. Multi-proxy records of tree-ring width and stalagmite oxygen isotope δ18O were used for this reconstruction, along with random forest regression. The spatiotemporal characteristics of the reconstruction results were analyzed, and comparisons were made with previous studies. Results showed that (1) China witnessed a drought-based state during the past 2000 years (mean value of scPDSI was −0.3151), with an average annual drought area of 85,000 km2; 4 wetting periods, i.e., the Han Dynasty (AD 56~220), the Tang Dynasty (AD 618~907), the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368~1644), and the Qing Dynasty (AD 1644~1912); and 2 drying periods, i.e., the Era of Disunity (AD 221~580) and the Song Dynasty (AD 960~1279). (2) Three different alternating fluctuation dry-wet modes (i.e., interannual, multidecadal, and centennial scales) in China were all significantly (p-value < 0.001) correlated with the amplitude and frequency of temperature in the Northern Hemisphere. (3) According to the spatial models disassembled from the rotated empirical orthogonal function, China was divided into nine dry-wet regions: northwestern China, Xinjiang, southwestern China, southeastern China, the Loess plateau, central China, southwestern Tibet, eastern China, and northeastern China. (4) The random forest (RF) was found to be accurate and stable for the reconstruction of drought variability in China compared with linear regression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qiu Jun of Ming China, with the aim of "rendering the Zhuzi jiali both accessible and practicable for ordinary folks," compiled the Jiali yijie. Among the annotations of Jiali in the Ming dynasty, Jiali yijie gained the widest popularity and greatest influence, and was regarded as a new classic, on par with the Jiali itself. In the 16th century, Jiali yijie was also introduced to Joseon Korea, where it was regarded as "an important supplement to the Zhuzi jiali" by Korean scholars, attaining a high level of popularity. This paper draws on 23 versions of the Jiali yijie from the Ming dynasty and 33 from the Qing. Historically, the Jiali yijie was introduced to the Joseon dynasty from China by Kim Anguk in 1518. Through the comparison of these four Joseon print versions and their Chinese counterparts, we are led to the conclusion that it was the Yingtian prefecture's print, dated the twelfth year of the Zhengde Era, that Kim Anguk brought back to Joseon from Ming China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the instrumentalization of "China" in contacts between the Ming and Qing dynasties and Siam-Ayutthaya. It focuses both on the state-to-state relations and those between various members of the Siamese and the imperial societies. "China" and "Chinese-ness" stood for forms of ascribed identity within the Sinocentric world, for a form of social distinction, and for one of many identities assumed in the games of political loyalty. For the Ming and Qing empires, inclusion of a foreign land within "China" was conducted through the ritual and administrative fictions that situated Ayutthaya within a hierarchy vis-à-vis the imperial capital. Beyond the state's discourses, participation in a vaguely defined Chinese culture were means of building social networks within the merchant and official communities in Ayutthaya. For the junkmen that connected Ayutthaya and South China, multiple Chinese identities were instrumentalized and inflected according to the needs and necessities of the moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No fiction is without a narrative of human relationships. In Chinese literary history, the stories represented by Jin Ping Mei are especially seen as dealing with human relationships. Some researchers have interpreted Jin Ping Mei from the perspective of human relationships; however, the generic concept cannot describe social connections in Chinese culture. The concept of guanxi, the ubiquitous and quotidian social network in China, better describes the specific human relationships in this fiction. Guanxi as a Chinese cultural phenomenon originating from Confucianism is effective in procuring resources through instrumental and sentimental mechanisms. In Jin Ping Mei, which is centered on Ximen Qing, a guanxi network connects all the characters. Ximen Qing's fortune is built on guanxi manipulation. Guanxi, however, which was expected to embody Confucian values, violated Confucian principles in the late Ming context. Jin Ping Mei marks a turning point for attitudes toward guanxi in literary representation, and this derogatory attitude persisted in the narrative of fiction throughout the Qing dynasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dear Editor, For millions of years, anthropoid primates were presumably affected by itch (pruritus),[1] which is currently defined as an unpleasant sensation provoking the desire to scratch.[2] Backscratchers are popular tools used to scratch itchy skin on the back not accessible by the affected individual's own hands (typically the interscapular area). Here, we present evidence illustrating the development of these -utensils from rudimentary tools to artistic, ceremonial so-called "Ruyi" sceptres, symbolizing authority and power in ancient China. Scratching the itch: how crude backscratchers turned into decorative "Ruyi" sceptres symbolizing authority and power in ancient China. [Extracted from the article]

Climatic changes have played an important role in societal reorganizations. Particularly, the late 16th and early 17th century coincided with severely cold condition, extremely weak summer monsoon and widespread population decline in China. Here we present new speleothem oxygen isotope records across North and South China, which in concert with historical documents, allow us to characterize the "Late Ming Weak Monsoon Periods" (LMWMP) at an unprecedented annual temporal resolution. Our analysis suggests that as a weak summer monsoon event not seen for nearly 500 years in China, the LMWMP spatiotemporally coincided with the late Ming Dynasty peasant uprising (1627-1658 CE), and thus the transition from Ming to Qing Dynasty. This suggests a plausible role of climate change in shaping the important chapters of the Chinese history. In addition, both speleothem and historical documents reveal that the LMWMP appears to be a north to south time-transgressive event on decadal-timescale. Plain Language Summary This study presents two new speleothem paleoclimate records across northern and southern China, which in concert with the historical documents, allow us to characterize the Late Ming Weak Monsoon Periods (LMWMP) (1580-1660 CE). The records offer that the unprecedented, long-lasting aridity/weakening monsoon period was spatiotemporally synchronized with the late Ming peasantry uprising (1627-1658 CE) and the fall of the Ming Dynasty. The comparisons with many regional paleoclimate records show that the severest drought during the LMWMP was timetransgressive on decadal-timescale: from northern China to the Jiang-Huai region. Mechanistically, solar activity may provide a centennial scale background of precipitation decreases for LMWMP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, many missionaries arrived in China. While spreading Catholicism, they also pushed the cultural exchanges between China and the western world to an unprecedented new height. Up until our times today, there has been an abundance of researches on the missionary strategies of the Jesuits, while the Franciscans, another vital force, has received little mention among scholars, neither have Spanish language historical materials been properly used. This lack of research has proved unhelpful for reproducing missionary history, both from the perspective of Chinese scholars, and from the perspective of putting eastern and western scholars in an equal conversation. Therefore, this article uses the example of the Franciscans' first mission in Chaozhou to analyze their missionary strategies in China (based on the letters collected in Sinica Franciscana). This article intends to point out that during the 17th century, the Franciscans in China had forgone their early rigid strategy, and had later adopted more flexible strategies, in order to adapt to Chinese culture and to preserve their religious mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical practice of widow chastity in China is regarded as an outcome of traditional Confucian thought. This study examines how economic factors played key roles in the formation of this cultural tradition by studying the causality between technological progress in the cotton textile sector and the increase in the number of widow chastity cases between the Ming and Qing Dynasties. We find that the incidence of widow chastity increased significantly with rapid technological change in the cotton textile sector and increased demands for female labor. This result remains robust when the issues of widow chastity selection and alternative economic and cultural channels are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late Ming Dynasty Megadrought (LMDMD) (1637–1643) occurred at the end of Ming Dynasty and is the severest drought event in China in the last millennium. This unprecedented drought contributed significantly to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in 1644, casting profound impacts on Chinese history. Here, the physical mechanism for the LMDMD is studied. Based on paleoclimate reconstructions, we hypothesize that this drought was initially triggered by a natural drought event starting in 1637 and was then intensified and extended by the tropical volcanic eruption at Mount Parker in 1641. This hypothesis is supported by the case study of the Community Earth System Model‐Last Millennium Experiment archive as well as sensitivity experiments with volcanic forcing superimposed on natural drought events. The volcano‐intensified drought was associated with a decreased land‐ocean thermal contrast, a negative soil moisture response, and a weakening and eastward retreating West Pacific Subtropical High. Plain Language Summary: The collapse of the Ming Dynasty at 1644 and, in turn, the historical transition from the Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty significantly changed the Chinese history into a long period of conservative policy. The collapse of Ming Dynasty at 1644 is greatly associated with the late Ming Dynasty Megadrought (LMDMD) (1637–1643). In this study, based on paleoclimate reconstructions and climate modeling, we show that the LMDMD is triggered by a natural drought event and is then intensified and extended by the strong volcanic eruption at Mt. Parker in 1641. This "superposition" mechanism of LMDMD and the spatiotemporal characteristics of this drought are reproduced by our volcanic sensitivity experiments with volcanic forcing superimposed on natural drought events, and the results demonstrate that the explosion of Mt. Parker at the end of a natural drought event amplified and extended the drought for 3 years, generating the megadrought. The volcano‐prolonged drought is associated with the failure of East Asia Summer Monsoon (EASM), which is caused directly by the decreasing land‐ocean thermal contrast after the volcanic eruption and indirectly by negative soil moisture feedback as well as weakening and eastward retreating of the West Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH). Key Points: The late Ming Dynasty Megadrought (LMDMD) is triggered by a natural drought event in 1637 and is then intensified and extended by the strong volcanic eruption in 1641Volcanic eruption superimposed on a drought triggered by internal variability can intensify drought conditions, such that the drought becomes severer than that triggered by internal variability or external forcing aloneThe intensification of LMDMD is related to the weakening of land‐ocean thermal contrast, the retreat of West Pacific Subtropical High, and the decrease of soil moisture after volcanic eruption [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many historians of China, particularly those based in North America, insist that the Qing dynasty's territorial expansion was imperial and comparable to the imperial expansions of other global empires. Other historians, particularly but not only those based in the People's Republic of China, continue to resist this interpretation. They argue that dynastic expansion in the Ming and Qing periods was simply a form of nation-state building, akin to similar processes in Europe. Rather than rejecting their claims as a product of Chinese nationalism, we argue that the term "empire" should be (re)understood as a global co-production, emerging from multiple intersecting histories and scholarly debates about those histories. Doing so challenges influential definitions of empire that rely on a distinction between empires and nation-states, highlighting their dual presence in both Euro-American and Chinese pasts (and presents). This move demands a rejection of periodizations that suggest that empires ceased to exist following the period of decolonization from 1945 to the 1970s. This opens up new avenues of historical and normative inquiry to acknowledge the modern continuity between empires and nation-states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Kunqu is a comprehensive art which is considered to be an epitome of the achievements of Chinese Xiqu. It was unanimously selected by UNESCO from the first round of entrants for the category of "Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity", with emphasis on its heritage value as embodied in language, literature, music, singing technique, dance, performance, set design, makeup, and more, and has been given the status of living fossil by artists both in China and abroad. Based on the relationship between the intonation of Chinese characters and singing techniques, especially the criterion in Kunqu that the "singing technique follows the intonation of a Chinese character", we attempt to deduce the intonation of Chinese characters in the Suzhou-Zhongzhou dialect based on its singing technique. Specifically, we deduce the archaic intonations of Chinese characters by the exclusive singing techniques in Kunqu for the purpose of exploring a new approach to Chinese phonology of the Ming and Qing dynasties from an interdisciplinary perspective of artistic criterion and linguistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 15400-year mercury (Hg) accumulation history was reconstructed from a lake sediment core collected from Daping Swamp in western Nanling Mountains, South China. Our results show that the natural input of Hg was deeply influenced by varying climatic conditions. Under wet and warm conditions, increased surface soil organic matter induced by improved vegetation conditions favor an increased input of surface soil-bound Hg to the lake, thus leading to higher Hg accumulation rate, and on the other hand, the direct atmospheric wet deposition of Hg into the lake would also be enhanced. In contrast, under relatively cold and dry conditions, it would display an inverse picture. The signal of anthropogenic influence possibly derived from regional Hg pollution likely started at ~ 3400 cal. years BP, roughly corresponding to the early stage of the Shang Dynasty in Chinese history. Four periods of increased anthropogenic Hg inputs appeared in ~ 3358–2170, ~ 2170–1730, ~ 1369–1043, and especially ~ 600–250 cal. years BP, corresponded to the Shang and Zhou, the Qin and Han, the Sui and Tang, and the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, respectively. A clearly weakened anthropogenic input occurred between~1750 and 1400 cal. years BP, coinciding with the Three Kingdoms to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Our results revealed the history of the natural Hg accumulation since the Last Deglacial period, and the existence of regional atmospheric Hg induced from anthropogenic activity spanning the last ~ 3400 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the history of East Asia, various polities in modern-day Korea, Japan, and Vietnam accepted investitures bestowed by the Chinese royal court. Many of these states also established their own vassal structures based on this tributary system. In light of this, it would be more accurate to describe the traditional international order of East Asia as a system of investitures and tributes, an "investiture-tribute system." The significance of this system is the royal court being revered by its tributaries, which acknowledge it as the superior power. Looking at the vassal relationship between the Ming [1368-1644] and Qing [1644-1911] courts and the states of Joseon 朝鮮, Ryukyu 琉球, and Vietnam under various names, it is clear that the tributary system was a basic mechanism that facilitated bilateral trade, cultural exchange, border control, and judicial cooperation. Moreover, when vassal states encountered threats to their national security, the Chinese government assisted them with diplomatic and military resources befitting its position as the imperial court. Yet, although the tributary system enabled a relationship in which the royal court enjoyed a position of superiority and its vassal states an inferior one, none of the vassal states formed an alliance that revolved around the Chinese empire. Hence, in the near-modern period, the system struggled to contend with both the great world powers that made use of the treaty system and the expansion of Japan in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feng Weimin's zaju play Seng ni gong fan (A Monk and a Nun Commit a Sin Together) broke away from the canonical zaju tradition while preserving some of its elements. Feng's language created strong characters and modified well-known sayings and images, for original effect. Feng gave characters strong motivations as he developed the plot. The analysis shows the intention of the text and its ideological focal points, clarifying the influence of Feng's zaju on other Ming theatre genres. Antonio Leggieri earned a BA at the University of Lecce (2009) and an MA at Ca' Foscari University of Venice (2012), and was granted a scholarship for advanced Chinese training by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2012-2013). His PhD from Beijing Language and Culture University (2016) is in comparative literature with focus on humorous texts from the Ming and Qing dynasties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A society and scholarly culture united in its use of one language dominates the general view of Late Imperial China’s sciences. Recent studies have suggested, however, that in the past, as in the present, multilingual practices might have been the norm. Asian-language historians have shown that Chinese script embraced many tongues, intonating the characters in different dialects and giving them new meanings in Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese. Rather than assuming that a hegemonic approach to language was a given in historical China, this essay suggests that we should ask why—or even if—this was the case, given that scientific knowledge was continuously transmitted to China from other learned traditions (Persian, Indian, European) and that new objects and practices entered Chinese learned discourse from diverse vernacular cultures that flourished on the local level throughout the empire. The essay discusses how to understand scientific and technological developments against changing views of Late Imperial China as a culture enmeshed in plurilingual practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many histories of China have attempted to impose outside interpretive methods upon the Chinese past. In this essay, Mizoguchi works from within the Chinese tradition to understand how changing ideas of economics (and in particular the conflict between private land ownership by the ruler and by the common people), literature, philosophy, religion, and politics all combined to make the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the subsequent Qing Dynasty a time of great change in the ways in which Chinese thinkers understood their history and present. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is a survey and critique of recent endeavours to establish statistical foundations for a chronology for the great divergence based upon trends and levels in relative wages. Our reading of the bibliography in Chinese labour history, together with a preliminary investigation into other primary sources, suggests that the Kuznetsian paradigm for empirical economics may not be viable for the construction of analytical narratives for the Chinese and other premodern imperial economies in South and West Asia. Nevertheless, two datasets currently in print will continue to be quoted to lend support to numerically grounded speculations for levels and trends in real wages and welfare for the families of wage-dependent urban workers in China over the eighteenth century. Statistical evidence for the Ming and Qing dynasties calibrated for the purposes of comparing real wage levels for wage-dependent labour between China and western Europe can, however, be placed on a spectrum for accuracy and inferential analysis that runs from 'unfounded guess work' to 'plausible conjectures'. The unwelcome contention of this article is that the data published and potentially available for China (and probably for India and the Ottoman Empire) stand close to the unfounded guess work end of that spectrum. Meanwhile, and as a speculative conclusion, we offer a conjecture that the 'real wages' for Qing China's tiny proletariat, whose income included high proportions of wages in kind, have remained as elusive as they were when the real wage debate began a decade ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses official and unofficial perspectives of torture in the Ming and Qing dynasties of China. Topics discussed include the difference between torture and torment, the practice of torture according to late imperial Chinese law being legal only when it was applied as part of a legal proceeding by a judicial official, and handbooks written to shed light on the role of torture in the judicial process.

This paper inspects three versions of the Jingming zongjiao lu (Record of the Lineage and Teachings of [the School of] Purity and Brightness). It introduces the many different scriptures contained in this compendium and explores its relationships to the Ming-dynasty Daozang (Daoist Canon) to offer a deeper understanding of the key sources of this school in the Ming and Qing dynasties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the following questions: Does a conflict exist between the pursuit of personal morality and familial obligations in Confucian discourse during the Ming-Qing transition? How important are the family and the fulfillment of familial obligations in Confucian moral cultivation? In terms of learning to become a sage, what relationship obtains between the cultivation of one’s mind-heart and familial ethics? If the fulfillment of familial ethics is required for Confucian sagely learning, how is it represented in the images of Confucian sages? By investigating the above questions, this article finds that early Qing Confucians tended to reject the internal practice of the mind-heart and instead emphasized the importance of fulfilling familial obligations. They claimed that Confucian sagely learning had to be realized within the household, arguing that a person could never abandon his familial obligations in order to engage in sagely learning. In other words, filial piety was viewed as a requirement for sagehood. In accordance with this idea, early Qing Confucians highlighted filial piety in their writings about past Confucian sages. Even in the absence of strong evidence, scholars of the time argued that Confucius and Yan Hui had achieved great filial piety. In a departure from the focus on cultivating the mind-heart and Three Teaching syncretism popular in the late Ming, early Qing Confucianism thus reemphasized the importance of familial ethics. Despite this, however, the concepts of a moral heaven and an inherently good human nature were not abandoned, and they continued to play an important role in the Confucian discourse of the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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