Institute of Humanities

This article explores the cultural imaginary of “middle society” in China through popular writings of the early twentieth century. It pays particular attention to popular print media in early Republican Shanghai, which played a central role in constructing a middle-class cultural identity by offering new sources for imagination and for the configuration of urban modernity. I suggest that the popular imagination of the Chinese middle class can be traced back to the discourse of “middle society,” “utopian stories,” and “industrial fiction” in the 1910s and 1920s. This imaginary of middle society was defined and supported by a broad range of cultural expressions in popular media. It revealed both the social anxiety and tensions brought about by the socioeconomic transformations in early twentieth-century China and the middle-class “cultural dreams” of Chinese society and modern life.

This article examines the nationalist discourse in Shanghai popular print media during the late Qing and the early Republican period, focusing on the literary representation and imagination of 'loving nation' (aiguo) and 'subjugated nation' (wangguo) in popular fiction. It discusses the popular nationalism through 'patriotic stories' (aiguo xiaoshuo), a fiction genre promoted by Shanghai popular media in the 1910s, which, on the one hand, responded to the external plights of the newly established Republic of China, while on the other shaped the popular imagination of a new national identity and modern nation state. I argue that 'patriotic stories' contributed to this national imaginary through a discovery of sentimentality, female emotionality and an increasing fancy of the 'other', while simultaneously producing the competing narratives of romantic love and patriotic feelings, and private and public realms. This sentimental narrative was also inextricably interwoven with the narratives of trauma and humiliation, and an imagination of wangguo in popular fiction. Viewing patriotism as a cultural production constructed through memory, imagination and reinterpretation, I suggest that the popular imagination of nation KeywordS nationalism patriotism popular fiction Zhou Shoujuan Shanghai the Republic of China

The transition to agriculture and sedentary life are two processes that have shaped the history of humankind and catalyzed not only subsistence strategies and dietary habits, but also meaningful transformations of social relations and cultural formations. However, while questions about where and when the earliest domesticated plants and animals emerged have received much attention, anthropologically-oriented research on early sedentary communities is much less developed. In this paper we analyze the abundant archaeological data excavated at one early Neolithic sitethe Chahai sitein Northeast China. The rich data published in the Chahai site report enables us to address such issues as economic adaptation, internal community organization, the economic activities and sharing strategies of household members, and mechanisms of community integration. This analysis suggests that during the formative phases of sedentism and cultivation, households in Northeast China were relatively independent production and consumption units. Differences in the activities conducted at the household level suggest incipient processes of specialization, but no evidence of socioeconomic stratification or centralized leadership was identified. At the community level, non-economic activity, such as group rituals and communal feasting, suggests the development of collective leadership that organized small-scale public construction and rituals serving as integrative mechanisms.

The production of pottery in East Asia can be traced back to approximately 20,000 years ago. Hunter-gatherer communities utilised pottery for many years before transitioning to agriculture in regions such as China, Japan, and the Russian Far East. While there has been much debate surrounding pottery production in hunter-gatherer societies, little attention has been given to the role of ceramic vessels in the shift to sedentism and agriculture. This research explores the technological aspects of pottery production in both hunter-gatherer societies and societies in the midst of transitioning to agriculture. The study focuses on ceramic assemblages from two sites in the Fuxin Area of Liaoning province, China. The earlier site represents a small semi-sedentary society that relied solely on hunting and gathering, while the later site, around 400 years later, is a village that also incorporates the use of millet. Using petrography, X-ray diffractometry, X-ray florescence, and thermo-gravimetric analyses, the study identifies differences in ceramic production between the two sites, including the use of selective clay and temper types and improved firing techniques at the later site. These technological changes are believed to be due to specific changes in the preferences of sedentary groups, possibly related to food processing during the onset of agriculture. The findings shed light on the relationship between social, economic, and technological variation in prehistoric societies.

The theory of Ming in Yin Wenzi has always attracted the attention of scholars, and the phenomenon of juxtaposing Ming with Law (fa) has inspired new possibilities for the study of Ming theory. The new inquiry is begins by clarifying the "relationship" between Ming and Law, specifically the question of how they illuminate each other. Yinwenzi distinguishes Ming from Xing, and emphasizes the function of Ming to the shape the humanistic reality. This explains how the determination by Ming and the norms established by Law are two sides of the same coin. I then reconstruct the Ming-Law relationship as follows. Firstly, Ming of Kuangwei includes both the attributes of the thing itself and the subject's behavior, which establishes the relationship between Ming and Law in the sense of "behavior". Secondly, "Ming-Fen" and the Law of Qisu are linked together. "Ming-Fen" focuses on the settlement of people's conditions. With "profit, desire and Mingfen" as the center, Law is established on the Ming-Fen. Thirdly, "Ming-Cheng" and the unchangeable Law and Law of ruling people are linked together. It emphasizes the emperor's judgment and decision. With "profession and

The Dao of Heaven manifests immutable order as well as interchanging opposites" ( 明者以 为法,而微道是行) and its varying expressions are found in multiple texts by Laozi and Zhuangzi. The common interpretation is based on the relationship between benevolent rule and punishment, which limits the analysis to a narrow context. However, when placed in the context of the Dao of Heaven and viewed through the lens of natural law theory, the statement can be reinterpreted with a focus on the temporal order and a new understanding emerges. " Ming" ( 明) and " Wei" ( 微) are modifiers of the Dao of Heaven, representing two manifestations of it. The Dao of Heaven, as an important concept in ancient Chinese thoughts, carries complex and multi-layered meanings. Inclusion of natural law in the interpretation of Dao can bring the idea of " law" ( fa,法) to the forefront, highlight its connotations of order and regulation and clarify the specific references of " Ming" and " Wei" . " Ming" refers to the objective law of the Dao of Heaven, a definite and inevitable temporal order manifested through the sequential relationships of irreversible events in time. " Wei" refers to the interchanging opposite regulated by the Dao of Heaven, manifested as a shifting yet appropriate temporal order through the interchange of opposites. " Ming Fa" ( order in time) and " Wei Dao" ( interchange in time) constitute two complementary aspects of natural law in Huang-Lao thoughts. This new interpretation not only enriches and deepens the understanding of the Dao of Heaven in Huang-Lao thoughts but also discovers and constructs a unique natural law theory in Chinese philosophy, providing a new perspective and possibility for dialogue between Chinese and Western philosophical traditions.