CEAS Colloquium Series

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

From the first moment that Huang Liushuang (better known as Anna May Wong) landed in Shanghai in February 1936, she found herself in a maelstrom of controversy. By the time of this first visit to her ancestral homeland, Wong was already a bona-fide movie star: even cast as the bit part of “Mongol Slave” in Douglas Fairbanks’ 1924 blockbuster hit “Thief of Baghdad,” she had stolen the show.Wong was the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, appearing in many films with Asian themes, though usually as slave girl or Chinese femme fatale. Upon her first arrival in China (she was a third-...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

This paper aims to complicate our understanding of a series of late imperial Chinese dramatic and narrative works dealing with qing (desire) by exploring one of their defining features. Particularly, it examines the impact of China’s religions on the discourse about desire as manifested in dramatic and narrative works from the late Ming (1368-1644) through the Qianlong period (1736-1795) and Honglou meng. In the literary scene of this period, we may be able to detect one persistent and consistent pattern, in the lives of the literati as well as in their works. In real life, many literati...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

Please note this lecture will be given in Chinese. “Throne abdication” (“Shan Rang”) issues were mentioned by a few recently discovered bamboo texts such as “Tang Yu Zhi Dao” unearthed in Guodian, Hubei Province, “Ron Cheng Shi” and “Zi Gao” collected in Shanghai Museum. This suggests that thoughts on “throne abdication” emerged during the early and middle periods of Warring States, when Confucians, Mohists, Legists and diplomats (“zongheng jia” in Chinese) were all involved. At the same time, various practices of “throne abdication” were emerged in political arena as well. Thoughts on “...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

The peripheral status of Asian football in the global order of the world sport is rooted in the historical experience of military, political and economic dominance of the West. Since football reached the Far East at a time when European colonialism was giving way to growing US American influence in the region, it never acquired significant meaning in the relationship between the West and the East. However, within the postcolonial world of the North Pacific, football has become a powerful cultural resource for representational purposes. In my presentation I will take a look at the way in which...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

The fledging practice of Chinese architectural history in the early twentieth century focused on identifying, documenting, and categorizing surviving monuments into distinct typological, material, and stylistic groupings and periods. Different “modern” criteria were used as the basis in constructing stylistic periods. In hindsight, the subjective selection and interpretation of materials for classification and periodization betrays partisan nationalism, Sino-Marxist historical materialism, and even concerns for local tourism. Much present-day research into pre-modern Chinese architectural...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

At least since the publication of Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work, students of democracy have argued that, in the proper sort of associational life, citizens adopt norms of generalized reciprocity and learn to trust even those with whom they have weak ties. These notions of trust and reciprocity are presumed to reinforce practices that support good democratic government and combat patronage and, thus, corruption. Better democratic government is the product of a vigorous civil society.But are we looking at the whole picture? In my examination of small-town, patron-client politics in...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

During the last 40 years, the Japanese education system has become increasingly privatized. Most notable is the development of an extra-school education industry, – commonly known as juku, or cram schools – which has become an integral and almost indispensable part of the education in Japan. On average, parents of sixth graders spend more than $2,200 a year for extra-school programs, and the figure goes up for ninth graders: over $3,200.Such a demand for privatized education raises the family’s need for financial resources, and thus one would think it provides incentives for mothers to work...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

Professor ZHANG Hui’s lecture will focus on Zhu Zhiqing’s (1898-1948) criticism on ,Shi Daxu (Great Preface), in order to revisit the longstanding dialogue between the aesthetic and the political interpretations of Shijing. Prof. Zhang hopes that this rereading will help us not only to consider the challenges confronted by modern hermeneutics, but also to revalue the quarrels between the ancients and the moderns in the context of literary criticism.

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

Against the backdrop of new forms of economic and technological globalization, the past 15 years has been a time of complex transition in Japan. The cultural and artistic refigurations of this period have included, among other things, a kind of return to history. This paper examines this return to history. The focus is on several types of imagery, with connections to anime, “Superflat” art and elsewhere; the paper looks at the ways in which Japan (and the world) are positioned within these image-types, and some of the implications of these images of Japan within the contemporary world.

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

Of crucial importance to the history of literacy in Japan is the complex of writing and reading practices known as kundoku, whereby strings of characters are associated with actual or potential utterances in Japanese. These practices have profound implications for the study of Japanese culture and broad significance for the world history of writing, but this talk focuses on their role in the creation of differing written styles in 7th and 8th century Japan. Two sets of parallel texts will be juxtaposed: dedicatory inscriptions on two Buddhist images in the main hall of Hôryûji, and the well...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

Anyone who observed the anti-Japanese demonstrations in China last spring cannot deny that the Second World War is far from forgotten in Asia. Media coverage of rising anti-Chinese sentiment and Prime Minister Koizumi’s defensive posture on Yasukuni points to the resurgence of a nationalistic Japan. Professor DiNitto’s presentation works to counter the increasingly singular interpretation of the war that is taking placed on the national level. She presents a range of reactions to and representations of the war in popular manga (illustrated texts) by three artists working in the late...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

Post-colonialism has been translated as Hou Zhimin Zhuyi (后殖民主义) in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, but they mean different things. “Traveling Theory” was put forward by Edward W.Said. In this article, Said criticized the general discussion of cultural misunderstanding, and stressed the historical situation of traveling theory. The difference of post-colonialism in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong is just the result of different location and historical situation. The purpose of Professor Zhao’s talk is to comment on the relationship between the different versions of post-colonialism...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

There are many far reaching consequences of the economic reform initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978. Many are intended outcomes such as the intensification of rural industrialization and urbanization in selected coastal regions designated as Special Economic Zones, and the massive internal labour migration involving over 100 million people that supplies the much needed labour to work on public projects and factories in these rapidly developing regions within the country. The Pearl River Delta of Guangdong is a prime example of the rapid economic development in post-1978 China driven by...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

This presentation will explore the changing relationship between the former British colony of Hong Kong and the neighboring region of the People’s Republic of China. Integration between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta changed sharply three times in the last half century, and these turning points ultimately had significant repercussions for the entire world. In 1950, the border was closed for the first time during peace, and Hong Kong experienced transition from colonial port to a key flexible manufacturing platform, while simultaneously helping China survive economic sanctions through...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

Buddhists around the world widely celebrate the benefits of worshipping Kannon (Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit), one of the most beloved deities in Buddhism, and believe that when Kannon appears in multiple manifestations the deity’s magnificent powers are increased to even greater heights. This concept has spawned important cults throughout history and among the most significant was the cult of the Six Kannon that flourished in Japan from the tenth through the fourteenth centuries. This talk will focus upon a gorgeous set made in the thirteenth century from Daihoonji in Kyoto. In addition to a...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

During the second through fourth centuries, a complex set of debates developed over the nature of antiquity. Who were the ancient sages? Are they a thing of the past? Is it possible for new sages to arise now? Professor Puett’s goal in this paper will be to explore why these debates developed, how they progressed over the course of the late Eastern Han through the Eastern Jin dynasties, and what implications this debate had for later Chinese history.

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

The Chinese Communist Party’s embrace of the private sector has been a key part of its efforts to promote economic development. At the same time, it has brought new interests and new people into the political system. Drawing on original survey data, this talk will show how the integration of political and economic elites is creating a convergence of policy views among local officials and private entrepreneurs. In addition, it will show how the rapid growth of the private sector, the increased prominence of entrepreneurs in the political system, and the formation of more autonomous and...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

As a source of identity and component of selfhood, concepts of “race” and their manipulation through racial representation exert a powerful influence on constructions of Self and Other, national identity, the nature of interpersonal experiences in cross-cultural contexts, and how those experiences are verbalized, interpreted and translated into various kinds of social performance. Increasingly, globalized discourses and iconographies of “blackness” have come to mediate a space through which Western notions of “race” are circulated, re-inscribed re-presented and reproduced abroad, and deployed...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

Marie Anchordoguy will talk about the arguments in her recent book, Reprogramming Japan: The High Tech Crisis under Communitarian Capitalism. The book explores the nature of Japan’s capitalist system and how this system has contributed to both the rise and the stagnation of Japan’s high tech sector. The book argues that Japan’s capitalist system is communitarian in nature. By communitarian capitalism, she means a quasi-socialist system with an activist state that works together with the private sector to nurture economic development but also promote social stability, equitable treatment of...

Event
Posted : September 13, 2013

Japan’s monastic warriors have fared poorly in comparison to the samurai, both in terms of historical reputation and representations in popular culture. Often maligned and criticized for their involvement in politics and other secular matters, they have been seen as a coherent group of fighters known as sōhei (monk-warriors) separate from the larger military class. However, a closer examination of late Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) sources reveals that these groups have a common ancestry, identical social and political origins, and were equally skilled in the warfare techniques of...

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