Search Results

This chapter is a brief historical review of politics, society and education in Hong Kong, it traces the way in which Chinese History emerged as a separate subject and consolidated its independent status at all levels in both Chinese and Anglo-Chinese secondary institutions, and discusses the part played by political and social forces.

This chapter explores the ways in which the subject community inherited the nature and role of Chinese History from the first phase and secured them in the school curriculum between 1974 and 1997. This analysis can help to explain how a strong subject culture was established that helped to shield the subject from the broader curriculum reform that took place in the 1990s.

This chapter examines the third phase (1997–2005) of the development of Chinese History after the handover of sovereignty. This analysis can enhance our understanding of the politics of Chinese History, particularly the ways in which the subject community strived to protect the status and ‘tradition’ of Chinese History in the face of broader curriculum reform during this period.

This chapter is a summary that summarises the findings of Chapter 2 to 5, and identifies the pattern of change in the development of Chinese History, as well as the various kinds of forces which have been instrumental in determining the nature and scope of the subject. The relative impact of each of these forces is assessed, and the findings are then discussed within the wider theoretical context established in the beginning chapter.

This chapter explores how Chinese cultural expressions of charity, based on interpersonal relationships (guanxi) and native place (tongxiang) ties, came to mix and interact with contrasting traditions of Christian charity practiced in a predominantly British milieu in colonial and federation Australia over the late 19th century and 20th centuries. We employ the term “philanthropic sociability” to capture the spirit of innovation that came to characterize a number of voluntary organizations in which Chinese Australian women were active organizers and innovators. By analyzing male-dominated writings and records of charitable fairs and public celebrations, the chapter argues that women undertook “invisible work” in voluntary organizations and built a variety of informal networks among them. Although their social impact was limited, women contextualized their participation in male-dominated activities in ways that cannot be explained in terms of patriarchal values. We find that the impact of women in Chinese- Australian voluntary organizations was not just about the feminizing of community formations but also about promoting philanthropic sociability in ways that traditional organizations could not match.

This essay addresses Chinese maritime history and investigates a range of topics, including the international nature of research in Chinese maritime history; new archives and recent research in shipping and shipbuilding; maritime trade; ports and port cities; and maritime communities. It also focuses on Mitsubishi-Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, two major Chinese and Japanese merchant shipping companies and provides suggestions on future directions of maritime history in East Asia.

Li Siyuan acceded to the throne in 926 and came to be embraced by the skeptical courtiers of his day and discriminating historians centuries later. Chapter 1 provides background to the Shatuo people, their culture and how their leaders became symbolic extension of the ruling family in the Tang Dynasty. The chapter also explained the life and legacy of Li Keyong, Siyuan’s adoptive father, the women as well as the surrogate sons in the family that create challenges as the regime transitioned from conquest to governance. It also introduces other political characters who became essential to Siyuan’s reign as emperor of the Later Tang.

Chapter 5 discusses policies Mingzong implemented in detail. It spans from the changes he has included in the law and order of the country to his education policy to campaigns against corruption to finances and technology. Some of these policies reflect the incorporation of the Shatuo culture into the Middle Kingdom, and has lasting influence in the history of China.

Kent Su looks into The Cantos to examine how Pound’s reading of contemporary accounts  of Chinese history from a Confucian perspective helped to shape his method for Cantos 52–61, the sequence known as the Chinese Cantos or China Cantos. Following his own dictum in ABC of Reading, “DICHTEN = CONDENSARE” (which Su describes as a “principle of lean philosophical economy”), Pound in the 1930s used the approach of “condensing some historical facts” to capture the pith and gist of ancient Chinese history, an approach Pound also attributes to Mussolini. Readers know that for these Cantos Pound drew from the French text of Joseph-Anne-Marie de Moyriac de Mailla’s 11-volume Histoire  générale de la Chine, but Su demonstrates how Pound also made significant use of the two Chinese texts that served as the basis for de Mailla’s Histoire, namely, Sima Guang’s Zizhi Tongjian and Zhu Xi’s Tongjian Gangmu, the latter a condensation of Guang’s 20-volume history. Su further contrasts the influences of Greek philosophy and Confucianism on Pound, as he offers analyses the complex cross-cultural sources of the China Cantos.

The chapter discusses the complicated historical background of Zouping County, Shandong Province, China. It shows how historical factors influenced subsequent social, economic and political events and trends. Among them the rural reform efforts lead by Liang Shuming are highlighted, as well as rural prototypes.

In late 930, Mingzong changed his reign name from Tiangcheng to Changxing, as an acknowledgment of a feat accomplished. His priorities have shifted from legitimizing his regime to consolidating the monarch’s stature. The conflicts between An Chonghui and Congke came to a peak. In 933, Tangut armies expanded eastwards, fifty thousand men were sent to put down the Tanguts, but they performed poorly. Two months into the intervention, Mingzong withdrew the Later Tang armies. The emperor would meet his end in late 933 when he got apoplexy. In his last days, Fan Yanguang would resign, and Congrong would deploy his armies to occupy the Inner Palace. The insurrection was suppressed at the cost of Congrong and his son.

Chapter 2 explains Siyuan’s climb to the throne, from his value to his adoptive father and brother to the events that lead to the military coup that put him on the throne. Siyuan’s military might won him Li Keyong’s esteem and his role in the war against Yan and the acquisition of Weizhou made him indispensable to Zhuangzong. Zhuangzong launched his reign with high expectations, but his misgovernment soon lead to mutiny. Siyuan was deployed to Weizhou in 926 to suppress the insurgent, but as professional soldiers begun to empathize with their targets, and military aid and support flowed to Siyuan, he was pressured to overthrow his brother and become emperor. The overtaking of Kaifeng was pivotal to Siyuan’s success, and in April of 926, he claimed the throne as the second emperor of Later Tang with the temple name of Mingzong.

Chapter 6 is on the border conflicts during Mingzong’s rule. The Kitan was one of Shatuo’s biggest rivals and Mingzong has to shift from a policy of intermittent conflict to coexistence by regularizing diplomacy and commerce. Mutiny started in Dingzhou in 928 and laid ground for the first military confrontation between the Shatuo and Kitan since Mingzong’s reign. Nanping to the south also threatened the borders. But the lasting conflict came from Sichuan, led by Meng Zhixiang. It was during the confrontation with Sichuan that An Chonghui perished. Although the insurrection ended temporarily, Chengdu rose again merely months after Mingzong’s death.

Chapter 3 is on the early reign of Mingzong. He has promoted men aligned to his priorities to his council and further involved civil officials in the social life of the capital. In 927, Mingzong announced his tour to Kaifeng, which turned into a year long stay. A month later, mutiny broke out in the city and although the it was suppressed soon, it also lead to the dismissal of Ren Huan. Conflicts between Mingzong and his two biological sons Congrong and Conghou were also brewing and his relationship with An Chonghui became increasingly strained in his earlier reign.