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Introduction

Chris Bramall

in The Industrialization of Rural China

There is an extensive literature which discusses the growth of rural industry in China. However, these focus on the role played by changes to government policy. In doing so, historical factors are ... More

There is an extensive literature which discusses the growth of rural industry in China. However, these focus on the role played by changes to government policy. In doing so, historical factors are largely ignored. This book rectifies this by documenting the extent of rural industrialization and learning-by-doing that had already occurred by 1978. It then tests the hypothesis that Maoist skill legacies played a crucial role in the post-1978 growth process using data on all of China’s 2,000 plus counties and with more detailed data on three provinces (Guangdong, Sichuan, and Jiangsu).Less

The Birth of the First Printed Canon: The Kaibao Edition and Its Impact

Jiang Wu, Lucille Chia, and Chen Zhichao

in Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon

Chapter 5 provides a new account of the history of the Kaibao edition, the first printed canon, in association with Song printing culture in Chengdu and Kaifeng. It also offers a re-evaluation of ... More

Chapter 5 provides a new account of the history of the Kaibao edition, the first printed canon, in association with Song printing culture in Chengdu and Kaifeng. It also offers a re-evaluation of Kaibao Canon from the perspective of the Korean canon, which is based on the Kaibao edition.Less

Differences in Prefectural Growth Rates

Chris Bramall

in Sources of Chinese Economic Growth, 1978-1996

This chapter applies the theory developed in previous chapters to the growth process in four very different Chinese regions: Suzhou (in the Yangzi delta), Wenzhou (in coastal Zhejiang province), ... More

This chapter applies the theory developed in previous chapters to the growth process in four very different Chinese regions: Suzhou (in the Yangzi delta), Wenzhou (in coastal Zhejiang province), Wenjiang (on the Chengdu plain in Sichuan) and Liangshan (in the mountainous south‐west of Sichuan). It shows that differences in growth rates between these four––output in Suzhou grew almost twice as fast as in Liangshan––can be explained in terms of the interaction of economic geography, catch‐up, factor accumulation, and productivity growth. Liangshan was handicapped by its location, by its low literacy rate, by its modest accumulation rate, and by the inability of its agricultural sector to release labour. By contrast, Suzhou was privileged in all these respects, and its growth rate reflected the fact.Less

End of Career

Isidore Cyril Cannon

in Public Success, Private Sorrow: The Life and Times of Charles Henry Brewitt-Taylor (1857-1938), China Customs Commissioner and Pioneer Translator

Brewitt-Taylor's (B-T's) leave in 1919 proved to be his last as his career in China was about to come to a close. He arrived in Britain at the end of June 1919, and he visited his wife in Scotland as ... More

Brewitt-Taylor's (B-T's) leave in 1919 proved to be his last as his career in China was about to come to a close. He arrived in Britain at the end of June 1919, and he visited his wife in Scotland as her condition was quite bad. He passed by Lyme Regis where he was likely to have visited Peg's husband Pope Ellis. He had also been able to see his grandchild for the first time. As he returned to China, he must have kept his concern for his wife and enjoyment of time spent with his grandson in mind. After his return he was sent to Chungking in Szechuan, and he was able to take up his new position on April 27, 1920. In spite of how he only had a few months left with the Service, arrangements for his final leave were not organized. This chapter provides information regarding his final posting and how he left China.Less

Provincial Construction Industry Competitiveness in the Pan-Pearl River Delta

Yousong Wang, Pin Hou, Yihong Lin, and Yan Zhang

in China's Pan-Pearl River Delta: Regional Cooperation and Development

This chapter analyses the development of the construction industry in the Pan-Pearl River Delta (Pan-PRD). It establishes an assessment system, covering resources, processes, efficiency, and ... More

This chapter analyses the development of the construction industry in the Pan-Pearl River Delta (Pan-PRD). It establishes an assessment system, covering resources, processes, efficiency, and environmental factors, to evaluate and rank the competitiveness of the construction industry in the nine mainland provinces of the Pan-PRD. The results show that the overall competitiveness of the construction industry is relatively higher in Guangdong, Hainan, and Hunan provinces and relatively lower in Guangxi, Sichuan, Jiangxi, and Guizhou provinces. The chapter concludes with recommendations for enhancing competitiveness at the regional level.Less

Breaking through the Silence: The Untold Story of the Henan AIDS Epidemic

David Bandurski, Martin Hala, and Ying Chan

in Investigative Journalism in China: Eight Cases in Chinese Watchdog Journalism

The facts in Zhang Jicheng's report suggested that HIV infection in the rural villages of Henan had reached epidemic proportions, and that infection was linked to blood collection centers, which had ... More

The facts in Zhang Jicheng's report suggested that HIV infection in the rural villages of Henan had reached epidemic proportions, and that infection was linked to blood collection centers, which had pooled blood by-products and re-injected them into donors. However, too few people at the national level took notice of Zhang's story, which had run in Huaxi Dushibao, a market-oriented metropolitan newspaper in China's western Sichuan Province. The newspaper had a considerably larger circulation than Zhang's own publication, Henan Science and Technology Daily, a newspaper run by the Henan Association for Science and Technology, but was apparently not influential enough at the time to make major ripples. The article did not go unnoticed, though, and Dr. Wang Shuping, whose actions this chapter discusses in some detail, later recalled having received a copy of Zhang's report in Beijing that January from a colleague working in Sichuan.Less

Language Policy for the Yi

David Bradley

in Perspectives on the Yi of Southwest China

One of the first things the Chinese Communists did with the Yi, as they did with all ethnic groups, was to define them. In the linguistic realm, this also meant classifying them into dialects, ... More

One of the first things the Chinese Communists did with the Yi, as they did with all ethnic groups, was to define them. In the linguistic realm, this also meant classifying them into dialects, subdialects, and local vernaculars. This was done not purely for scholarly reasons but also in order to facilitate the standardization and teaching of Yi languages. This chapter provides a comprehensive view of this classifying process and of the three different projects of standardization that have resulted in very different modern scripts in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan. Although there are probably about a million members of the Yi minzu who do not speak Yi languages, this leaves nearly six million who do, and to varying degrees, Yi languages have entered the modern world, especially in Liangshan by means of school textbooks, daily newspapers, radio stations, and other modern media.Less

Opium and the State in Late-Qing Sichuan

Judith Wyman

in Opium Regimes: China, Britain, and Japan, 1839-1952

This chapter highlights how successful representatives of the central government were in implementing the 1906 campaign in Sichuan. It notes that this was achieved despite the primary role which ... More

This chapter highlights how successful representatives of the central government were in implementing the 1906 campaign in Sichuan. It notes that this was achieved despite the primary role which opium had come to play in Sichuan's economy, polity, and society. The chapter explains that this success was the result of effective leadership and cooperation of central, provincial, and local officials during a period when the Qing state was supposedly in decline. However, it notes that the anti-opium campaign lacked the necessary nationalist flavor. The important patriotic rallying cries were not inspired, as they were in the major cities of Fujian, by images of Commissioner Lin, but by pictures of preying on Sichuan's railroads.Less

Southwest China

Laurel Bossen and Hill Gates

in Bound Feet, Young Hands: Tracking the Demise of Footbinding in Village China

China’s Southwest, lacking locally grown cotton, had imported raw cotton, cotton yarn, and cotton cloth. Among our five village sites in mountainous Yunnan and Guizhou, differences in the distance ... More

China’s Southwest, lacking locally grown cotton, had imported raw cotton, cotton yarn, and cotton cloth. Among our five village sites in mountainous Yunnan and Guizhou, differences in the distance from industrial centers and the railway allowed some villages to specialize in hand woven textiles and other commercial crafts while other villages relied less on women’s handcraft labor. With milder winters, the work of cultivating double-cropped rice and opium left less time for handwork, and generated income used to buy textiles. The variations in Han women’s work and footbinding provide fertile ground for testing the relationship between girls’ labor and footbinding. The examination of Southwest China concludes with comparison to Gates’ earlier survey data on footbinding among nearly 5,000 Sichuan women.Less

Using Special Skills

Siu Wang-Ngai and Peter Lovrick

in Chinese Opera: The Actor's Craft

This chapter discusses the use of special skills found in particular regional operas. It includes face-changing skills found in the Sichuan opera, techniques used by the clown and other skills.

Release from Prison

Melvyn C. Goldstein, Dawei Sherap, and William R. Siebenschuh

in A Tibetan Revolutionary: The Political Life and Times of Bapa Phuntso Wangye

Phüntso Wangye was to be taken to Sichuan with his two sons, and they would stay in a nice cottage formerly used by Guomindang army officers. Out of solitary confinement and apparently entering human ... More

Phüntso Wangye was to be taken to Sichuan with his two sons, and they would stay in a nice cottage formerly used by Guomindang army officers. Out of solitary confinement and apparently entering human life again, all he could feel was fear and depression. Talking was hard for Phüntso for a long time. The visit to Beijing rehabilitated him in many ways. The fact that the Panchen Lama had come to visit him in person and offered to help meant a lot to Phüntso's family and him, and was another sign that coming to Beijing had been the right strategy. He had been officially declared rehabilitated, reinstated to his old rank and status in the party, and been toasted and his opinions sought by party officials at a banquet in his honor.Less

Introduction

Christian P. Sorace

in Shaken Authority: China's Communist Party and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake

This book investigates the political mechanisms at work in the shadow of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the broader ideological energies that drove these mechanisms. It proposes an interpretive ... More

This book investigates the political mechanisms at work in the shadow of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the broader ideological energies that drove these mechanisms. It proposes an interpretive approach that takes Chinese Communist Party ideas and discourse as being central to how the party formulates policies, defines legitimacy, and wields its power. The basis for this claim is that Party discourse permeates, conditions, and filters each aspect of Chinese politics. China's economic reform has been viewed as the product of naturalized historical forces with no ideological dimension, resulting in a tendency to treat Communist Party ideology as a mere formality and window dressing. The book argues that China's economic reform is a profoundly ideological undertaking that builds on and transforms the legacy of Mao Zedong. This introduction explains the research methods used for the book and provides an overview of the chapters that follow.Less

The Comunist Party’s Miracle

Christian P. Sorace

in Shaken Authority: China's Communist Party and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake

This chapter offers a new perspective on the Chinese Communist Party's legitimacy based on norms, expectations, and discourse during the era of Mao Zedong that shape how the Party and masses view and ... More

This chapter offers a new perspective on the Chinese Communist Party's legitimacy based on norms, expectations, and discourse during the era of Mao Zedong that shape how the Party and masses view and interact with each other. The Party's initial response to the Sichuan earthquake seemed to reflect major changes in Chinese politics, society, and media. As scholars shifted their focus from the emergency rescue period to the long-term process of reconstruction, it became clear that the rebuilding of Sichuan would be a showcase of Party legitimacy rather than a platform for expanded civic participation. This chapter introduces the concept of discursive path dependence in order to elucidate the ways in which the Party's narrative of legitimacy predisposed it to transform the reconstruction into a utopian promise of “great leap development” (kuayueshi fazhan).Less

Party Spirit Made Flesh

Christian P. Sorace

in Shaken Authority: China's Communist Party and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake

This chapter examines how the Chinese Communist Party engineered “glory” in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake by mobilizing the discourse of “Party spirit” (dangxing). In addition to being ... More

This chapter examines how the Chinese Communist Party engineered “glory” in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake by mobilizing the discourse of “Party spirit” (dangxing). In addition to being responsible for state administration and economic growth, the cadre is also an embodiment and conduit of Party legitimacy. Antithetical to Max Weber's definition of institutions as that which remove embodiment from governance, in China, cadres are Party legitimacy made flesh. As flesh, they must be prepared to suffer. This chapter argues that the Party revitalizes its legitimacy by showing benevolence and glory, which depend on the willingness of cadres to suffer and sacrifice themselves on behalf of the people. In the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, these norms and expectations were implemented in concrete policy directives and work pressures.Less

Blood Transfusion, Generation, and Anemia

Christian P. Sorace

in Shaken Authority: China's Communist Party and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake

This chapter examines China's political economy based on an interpretation of Chinese Communist Party ideology and discourse, challenging the notion that there is a mythical switch that can be ... More

This chapter examines China's political economy based on an interpretation of Chinese Communist Party ideology and discourse, challenging the notion that there is a mythical switch that can be flipped between politics and ideology on the one side, and economy and development on the other. Adopting a two-step approach, it considers the premises of the dominant paradigm of economic performance legitimacy and concludes with a discursive analysis of China's post-2008 Sichuan earthquake reconstruction plans. In the context of post-earthquake reconstruction, the chapter investigates how the metaphor of “blood transfusion” and “blood generation” established the coordinates for the Party's reconstruction plan to economically develop the Sichuan countryside. In place of a robust, self-reliant, and blood-generating economy engineered by the mobilization of Party spirit, the disaster zones had a lifeless and anemic economy.Less

The Utopia of Urban Planning: Dujiangyan Municipality

Christian P. Sorace

in Shaken Authority: China's Communist Party and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake

This chapter examines Dujiangyan Municipality's “urban-rural integration” plan and the Chinese Communist Party's obsession with urban form and ideology as the solution to rural underdevelopment. In ... More

This chapter examines Dujiangyan Municipality's “urban-rural integration” plan and the Chinese Communist Party's obsession with urban form and ideology as the solution to rural underdevelopment. In urban planning discourse, “small townships are to serve as the key combination point between cities and the countryside.” Before the Sichuan earthquake, Dujiangyan was already a model laboratory for experiments in urban–rural integration that were accelerated and expanded during the reconstruction process. The ideology and discourse of utopian urbanism gave shape to the post-Sichuan earthquake reconstruction plans and was responsible for generating “the frenetic physicality of the reconstruction effort, which is transforming the lives of isolated communities with dizzying speed.” The chapter discusses the “three concentrations” around which the urban-rural integration plan for the greater Chengdu municipal area, including Dujiangyan Municipality, was organized: the concentration and efficient rationalization of land use, the concentration of industry, and new urban citizen construction.Less

The Mirage of Development: Yingxiu Township

Christian P. Sorace

in Shaken Authority: China's Communist Party and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake

This chapter examines the contradictions of what it calls the political aesthetics of development by focusing on the reconstruction of Yingxiu Township both as a showcase of state capacity and as a ... More

This chapter examines the contradictions of what it calls the political aesthetics of development by focusing on the reconstruction of Yingxiu Township both as a showcase of state capacity and as a tourist destination following the Sichuan earthquake. Since the earthquake, Yingxiu has been rebuilt as a political symbol of Chinese Communist Party glory and benevolence. As Yingxiu was the epicenter of the earthquake, its reconstruction was designed in anticipation of higher-level officials on inspection visits, global audiences, and awestruck tourists. Relying on tourism as a form of economic salvation was common throughout the earthquake zone, even in areas where the tourist attraction remains far from evident. Local residents accused the state of wasting resources on “face projects” that did not benefit their lives. The chapter considers some of the reasons why Yingxiu failed to generate a thriving tourist economy.Less