|
Imperial power, gentry power and clan power: Western and Chinese cultural traditions in a comparative perspective
Wang Bing, Wang Dan
Front. Hist. China. 2006, 1 (4): 503-516.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-006-0016-y
The differences between China and Western countries in human and physical environment has brought about two distinctive models of state. In the Chinese-style state of quasi-consanguinity, in which family and state have a similar structure, imperial power, gentry power, and clan power are the product of common ownership of consanguineous groups. The similarity in the structures of these three kinds of power derives from the fact that they are all restricted by the power of lineage generated from the self-sufficient small farmer economy, and must obey the conventions of ancestors which hold the benefits of the group as supreme. The relationship between these three kinds of power, is definitely not the one that is based on the division of power that is founded on individual private ownership in Western countries, where public power and individual private ownership are antithetic, but are three aspects of the patriarchal dictatorship that complement each other. Therefore, village rule in China and autonomy in the West are two totally different concepts, and gentry power is also not the authorized power from the state.
Related Articles |
Metrics
|
|
Rise and fall of Kantu: A historical study of an ancient Tibeto-Burmese speaking group
He Ping
Front. Hist. China. 2006, 1 (4): 535-543.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-006-0018-9
On the basis of Chinese records and previous academic achievements in and outside China, the author makes a deeper study on the history of Kantu. As an ancient Tibeto-Burmese speaking group, Kantu was likely to have developed from the Qiongdu (Kontu) of Xinan yi (ancient ethnic groups in southwestern China). During the 12th 13th centuries, the Kantu group resided in an extensive area expanding from the border area between present Sichuan and Yunnan provinces of China to Burma. In the late 13th century, the Yuan troops occupied the area of Kantu. Since then, there have been no more record about Kantu in Chinese annals, and they were likely merged into the groups of Luoluo (Lolo). In Burma, most of the Kantu people had been merged into the local peoples, with only a few remaining in remote mountain forests of northern Burma and still keeping their own name and customs. Thus, these people are just the living sources for our studies on ancient Kantu.
Related Articles |
Metrics
|
|
Hanxue Shangdui : A case study on the contentions between the Han School and the Song School in the middle Qing dynasty
Zhang Shuhong
Front. Hist. China. 2006, 1 (4): 563-589.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-006-0020-2
During the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods of the Qing dynasty, Fang Dongshu published the Hanxue Shangdui, which launched a fierce attack on the Han School and marked the open contentions between the Han and the Song schools. While defending the Song Learning, Fang attacked the shortcomings of the Han School, mainly in four aspects: the Han School s methods of scholarship, various concepts of philosophy proposed by the Han-Learning scholars, the trivial and piecemeal character, and the heterodoxy of the Han School. Fang Dongshu criticized the Han-Learning scholars who paid attention only to the books and neglected the social affairs. Sharp and reasonable as it was, his criticism however seemed less objective, especially when he tried to use the emperor s authority to threaten the Han School, which was beyond the range of the normal academic debates.
Related Articles |
Metrics
|
7 articles
|