Decode Chinese values and cultural norms while identifying cross-cultural factors that often lead to failed business negotiations with Encountering the Chinese. In this third edition, the advice and recommended skills enable Westerners and the Chinese to establish more effective and rewarding relationships, both inside and outside of the People's Republic of China.
Talks on Chinese Culture (TOCC) is a post-basic Chinese language textbook intended for students who possess solid mastery of at least two years of college-level Chinese. It is designed to serve as a bridge along the path from basic command to professional level functionality. TOCC takes the view that the student of Chinese needs to be conversant with both forms of the Chinese character: simplified and traditional/complex. Text materials are thus presented in both forms and in a manner which challenges the student to master both forms. The various topics presented in TOCC serve as vehicles for the mastery of the kind of basic vocabulary that characterizes the conversations and writings of educated Chinese speakers. TOCC is based on the widely-known Yale series of Chinese language texts, which even today retains an unsurpassed degree of correlation with currently used vocabulary and sentence patterns. However, students from different curricular backgrounds may also use this text with success. The goal of TOCC is to advance the student's skill levels in listening and speaking as well as reading and writing.
Like every major culture, Chinese has its set of keywords: pivotal terms of political, ethical, literary and philosophical discourse. Tracing the origins, development, polysemy, and usages of keywords is one of the best ways to chart cultural and historical changes. This volume analyzes some of these keywords from different disciplinary and temporal perspectives, offering a new integrative study of their semantic richness, development trajectory, and distinct usages in Chinese culture. The authors of the volume explore different keywords and focus on different periods and genres, ranging from philosophical and historical texts of the Warring States period (453-V221 BCE) to late imperial (ca. 6th?V18th centuries CE) literature and philosophy. They are guided by a similar set of questions: What elevates a mere word to the status of keyword? What sort of resonance and reverberations do we expect a keyword to have? How much does the semantic range of a keyword explain its significance? What kinds of arguments does it generate? What are the stories told to illustrate its meanings? What are political and intellectual implications of the keyword's reevaluation? What does it mean to translate a keyword and map its meaning against other languages? Throughout Chinese history, new ideas and new approaches often mean reinterpreting important words; rupture, continuities, and inflection points are inseparable from the linguistic history of specific terms. The premise of this book is that taking the long view and encompassing different disciplines yield new insights and unexpected connections. The authors, who come from the fields of history,
An Introduction to Chinese Culture through the Family covers a central element of Chinese culture, the idea of family, or jia. Written for both beginners and specialists, this book considers the role of family--literally, metaphorically, and as an organizing principle--in the creation of the Chinese worldview. Individual chapters explore philosophy, art, language, music, folk literature, fiction, architecture, film, and women and gender.
A long-awaited textbook that introduces the major schools, teachings, and practices of Daoism, this work presents a chronological survey that is thematically divided into four parts: Ancient Thought, Religious Communities, Spiritual Practices, and Modernity. The work offers an integrated vision of the Daoist tradition in its historical and cultural context, establishing connections with relevant information on Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, popular religion, and political developments. It also places Daoism into a larger theoretical and comparative framework, relating it to mysticism, millenarianism, forms of religious organization, ritual, meditation, and modernity. The book makes ample use of original materials and provides references to further readings and original sources in translation. It is a powerful resource for teaching and studying alike.