This book is a study of a topic that is both extremely important and highly sensitive: how the Chinese have viewed other ethnic groups across time. The issue of racial differences constitutes a highly marked and oblique discourse in modern China. This is the first book to analyse that shielded rhetoric directly.
This book is a critical study of the development of a racialised nationalism in China, exploring its unique characteristics and internal tensions, and connecting it to other forms of global racism. The growth of this discourse is contextualised within the party-state’s political agenda to seek legitimacy, in various groups’ efforts to carve their demands in a divided national community, and has directly affected identity politics across the global diasporic Chinese community. While there remains considerable debate in both academic literature and popular discussion about how the concept of ‘race’ is relevant to Chinese expressions of identity, Cheng makes a forceful case for the appropriateness of biological and familial narratives of descent for understanding Chinese nationalism today. Grounded in a strong conceptual framework and substantiated with rich materials, Discourses of Race and Rising China will be an important contribution to international studies of racism, and will appeal to academics and students of contemporary China, historians of modern China, and those who work in the fields of critical race, ethnicity, and cultural studies.
Race with the animals of the Zodiac as they compete to have the years of the Chinese calendar named after them. The excitement-filled story is followed by notes on the Chinese calendar, important Chinese holidays, and a chart outlining the animal signs based on birth years.
Featuring sumptuous illustrations based on Chinese painting techniques, a lively retelling of the mythological animal race that led to the 12 signs in the Chinese Zodiac traces the proclamation of the Jade Emperor and the respective efforts of 13 animals.
The "war on terror" has generated a scramble for expertise on Islamic or Asian "culture" and revived support for area studies, but it has done so at the cost of reviving the kinds of dangerous generalizations that area studies have rightly been accused of. This book provides a much-needed perspective on area studies, a perspective that is attentive to both manifestations of "traditional culture" and the new global relationships in which they are being played out. The authors shake off the shackles of the orientalist legacy but retain a close reading of local processes. They challenge the boundaries of China and question its study from different perspectives, but believe that area studies have a role to play if their geographies are studied according to certain common problems. In the case of China, the book shows the diverse array of critical but solidly grounded research approaches that can be used in studying a society. Its approach neither trivializes nor dismisses the elusive effects of culture, and it pays attention to both the state and the multiplicity of voices that challenge it.
Far from being a negligible aspect of contemporary identity, racialised senses of belonging have often been the very foundation of national, identity in East Asia in the twentieth century. As this volume shows, the construction of symbolic boundaries between racial categories has undergone many transformations in China and Japan, but the attempt to rationalise and rank real and imagined differences between population groups remains wide-spread. In an era of economic globalisation and political depolarisation, racial discrimination has increased in East Asia, affecting the human rights of marginalised groups and collective perceptions of the world order. The historical background and contemporary implications of these potentially explosive issues are addressed.
Newspaper headlines and media commentators scream warnings of the impending doom nearly every day—shortages of arable land, clashes over water, and the political Armageddon as global demand for energy in the form of fossil fuels far outstrips any possible supply. The picture painted is bleak, and the possible impact of commodities markets on how we live is far-reaching, but our grasp of the details and the mega shifts in the commodity space remains blurred. There’s so much noise surrounding resource scarcity and China’s emerging dominance in commodities that we risk complacency. Overturning our assumptions, bestselling author Dambisa Moyo charts the commodity dynamics that the world will face over the next several decades, and the implications of China’s rush for resources across all regions of the world, from Africa to Latin America, from North America to Europe to Australia.
Transform your home into a calm, balanced and harmonious oasis using architect Anjie Cho's helpful advice, drawing on her background in green design and feng shui. You don't have to get rid of all your possessions and become an ascetic to change your space and discover the benefits that living in a considered, organic way can bring. The easy suggestions in Holistic Spaces show you how to implement the principles of feng shui and green design in your home. Written for the way we live today, as we move toward a more mindful approach to health, diet and the way that we choose the objects in our homes, this is the perfect guide to help you to clear and refresh your living environment. Learn how to make every room in your home serve its highest purpose, create eco-friendly spaces, bring nature indoors, choose colours for maximum impact, select a space for meditation practice, and overall, create a peaceful and organic home. From the bedroom to the home office, these intuitive, straightforward tips will teach you to how improve your spaces to boost the flow of energy through your life.
The world’s most populous nation views space as an asset, not only from a technological and commercial perspective but also from a political one. The repercussions of this ideology already extend far beyond Washington. China vs. the United States explores future Chinese aspirations in space and the implications of a looming space race. Dr. Seedhouse provides background information on the fifteen-year history of the China National Space Administration and its long list of accomplishments. Sino-U.S. technological and commercial interests in space are discussed, including their interest in encouraging a potential space race. The national security objectives of the U.S. and China are also examined.