Sep 2009, Volume 4 Issue 3
    

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  • Research articles
    Chinese society in the 19th century from multiple time-space perspectives: Case studies in regional social history
    2009, 4(3): 323-339. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-009-0013-z
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    Should studies of social history engage in questions of important socio-political changes? The answer is undoubtedly affirmative. So far as the important changes in 19th century China are concerned, some case studies in regional social history have presented a picture of greater complexity and diversity. The Ningbo case, for example, shows that when a port that has had a history of foreign trade becomes embroiled in conflict between Chinese and foreigners, this conflict may simply become one mode of interaction amongst many between Chinese and foreigners. The case of Turmot is an important turning point in Chinese history, since it marks the reversal of 2 000 years of frequent attempts by nomadic tribes to expand southward. This trend is completely reversed by the Han nationalities’ northward immigration and reclamation, a development as significant as the Western invasion of China in terms of consequent social transformations. These historical traces revealed from within regions deepen our comprehension of these social transformations; consequently, such studies in social history may manage to provide answers different from those offered by the traditional model of political history.
  • Research articles
    Breaking through the “jargon” barrier: Early 19th century missionaries’ response on communication conflicts in China
    2009, 4(3): 340-357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-009-0014-y
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    Tracing the origin and circulation of the “jargon” spoken at Canton, the paper examines how “jargon” became an issue of Sino-foreign communication conflicts in the early 19th century, and how Westerners responded to it. As a lingua franca spread extensively in the Canton trade, the so-called “jargon” (a pidgin form of patois) played an essential role as communication tool between Chinese and foreign traders. However, in the eyes of missionaries in early 19th century China, the normal Sino-foreign contact process was interrupted and distorted by both parties’ overusing of the jargon. In this regard, early Protestant missionaries’ support of Chinese language study reveals an initial effort to break through the “jargon” barrier.
  • Research articles
    From the retailing revolution to the consumer revolution: Department stores in modern Shanghai
    LIEN Ling-ling,
    2009, 4(3): 358-389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-009-0015-x
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    Following the Industrial Revolution in Europe and America, the market was flooded with manufacturing goods. To promote sales, the department store that stressed a “low profit, high volume” model appeared in Shanghai. Sellers lowered prices to encourage purchases, and used rapid and high volume turnover to make up for lower profits. To speed up turnover, department stores invented various devices to increase sales, including intensive media advertising, open and comfortable store spaces, and free and attentive services. The new sales philosophy and tactics not only brought about a breakthrough in the retailing, but also reshaped consumer life and urban culture. The Shanghai department store evinced the social and cultural meaning of consumption in its building and inner design, its application of new technology, and its promotional activities and products display. A consumer lifestyle centering on the department store also remolded the Shanghai society.
  • Research articles
    Revolution and business: Shanghai in the Revolution of 1911
    2009, 4(3): 390-425. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-009-0016-9
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    From 1911 to 1913, in big streets and small lanes, in famous parks and thriving stores, and in tea houses and grand restaurants located in such cities as Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing and Wuchang, numerous business opportunities were born out of the Revolution of 1911. By using the political giants and military leaders around Shanghai, business firms skillfully dealt with the difficulties of the continually changing political situation and managed to keep their businesses afloat, succeeding in their response to the consumption demands of the public. It can be argued that the Revolution of 1911 played a distinct role in the development of businesses in Shanghai during that time.
  • Research articles
    Text and power: A study on local gazetteers of Wanzai County of Jiangxi Province from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China
    2009, 4(3): 426-459. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-009-0017-8
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    As the main literature of socio-economic history, local gazetteers display the dynamic process of local socio-economic structuring and reflect local conflicts among various interest groups. Focusing on local gazetteers in Wanzai County of Jiangxi Province from the Qing to the Republic, this essay shows how local literati played an active role in constructing their local community. These gazetteers reflected the complicated power relations, especially the conflict between the natives and immigrants, and they themselves became the important part of the process of local power reproduction and culture construction.
  • Research articles
    The life and production of the peasants in Huizhou from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China: The analysis based on 5 day-to-day accounts in Wuyuan County
    2009, 4(3): 460-469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-009-0018-7
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    The Pairizhang (day-to-day accounts) found in Huizhou were mostly written by the pupils in old-style private school. They seem similar to a dairy in some way with the activities of family members (mostly male) as the main contents. However, they differ from modern diaries in many ways. It was a common practice in Wuyuan County to keep day-to-day accounts in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. By analyzing the 5 accounts found there, many underlying facts can be revealed, such as the time allocation of the main, labor force, the composition of the peasant’s family economy, the general situation of productive activity and the days and ranges of their outdoor activity, etc. All these findings can help us have a better understanding of the peasants’ life in Huizhou at that time.
  • Research articles
    The visualization of Wang Zhaojun in the vicissitude of time
    2009, 4(3): 470-478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-009-0019-6
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    Wang Zhaojun was a romanticized historical figure. The visualization of her was characterized by specific historical and social backgrounds. While her image was shaped with the thousands of years’ expansion of northern interethnic relations in ancient China, the united modern multi-ethnic state created her glorious image as “an angel bringing about national harmony, peace, and unity.”