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The transformation in the consumption and use of modes of transportation reflected not only technological developments but also social changes that amounted to a shift in social structure. This paper is a case study of the use of the sedan chair in Ming China and is divided into three parts. The first part investigates the process by which the sedan chair as a mode of transportation gradually replaced the horse, the main mode of transportation since the Sui and Tang dynasties. The sedan chair became a new fashion from the late period of North Sung dynasty. The second part discusses the causes of this new trend, looking at both “exterior” fators such as geographical, technological, social and economic developments, and also the “inner” cultural causes of the phenomenon. In particular, what was the social significance of official use of sedan chairs in the Ming and how might this have influenced changes in general modes of transportation? Finally, the third part of this paper explores the symbolic meanings of the sedan chaire in terms of political hegemony, social status and political culture.
Scholars who have studied Sin jeku jetere aha in the Imperial Household Department during the early Qing Dynasty concluded they were the humblest of slaves. This essay paints a more complex picture of the lives of Sin jeku jetere aha since the Jiaqing and Daogung reigns. The term ‘iron rice bowl’ suggests that the Manchus led an easy life on their official salaries. We can see from census and pay records, however, that the empire had financial difficulties in its late period, and therefore not everyone could live off the iron rice bowl. Under three supervisors discussed in this essay, the Sin jeku jetere aha all had to independently earn their own livings, so there were significant changes in their class positions. The Sin jeku jetere aha of the Seventh Duty Group belonged to were all Han Bannermen; of these, 21 percent of the adults were “office boys” working at a variety of menial tasks. Some were still engaged in such work during the Guangxu reign, but the proportion decreased to 13.9 percent. About 18.47 percent of Sin jeku jetere aha of the Fourth Duty Group, including Han and Mongol Bannermen, held official positions. Eight men had official positions at or above the ninth rank, a government student and seven official students. The Bannermen of Supervisor Anliincluded Manchus, Mongols, and Han. Almost 40 percent of males held official positions during Jiaqing reign while the figure drops to 20 percent for the Guangxu period. Nonetheless, in general the number of adults who held official positions under the supervisorsincreased, including 24 people who held official positions beyond the ninth rank, including Geng Deshou, who became the Liangguang Governor-General. Because Supervisor Anli’s Sin jeku jetere aha occupied such specialized hereditary posts as storehouse keepers, kitchen helpers, sacrifice helpers, silversmiths, coppersmiths, ironsmiths, and the like, they were easily able to accumulate private property. Additionally, the fact that buying official positions became permissible from the middle period of the Qing dynasty made it possible for them to buy such posts.
An old saying in Beijing proclaimed that, “It doesn’t matter whether you are Han or Manchu, as long as you’re a Bannerman.” This seems to real a percpetion of the social gap between the Banners and ordinary commoners. Nevertheless, among Banners in the Imperial Household Department, the status of Han and Manchu was quite different. Manchu and Mongol Bannermen had more opportunity to choose and inherit their duties.
The Wuchang Electric Light Company was established in 1911. A group of Japanese merchants later assumed management of the company for several years. In 1926, the General Chamber of Commerce and two other social associations in Wuchang bought the company and reorganized it as the Wuchang Jingcheng Electric Power Company, but its existence only lasted for two months and seven days. It was then taken over by the Hubei Provincial Government. However, in 1928 it was returned to the merchants. In 1933 the Provincial Government took it over again to reorganize it, but the reorganization failed. Finally, the Provincial Government assumed ownership in 1935. Members of the company disputed this takeover for two years and nine months, but failed to retake possession of the company from the Government.
This paper consists of four sections discussing the factors that led to the failure of the company and the difficulties faced by the government in its takeover attempts. Wuchang Jingcheng’s case was not unique. A shortage of funds, poor equipment, lack of technology, bad management, defective regulations, social poverty, natural disasters and civil wars were all factors generally affecting the electricity business in the early Republic of China. Successful development of the electricity business depended on the rational behavior of the government, the producers and the consumers of electrical power.
Compared with the style of argumentative prose used to discuss immediate
political questions, the academic prose of traditional scholarship more clearly
reveals Chinese academic taste in the 1910s. It was not enough to use
vernacu1ar Chinese in literary writing, but necessary to use it as a mode of
academic prose to ensure the success of the vernacular movement. There were
still stylistic prejudices as to what was high or low and e1egant or vu1gar,
though this did not solve the difficulties in handling the relationship between
the present and the ancient in “academic writing". In spite of flaws, Hu Shi's
Zhongguo zhexueshi dagang [Outline 01 Chinese Philosophicall古story] opened
a new era of vernacular academic writing. Hu Shi emphasized that “works"
must be “well-wrought structures" rather than just a collection of quotations,
notes or conc1usions from artic1es. The concept of “structure” here refers to the
framework while and “ academic writing” indicates the nature of the contents.
Stylistic harmony then stems from the well-wrought structure and clear
expression. The formation ofthis style had much to do with Hu Shi's long-term
enthusiasm for delivering lectures. A good lecturer succeeds through a wel1-thought-out plan and an imposing manner but seldom doubtshimself or
proceeds circuitously, and this approach exerted a direct influence on Hu Shi's
academic writing.This is also a reason we regret the lack of profundity and incisiveness in
Hu Shi' s articles while appreciating his crystal clarity and eloquence. The
intention of Hu Shi's call for using the vernacular in academic writing was to
break down the then-popular argument that contrasted “pure literature" with
“jumble literature". In terms of literary development since the late Qing, most
scholars have appreciated the formation of modern literature and particularly
praise so-called "pure literature". But the relatively broad view of literature
held by Hu Shi (and his predecessor Zhang Taiyan) represents an attempt to
bridge literature and scholarship by modern Chinese scholars, and this attempt
too should be appreciated.
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