Abstract

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In this essay, the development and evolution of money is studied from the perspective of philosophy, with rational “disenchantment” as a vital clue. In the form aspect, money has undergone a long process of historical development from pure natural substance to handled precious metal, to paper money, and then to fictitious money. In the content aspect, it has developed from common equivalent with natural property to precious metals with natural intrinsic value, and to fiduciary money, with a current tendency towards super-sovereign or no-sovereign money. The enchantment of money comes from its natural property and natural intrinsic value, which have shown different presentations in different historical stages. Its rational disenchantment is understood as a process, in which its natural property and natural intrinsic value in different stages have been constantly removed so that its natural characteristics have been gradually and even totally replaced by factitious characteristics. The rationality applied to the disenchantment of money also continuously develops from social and ethical value rationality to economical and instrumental rationality. Some new forms of the current development of money are mentioned, and such examples of new money form as the Euro and the BTC are preliminarily analyzed.

Image, Crusting, and Interality—Probing New Ways of Understanding Chinese Philosophy

Shang Geling

Donald Munro has adopted two terms, “image” and “clustering,” as his novel approache to the interpretation of Chinese classics. Comparing the fancy strategies such as “metaphor,” “poetic philosophy,” “imagery rhetoric,” “difference” etc., I found Munro’s approach simpler and more straightforward and it has greater potential for future development. What the “image” and “clustering” are able to disclose is not Being or substance that the traditional western metaphysics has constantly talked about, but “jianxing” or “interality,” which refers to the non-substantial reality. Although in the early Chinese classics there was no particular articulation or theory of interality, the use of the wordjianwas not rare. Questions concerning how to figure out the current situation of interality, and how to construct and even create the ideal conditions of interality, have been always the central concerns of Chinese philosophy. It is from the perspective of interality, manifested in Munro’s work on “image” and “clustering,” that the ancient Chinese philosophy has developed its own types of philosophical enquiry and discourse, away from the ontological tradition in the West.

The Transition of the Academic Traditions on Great Clans of Medieval China in North America: Focused on the Comparison of Research between David Johnson and Patricia Ebrey

Fan Zhaofei

The transition of the theories on the great clans of medieval China in North America, was a witness of Sinology of America which had the important effects on the study of Chinese history. We cannot neglect such research on the great clans by scholars of North America. Most important among them were David Johnson and Patricia Ebrey. Two schools of thought regarding the elite class existed, which were from Columbia University and UC Berkeley. There were also other schools, such as scholars from Harvard University and Stanford University. The scholars of North America would provide us with valuable insights, such as identities of great clans, the comparison of lineages and clans between medieval and modern ages, etc. The scholars became divided into two classes: some scholars proved the idea that medieval Chinese ruling class was a hereditary aristocracy or an oligarchy; others proved that early medieval China was not ruled by an oligarchy, who reacted upon each other. There were three academic lines in the research of great clans in North America: one was influenced by the theory of the Tang-Song transition and the means of case study of Japan scholars, one was influenced by the theory of gentry society and lineages, the other was influenced by sinologists of Chinese descent. They gradually developed into academic traditions with distinctive characteristics.

The Opposition between Morality and Utility in the History of Political Thoughts during the Pre-Qin Times

Hu Xinsheng

There was an opposition between morality and utility in the field of political thought during the pre-Qin times. In the Shang Dynasty, the Shang Court advocated severe law, while the State of Zhou initiated virtue and cautious penalty; in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the opposition showed as the State of Lu “being close to one’s kinsfolk and showing favor”, with the State of Qi “respcting the sage and upholding contribution”; in the Spring and Autumn period, the opposition showed as the difference between “l(fā)eading people by virtue and unifying them by the rules of propriety”, and “l(fā)eading people by laws and unifying them with punishments”; in the Warring States period, the opposition mainly showed as fierce disputes between Confucianism approving rule by rites and Legalists praising rule of law. Those conflicts not only ran through the history of political thought during the pre-Qin times, but also fundamentally determined the situation and course of political thought at that time. The formation of antagonistic relation between the two factions was closely related to the special form of early Chinese state, i.e. the clan state. The combination of clan organization and state machinery, as well as high consistence between family ethics and political ethics, promoted firstly moral political thoughts on behalf of clan force, full of patriarchal flavor as well as family affection, and bearing strong characteristics of Chinese culture. Meanwhile, as a representative of the state power, the other faction which paid attention to political and law construction, as well as valued administrative efficiency and national power also emerged. The opposition between morality and utility appeared repeatedly and exerted profound influence on political thought in ancient China, which was an inevitable result of the social and political reality in ancient China with specially developed clan organizations, clan culture, and patriarchal consciousness.

The Xi’an Coup and the Loss of Mainland: How Losers Deal with Historiography Doubled as a Discussion on KMT’s Political Spin

Liu Xiaoyi

The 1937 Coup of Xi’an is an important incident in Chinese modern history, which also contributed to KMT’s “Loss of Mainland” in 1949, of which both the Nationalist government and its leader Chiang Kai-shek must give out a historical account upon settling down in Taiwan. In mid 1950s, Chiang’s senior political consultant Tao Xisheng ghostwrote for him a political memoir,SovietRussiainChina, to address this historiographical need. While Tao and his PR colleagues were working on the book, Chiang contributed his own opinions and recollections on the Xi’an Coup in a memo comprised of eight pages of his own handwriting. Comparing Chiang’s manuscript to the publishedSovietRussiainChina, we could see how maneuvers of political spin were adopted in the PR of KMT; exploring the life and professional experiences of Chen Bulei and Tao Xisheng, both senior consultants to Chiang, we could peer into the predicaments of those liberal intellectuals who were caught in the career of spinning. Taking the “Culture of Defeat” as established by German historian Wolfgang Schivelbusch as a cultural paradigm and comparing it to KMT’s historiographical enterprises in the writing of Xi’an Coup and Loss of Mainland, we examine the complex appeals in the production of history in a defeated government.

From Dynastic Politics to Monarchical Republic: The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots and the Transformation of Regime in Early Modern England

Hsuan-Ying Tu

This article aims to discuss a scholarly controversy over the Elizabethan polity—whether it was governed by personal rule or was a monarchical republic—by examining the Privy Council’s decision to execute Mary Queen of Scots without Queen Elizabeth I’s knowledge in February 1587. It will present Elizabeth’s comparative incapacity in her ministerial circulation of news, information, and intelligence. It will also explain the reasons why the Council isolated their Queen from the execution: the traditional concept of female inferiority, the Protestant appeal for a mixed rule, and the ministers’ antipathy towards Elizabeth’s irresolution. These three elements strengthened Elizabethan ministers’ self-identity as godly counselors, consequently leading to a silent transformation in early modern England, “from an age of dynastic politics to one of national politics.”

Individual Rights in Modern Time and “Individual” in Confucian Tradition

Sun Xiangchen

Individual has its fundamental meaning in modern society. The concept of individual freedom has developed the dual meaning of individual rights and individual autonomy in Western history, but Chinese scholars often confuse these two meanings. The expansion of individual rights will extend the negative consequences of individualism, so individualism requires the balance of Western cultural traditions, and was supplemented by the establishment of moral autonomy. In Chinese society, the Confucian tradition lacks the concept of non-moral individual rights, which is the foundation of modern society. What is the combining point of Chinese cultural tradition and modern society, it is not to transform the Confucian tradition into individual rights, but to emphasis on individual autonomy in Confucian tradition, which could balance modern individual rights. In the modern Chinese society, although the intellectuals repeated individual rights again and again, because of the confusion of individual right and individual autonomy. Chinese intellectuals always turn to collectivism. What need we do is to established the big premise of individual rights in modern China firstly, and then to emphasize the Confucian tradition of individual autonomy, which could become the weapon to resist the negative consequences of individualism.

The Precipice between Being Close to One’s Kinsfolk and Respecting the Respected: A Revaluation of the Han System by the Controversy between Wei Xuancheng and Liu Xin on the Confucian Ritual of the Emperor’s Ancestral Temple

Li Ruohui

The Han system deeply influenced Chinese history for two thousand years. In the former studies of the Han system, scholars always focused on the Confucianization of law, yet neglected the efforts of replacing rites with law by the Western-Han Confucians. The essential distinction between the Classical Text Confucianism and the New Text Confucianism on ritual studies lay neither in the Confucian classics, nor in fame and wealth, but in establishing the polity with what kind of imperial rite. The key point was that the emperor transcended the people. From the controversy between Wei Xuancheng and Liu Xin on the ritual of the emperor’s ancestral temple, it can be seen that the Western-Han Confucians of the New Texts School only accepted influence ofTheBookofRites, and were accustomed to apply such rites even to the emperor. Yet when setting about constructing the grand ceremony for administrating the country, they were just cramped within the affection among relatives, and could not stride over the precipice between being close to one’s kinsfolk and respecting the respected, and thus could not construct eligible rites for the emperor, which was righteous as well as decisive. Then the School of Classical Texts seized the chance. They began with refuting rites of the emperor designed by the New Text School, and gradually improved rites by their own. In essence, it was a process approaching the Qin system, and abandoning the Han Confucian’s original intention of reflecting faults of the Qin Dynasty. How could Confucianism construct, or even whether Confucianism had the ability to construct the grand ceremony for administrating the country, became a nightmare.

On “A Father Screens His Son, and a Son His Father, Which Incidentally Does Involve a Sort of Uprightness”

Huang Qixiang

In the past ten years, there has been a debate among scholars about the issue “a father screens his son, and a son his father”. One side argued that “a father screens his son, and a son his father” is natural to human beings; the other side argued that they are against the law and contrary to morality. Both sides stand opposite each other on the issue, but their understandings of its meaning are the same. Both hold that “a father screens his son” means that a father covers up his son’s crime, and the same to “a son screens his father”. Both maintain that Confucius call such behavior a sort of uprightness. If we readTheAnalectsmore carefully, we will find that such an understanding is a misunderstanding. What Confucius wants to say is not that a father covers up his son’s crime, or that a son his father’s crime, but that a father should take the blame for his son, or a son for his father. Confucius does not propose abusing the law and practicing favoritism, or disregarding social ethics, but indicates an answer for the ethical dilemma of whether or not a father should sacrifice himself for his criminal son, or a son his father.

A Textual Research of the Circulation ofWangNiansun’sManuscriptsCollected by Beijing University

Zhao Xiaoqing

In 1922, Luo Zhenyu purchased an unpublished essay collection of Wang Niansun and his son Wang Yinzhi of Gaoyou from Jiang. After being collated and arranged by Wang Guowei and others, part of the contents were typesetted and published asWritingsoftheWangFamilyofGaoyouin 1925. The rest of unpublished part with large numbers, rich content, as well as high value, was namedTheManuscriptsofWangNiansunand is now kept in Beijing University. To make detailed investigation to the spread and publication of the manuscripts in the past two centuries, will contribute to further collation and studies of them.

A Discussion of the Annotation Method of the Song Poetry

Tang Ling

Ancient Chinese literary works used different artistic expressions in different times and different styles. So the annotations should change according to the age and style of those works. As for the Song poetry, to note the provenance of poet’s wording construct an important ingredient of poetry annotation, because the Song poetry emphasized that “every character has its own source.” The Song poets prefer to use allusion more than the Tang poets, so the annotator should not pass on the allusions, especially some converted ones used for unconventional needs. There are more or less institutions of politics, laws and regulations, officials, as well as rites involved in the Song poetry, so mistakes on understanding and annotation are probably occurred without a complete grasp and knowledge about those institutions. The Song literati were well-read and mastered Confucianism, Taoism as well as Buddhism, so they often communicated and responded with poems with Buddhists and Taoist priests. Therefore, there were more religious terms and “imported words” applied in the Song poetry which need extra caution. In the collation, they are often the cases that the text is fluent yet it is not in line with the poet’s original intention, or the text is not fluent yet each version are the same. Besides, there are instances that different texts all seem to be fluent so that it is difficult to choose. That requires the ability of using a combination of various knowledge for the annotator to designate the correct text.

Rational Disenchantment: The Development and Evolution of Money

Feng Xiaomang