Understanding Scripture

In The Heart Sūtra: Revisiting Its Texts, History, and Meaning, Henry C. H. Shiu investigates the historical origins of the Heart Sūtra, a significant Buddhist scripture. He compares the Sanskrit texts with their Chinese and Tibetan translations to analyse whether the Heart Sūtra might be a Chinese apocryphon, through detailed linguistic examination. To achieve this goal, Shiu thoroughly examines the primary source from which the scripture was extracted. He emphasises the necessity of reading the Heart Sūtra in the larger context of the Perfection of Wisdom literature, which contains the essence of Mahāyāna Buddhist teaching. In this monograph, Shiu successfully transcends the boundaries between the Chinese, Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions and provides a revisionist interpretation of the Heart Sūtra.

Understanding English Homonyms: Their Origins and Usage explores the phenomenon of homonyms in English by analysing a selection of those with the most interesting histories. This book not only illustr

First published in 2006, Understanding Chinese Company Law covers the major topics in the area of company law in this fast-changing country. This third edition has incorporated the discussions on new

Seemingly messy and chaotic, the landscapes and urban life of cities in Asia possess an order and hierarchy that often challenges understanding and appreciation. With contributions by a cross-discipli

This book aims at helping learners of English (particularly those whose first language is Chinese) to improve their understanding of, and their competence in, English grammar. It directly addresses th

Reshaping the Boundaries: The Christian Intersection of China and the West in the Modern Era brings new material and new insight to deepen our understanding of the multilayered, two-way flow of words,

The only introductory text on the Hong Kong Basic Law, this book provides a highly readable starting point to understanding the important issues shaping Hong Kong’s future. The book traces the origins

The only introductory text on the Hong Kong Basic Law, this book provides a highly readable starting point to understanding the important issues shaping Hong Kong’s future. The book traces the origins

Brian Brake (1927–1988, New Zealand) and Steve McCurry (1950– , U.S.A.) are two eminent photojournalists whose work concurs with the mission of Asia Society―to promote greater understanding of Asia. T

Contract Law in Hong Kong: A Comparative Analysis provides readers with a clear understanding of contract law in Hong Kong as well as its counterpart in England. It enables readers to navigate a vast

Contract Law in Hong Kong: A Comparative Analysis provides readers with a clear understanding of contract law in Hong Kong as well as its counterpart in England. It enables readers to navigate a vast

The Lost Generation is a vital component to understanding Maoism. The book provides a comprehensive account of the critical movement during which seventeen million young "educated" city-dwellers were

Learning and Teaching in the Chinese Classroom provides an essential starting point for understanding the contexts of learning and teaching in the Chinese classroom. Drawing upon recent research in Ho

This landmark study of Canton and Macao merchants advances our understanding of the rise and development of international commercial networks. The eighteenth century was a transitional period in world

Art, politics, and commerce are intertwined everywhere, but in China the interplay is explicit, intimate, and elemental, and nowhere more so than in the film industry. Understanding this interplay in

Art, politics, and commerce are intertwined everywhere, but in China the interplay is explicit, intimate, and elemental, and nowhere more so than in the film industry. Understanding this interplay in

Set in 1950s Hong Kong, The Road paints an evocative picture of comfortable colonial life, while at the same time presenting the local people with the shrewd understanding that the author had acquired

“This well-written book contains a vast amount of scholarly information and makes a considerable and important contribution to our understanding of the interactions between colonialism and malaria not

Over one million people worldwide commit suicide every year, and more than 60% of suicide deaths occur in Asia. However, very little reliable information is available to permit a good understanding of

Over one million people worldwide commit suicide every year, and more than 60% of suicide deaths occur in Asia. However, very little reliable information is available to permit a good understanding of

This study of An Autumn's Tale argues that Hong Kong films are a window into understanding the shared pasts and ongoing connections between Hong Kong and other globalized cities. Viewed through the le

“Time” is a basic subject to humanistic enquiry and understanding Chinese notions of time in their own terms and comparatively is an important endeavour. This collection of essays engages Chinese ways

This book provides a timely contribution to our understanding of traditions and politics of identity in an important region of south China – Southern Fujian. It provides new perspectives on the study

Every so often a work of history appears that radically changes our understanding of people, place and period. Chinese Christian is such a work. This book asks questions about Hong Kong that have neve

ranscending the rise and fall of dynasties, tracing the growth and formation of Chinese civilization through the currents of history.This book is an unusual excursion into Chinese cultural history. Professor Cho-yun Hsu moves beyond accounts that focus solely on the internal evolution of Chinese culture. He revisits early Chinese civilization, integrating recent archaeological discoveries to reshape our understanding of its development. Employing a big history perspective, Hsu reconstructs the dynamic interplay of diverse ethnic groups and cultures within and beyond China, highlighting the constant friction and fusion that shaped its trajectory.This insightful work reveals why Chinese civilization has endured despite numerous internal and external hardships and turmoils. It offers a nuanced and thought-provoking perspective on China’s past and its relevance to the present. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Democracy on Trial is an attempt to begin to negotiate the problem of writing about and understanding democracy and social movements in Taiwan, and what they can tell us about a place and country that

The Global South – both as a concept and loosely defined collection of countries – has gained increasing traction in public and policy discourse. The ten BRICS+ countries are increasingly big players in economics, trade, and finance, as well as on geopolitical matters, climate change, and in multilateral institutions.Since its expansion to include five new countries, questions have arisen over the tenability and coherence of the grouping, as well as the extent to which divergences can be managed. Many non-BRICS+ nations and observers question whether BRICS+ can counterbalance the G7 countries. Though the impact of the BRICS+ as a geopolitical force remains to be seen, understanding BRICS+ is vital for policymakers and businesses across the world.Amid the growing role these powers play across the globe, academics must examine the past, present, and future of the BRICS+ countries. This compendium draws upon scholars across numerous continents, spheres, and disciplines, examining the futu

In Man in a Hurry: Murray MacLehose and Colonial Autonomy in Hong Kong, Ray Yep explores the latest available archival materials and re-examines MacLehose’s pivotal governorship in Hong Kong (1971–1982). MacLehose arrived in the challenging 1970s, when there were expectations for social reforms, uneasiness in the relationship between Hong Kong and London, and the 1997 factor looming large. The governor successfully carried out various social reforms and he also handled various major issues, including the anti-corruption campaign, the Vietnamese refugee crisis, and the granting of land lease of the New Territories beyond 1997. Yep unveils the tension and bargaining between the British government and explains how interest of the colony could asserted, defended, and negotiated. This book is an important study of Hong Kong’s ‘golden years’ when the city’s economy took off. It is a significant contribution to our understanding of how local autonomy was defined.

In Redefining Heresy and Tolerance, Hung Tak Wai examines how the Qing empire governed Muslims and Christians under its rule with a non-interventionist policy. Manchu emperors adopted a tolerant attitude towards Islam and Christianity as long as political stability and loyalty remained unthreatened. However, Hung argues that such tolerance had its limitations. Since the mid-eighteenth century, the Qing court intentionally minimised the importance of the Islamic identity. Restrictions were imposed on the Muslims’ external connections with Western Asia. The Christian minority was kept distant from politics and the Han majority. At the same time, Confucian scholars began to acquire a new understanding of religion, but they were not encouraged to get in touch with the Muslims and Christians. This book demonstrates how, from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century, the Qing government prevented Confucian scholar-bureaucrats from interfering in the religious life of Christians an

In the third edition of Contemporary Hong Kong Government and Politics, Lam Wai-man, Percy Luen-tim Lui, Wilson Wong, and various contributors provide the latest analyses in many aspects of Hong Kong’s government and politics, such as political institutions, mediating institutions, and political actors. They also discuss specific policy areas such as political parties and elections, civil society, political identity and political culture, the mass media, and public opinions after the Umbrella Movement in 2014. The book also evaluates the latest developments in Hong Kong’s relationship with Mainland China and the international community. This new edition offers an up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of the main continuities and changes in the above aspects since 2014. This volume will help its readers grasp a basic understanding of Hong Kong’s political developments in the last ten years.

Sinoglossia places the terms of embodiment, mediality, and translation at the center of analytical inquiry into Chinese and Sinophone cultures. Converging in the rubric of Sinoglossia, the chapters in this volume introduce a theory defined by cultural formations not overdetermined by Sinitic linguistic ties. The concept of Sinoglossia combines a heteroglossic and a heterotopian approach to the critical study of mediated discourses of China and Chineseness. From the history of physical examinations and queer subalternity to the cinematic inscription of Chineseness-as-landscape, and from Sinopop to the translational writings of Eileen Chang and Syaman Rapongan, this book argues for a flexible conceptualization of cultural objects, conditions, and contexts that draws attention to an array of polyphonic, multi-discursive, and multilingual articulations. In this new horizon of understanding, place or topos necessarily constitutes the possibility of friction and source of innovation.“Sinogloss

New research on the history of public housing and squatting in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong Public and Squatter Housing, Alan Smart and Fung Chi Keung Charles trace the development of squatting in Hong Kong from 1963 to 1985. The authors reconstruct government policy on squatting through both ethnographic and archival research. This book sheds new light on the consequences of various attempts to control encroachment on scarce urban space. The authors argue that intersecting policy agendas resulted in decisions that were often not desired, but which emerged as practical solutions from prior failures. They address the challenges of explaining confidential policy decisions and offer new approaches applicable in other contexts. Overall, this book makes an important contribution to the understanding of how public housing and squatting interacted in influential ways that have been poorly understood and offer new perspectives on the challenges of urban governance and housing problems.

This book, Chiang Yee and His Circle: Chinese Artistic and Intellectual Life in Britain, 1930–1950, celebrates the life and work of Chiang Yee (1903–1977), a Chinese writer, poet, and painter who made his home in London, England during the 1930s and 1940s. It examines Chiang’s relationship with his circle of friends and colleagues in the English capital, and assesses the work he produced during his sojourn there. This edited volume, with contributions from eleven distinguished scholars, tells a story of a Chinese intellectual community in London that up to now has been largely overlooked. It portrays a dynamic picture of the London-based émigré life during the years that led up to the war and during the conflict that was the catalyst for many of them moving on. In addition, the book broadens our understanding of cultural interactions between China and the West in Hampstead, one of the most vibrant artistic communities in London.

More Than 1001 Days and Nights of Hong Kong Internment is the wartime journal of Sir Chaloner Grenville Alabaster, former attorney-general of Hong Kong and one of the three highest-ranking British officials during the Japanese occupation. He was imprisoned by the Japanese at the Stanley Internment Camp from 1941 to 1945. During his internment, he managed to keep a diary of his life in the camp in small notebooks and hid them until his release in 1945. He then wrote his wartime journal on the basis of these notes. The journal records his day-to-day experiences of the fall of Hong Kong, his time at Stanley, and his eventual release. Some of the most fascinating extracts cover the three months immediately after the fall of Hong Kong and when Alabaster and his colleagues were imprisoned in Prince’s Building in Central and before they were sent to the camp, a period little covered in previous publications. Hence, the book is an important primary source for understanding the daily operation

This book explores the phenomenon of homonyms in English by analysing a selection of those with the most interesting histories. It not only illustrates how homonyms are used in various contexts but al

People of South Asian descent are a large, varied and increasingly visible part of Hong Kong's population. Most have found ways of prospering despite social and economic obstacles and widespread discr

The younger generation — those under the age of 25 — accounts for more than a quarter of Hong Kong’s population. A much-misunderstood group, these people have special characteristics and needs, and so

In China, the thirty-year economic reform reflects the process of moving from planned economy towards market economy. This could be seen from the changes in the 2005 Company Law, which recognizes the

The book brings studies of modern Thai history and culture into dialogue with debates in comparative intellectual history, Asian cultural studies, and postcolonial studies. It takes Thai Studies in new directions through case studies of the cultural hybridity and ambivalences that have emerged from the manifold interactions between Siam/Thailand and the West from 1850 to the present day. Central aims of The Ambiguous Allure of the West are to critique notions of Thai "uniqueness" or "exceptionalism" and locate Thai Studies in a broader, comparative perspective by arguing that modern Siam/Thailand needs to be understood as a semicolonial society. In contrast to conservative nationalist and royalist accounts of Thai history and culture, which resist comparing the country to its once-colonized Asian neighbours, this book's contributors highlight the value of postcolonial analysis in understanding the complexly ambiguous, interstitial, liminal and hybrid character of Thai/Western cultural

With the commencement of economic reform in China and the subsequent dramatic growth in its economy and of private enterprise both Chinese and foreign, the company law of China has become of great imp