Alien Eraser Reveals the Secrets of Evolution

A number of research groups around the world have begun to study how the brain acquires and processes language, but we still know comparatively little about it. Many such groups work on very specific,

Hong Kong’s Link to the US Dollar covers the origins of the city’s currency crisis in 1983, the initial resolution of the crisis by creation of a traditional currency board, the subsequent problems le

Hong Kong's Link to the US Dollar covers the origins of the city's currency crisis in 1983, the initial resolution of the crisis by creation of a traditional currency board, the subsequent problems le

Hong Kong’s Link to the US Dollar covers the origins of the city’s currency crisis in 1983, the initial resolution of the crisis by creation of a traditional currency board, the subsequent problems leading to the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98, and the later reforms. A new final chapter traces monetary developments in Hong Kong between 2005 and 2020.This valuable compendium of articles, originally written in the bimonthly journal Asian Monetary Monitor between 1981 and 1989, includes the key article that formed the basis for the Hong Kong government’s decision in 1983 to peg the currency to the US dollar, as well as other important documents of historical record.The main contribution of the book is its detailed monetary analysis of Hong Kong’s unique financial system before and after the currency crisis of 1983. The book explains the collapse of the floating Hong Kong dollar under the pressure of capital outflows during the Sino-British negotiations (1982–84) over the future of Hong

Based on the award-winning Chinese title, this updated English edition presents an in-depth account of the lengthy and often contentious discussions between China and Britain regarding the Hong Kong handover. Drawing on now declassified official government documents, it provides a careful analysis of events from the 1970s to 1997, which shaped Hong Kong’s future.

The Guodian manuscripts are a cache of literary and philosophical texts from the fourth century BCE, discovered in a Warring States–period tomb in China’s Hubei Province. Through detailed decipherment and textual analysis, Kuan-yun Huang investigates the historical and philosophical contexts of these texts and convincingly proposes their association with Zisi, the grandson of Confucius. Huang not only offers an in-depth portrait of this famous scion from excavated texts and transmitted literary records, but also reveals the connection of the Guodian texts with early intellectual tradition in China, including the teachings of Xunzi, Mencius, Confucius, and the legendary Laozi, as well as the effort of rewriting that transformed Zisi’s original teachings into a conformist line of thinking, which defined and constituted the Confucian tradition of a later time.-------------- In Kuan-yun Huang’s The Lost Texts of Confucius’ Grandson, the shadowy figure of Zisi comes to life as an

History remembers Du Fu (712–70) as the Confucian poet-sage, but why would he abandon his official post to wander the remote fringes of the Tang empire? This exploration of Du Fu’s late wanderings reveals the restless spiritual and intellectual journey that mirrored his seemingly directionless, perplexing physical travels. Moving beyond traditional portrayals, it uncovers a complex figure torn between north and south, service and retreat, and the truths of the Three Teachings.A close reading of the poems from his last, prolific decade follows Du Fu as he confronts the brilliance and collapse of his dynasty, transforming all he experienced into poetry that became both his autobiography and his apology. Through his verse, a man who refused to settle for a single answer emerges, one whose constant wavering was a part of his greatness and ultimately redefined the possibilities of Chinese poetry.

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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were at the peak of these times—there was a feeling of being abandoned, as if we had become orphans of the times. —Bei DaoWith essays from:Xu Bing．Bei Dao．Zhai Yongming．Zhang Langlang．Han ShaogongAh Cheng．Wang Anyi．Li Ling．Deng Gang．Wang Xiaoni．Huang ZipingThis is a powerful collection of essays that re-examines a pivotal and often misunderstood decade in modern Chinese history. Originally edited by acclaimed poet Bei Dao and literary critic Li Tuo, this book pulls back the curtain on a decade often seen as a void between Mao’s rigid control and the explosion of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms. But for this generation, the ’70s was a crucible—the time they came of age and fought to find their own voices.Many of the writers and artists represented here were sent to the countryside as “educated urban youth.” They were both participants in and victims of the Cultural Revolution. Through a series of unfiltered portraits and vivid impressions, this book reveals what it was like to be young, rest

The origins of modern Daoism can be traced to the Church of the Heavenly Master (Tianshidao), reputedly established by the formidable Zhang Daoling. In 142 CE, according to Daoist tradition, Zhang was visited by the Lord on High, who named him his vicar on Earth with the title Heavenly Master. The dispensation articulated an eschatological vision of saving initiates—the pure, those destined to become immortals— by enforcing a strict moral code. Under evolving forms, Tianshidao has remained central to Chinese society, and Daoist priests have upheld their spiritual allegiance to Zhang, their now divinized founder. This book tells the story of the longue durée evolution of the Heavenly Master leadership and institution. Later hagiography credits Zhang Daoling’s great-grandson, putatively the fourth Heavenly Master, with settling the family at Longhushan (Dragon and Tiger Mountain); in time his d

Kaho Yu’s China’s Energy Security in the Twenty-First Century: The Role of Global Governance and Climate Change explores the evolution of China’s energy security from its bilateral going-out strategy to its more multilateral Belt and Road Initiative. By analysing the topic from a multidisciplinary perspective, this book examines China’s evolving role in global energy governance through four empirical case studies: China’s energy cooperation with Russia and Central Asia, Africa, the European Union, and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.

As the longest serving and the most influential bishop of Hong Kong, Bishop R. O. Hall (何明華會督) played a crucial role in the reconstruction of the Anglican Church and Hong Kong after WWII. Born in England, the bishop committed his life to building bridges: between China and England; between Hong Kong workers and company management; between the government and the Hong Kong people; and between the Hong Kong people he loved and the Divine he worshipped. His single-mindedness in pursuing and translating the social theology of F. D. Maurice into practical terms resulted in his enormous contributions to the development of social welfare, low-cost housing, and education in postwar Hong Kong and helped spur its economic and social evolution into a global city. Based on primary archival and private materials, this book shows that Bishop Hall, whole-hearted in pursuit of his goals for Hong Kong through “love-in-action,” was also multifaceted.

This work is the result of a co-operation between a social anthropologist and a social historian and is focused on the social evolution of Southern China. Based on a longitudinal fieldwork study in th

In this ground‐breaking, posthumous study, the late Lo Jung‐pang discusses the geographic, political,and commercial factors that led to the emergence of seapower and a navy under the Ming. WhileZheng He and his seven expeditions have received some scholarly attention, few understand the longhistory of maritime engagement which provided the nautical and technical background for thesevoyages. The evolution of this maritime engagement and its extension into the Indian Ocean is thefocus of Lo’s still‐timely and highly significant work.In addition to detailing the rise of the Ming navy and its extraordinary accomplishments, Lo alsoexamines some of the factors that led to the end of China’s first great maritime era: Why did Chinasuddenly seem to turn away from the seas? Were the military defeats in Annam and on the northernborders significant in this? Or were financial pressures key?Empire in the Western Ocean represents the most comprehensive and insightful English‐languagetreatment to date

ONE OF THE MOST SPOKEN DIALECTS in China, Southeast Asia, and globally, Cantonese was nevertheless deemed a local dialect enjoying little prestige among the intellectuals. Not much was recorded in official documents or gazetteers about the early history of Hong Kong. The Cantonese language and its origin remained much of a mystery until the mid-20th century when scholars started to accord it with increasing attention. Thanks to dedicated efforts of early missionaries, pedagogues, and linguists, we can now trace back the evolution of modern Cantonese since the 19th century— how differences in sounds, words, and grammar distinguish the old from contemporary speech today. In this book, Hung-nin Samuel Cheung, an acclaimed scholar on the study of Cantonese, offers profound insights to various firsthand century-old materials including language manuals, Bible translations, and maps of Hong Kong, with findings that will be useful for ongoing efforts to study the development of

The Cold War was a distinct and crucial period in Hong Kong’s evolution and in its relations with China and the rest of the world. Hong Kong was a window through which the West could monitor what was

Based on rare first-hand historical data, Wang Ke presents the analysis of the East Turkestan from the perspective of Islamic social structure, the origin and evolution of thoughts on national revolut

The crisis of masculinity surfaced and converged with the crisis of the nation in the late Qing, after the doors of China were forced open by Opium Wars. The power of physical aggression increasingly overshadowed literary attainments and became a new imperative of male honor in the late Qing and early Republican China. Afflicted with anxiety and indignation about their increasingly effeminate image as perceived by Western colonial powers, Chinese intellectuals strategically distanced themselves from the old literati and reassessed their positions vis-à-vis violence. In Mastery of Words and Swords: Negotiating Intellectual Masculinities in Modern China, 1890s–1930s, Jun Lei explores the formation and evolution of modern Chinese intellectual masculinities as constituted in racial, gender, and class discourses mediated by the West and Japan. This book brings to light a new area of interest in the “Man Question” within gender studies in which women have typically been the focus. To fully r

Investigating the historical tradition of Chinese architectural writing from antiquity to the twelfth century, Chinese Architecture and Metaphor reveals significant and fascinating social and cultural

Prof. William S-Y. Wang, an eminent linguist, has made significant contributions to the field regarding lexical diffusion, experimental phonetic studies, language simulation and modeling, and aging and language. To celebrate his 90th birthday, colleagues and friends worldwide have contributed over 30 articles to a two-volume Festschrift. The English volume includes topics such as Chinese language evolution, the relationship between language and music, and the brain processes involved in language production. This Festschrift is written by and for experienced language researchers and is also suitable for students of Chinese linguistics and those interested in Chinese culture, history, and neurology.

Evolution of language has evolved at multiple levels - from changes in the cognitive processes by which language is acquired in the individual, to language change by diffusion of acquired linguistic f

Through personal narratives from twelve survivors, Chinese Comfort Women reveals the unfathomable atrocities committed against women during the Asia-Pacific War and correlates the proliferation of “co

In Socializing Medicine, Pao-chen Tang, Yuqian Yan, and Ling Zhang explore the intersections of medicine, health, and East Asian media. Interweaving archival research, audiovisual analyses, and theoretical insights from the emerging field of health humanities, the book reveals the multifaceted ways in which the mass media—from photography and film to television and live streaming—has been deployed as a tool for controlling medicine and health, privileging those with power and authority from the early twentieth century to the present. Adopting anti-colonial and anti-capitalist perspectives, the contributors in this volume challenge the dominant mediations of health against the backdrop of imperialism, Cold War geopolitical tensions, and neoliberal capitalism. Collectively, they advocate for alternative understandings of medical culture through media productions that envision accessible and equitable healthcare practices.

Ikat Textiles of Timor offers an in-depth overview of regional textile styles from both West and East Timor, while also contributing significant new insights into their design traditions. In academic literature, the ikated men’s wraps from Timor have long been described as symmetrical. However, Dr Peter ten Hoopen’s examination of early examples from museums and private collections reveals that, historically, two thirds of these textiles were actually asymmetrical. This discovery challenges an academic consensus that has persisted since 1912, and highlights a previously overlooked level of creative ingenuity—inviting greater admiration for the women who wove these complex designs.Today’s ikat weavers on Timor, like many foreign scholars before them, seem unaware that asymmetry was once a dominant design principle. Many continue to assert that perfect symmetry has always been the tradition. Yet the historical textiles tell a different story. Ten Hoopen’s groundbreaking findings justify

This book is the first comprehensive treatment of the spread, acculturation, functions and evolution of English in Asia. It discusses all major issues resulting from the introduction of English in cul

This book is the first comprehensive treatment of the spread, acculturation, functions and evolution of English in Asia. It discusses all major issues resulting from the introduction of English in cul

This book reviews the political development of Hong Kong before and after 1997, in particular the evolution of state-society relations in the last two decades, to analyze the slow development of democ

This book reviews the political development of Hong Kong before and after 1997, in particular the evolution of state-society relations in the last two decades, to analyze the slow development of democ

This book examines the evolution of the local identity in China from historical times to the present day. It traces the expression of local identity in religion and myth, in the construction of the pr

Using detailed examples from field journals and the mass media, Sylvia Chan traces the evolution of architectural journalism in China from 1949 to the present. She takes us from the propagandistic wri

The evolution of Hong Kong, as a British colony and now a Special Administrative Region at China's door step, has always been inextricably intertwined with the situation in China. This relationship is

China’s remarkable journey from poverty to becoming the world’s second-largest economic power is marked by extraordinary urban growth and consumption capacity of its urban population. Central to this development fervor are multifunctional commercial complexes and shopping malls, now key features of modern urban districts. The concept of shopping malls, originally introduced to China by American architects in the 1980s, has since flourished on an even larger scale than their American counterparts.This book delves into the origins of shopping mall development in the United States after World War II, tracing how American architects exported this building type into China’s rapidly evolving urban landscapes, particularly in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Kunming, and Guangzhou. Using primary sources, statistical analyses, and illustrated case studies, the book explores the evolution of shopping malls as a consequence of China’s profound economic, social, and cultural change over the past four

This collection of essays by Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee comes at an important juncture in Hong Kong’s continuing constitutional and economic evolution. Over the past year, in the pages of Hong Kong’s leading newspapers, Regina has engaged with many of the most difficult questions confronting our city: The contours of our new economic model, the demands of fiscal discipline, the imperatives of security and national strategy, and the perennial challenge of aligning Hong Kong’s unique institutions with the broader national project. Taken together, these writings offer not only a commentary on the issues of the day but also a considered reflection on how Hong Kong can and should navigate an era of profound change in the common enterprise of “One Country, Two Systems”. Anthony Neoh SC, JP, Chairman, Asian Academy of International LawI’m sure that Regina’s English does indeed work for you. Her columns discuss issues that are relevant and important. For those who find writing or learning English

An exploration of collective memory through the lens of East Asian film during World War II. Taking the "tidal wave" of memory in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century as its starting point, this monograph explores the collective memory of World War II in East Asia (1937-1945) through film. Weiss argues that Chinese, Japanese, and American remembrance of World War II is intertwined in what she terms a "memory loop," the transnational mediation and remediation of war narratives. Gender is central to this process, as the changing representation of male soldiers, political leaders, and patriarchal father figures within these narratives reveals Japanese and Chinese challenges to each other and to the perceived "foundational" American narrative of the war. This process continues to intensify due to the globally visible nature of the memory loop, which drives this cycle of transmission, translation, and reassessment. This volume is the first to bring together a collection of Chin

In this new study, Peter ten Hoopen reveals levels of virtuosity in the work of Sumbanese textile artists that remained overlooked for over a century of Indonesian textile research. Their richly decorated men’s wraps, hinggi, have commonly been described as symmetric along both axes. But as ten Hoopen’s investigation at Leiden University uncovered, this supposed canon only survived because crucial design elements were overlooked. Sumba’s noble weavers managed to create asymmetry by hiding tiny visual elements that disrupted symmetry and were made to be overlooked. They exploited insights in the way we process visual information by simulating regularity, while deceitfully tying in elements that break it. Ironically, they were so good at hiding these design elements that they remained unnoticed for generations. This virtuosity was a product of Sumba’s competitive culture, suffused by an ancient headhunting ethos and marked by secrecy. As the artists strove to outsmart each other, natural

Travels and Revelations: 23 Essays by Zhang Chengzhi is aboutcultures which the author knows intimately.With sophisticated sensibility, he describes the tangible cultures of Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang in recent decades– the landscapes and cityscapes, the roads and waterways, the rural and urban dwellings, the working and living habits, and the outstanding symbols and totems.Like a traveller pausing before stunning scenery– the Mongolian grasslands, the yellow-earth plateaus, the Yellow River’s mighty gorges– he reflects on the intangible cultures that have made the Han, the Hui, the Mongolian and the Uyghur peoples who they are, and contemplates on their language usages, socio-political dilemmas, philosophical traditions, beliefs and biases and their religious aspirations.These essays show how deeply Zhang Chengzhi understands modern China’s painful evolution through war and revolution and how deeply he is attached to his Hui–Muslim roots. They also show his b

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of the University of Hong Kong presents the Chinese painting exhibition Tradition to Contemporary: Ink Painting and Artistic Development in 20th-century China. The exhibition is curated from artworks within the museum’s permanent collection. Works trace the evolution of ink painting in Hong Kong, and include many of the masters that have helped to build the city’s art scene and museum collections. The exhibition and its associated catalogue offers audiences a broad overview of the provenance and aesthetic quality of individual works, and the cultural interactions among twentieth-century Chinese artists, curators, collectors and scholars in Hong Kong, mainland China and abroad. 香港大學美術博物館展出中國繪畫展覽《鑑古賞今：二十世紀中國的水墨與藝術發展》。是次展覽展示博物館的永久館藏。作品追溯了香港本土水墨畫的演變，當中包括多位協助建立起城市藝術風采和博物館藏品的大師。是次展覽和出版的圖錄讓觀眾綜覽個別繪畫作品的來源和美學特質，並香港、中國內地及海外的二十世紀中國藝術家、策展人、收藏家及學者之間的文化交流。

This accounts the evolution of social policy in Hong Kong. Developments in social welfare, health care, housing and education are examined and interpreted.

The book traces the development of the carving of jade flowers as decorative ornaments and the evolution of the complex floral patterns in Chinese decorative art.Richly illustrated with 48 pages of pl