Soft Computing Based Modeling in Intelligent Systems

內容簡介 The transmission of Buddhism to China gave rise to a uniquely rich and systematic monastic tradition. One Hundred Lessons on Monastery Languages & Affairs offers an in-depth exploration of this tradition through six themes: Monastery Systems, Monastic Precepts, Temple Undertakings, Cultivation and Gatherings, Organizational Management, and Spread of Buddhism. Drawing from decades of lived experience, it guides readers through the past, present, and evolving future of Chinese Buddhist monasticism. 目錄 VOLUME 1 MONASTERY SYSTEMS Table of Contents About Venerable Master Hsing Yun Translator’s Introduction Preface Lesson One: Types of Buddhist Monasteries Lesson Two: Monasteries in the Mainland China Lesson Three: Layout of a Monastery Lesson Four: The Forty-Eight Positions Lesson Five: The Meaning of “Unit” Lesson Six: Monastery Anecdotes Lesson Seven: Buddhist Titles Lesson Eight: Monastery Language Lesson Nine: A Day in Monastery Lesson Ten: The Four Main Halls Lesson Eleven: Mona

In 1842, the Qing Empire signed a watershed commercial treaty with Great Britain, beginning a century-long period in which geopolitical and global economic entanglements intruded on Qing territory and governance. Previously understood as an era of “semi-colonialism,” Stacie A. Kent reframes this century of intervention by shedding light on the generative force of global capital. Based on extensive research conducted with British and Chinese government archives, Coercive Commerce shows how commercial treaties and the regulatory regime that grew out of them catalyzed a revised arts of governance in Qing-administered China. Capital, which had long been present in Chinese merchants’ pocket-books, came to shape and even govern Chinese statecraft during the “treaty era.” This book contends that Qing administrators alternately resisted and adapted to this new reality, through taxation systems such as transit passes and the Imperial Maritime Customs Service, by reorganizing Chinese territory

Originating from a genuine need of the secondary school teachers of English in Hong Kong to understand what it means to implement a task-based curriculum in the English classroom, this book aims to support and empower frontline ELT teachers in implementing a task-based approach systematically without losing sight of the importance of grammar teaching within the framework of tasks. Useful examples are provided to illustrate how grammar teaching can be conducted through meaningful tasks in authentic contexts. The importance of viewing assessment as an integral part of the learning, teaching and assessment cycle is also discussed with practical suggestions on developing assessment tasks and assessment assessment criteria provided. In the form of a self-learning package, this book can be readily used for independent self-study or as a school-based staff-development programme run by teachers themselves. Student-teachers of English, teacher educators and curriculum developers will also find

Originally published in 1918, this fictional account of life as a medical missionary in China is based on American Gulielma Fell Alsop’s personal experiences as a missionary and physician in Shanghai.

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.

This book, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, offers insights from experts in healthcare and higher education both locally and further afield. Key learnings and recommendations are presented in three sections: disaster management and reconstruction, including what we can learn from past earthquakes; the importance of healthcare and emergency medicine in disasters and community events; and the way forward, in particular how technology and systems thinking can be used for disaster mitigation.

◎This is the Part-One (Radical Index - Stroke No. 1-2) of Twelve printouts from the on-line dictionary that is currently under developing. ◎This unprecedented, intelligent, convenient and useful Tool provides “Pin Yin” (spelled in English) of Traditional Chinese characters. ◎Along with Stroke-by-Stroke writings for each character’s Radical and additional strokes, it is possible to learn Chinese ubiquitously. The stroke-sequences for writing radical-characters are also included in a separate nineteen-page section with the order of radical stroke number and sequence. All the multiple ways of “Pin Yin” will also appear under multiple English letters. However, an unique sort key for the Last Name found in 百家姓 (the Hundred Family Surnames) is highlighted and used for grouping the same Last Name in Traditional Character with different Last Name in English. For example, 鄭 can be found as Cheng, Jeng and Zheng in all 3 places with Cheng marked as sort-key. Therefore, all 鄭s will be grouped u

The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong SAR (the “NSL”) promises to be the most important legal development in Hong Kong since the advent of the Basic Law. Many wondered in the aftermath of the NSL how the foundations of Hong Kong’s system might be changed and in what way the freedoms valued by Hong Kong may be affected. Supporters view the law as essential for the preservation of public order and the national security of China and for supporting the fundamental well-being of “One Country, Two Systems”, an arrangement that has been in place since the return of Hong Kong to China. Critics fear an adverse impact on the spirit of “One Country, Two Systems”. From a discussion initiated by the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law, this collection of essays brings together leading experts on Hong Kong and Chinese law to offer an exploratory study of the NSL and its impact on the legal system and the principle of the rule of law in Hon

This collection of selected works by Professor Albert H.Y. Chen shows the contours of the author’s scholarship as it developed over 35 years of his academic career, from 1984 to the present. The essays are divided into three sections which cover the three major domains of Professor Chen’s research. Part I covers the legal developments and controversies of “One Country, Two Systems” since the Hong Kong interpretation on “the right of abode” in 1999 to the anti-extradition movement of 2019. Part II shifts to focus on tradition and modernity in Chinese Law, including China’s Confucian and Legalist traditions and how the socialist legal system in China evolved and modernized in the era of “reform and opening”. Part III examines the transplantation of Western thinking and constitutionalism to East Asia in modern times and discusses the achievements and failures of these efforts. In conjunction with an introductory chapter that sets out the basic orientation and paradigm of these legal and c

The return of Macao from the Portuguese administration to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1999 marks the beginning of its transformation in the 21st century. Macao was confronted with various issues concerning then existing political system, economic downturn and gangland violence during the transition period. Beijing put Macao under the "One country, Two Systems" and implemented a wide variety of measures in order to restore its law and order as well as to recover its tourism dependent economy. Gradually, Macao transformed itself to "Las Vegas of the East". This volume of 18 essays highlights the key dimensions of Macao's remarkable "One country, Two Systems" actualisation experience in its first 15 years, and discusses how Macao transformed and what challenges it encountered during its post-handover transformation. The volume has several focuses. It first investigates the political and electoral issues in a critical manner─ post-handover Macao suffered from maladministratio

內容簡介 The transmission of Buddhism to China gave rise to a uniquely rich and systematic monastic tradition. One Hundred Lessons on Monastery Languages & Affairs offers an in-depth exploration of this tradition through six themes: Monastery Systems, Monastic Precepts, Temple Undertakings, Cultivation and Gatherings, Organizational Management, and Spread of Buddhism. Drawing from decades of lived experience, it guides readers through the past, present, and evolving future of Chinese Buddhist monasticism. 目錄 GLOSSARY Table of Contents About Venerable Master Hsing Yun Translator’s Introduction Preface English-Chinese Glossary Chinese-English Glossary Poems and Verses 作者簡介 About Venerable Master Hsing Yun Venerable Master Hsing Yun (1927–2023) was born in Jiangsu Province, China. He studied at various renowned Buddhist institutions such as Qixia Vinaya College and Jiaoshan Buddhist College. Soon after his arrival in Taiwan in 1949, he became the chief editor of Human Life, a Buddhist maga

This book features five theme-based units on cross-disciplinary academic English skills, focusing on the needs of first-year undergraduate students. Each unit covers academic writing, reading, and speaking skills. The units progressively take students through the steps needed to complete three common academic assignments: the essay, report, and tutorial discussion. These steps include searching for quality sources, note-taking, establishing a critical stance, formulating evidence-based arguments, synthesizing information from multiple sources, and structuring academic texts. Each unit also provides opportunities for students to analyse texts, apply their critical thinking skills, practise what they have learnt in productive tasks, and reflect upon their progress. This book is aimed at first-time university students. Many of the readings are related to China and a broader Asian context. As such, it appeals to first-year university students in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Taiwan.

This book features five theme-based units on cross-disciplinary academic English skills, focusing...

006 第一回：找尋適合且實用的筆電！ 文法1：several+複數名詞 文法2：will be+ Ving 未來進行式 015 第二回：搶救及時壞掉的平板！ 文法1：While 表同時 (當) 文法2：In the meantime 表 (同時) 023 第三回：免稅商店買香水! 文法1：look for 尋找 文法2：would+原型動詞 031 第四回：智慧手錶怎麼挑 文法1：be interested in 感興趣於某事情 文法2：For example 表舉例 040 第五回：試穿鞋子很重要 文法1：Would you? 文法2：Try ... on 049 第六回：為心愛的人買項鍊 文法1：a variety of 文法2：be into 喜歡= have a soft spot for sth. 057 第七回：冰箱品牌比一比 文法1：In terms of=就..而言: 「about」通常用來說明關於什麼樣的主題 文法2：On the other hand 066 第八回：超級紀念品 文法1：Way+形容詞 文法2：Spend 用法

Hong Kong and Macau have both been Special Administrative Regions of China since 1999. To this day, however, the two SARs and mainland China have yet to form a cohesive agreement for extradition. Yanhong Yin proposes a theoretical model—the China Arrest Warrant—that fulfils three essential criteria: compliance with the framework of “One Country, Two Systems,” allowance for differences within the three divergent legal systems, and sufficient human rights protection. This model takes direct inspiration from the European Arrest Warrant, which is undergirded by the principle of mutual recognition—the idea that while states may make different decisions on a wide range of matters, results will be accepted as equivalent to decisions made by one’s own state. The success of the European Union’s adoption of mutual recognition across political, economic, and legal situations is instrumental in providing a blueprint for judicial cooperation among mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, and Macau SAR. Th

With an increasing concern of personal data privacy in Hong Kong and around the world, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD), Hong Kong publishes this third edition of Personal Data (Privacy) Law in Hong Kong: A Practical Guide on Compliance to provide practical guidance on the law of privacy, and the ways to protect personal data in everyday life. This third edition will guide readers through the recent developments of personal data privacy in the local, regional and global contexts with updates on recent Administrative Appeals Board and Court decisions, and investigation reports and materials from the PCPD. In addition, some most-concerned issues are discussed, such as ethical development and use of AI, the collection and use of personal data by employers during COVID-19, data protection under work-from-home arrangements, data security measures for ICT systems, guidelines on doxxing offences and data breach handling. This book will certainly provide read

資安攻擊事件日益嚴重，。在進行資訊安全攻擊防護時有許多面向手段，其中軟體漏洞是攻擊的主要手段焦點之一，因此美國國際電腦稽核協會（Information Systems Audit and Control Association, ISACA）的資訊系統稽核人員（Certified Information Systems Auditor, CISA）認證計畫，每年統計最常被利用於攻擊的漏洞排名，並提供緩解措施與防護建議。 本文就CISA揭露的2022年的CISA最常被利用攻擊之漏洞報告進行研析，總結其重要建議，並提出這些建議之緣由與說明，希冀作為我國企業組織在漏洞防護方面的參考。

智慧運輸系統(Intelligent Transportation Systems, ITS)為目前許多國家重要施政項目，是全球主要國家交通重要政策發展方向之一，其內容包含先進交通管理系統、先進用路人資訊系統、先進車輛控制及安全系統、先進大眾運輸系統，以及商用車輛營運系統。美、歐、日等先進國家於50、60 年代開始大力發展汽車工業和道路基礎設施，而發現傳統交通運輸無法解決交通事故、交通壅塞、交通污染的問題，智慧運輸系統的概念應運而生。近年來，節能減碳政策為世界各國重視之議題，各國更是將提升交通運輸之效能，以及減少運輸產生能源消耗與溫室氣體排放，寄望智慧運輸系統的發展。觀察美國、歐盟以及日本的智慧型運輸系統推動歷程，智慧運輸系統的推動，除由政府部門規劃及執行外，亦有賴產業界、學術界及民間部門之協調與合作，這些國際經驗皆可做為國內推動相關政策的參考。

《探究策略55 示例》中文版是參考自Concept-based inquiry in action (2018, Corwin) 而來。原文書的作者是Carla Marschall 和Rache...

In Working the System: Motion Picture, Filmmakers, and Subjectivities in Mao-Era China, 1949–1966, Qiliang He inquired into the making of the new citizenry in Mao-era China (1949–1976) by studying five preeminent Shanghai-based filmmakers. These case studies shed light on how individuals’ subjectivities took shape in the cinematic arena under a new sociopolitical system after 1949. He suggests that a filmmaker’s subjectivity was not fixed or stable but constantly in flux, requiring a host of “subjectivizing practices” to (re)shape and consolidate it. These filmmakers endeavored to reap maximal benefits from Mao’s sociopolitical system and minimize the disadvantages that would make them victims under the system. In short, Qiliang He argues that the filmmakers not only worked under the socialist system imposed upon them but also worked the system in their best interests.

Based on a close reading of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s extant films, this book provid...

This book presents a rational, research-based critique of the C. Y. Leung Administration that governed in Hong Kong from 2012 to 2017. It is a sweeping and original publication that covers various aspects of governance, including politics, economics, healthcare, human rights, civil service, housing, urban planning, youth, and legislative council elections as well as Hong Kong’s relationship with Taiwan, Mainland China, and Western countries.

The academic setting has a significant influence on the well-being of children and teens. Effective school leadership is, therefore, essential in promoting a healthy school environment. This book, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, establishes the kind of leadership a health-promoting school needs to be successful. It explains the steps school leaders should take to promote health, beginning with an explanation of the link between health and education and then moving into a discussion of how schools can be transformed and what sort of leaders are required for such a transformation. These changes can be applied in individual classrooms and schools as well as more broadly across whole education systems. The theoretical healthy school framework outlined in the main text by Dr Robin Cheung, a seasoned scholar-practitioner in the field of school health promotion, is complemented by success stories written from interviews conducted by Dr Cheung’s co-authors, which are included in the suppl

The idea of a right to privacy, which arose in reaction to the rapid rise of newspapers, instant photography and the “paparazzi” of the 19th century, has evolved into a constitutional right in much of the developed world. It is enshrined in Hong Kong through Articles 28, 29, 30 and 39 of the Basic Law. Hong Kong stands proud as the first jurisdiction in Asia to enact legislation to safeguard personal data in the form of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap 486 (“the Ordinance”) which came into force in 1996. At its centre are the six Data Protection Principles based on the 1980 OECD Guidelines. The office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data was created under this legislation to provide oversight and ensure compliance. The Octopus scandal in mid-2010 eventually led to substantial changes being made to the Ordinance that were enacted in 2012 and 2013, the main amendments being the Direct Marketing provisions and the provision of legal assistance and representation to aggr

Proportionality is a German, and thus continental European, concept in public law that is applied by both the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The principle specifies that measures adopted by executive authorities should not exceed the limits of what is appropriate and necessary in order to achieve legitimate objectives in the interest of the public. Using a functional comparative approach, this book evaluates the extent to which proportionality has been integrated into the English and Hong Kong judicial systems by comparing case law in these courts with that of the CJEU and the ECtHR. The text also reviews the development of proportionality and presents a topical understanding of why its adoption and application have encountered difficulties, particularly regarding socio-economic rights, in some jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Written by a scholar with experience from both within the Hong Kong judici

Chinese medicine has a rich history that has only been made more complex by its integration with `Western' biomedicine. Legitimization of Chinese medicine in biomedicine-dominated health systems, such as that in Hong Kong, has posed significant issues. This anthology of articles explores relevant social issues related to various Chinese medicine treatments, including acupuncture and medicinal oils, as well as insight into practitioner licensing and public perception. Each chapter tackles a topic related to the complicated process of legitimizing knowledge and power within a specific social and historical context. Written by professors and researchers with extensive knowledge of Chinese medicine, government regulation, and sociology, this collection provides an overview of the challenges and current social context of Chinese medicine that affect students and practitioners of Chinese medicine, health and para-health biomedical professionals, and patients alike. Traditional Chinese Me

As a co-founder of the PRC’s first unofficial literary journal Jintian (Today) in 1978, Mang Ke was born in 1950. He began writing poetry as a sent-down youth in Baiyangdian, rural Hebei province, during the Cultural Revolution. One of the progenitors of what would later be called Obscure or “Misty” poetry, his spare, impressionistic poems were among the first to break free of the imposed discourse of Maoism towards an image-based literary style that left space for both expression and interpretation. He currently makes his living as an abstract painter and lives in Songzhuang, an artists’ colony on the outskirts of Beijing.

This study tests the factors of transaction costs (TC) and resource-based views (RBV) to explain the MNEs’ entry decisions in China. By using large firm-level data from China, I show in this paper that variables related to internal uncertainty (e.g., management) and firm-specific assets tend to affect MNEs’ entry decisions in a way that is consistent with the transaction cost logic; that is, the higher degree of internal uncertainty, the MNEs may require more control over the foreign facilities or the JV. On the other hand, those variables related to external uncertainty (e.g., marketing) and intangible assets tend to conform to the resource-based view, which means higher external uncertainty would cause the MNEs to leverage the resources or local experience of local partners. This suggests that MNEs may need complementary resources from local partners to reduce the external uncertainty and enhance the value of their intangible resources.

The idea of a right to privacy, which arose in reaction to the rapid rise of newspapers, instant photography and the “paparazzi” of the 19th century, has evolved into a constitutional right in much of the developed world. It is enshrined in Hong Kong through Articles 28, 29, 30 and 39 of the Basic Law. Hong Kong stands proud as the first jurisdiction in Asia to enact legislation to safeguard personal data in the form of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap 486 (“the Ordinance”) which came into force in 1996. At its centre are the six Data Protection Principles based on the 1980 OECD Guidelines. The office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data was created under this legislation to provide oversight and ensure compliance. The Octopus scandal in mid-2010 eventually led to substantial changes being made to the Ordinance that were enacted in 2012 and 2013, the main amendments being the Direct Marketing provisions and the provision of legal assistance and representation to aggr

With the rapid expansion of higher education institutions throughout the world and education’s increasingly market-based orientation, students, parents, higher educators, employers and governments have a much greater interest in the actual academic quality of universities and colleges in various dimensions in the era of globalization. Universities and colleges are definitely beginning to take on accountability toward related members of the school and societies in the same way that private enterprise does. In this way, universities are supposed to act as an effective organizer and a good learner on how to improve their quality, particularly in research and teaching quality, through several assessment tools. Hence, a major concern for Asian governments is how to assure quality in higher education and how to enhance global competitiveness through a variety of national policies and institutional engagement. As a result, quality assurance mechanisms, which emphasize output monitoring and me

The book provides guidelines and practical creative exercises which equip creative-major students in early semesters as well as creative practitioners with fundamental knowledge on creation methods. Combination of functionality, simplicity and aesthetics in modern design is considered a fundamental design principle in the Bauhaus School in Germany,and, inspired by the School, the creative handcrafting exercises and the concepts introduced in this book are primarily coherent with this principle. The book draws a direction between two and three dimensional material-based design and modern digital creation process. The first part of the book introduces various creative handcrafting exerciseson proportion, geometry and modularity, among other fundamental design principles. The creative exercises will sensitise students on aesthetical and structural issues, and thus serve as an essential building block for application of the design principles to computer-based creative processes, which ar

This practical based research explores space, sites and interventions; in particular, site-specific installation of art works, involving the physical, virtual space and interactive theatre space within new media art.

Competition is Fierce, 2013 Taiwanese Industry Expects Transition Global economy, surviving from the impact of the previous financial crisis, is now presenting a slow-to-moderate growth rate in 2013. Taiwan is now facing the pressure from regional economy expansion, new threats from Asia’s newly developing countries and competition from Japan/Korea with their strong industrial vertically integrated power. Moreover, there is a trend for those major western multinational companies to move their overseas manufacturing and technical services back to their mother lands, creating a new face of the global supply chain. More severe industrial competition is being expected. As such, Taiwan needs to aggressively proceed with its own industry structural transformation concentrating on the industries, investment, human resources and industrial efficiency. One of the government efforts could be made to continue building the industrial intelligent information service system through the mechanism of

The R&D activity in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) industrial sectors is an important factor in boosting the competitiveness of the European economy, and it stands high on the European political agenda (European Council held in Lisbon, March 2000). As an extension of existing research efforts, IPTS (DG Joint Research Centre, European Commission) has launched a research tender focused on R&D in ICT sectors in India, China and Taiwan, in order to gain a better understanding of major ICT R&D capabilities in that part of the world. The research exercise includes the preparation of three national Country Reports, supported by a Dataset and a Technical Annex for each country. Contract title: “Study on the trends in public and private investments in ICT R&D in China, India and Taiwan, and on the globalization of R&D and the competitiveness of their innovation systems in ICT”. Contract number: 150970-2008 F1SC-HU The contract was awarded by: Institute of Prosp

雲端運算為近年來深受關注的議題之一，各種雲端運算服務陸續地推出市面，如何在現有雲端運算服務下開創新的發展機會，也成為產業界關注的焦點。 因此，本書根據Cloud Computing Journal與Red Herring於2011年的年度評選名單，挑選出25家具代表性的雲端運算創新服務案例，並將其區分為資訊工具、企業應用與個人應用三大類型，以進行商業模式分析。

Sir Charles Kao is generally regarded as the father of fiber optics, based in part on his discovery that signal loss in fiber cables was a direct result of impurities in the glass rather than a flaw in the technology—a breakthrough that affects nearly every aspect of our present-day communication infrastructure. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009 "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication," this memoir chronicles the personal and scientific odyssey of one of the twentieth century's most influential scientists. Beginning with his childhood in war-torn Shanghai and Hong Kong, Kao explores the turbulent rift that forced him from his family. Later, he details his early work and experience that established the basis for his seminal research with glass fibers in the 1960s. Following this groundbreaking work, the memoir covers Kao's time as a professor and Vice Chancellor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong up until 200

The social, economic and technological developments have inspired the advancement in architectural design, construction technology and building services installations in modern cities. Hong Kong, as a modern city famous of its tall buildings in Asia Pacific, has gone through remarkable changes in its building design and construction since 1970s. Building owners and occupants are now keen on achieving better environmental health, human comfort, life safety and more effective use of space. This book assesses the contemporary changes in design concepts and development trends of the major disciplines in building services engineering. Among the analyses featured are trends on heating, ventilating and air-conditioning, electrical and fire services, plumbing and drainage, and building automation systems. Powerful examples of well-known building projects in Hong Kong and Mainland China will be put forward and discussed. Written by a team of experts in the building services engineering discip

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, often narrow, problems. This approach is certainly necessary, but a broad perspective can be helpful, if not essential, too. This volume consists of an important collection of papers presented at the Seminar on Language, Evolution, and the Brain (SLEB), hosted by the International Institute for Advanced Studies in Kyoto, Japan, bringing together distinguished researchers with background in cognitive science, anthropology, linguistics, robotics, physics, etc. Major topics discussed here include: Creoles and pidgins, and their implications regarding language evolution. Quantitative analysis and modeling of various aspects of language evolution, including the evolution of lexical items and color terms, the emergence of linguistics categories, and the dynamics of language competition. The ev

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 features across populations of individuals, to the emergence of linguistic features over phylogenetic time scales. Evolution of language at each of these levels interacts with that at each other level. This volume is a collection of essays by noted researchers from diverse fields that deals with a broad spectrum of issues in the study of language evolution. The principle topics addressed here include: the genetic and cognitive bases for the phylogenetic emergence of language; several distinct accounts of the underlying cognitive processes by which children learn to acquire language; a critique of the methods employed by historical linguists in the last century; the modeling of language evolution using mathematical and computational techniques; discussions on the complexity of language.

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 the Pearl River Delta, which is the heartland of the Cantonese-speaking world, the book explores how the ordinary people and their society evolved in a period of time characterized by drastic change. The study reports on how history supplies people with a repository for the future and accounts for how their march towards modernity is, at the same time, a reconstruction of a tradition.