Page 14 - 《近代史研究》2022第二期
P. 14

Modern  Chinese  History Studies

                                                       No. 2 , 2022




               Some Thoughts on Environmental History Studies in Modern China …………… Wang Lihua ( 4 )

               Environmental History:  A  New Paradigm in Modern Chinese History Studies
                                                                                         .  Mei Xueqin ( 10 )

               Population-Land Relations during the Late Qing  ………………………………… Jiang  Tao (14)

               Famine and Social Upheavals in Modern China  ……………………………………… Zhu  Hu (19)

               Environmental Disasters and Ecological Restoration in the Huai Region of Modern China
                                                                                           .  Ma  Junya(24)

               Rivers ,  Changes in the Low-Iying  Paddy Field System and the Growth of Modern  Civilization in
                    the Yangtze River Delta   …………………………………………………… Wang Jian 'ge (27 )

               Revisiting  the Impeachment Case of Kang Y ouwei for His Xinxue  weijing kao  in 1898
                                                                                      .  Wu  Yangxiang( 32)

               From "The Peach Blossom Spring"  to  " Utopia" :  Datong shu  and Transformation of the Chinese
                    Imaginations of the Ideal Society …………………………………………… Wang  Dongjie( 47)
                    Chinese  imaginations  of  the  ideal  society  during  the  pre-modern  era  were  replete  with  the  tendencies  of  inaction ,
               laissez-faire  and  respecting  "nature" .  A  typical  example  of such  Chinese  imaginations ,  "The Peach  Blossom  Spring"  was
               inherently  different from  the  "Utopian"  tradition dominant in the West.  As far as its writing style  is concerned , Dαtong shu
                (The  Great  Harmony)  by  Kang Y ouwei  was  the first  book  that systemically discussed  "Utopia"  in  the  intellectual  history  of
               China.  According  to  Kang ,  a  world  of "great harmony"  is  based  on  sophisticated  and fine-tuned  planning and governance
               solutions.  Based  on  the  assumption  that  administrators  can  gain  sufficient  information  on  the  reality,  Kang  believed  that
               "the  great harmony"  could only be possible with  rational planning and calculations.  In Kang's  view ,  "the great harmony"  is
               essentially  man-made  as  opposed  to  "natural".  Kang's  view  is  a  testament  to  the  fundamental  changes  of  the  trajectory  of
               modern  Chinese  intellectual  history.

               With an Eye to  the  Southernmost:  Evolution  of the  Chinese  Perception  on  New  Zealand  During
                    the Late Qing Period  ………………………………………………………… Qiu  Zhihong ( 60 )
                    As  a  young  island  country  of the  southwestern  Pacific ,  New  Zealand  is  extremely faraway  from  China.  Due  to  limited
               geographic  knowledge  and  the  lack  of  navigation  technologies  and  vessels  during  the  ancient  era ,  there  was  very  few ,  if
               any,  exchanges  between  Eurasian and South  Pacific  civilizations.  The  Chinese  started  to  have  some  geographic  knowledge
               about  New  Zealand during the reign of Emperor Kangxi ,  thanks  to  the efforts  of Jesuits  who  introduced  the  latest geographic
               knowledge  during  the  Age  of  Exploration  into  China.  In  Kunyu  quantu  (A  Complete  Map  of  the  World) ,  Ferdinand
               Verbiest ga  ve  N ew  Zealand its original Chinese name "xin se  lαn di ya.  "  After the  Opium 明rar , Chinese writings about New
               Zealand  stmted to  cover a  wider  range  of topics:  apart from  geography,  they also introduced the  politics ,  history,  economy
               and  culture of the colonial  society  of New  Zealand.  In keeping with  this  trend , the  Chinese further enriched  their knowledge
               about  the  five  continents.  They  had  much  deeper  understanding  of  the  changes  in  the  world  and  tried  hard  to  seek  a  new
               identity for  China.  The  Chinese  evolving  perceptions  on  the  colonial  culture  and  nationalism  in  New  Zealand  undoubtedly
               enriched  the  understanding  of  the  Chinese  on  the  diversity  of  the  world.  At  the  turn  of  the  20 th   Century ,  the  Qing
               Government  even  discussed  the  possibility  of  establishing  a  consulate  in  New  Zealand ,  demonstrating  that  the  Chinese
               started to  develop some out-of-the-box geopolitical thinking with  the  increase of geographic  knowledge.  It turned  out that the
               Chinese  perceptions on  New  Zealand and  China-New Zealand relations in the  modern era were  more colourful than  we  think.
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