Filial Piety and Confucius

<正>"I ’ve noticed that Chinese children are very respectful to their par-ents,"I said to my friend Mr.Yang."That’s because we have a strong cultural tradition supporting filial piety.One of the most important children’s books is an ancient one-which came out of our Confucian tradition,"said Mr.Yang.     

Crazy About Chinoiserie

<正>The term "chinoiserie" exemplifies the fascination of China for the West. From the 1700s to the present time,exotic, stylish,whimsical and sometimes playful Chinese imports have piqued Western imaginations. The word chinoiserie can be used to     

An Ever Evolving Language

<正>In Beijing, everyone speaks Mandarin,but elsewhere in China people speak a variety of regional dialects. Generally speaking, everyone can read and write Chinese.China is a linguistically conservative country. In fact, up until the beginning of the 20th century,     

Professor John Roskell,FBA: The re-birth of the British Sub-Committee of the Commission and the History of Parliament, 1948–1960

SUMMARY

In this article J. Agirreazkuenaga examines the events in the Basque provinces of Spain during the attempted Carlist coup d'état of 1833. Essentially the coup was a failure, although its partial early success did give the Carlists a territorial basis substantial enough to sustain six years of civil war. The result of the coup was not the intended instant displacement of the legitimate, constitutional authorities throughout the region. The Carlists had made their preparations in advance, in anticipation of the death of the absolutist Ferdinand VII, and the threat of the introduction of a liberal constitutionalist regime under his daughter. They had recruited a local militia, the ‘Armed Countrymen’ which carried out the actual coup. But although these units were mainly volunteers, and paid for their service, they proved unreliable in action, being unwilling to engage in serious combat. In consequence during the first 100 days of the uprising, the early successes, based on the absence of serious resistance from the constitutional authorities, were reversed when they were confronted by troops loyal to the government. The article presents some conclusions about the state of development of traditional Basque society which were revealed by the failure of the original coup and the beginning of civil war.     

Parliaments and the future

SUMMARY

In this article, Izmail Sharifzhanov examines a short period of Tatar parliamentary history—its last fifteen years (1990–2005). These years were crucial ones indeed: first, they coincided with tremendous events in Russian history on the threshold of the twenty-first century and, second, they had decisive consequences for Tatar history itself. They aroused great enthusiasm among the Tatar people: for the first time in its tsarist and Soviet history it could hope to achieve real national sovereignty, but it proved, as usual, that these expectations were vain. Moscow and the local bureaucratic elite did their utmost to restrain a radical national movement and establish their power in the republic. The parliament again lost its initial rebellious spirit and political independence.     

The Ideology of Communication

chinese and Western people do not communicate in the same way. Even if a foreigner is fluent in Chinese, or if a Chinese is fluent in English, miscommunication and misunder-standings     

Family Matters

As an educator,I have found that work and education have priority over personal happiness for my Chinese students,both in China and abroad.     

Old Age: Honor or Embarrassment?

"No,please don’t ask me how old I am; I no longer celebrate my birthday," said one of my expat friends in Beijing the other day. I felt rebuked,almost as if I had insulted her.     

Celebrating With Chinese Panache

"Look at all those wines inthis store!" I exclaimed tomy friend Georgie Wang." Indeed, " he replied ,"traditional Chinese alcohol has two categories: yellow and white. Yellow liquor, or huangjiu, is brewed from rice, wheat or millet.     

Funny Creatures

"Though we don’t show asmuch direct emotion as Westerners,that doesn’t imply the Chinese lack positivefeelings,"said Yang Junheng,my scholarly friend."In fact,Chinese people have a