“War Scar Literature” of Contemporary Japanese Literature——A Case Study of Social Novels of Toyoko Yamasaki

After the Second World War, some Japanese writers began to turn their writing focus to the War itself by referring to the literature and doing field studies. A rising number of realistic works, the so called “war scar literature” were then created focusing on war scenes, individual soldiers and social trends. One of the shared features of figures in these works was their real war experiences. Some figures, however, were presented too high profile, e.g, Tadashi Iki in Fumō Chitai. In such case, the literacy imagination tended to cover historical authenticity, which reflects a lack of complete and objective understanding of hurts brought about by the war. It may mislead the readers by forming a directed sense of nationalism. In this regard, literacy criticism is therefore necessary to help Japanese people to understand and reflect over the history.     

A Thesis on Yuriko Miyamoto’s Anti-War Thought——Centered on Sonotosi and Bansyuuheiya

Whether it was before the outbreak of World War II, during the war or after World War II, Miyamoto Yuriko, always adhering to the struggle against the unjust war started by Japanese fascist militarism, through the novel, comments, diaries and other carriers, expressed the hatred for war militarism government, the sympathy for the suffered people due to the war and a strong complaints against the war causing humanity devastation. Different with the other Japanese writers who indulged in that war bringing about harm to the Japanese people, Miyamoto Yuriko clearly recognized the role of the Japanese as invaders during World War II, and associated herself with the democracy movement and the women’s liberation movement. Even after the end of World War II, Miyamoto Yuriko still spared no effort to expose the evil nature of the Japanese militarists that had launched the war, and sounded the alarm against the recurrence of preventive wars.     

“The Floor and the Ceiling” of Politics——Strauss’s Views on the Limit of Political Life and its Revelation

The modern political philosophy hasn’t recognized the limit of politics; it always easily falls into the trap of political romanticism and political nihilism. In contrast, Strauss adhering to the wisdom of classical political philosophy, tells us that the political life has some limits which human reason can’t exceed: the highest upper limit of political life is the rule of philosophy’s king, which is desirable, but not impossible; the lowest limit of political life is natural right principle, which is indispensable root of any political society. On the basis of this vision, the key of actual political practice is the balance of wisdom and agreement, and this is the fundamental spirit of classical political conservatism.     

An Analysis on “Lipset Hypothesis”——A Review of Relationship Between Economic Development and Democracy in Western Academia

The relationship between economic development and democracy is an important research topic in political science. Since Lipset proposed the argument that “economic development promotes democratization” in 1959, this thesis has been exerting profound influence on academic circles, known as “one of the most prominent theories of the social science” and “one of the best sustained by the evidence” in comparative politics. “Lipset hypothesis” was examined repeatedly during the half a century. It met with fierce criticisms. For instance, some scholars questioned the positive effects of the economic developent; some revised the linear causal logic between economic development democracy; and some raised “political process explanation” and “exogenous explanation” as alternative theories. Scholars who supported “Lipset hypothesis” responded to the criticisms. Their research made the causal relationships between economic development and democracy more explicit, expanding the theoretical space and explanatory power of “Lipset hypothesis”. However, with the change of reality and the development of society, the debates on this issue will continue.     

Research on the Effect and the Road of the External Incentive Factors Affecting Zheshang's Motivation of Participation in Politics——Based on the Data of the Empirical Survey in Zheshang

At present, Zhejiang merchants' political participation and enthusiasm have aroused wide attention both at home and abroad. Based on the data of the empirical survey in Zhejiang Province, this paper makes a quantitative analysis of various political participation motivation among different groups of Zhejiang merchants, and the method of statistical analysis is used to explore the external incentive factors affecting their political participation motivation. It is found that the political participation motivation of Zhejiang merchants is initially for their own enterprises' development, but later their political purpose, public welfare and social responsibility become strong and clear. Among the external incentive factors of the political participation motivation of Zhejiang merchants, the institutional encouragement affects most, followed by social encouragement and benefit encouragement. According to the characteristics of Zhejiang merchants' political participation, the following two suggestions for their orderly political participation are put forward: they should be guided to correctly treat the impacts of their gaining benefits on their political behavior and enterprise operation; the political participation mechanism of Zhejiang merchants should be improved, and the participation channel should be open with the institutional guarantee of the political participation.     

Westernness,Chineseness, or Life as Essence——A Discussion with Luo Gang and Peng Yuping on the Poetic Nature of Poetic Remarks in the Human World

There have emerged two representative opinions regarding the origin of Wang Guowei's thought as shown in his Poetic Remarks in the Human World, one being Westernness aided by Chineseness, and the other being Chineseness aided by Wesernness. The former opinion holds that Wang's fundamental ideas in Poetic Remarks in the Human World were derived from modern Western philosophy and aesthetics, which, in turn, were used to deal with traditional Chinese poetry; the latter opinion argues that Wang's basic thought originated from Chinese aesthetic traditions, which were aided by western thought in Wang's Case. The two opinions seem to be over-focused on conceptual comparison and identity; therefore, they fail to point to Wang's principle of “Life as Essence” which incorporates thought of all origins. Wang's Poetic Remarks in the Human World is a reaffirmation of the “aesthetic life”, a blending that goes beyond mere conceptual comparison and contrast.