Cultural Advantage For China Tale Of Six Cities

The purpose of this book to bring these cultural advantages into more focus, in order to bring into light some 'human' aspects of the country, and how these can be integrated into the broader context of economics development.

Nowadays, plenty of factories from Europe and other developed countries have been relocated to this country, considering its tremendous economic scale and rapid growth rate during the past three decades.But most of what happens inside the China nowadays is deeply hidden from the outside world (¿the foreigners¿ as China people would call). This fact is partly because most reports on China were written by the so-called fly-high experts who are busy completing their reports despite a busy schedule. Very few books or reports were written by people inside, or at least ¿foreigners¿ who spent a few years in China. Therefore in this book, we took a different approach, by inviting local scientists and other writers to describe what happens surround them.It is the purpose of this book to bring these cultural advantages into more focus, in order to bring into light some 'human¿ aspects of the country, and how these can be integrated into the broader context of economics development. At the end of the day, their achievements cannot be measured by economic progress alone, but also how the people can have the proper sense of meaning (i.e. 'feel¿ at home) in their own homeland, instead of being just another 'bolt¿ in the obsolete industrial engine of economics. As shown in history that China/Eastern cultures can shed some light into modern science (cf. Fritjof Capra etc.), it is of our belief that both cultures can learn from each other, rather than suppressing the Eastern cultures under the spell of modernization.As with other books on development economics, it is beyond the objective of this book to give the final word. We would rather see the purpose of this book is to invite further dialogue over a long-time issue on how the modernization can be given a more humanized interpretation. This perhaps will include rethinking on the meaning of modernization and development themselves, beyond classical debates between inward-outward looking development programs.

China’s Heritage through History employs a longue durée approach to examine China’s heritage through history. From Imperial to contemporary China, it explores the role of practices and material forms of the past in shaping social transformation through knowledge production and transmission. The art of collecting, reproducing, and reinterpreting the past has been an enduring force shaping cultural identity and political legitimacy in China. Offering a unique, non-Western perspective on the history of heritage in China, Zhu considers who the key players have been in these ongoing processes of reconfigured pasts, what methods they have employed, and how these practices have shaped society at large. The book tackles these questions by delving into the transformation of practices related to heritage through examples such as the book collection at Tianyi Private Library, the reproduction of the Orchid Pavilion Preface calligraphy and its associated sites, and the dynamics of exchange within the Liulichang antique market. Zhu reveals how these practices, once reserved for elites, have become accessible to the broader public. These processes of transformation, embodied in various forms of reconfigured pasts, have given rise to modern approaches to preservation, digitisation, museums, and the burgeoning heritage tourism industry. China’s Heritage through History will be an invaluable resource for academics, students, and practitioners working in the fields of heritage, museum studies, and art history.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. By what miracle can an assortment of seemingly unrelated particles come together and correctly assemble to form a human being? Amazingly, once aggregated, these atoms, molecules, and compounds manage to interact reasonably coherently during our lives but seek to return to their dusty state when death occurs. Of the billions of our species who have existed on earth over the millennia, most have quietly and inexorably returned to ashes and dust when their term of life expired. This book tracks some of the misadventures of selected corpses, including burials that went awry to body snatching, exhumations, human-relic collection, and assorted desecrations. Over the years, it seems that a remarkable number of bodies have failed to enjoy the admonition to “Rest in Peace.” Whether these aberrations in the burial process have disturbed the afterlife of the departed, everyone is dying to discover the answer.

The Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate provides an overview of current research, theory and practice in this expanding field. Well-known editors Neal Ashkanasy, Celeste P. M. Wilderom, and Mark F. Peterson lend a truly international perspective to what is the single most comprehensive and up-to-date source on the growing field of organizational culture and climate. In addition, the Handbook opens with a foreword by Andrew Pettigrew and two provocative commentaries by Ben Schneider and Edgar Schein, and concludes with an invaluable set of combined references. The editorial team and the authors come from diverse professional and geographical backgrounds, and provide an unprecedented coverage of topics relating to both culture and climate of modern organizations.

Now an established global force, China has experienced a sustained period of staggering economic growth since policy reform in the 1970s. Chinese urbanisation is the most significant example of economic, environmental and social change both within China and globally. In recent years, central government has made a concerted effort to encourage city governments to realign their priorities and achieve a balance between economic efficiency, social justice and environmental protection. Chinese Urban Transformation: A Tale of Six Cities is a fascinating exploration of the dramatic development Chinese cities have undergone. Tracing this transformation through a comprehensive analysis of social and economic change in six cities, it unravels the complex relationship between policy, outlook and role that urban development plays in China’s view of itself, including the tensions resulting from rapid social and economic change.