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The innovation of enamels and enamel painting techniques on porcelain during the 1720s marked the establishment of a new type of porcelain product which soon played a significant role in Chinese porcelain consumption, both domestically and globally. Yet, the impact of this innovation on production and consumption has rarely been studied. This thesis addresses this gap by offering a historical perspective on eighteenth century Chinese enamelled porcelain, its production and consumption, both in domestic and export markets. It is demonstrated that both the Qing court and the local manufactures responded actively to new technological developments. Following the discussion on how the court and local manufactures interacted and the technology was transferred, my thesis continues to demonstrate the impact of technological innovation on the domestic and export markets. It has shown in domestic market, enamelled porcelain was not only consumed by the imperial court, as current scholarship assumed, rather it had reached a wider set of consumers. In terms of export porcelain trade, my detailed examinations and analyses of the English East India Company Records demonstrate that enamelled porcelain played significant roles over different periods. Overall, this research contributes to knowledge about enamelled porcelain consumption in eighteenth-century China and beyond, and also sheds light on the study of Chinese porcelain and the Chinese porcelain trade. The discussion on the enamelled porcelain trade between China and the English East India Company during the eighteenth century provides a detailed insight into how the Chinese porcelain trade developed and changed over time.

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The present thesis is a study of the life of the emperors of the Khitan-Liao dynasty and its influence on the Liao institutions--in particular, the Shu-mi Yuan, the dual Chancellery administration system. After their conquest of a portion of China, the Liao emperors continued to pursue their original nomadic way of life, spending the whole of each year in seasonal camps, or na-po (natpat)--as they were called at that time. For the administration of their Khitan and Chinese subjects, who led different ways of life, the Liao rulers established two Chancelleries, one for their Khitan subjects and the other for the Chinese. Thus, contrary to the general assumption that the Khitan were sinicized, the Khitan-Liao Empire actually consisted of two nations of different cultures.;The study of the institutions of the Liao na-po throws light not only on the Liao administration but also on the life of the rulers and institutions of the succeeding Jurchin-Chin, Mongol Yuan, and Manchu-Ch'ing dynasties.;The main body of the thesis discusses a number of problems each of which is examined in greater detail in a subsequent section. "Some remarks on the office of the Shu-mi Shih" traces the rise and development of that office which has so far been mistakenly taken as an organ concerning, merely with military affairs. It was actually, in the first stage of its development, a post comparable to that of chiefminister. "The theory of legitimacy" explains the reasons why the history of the non-Chinese dynasties have been neglected by the Chinese people. The section on Peking, explains the role played by Peking in Chinese history as the link between the Chinese and non-Chinese worlds. The section "Ordos" is a study of the Khitan military organisation, All these have either not been dealt with before or not been adequately explained.

Noting the inadequacies of existing IR theories to explain the security policies of states in the global south and the frequent intra-state conflicts there, this research demonstrates the analytical capacity of the insecurity dilemma as an alternative framework. The research develops the insecurity dilemma first and then applies it on the Chinese-Tibetan conflict. Over sixty years of violence and dialogue has brought the Chinese and the Tibetans no closer to a resolution of their conflict. The insecurity dilemma provides a nuanced understanding of the underlying reasons for this protracted conflict. This research argues that, conscious of its weakness as a state, which has implications for state, regime and ‘national’ security, China has pursued state-building through its policies on religion, language, education and economy in Tibet. Beijing has also denied the existence of a ‘Tibet Issue’ and rejected a number of Tibetan proposals for autonomy out of fears that they threaten their state-building project in Tibet. Conversely, Tibetan identity insecurity, generated by the Chinese policies, migration and cultural influences inside Tibet, explains both the Dalai Lama’s unpopular decision to give up his erstwhile aspiration for Tibetan independence as well as his steadfast demands for autonomy and unification of all Tibetans under one administration. Identity insecurity also drives the multi-faceted Tibetan resistance both inside Tibet and in the diaspora. Although the intentions of both Beijing and the Tibetans are to increase their respective securities identified above, the outcome is greater insecurity for both, plunging them into dilemmatic cycles of state-building and hardening of policies on the Chinese side and strengthening of identity and resistance on the Tibetan side. This study gives play to a multiplicity of actors, objectives and strategies on both sides and examines the feed-back effect that exists between the Sino-Tibetan conflict and the regional and global political strategic and ideological competitions.

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The present study discusses money and conflicts and anxiety over money in late Ming vernacular stories and contextualizes these stories in the contemporary society of economic prosperity and rapid changes. The high monetization and extensive use of silver and copper cash as currency brought both wealth and conflicts in various aspects of society. Eleven vernacular stories from several collections are adopted as source materials for the close examination, including Jingshi tongyan (Stories to Caution the World, 1624) and Xingshi hengyan (Stories to Awaken the World, 1627) by Feng Menglong (1574-1646) and the two Pai’an jingqi (Slapping the Table in Amazement, 1628 and 1632) collections by Ling Mengchu (1580-1644), etc. The analysis then focuses on the relationship between money and four topics, the late Ming context, social relations, gender ideals, and religion. Multiple voices and various viewpoints in these narratives show human beings’ struggles in taming and dominating money, the increasingly familiar and essential object in everyday life. Generally, when people cannot control money properly, there is a fear of its detrimental power to humans and social relations within and beyond families. On the contrary, characters, who are able to control money, are praised. / Die vorliegende Studie befasst sich mit Geld und Konflikten sowie der Angst vor Geld in den volkstümlichen Erzählungen der späten Ming-Zeit und kontextualisiert diese Erzählungen in der zeitgenössischen Gesellschaft, die von wirtschaftlichem Wohlstand und schnellen Veränderungen geprägt war. Die starke Monetarisierung und die umfassende Verwendung von Silber- und Kupfergeld als Währung brachten sowohl Reichtum als auch Konflikte in verschiedenen Bereichen der Gesellschaft mit sich. Elf volkstümliche Geschichten aus verschiedenen Sammlungen werden als Quellenmaterial für die eingehende Untersuchung herangezogen, darunter Jingshi tongyan (Geschichten zur Vorsicht der Welt, 1624) und Xingshi hengyan (Geschichten zum Erwachen der Welt, 1627) von Feng Menglong (1574-1646) und die beiden Sammlungen Pai'an jingqi (Auf den Tisch schlagen vor Staunen über das Ungewöhnliche, 1628 und 1632) von Ling Mengchu (1580-1644) usw. Die Analyse konzentriert sich dann auf die Beziehung zwischen Geld und vier Themen, dem späten Ming-Kontext, den sozialen Beziehungen, den Geschlechteridealen und der Religion. In diesen Erzählungen wird mit mehreren Stimmen und aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln der Kampf der Menschen um die Zähmung und Beherrschung des Geldes, des zunehmend vertrauten und unverzichtbaren Objekts des täglichen Lebens, dargestellt. Wenn Menschen das Geld nicht richtig kontrollieren können, fürchten sie im Allgemeinen seine schädliche Wirkung auf die Menschen und die sozialen Beziehungen innerhalb und außerhalb der Familie. Im Gegensatz dazu werden Personen, die in der Lage sind, Geld zu kontrollieren, gelobt.

Gegenstand der vorliegenden Masterarbeit ist das Geyan lianbi, eine Maximensammlung aus dem Jahr 1851. Diese war ursprünglich als Einstiegslektüre zur moralischen Erziehung der (Beamten-)Elite gedacht. Im Zentrum der Arbeit stehen die Übersetzung, Analyse und Interpretation des sechsten Kapitels, das Leitsätze zum sozialen Umgang bzw. idealen Verhalten in der Gesellschaft bereit hält. Es wird der Versuch einer historischen, gedanklich-weltanschaulichen und literaturwissenschaftlichen Einordnung unternommen. Dabei wird anhand der Themenkomplexe 'Selbstdisziplin und Nachsichtigkeit bei Fehlern anderer', 'Verhalten in öffentlichen Positionen', 'Ermahnung zur Besserung' und 'Praxis des Auswählens von Vorbildern' der Gedankenweg des Kompilators rekonstruiert.