Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 200 . / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

This article is mainly to discuss the components, structures and other related issues as well in two kinds of arm forces, ¡§Tribe Arms¡¨ and ¡§Emperor¡¦s Arms¡¨ in the Shang Dynasty as the research scope. The components of ¡§Tribe Arms¡¨ are the frequently-seen ¡§Crowd¡¨ or ¡§Numerous People¡¨ in the Oracle Inscriptions, which is mainly composed of infantry served as by a crowd or numerous people and then is assisted by the professional military forces, ¡§Horses¡¨ and ¡§Bows.¡¨ With regard to ¡§Emperor¡¦s Arms,¡¨ its components include three fighting units-- ¡§Shi¡]®v¡^,¡¨ ¡§Horses¡¨ and ¡§Bows,¡¨ among which ¡§Shi¡¨ is infantry; ¡§Horses,¡¨ chariot soldiers; and ¡§Bows,¡¨ bow-and-arrow shooting soldiers. The component of ¡§Shi¡¨ is the frequently-seen ¡§People¡¨ in the Oracle Inscriptions, and the People directly belong to the Shang Emperor and are the professional fighting soldiers. The components of ¡§Horses¡¨ and ¡§Bows¡¨ are served as by the noblemen and the noble juniors. In addition, this article also discusses the other related issues, such as the original meaning of ¡§Shi,¡¨ the usage of ¡§Shi¡¨ and ¡§Ci¡]¦¸¡^¡¨ in the Oracle Inscriptions, and the meanings of ¡§Ya¡]¨È¡^,¡¨ ¡§Brigade¡¨ and ¡§Shu¡]¦§¡^¡¨.

The Rice Sprout Song, the first novel ever written in English by Zhang Ailing, was finished during the time when she resided in Hong Kong, namely, from 1952 till 1955. Forty-one years after she released the book and secured a firm position in the world of literature, she passed away in the USA in1995. According to Su Weizhen, it was Hu Shi that made the earliest comments on the novel. In his reply letter to its author, Professor Hu stated that ¡§from beginning to end, your novel focuses on famine, which might have been a suitable title if you had opted for it. On the whole, the story is described in an unadorned but natural manner.¡¨ Several decades later, Professor Xia Zhiqing offered the same commentary as Hu¡¦s, adding that the novel boasts considerable literary value. After making a probe into the background and inspiration of the novel, this paper dwells on its creative techniques, such as the multiple interpretations conveyed by the narratives, the skillful mastery of images in original writing, the presentation of colorful, concrete pictures, and the clever employment of irony. After that, this paper analyzes the music, mythology, drama, as well as ethical structure mentioned in the novel, and even investigates the standpoint from which the author shapes the characters successfully. Born at the turn of a new era and strongly influenced by both eastern and western cultures, Zhang Ailing is separate from her contemporaries in that she has stuck to her own writing style throughout her career. Nevertheless, as the masterpiece representative of her middle career, The Rice Sprout Song exhibits plainness and purity by basing its plot on real people and experiences. Being a member of Zhang¡¦s distinctly feminine creations, the novel differs from her early or late counterparts. For instance, one of her early hits, The Legends, is overly ornamental and brightly colored while two woks completed in her late years, The Discontented Woman and The Long-lasting Love, are genuinely refreshing and intriguing. Besides, it should be pointed out that the content of the novel is gradually shifted from the physical aspect to the ideological one. A writer trapped ¡§in the narrow corner of human history,¡¨ Zhang Ailing has only a little freedom to exercise her imagination. Therefore, it deserves deep thought that the uniquely rebellious author shows, out of humanitarian concern, sincere sympathy for the plight of Chinese peasants. Concentrating on the theme of rural poverty, she presents her observations in a direct and simple way and thus renders the novel different from her earlier works, which are characterized by a decorative and intricate style. Though described in easy language, the novel displays mature skills which demand heartfelt awe from its readers. No wonder Professor Wang Dewei recommends the novel as ¡§a vulgar model revolting against the modern trend.¡¨ In addition, what the characters say and do reflects the features of the man on the street rather than those of the upper class. As a result, it is fairly effortless for the readers to get exposed to ¡§true-to-life records of human history.¡¨ Keywords: Zhang Ailing (Eileen Chang), The Rice Sprout Song, symbolism, color image, anti-communism literature

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Trier--Trier Univ., 1998. Titre de soutenance : Charakteristika der Naturlyrik Su Shis und ihre ästhetische Grundlagen. / Bibliogr. en chinois et en allemand p. 227-240. Bibliogr. p. 240-245. Index.

Dissertation--Heidelberg--Universität, 2000. / Contient l'autobiographie de Zhongfeng Mingben et sa traduction anglaise. Bibliogr. p.[146]-154.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

As a city that has played an important part in the industrialization process of the country, Wuxi owns many abandoned and dilapidated industrial plants in the inner city. The successful conservation cases of Shanghai’s industrial heritages really enlightened the Wuxi Municipal Government, which was also searching for ways to push forward economic restructuring while facing a land shortage in the city. Founded in 1919 by the well-known Chinese entrepreneurs the Rong brothers, the original No.3 Shenxin Factory used to be the biggest spinnery manufacturer in Wuxi. Then, in 2005, as the factory was transferred to industrial estate in suburban area, the original site became abandoned. Two years later, the original factory site was listed as industrial heritage of Wuxi and leased to the Hong Kong developer SPGland at the same time. The urban redevelopment project of Xi Shui Dong Factory (former No.3 Shenxin Factory) started in 2008. Kokaistudios was appointed by SPGland to lead the architectural conservation part. As a typical property developer-led conservation project in the heart of a redevelopment area including a number of high density residential towers and commercial centres, the Xi Shui Dong Factory project offers a challenge to the designers. The problem is which approach of conservation they should take and how they should deal with the relationship between the old buildings and the newly built ones. The dissertation focuses on the detailed study of a factory complex in the site and tries to analyze issues concerning the conservation of the factory complex in the context of the urban regeneration. At the same time it also brings to light the relative merits between property developer-led and culture-led conservation efforts. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

Task-based language teaching has a high profile within contemporary ELT. There are, however, few empirical studies of how teachers actually implement tasks in Chinese primary school contexts. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring how four teachers in two primary schools in Nanhai, Guangdong implement communicative activities in a top-down national innovation. This study involves three areas of investigation. The first area describes classroom practice. A particular focus is on activity types and the degree of communicativeness of activities. The second area analyzes how the practice reflects the general understanding of task-based pedagogy: the extent to which classroom activities are congruent with features of task? The third area concerns factors influencing communicativeness of lessons. Extensive data are drawn over a period of an academic year with four selected teachers (Betty, Rose, Paul and Jane). A total of 55 observations were conducted. Methods of documenting classroom data include a quantitative instrument based on COLT observation scheme (Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching) and qualitative field notes. The tool used to analyze the degree of communicativeness is derived from a well-recognized framework proposed by Littlewood. 64 semi-structured interviews were conducted to gauge participants’ perception of task-based teaching. Teachers, school principals and focused-group students were interviewed. The main findings are as follows. It is found that Betty and Rose use mainly focus-on-forms activities, Paul uses meaning-form-focused and Jane meaning-focused activities, suggesting, respectively, a low, medium and medium-high degree of communicativeness. Further analysis of activity features indicates that Betty and Rose’s teaching are teacher-centered, decontextualized and without a clear communicative goal and outcome, and thus not congruent with task features. Paul’s activities share features of non-communicative teaching and TBLT. Paul tried to integrate some communicative elements in his approach, although the majority of Paul’s activities still focus on the practice of language form. Jane’s activities, message-focused, student-centered and contextualized, reflect general features of tasks. Three sets of contextual and participant factors are found to influence TBLT implementation in the two case schools: 1) contextual, 2) teacher factors and 3) those related to pedagogical practice, including planning and instructional factors. The significance of this study is threefold. Firstly, I propose an adapted version of Littlewood’s communicative framework. This version contributes to the existing literature as it is a useful tool to analyze communicativeness of classroom activities in school context. Secondly, this study extends our knowledge of the kind of factors that influence TBLT implementation. Lastly, this study adds insights into character teachers cope with changes in the new English curriculum and the kind of classroom activities in Nanhai primary schools. It is hoped that these findings carry some resonances in other EFL contexts in East Asian Region. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis is a study of the syntax of the ti construction in Tunxi Hui, an understudied Hui dialect in the Sinitic family of languages. The aims of this these are three-fold: (i) to provide a sketch of the syntax of Tunxi Hui, and (ii) to explore the polyfunctionality of the ti morpheme and the syntax of the ti construction in Tunxi Hui, and (iii) to examine the north-south division of passive markers particularly with respect to languages in Anhui Province, and the type of passive marker the Tunxi Hui ti belongs to, as well as some properties of the ti passive construction. This thesis explores the polyfunctionality of the ti morpheme in Tunxi Hui, as a lexical verb ‘give’ and as a coverb. When ti is a lexical verb, the construction it appears in is a double object construction (DOC), and the linear order of the two objects has to be the recipient NP before the Theme NP. When ti is a coverb, it is often found in a serial verb construction (SVC) or a pivotal construction. As far as an SVC is concerned, the coverb ti can serve as a recipient marker, a benefactive marker or a locative marker. Otherwise, if the coveb ti occurs in a pivotal construction where the two or more verbs in the sentence do not share the same structural subject, it can serve as a permissive marker, a causative marker or a passive marker. With respect to passive markers, we first give an overview of the types of passives markers in Sinitic languages. Aside from the bei passives, we also have the zhuo ‘attach’ passives, the causative passives and the ‘give’-passives. We propose a revision of Hashimoto’s (1988) north-south division of passive markers, i.e. the causative passives versus the ‘give’-passives, particularly with respect to languages of Anhui Province. We find that the passive marker ti in Tunxi Hui belongs to the give type of passives. The ti passive construction in Tunxi Hui is characterized by the obligatory occurrence of an agent phrase and the semantic implication of adversity. It is hoped that this study can contribute to the understanding of the syntax of the ti construction in Tunxi Hui, and can provide useful authentic data of an understudied language for further linguistic analyses. / published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Philosophy

Rural-urban migration in China during the reform era since 1978 is considered the most massive migration in the history of humankind. This migration is creating complex problems that attract continuous and extensive academic investigations. This paper aims at reviewing some of the dynamics that have facilitated this migration and the resulting welfare problems associated with the rapid economic development and urbanization in China. The binary structure of China (not only limited to the economic aspect but also the political and social aspects), the ‘Three Rural Issues” and the Chinese Household Registration (hukou) System are the core factors leading to the rural urban disparities. The disparities have resulted in this massive migration and thus created the bi-polar welfare states between the rural and the urban sectors. The study provides an overview of the marginalization of the rural-urban migrants despite the Chinese leaders’ ongoing appeals to improve the welfare treatment of this group of people. The study focuses on the less studied location of Dongguan, considering that well over 80% of the population of Dongguan are rural migrants. In reviewing the selected welfare indications of the migrants, this study challenges the improvements that the migrants obtained. Comparisons are made between the migrants’ situation in Dongguan and in their hometowns. Comparisons are also made to the selected welfare indicators (wages, social insurances, housing and education) of the migrants and their urban counterparts. / published_or_final_version / China Development Studies / Master / Master of Arts in China Development Studies