This thesis is a study of the operation of economic factors in precipitating the outbreak of hostilities in Asia with particular reference to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the China "Incident" and Japan's war with the West, It is endeavoured to study the operation of these factors principally through an analysis of Japan's economic problems, for Japan is the setting against which they can be viewed most clearly. Hence, there is first of all made a thorough study of the problems indigenous to the Japanese economic and political structure. Next, the manner in which these problems were affected by the depression, the world-wide trend toward economic nationalism and the economic rivalry between Japan and the West in Asia is studied as well as the manner in which they contributed to the successive outbreaks of hostilities at Nukden, at Loukouchiao and at Pearl Harbour. Finally, the parallel problems of the economic rehabilitation of war-torn Japan and of the preservation of peace in Asia are studied. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990.

This thesis is a study of the People’s Republic of China’s foreign economic policy towards Japan between 1949 and 1965. In particular, the thesis explores Chinese policy-makers’ ideas about Japan in the wake of the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945), and considers how those ideas shaped China’s foreign economic policy towards Japan between 1949 and 1965. To do so, the thesis employs a four-part ideas framework that examines Chinese policy-makers’ background, foreground, cognitive and normative ideas about Japan, and shows how the interaction between these four different idea types shaped China’s Japan policy between 1949 and 1965. Furthermore, the thesis draws on over 200 recently declassified Chinese-language archival records from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, as well as additional Chinese, Japanese, US and British archival sources. It argues that China’s experience of Japanese imperialism, industrialisation and war during the first half of the twentieth century deeply shaped Chinese ideas about Japan after 1949, though in ways that at first seem counterintuitive. Although Japan had waged a brutal war against China, Chinese policy-makers viewed Japan as an important source of industrial goods, technology and expertise, and a symbol of a modern, industrialised nation-state. However, China’s experience of Japanese imperialism and militaristic aggression often made it difficult to justify the policy of ‘trading with the enemy’. Ultimately, the thesis argues that China sought to expand economic ties with Japan after 1949 because Chinese policy-makers believed that doing so would assist China in becoming a modern and industrialised state, one that was strong enough to withstand foreign imperialism and restore its central position in the international system. Chinese conceptions of Japan thus help to explain how Japan became China’s largest trade partner by 1965, despite the bitter legacy of the War of Resistance and the Cold War divide between the two countries after 1949.

Concentrating on the time frame between the establishment of India's Constituent Assembly in 1946, and the passing of the Dowry Prevention Act in 1961, this thesis attempts to write an alternative history of India's transition to Independence, by applying the tools of feminist historiography to this crucial period of citizenship making, as a way of offering new perspectives on the nature, meaning and boundaries of citizenship in post-colonial India. It focuses on a cohort of nationalists and feminists who were leading members of two prominent women's organisations, the All India Women's Conference (AIWC) and the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), documenting and analysing the voices and positions of this cohort in some of the key debates around nation building in Nehruvian India. It also traces and analyses the range of activities and struggles engaged in by these two women's organisations - as articulations and expressions of citizenship in practice. The intention in so doing is to address three key questions or areas of exploration. Firstly to analyse and document how gender relations and contemporary understandings of gender difference, both acted upon and were shaped by the emerging identity of the Indian as postcolonial citizen, and how this dynamic interaction was situated within a broader matrix of struggles and competing identities including those of minority rights. Secondly to analyse how the framework of postcolonial Indian citizenship has both created new possibilities for empowerment, but simultaneously set new limitations on how the Indian women's movement was able to imagine itself as a political constituency and the feminist agenda it was able to articulate and pursue. Thirdly to explore how applying a feminist historiography to the story of the construction of postcolonial Indian citizenship calls for the ability to think about the meaning and possibilities of citizenship in new and different ways, to challenge the very conceptual frameworks that define the term.

This study traces the development of Tibetan 'treasure' texts and practices in contemporary times via the life-story and scriptural revelations of the Tibetan 'treasure revealer' (gter ston) Kun bzang bde chen gling pa (1928-2006). It examines how his revelations (gter ma) rooted in the historic spirituality of Tibet, continue and adapt into the twenty first century. The study is important in order to understand the ways this Asian religious concept develops and coalesces in North America. With the dramatic advances in communication through digital technology, it examines how gter ma texts and practices reach a modern audience. Also discussed are the implications of centuries old debates surrounding Buddhist lineage, transmission and ‘authenticity’ as well as concepts such as liberty, equality and authority. All of which are culture-specific constructions that differ radically when seen from a variety of perspectives. The main conclusion drawn from this research is that as a Western Vajrayāna ‘tradition’ emerges and intersects with older Tibetan forms, both must attempt to find a middle path between their differing applications and interpretations if they are to avoid drifting into an arena of extensive commercialisation, dilution and distortion.

The great drama of China has been the repeated attempts to bring under single control and preserve the unity of its vast territories, so varied ethnically, socially, and geographically. Han Chinese confidence in the integrity of their own identity has been lastingly unsettled by long periods of fragmentation into regional states, and even in times of political unity the heart-searching has continued: what went wrong? What lessons could be learned for the future? The Southern and Northern Dynasties’ era (317-589 AD) was the longest period of political fragmentation in the imperial era. Its political and social confusion gave rise to differences in later accounts of it. In the eleventh century, scholar-officials intensively debated the issue of imperial rule during this period. At stake was the integrity of the Han Chinese state. On one side were historians who accorded legitimacy to the barbarian dynasties of the north; on the other were those who favoured the southern Han Chinese-ruled dynasties. By the time Song’s power base transferred south in 1127, a strong sense of a Han Chinese identity had developed and pro-Southern opinion predominated. This study approaches the Southern and Northern Dynasties’s era indirectly. It examines it through the most prominent work of eleventh-century historiography, the keystone written history of early imperial China, Sima Guang’s 司馬光 Zi zhi tong jian 資治通鑑 – the main focus of this study. That text has played a central role in shaping later understanding of imperial China’s political traditions and, as a corollary, has contributed to the formation of a Han Chinese self-identity. Yet Sima Guang’s representation of China’s past, though well-researched and written, was inevitably coloured by personal political and social experiences, and by his current commitments – by spin, in fact. This study will argue that at the heart of Sima Guang’s representation of the Southern and Northern Dynasties was a concern for the political survival of the eleventh-century state under which he served. He needed to understand and explicate the political and moral lessons of the earlier period in order to present an imperial vision that would avoid its frailties. This study therefore investigates and demonstrates the previously unexplored extent to which contemporary political concerns informed Sima Guang’s account. By developing a reading of Zi zhi tong jian as an ideological and textual construct, and more than just a simple account of the past, this study affords insights into the composition of historical writing in imperial China, as well as the complexities of the political environment that spawned it. It shows that works of historiography like Zi zhi tong jian served a more nuanced function than later scholarship suggests, and it brings into focus important questions of historical and literary authority.

The Ordination Scroll of Empress Zhang (1493) in the San Diego Museum of Art, a highlight at the Taoism and the Arts of China exhibition in 2000, is an unusual object among surviving visual material from Ming dynasty China (1368 – 1644). At over twenty-seven metres long, the scroll contains meticulously painted images and a detailed inscription that records the Daoist ordination of Empress Zhang (1470 – 1541), consort of the Hongzhi emperor (r. 1488 – 1505) by the Orthodox Unity institution. The event it documents, which elevates the empress into the celestial realm, would be unknown to history if not for the survival of this scroll. This dissertation is an in-depth study of the Ordination Scroll that also considers its implications for understanding the activities of empresses and their representations during the Ming dynasty. The first three chapters of this dissertation closely examine the material, visual and textual aspects of the Ordination Scroll. The remaining two chapters situate the scroll within the broader activities of Ming empresses. A complete translation of the main inscription in the scroll is provided in the appendix.

Fréquente dans la vie et dans l’œuvre de Paul Claudel, la figure du missionnaire est emblématique de la vision universelle du monde conçue par le poète catholique qui s’est donné pour objectif d’intégrer l’immense pluralité du monde autant dans sa vie professionnelle que dans son œuvre. La première partie est consacrée à la découverte des Missions catholiques par le jeune consul durant son séjour en Chine, découverte qui lui a permis de se positionner devant le monde autre à la fois comme diplomate et comme poète. La deuxième partie met en évidence le fait que les Missions s’activent également en Europe, notamment dans une période particulière de la Grande Guerre. Ses activités diplomatiques et littéraires se superposent dans sa vision dualiste qui, opposant catholiques et protestants, n’apparaît pas incompatible avec son désir de la paix en Europe. La période au Japon, analysée dans la dernière partie, apparaît particulièrement fructueuse, comme en témoignent l’ampleur conséquente de son œuvre diplomatique et la réception favorable de son œuvre littéraire. Composée ainsi de trois périodes principales qui se distinguent aussi par les références géographiques, cette étude ne néglige pas d’autres pays où il a exercé des fonctions diplomatiques comme le Brésil et les États-Unis, se proposant, ainsi, de rendre compte de sa vision globale dans l’ensemble de sa carrière professionnelle. L’étude a pour but également d’éclaircir la dimension multiple de son monde missionnaire qui apparaît triple, comprenant la rencontre avec de nombreux religieux, les activités diplomatiques visant à unifier les pays et une écriture qui se fonde sur l’intuition d’une unification du monde. / Frequent in the life and work of Paul Claudel, the missionary figure is emblematic of the universal vision of the world conceived by the Catholic poet, who aims to integrate the earth’s immense plurality into his professional life as much as it is in his work. The first part is devoted to the discovery of the Catholic Missions by the young consul during his stay in China, a discovery that allowed him to position himself in front of the world as both a diplomat and a poet. The second part highlights that Missions are also active in Europe, especially in a particular period of the Great War. His diplomatic and literary activities are superimposed on his dualistic view which, contrary to what Catholics and Protestants think, does not seem incompatible with his desire for peace in Europe. The period in Japan, analyzed in the last part, appears particularly fruitful, as evidenced by the consequent magnitude of his diplomatic work and the favorable reception of his literary work. Composed of three main periods that are also distinguished by geographical references, this study includes other countries where he has exercised diplomatic functions such as Brazil and the United States thus emphasizing his global vision throughout his professional career. The purpose of the study is also to shed light on the multifaceted dimension of his three-fold missionary world, including meetings with many religious figures, diplomatic activities aimed at unifying countries, and writings based on the intuition of a unification of the world.

This practice-based creative writing doctorate supports the creation of a novel that is in part, historical fiction, based on research focusing on the discrepancies in the perceived status of women between the pre-Victorian and the postmillennial periods in India. The accompanying component of the doctorate, the analytical thesis, traces the course of this research in connection to the novel's structural development, its narrative complexity and its characters. The novel traces the journey of two women protagonists - each placed in the 18th- and the 21st-centuries, respectively - as they reconcile to the realities of their individual circumstances. The introduction to the critical thesis gives a brief synopsis of the novel. It also explains the rationale behind the approaches used in the novel, and in adopting a post-postcolonial and progressive voice throughout the fictional work. The first chapter in the critical thesis demonstrates how findings from the primary and secondary research have been applied to inform the writing of the novel. It also explains the influence of the Indian oral narrative tradition and its related approaches on the creative process with regards to the novel. The second chapter briefly surveys traditional assumptions about the liberal attitudes to female sexuality in ancient and pre-Victorian India through literary examples. It identifies possible reasons for the changing status of women in contemporary Indian society, specifically in Kerala, which forms part of the settings in the novel. The third chapter in the thesis examines Ambilli's process of self-acceptance or making peace with her past trauma. It draws on the Indian notion of karma, the folktales and storytelling tradition of south India, which believes in the philosophy that stories are one of the means by which women can reconcile to reality. The fourth chapter elaborates upon the narrative devices used in the novel; its metafictional element and the inspiration for it. The thesis concludes by analysing the process of the writing practice and places it within the context of the aims of the research subject: the changing status of women in India over the past three centuries with regards to their sexuality. Finally, the study contributes to contemporary literature by bringing to light some fascinating aspects of the public role of women in ancient and pre-Victorian India as well as some lesser-known historical incidents, and re-interpreting these in the novel in an engaging and informative narrative.

O presente estudo apresenta uma análise das representações do Extremo Oriente nas obras do escritor português Eça de Queirós (1845-1900). Através de um estudo amplo de obras de diversos momentos da carreira do escritor português, procuramos demonstrar que o Extremo Oriente queirosiano estabelece uma representação complexa das relações Ocidente-Oriente, não se limitando às imagens cristalizadas do Oriente na literatura portuguesa, em que se destacam o exotismo e o caráter imaginário. Como principais pilares teóricos, nos apoiamos nas teorias orientalistas, principalmente as de Raymond Schwab (1950) e Edward Said (1978), e da fortuna crítica queirosiana. Realizamos uma análise comparativa de textos ficcionais e não ficcionais do autor que, nomeadamente, compreende os romances O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra (1870), escrito juntamente com Ramalho Ortigão, O Mandarim (1880) e A Correspondência de Fradique Mendes (1900); os textos de imprensa A Marinha e as Colônias (1871), A Pitoresca História da Revolta da Índia (1871), A França e o Sião (1893), Chineses e Japoneses (1894), A Propósito da Doutrina Monroe e do Nativismo (1896), França e Sião (1897); e o relatório consular A Emigração como Força Civilizadora (1979). / This study presents an analysis of the representations of the Far East in the works of the Portuguese writer Eça de Queirós (1845-1900). Through a comprehensive study of works produced by the Portuguese author at different moments of his career, we intend to demonstrate that the Queirosian Far East establishes a complex representation of East-West relations that is not restricted to the crystallized images found in the Portuguese literature, which highlight exoticism and an imaginary character. As our main theoretical framework, we use Orientalist theories, especially those of Raymond Schwab (1950) and Edward Said (1978), and critical texts on Eças works. We perform a comparative analysis of fictional and non-fictional texts of the writer, which includes the novels O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra (1870), jointly written with Ramalho Ortigão, O Mandarim (1880) and A Correspondência de Fradique Mendes (1900); the journalistic texts A Marinha e a Colônia (1871), A Pitoresca História da Revolta da Índia (1871), A França e o Sião (1893), Chineses e Japoneses (1894), A Propósito da Doutrina Monroe e do Nativismo (1896), França e Sião (1897); and the consular report A Emigração como Força Civilizadora (1979).