No description available.

This thesis examines the rationale behind the work of Thomé H. Fang 方東美 (Fang Dongmei, 1899-1977) and Tang Junyi 唐君毅 (1909-1978), two of the most important Confucian thinkers in twentieth-century China, who appropriated aspects of the medieval Chinese Buddhist school of Huayan to develop a response to the challenges of ‘scientism’, the belief, widespread in their times, that quantitative natural science is the only valuable part of human learning and the only source of truth. As the status of Confucianism in China had declined from the mid-nineteenth century, non-Confucian ideas were appropriated by Chinese thinkers for developing responses to ‘scientism’, adopting the principle of fanben kaixin 返本開新 (going back to the origin and developing new elements). Buddhist ideas from a range of schools played an important role in this. Unlike other thinkers who turned to the schools of Consciousness-Only and Tiantai, Fang and Tang, for reasons of their own, saw the thought of the Huayan school as the apex of Buddhism and so drew on selected aspects to support and develop their own views. Fang regarded Huayan thought as a fine example of the idea of ‘harmony’, since in its vision of the perfect state all phenomena co-exist without contradiction. Interpreting the explanation of this given by Dushun 杜順 (557-640) in his own way, Fang argued that human beings are able to integrate physical, biological and psychic elements of the ‘natural order’ with values such as truth, beauty and goodness which belong to the ‘transcendental order’. He thus proposed that scientism’s view of humanity as matter could be incorporated without contradiction but also without excluding ‘non-scientific’ aesthetic, moral and religious values. By contrast, Tang stressed the characteristics of Huayan’s theory of ‘doctrinal classification’, as developed by Fazang 法藏 (643-712). Interpreting this to mean that different ideas could be applicable in different periods, Tang argued that the worldview of ‘scientism’ may indeed help solve problems in its own sphere, such as the desire for scientific development. Other paradigms, however, are preferable in discussing moral issues. In other words, this Buddhist theory allowed him to claim that both Confucianism and ‘scientism’ have their own value. Neither of them should be negated in principle. I argue that Fang’s and Tang’s selective appropriations of Huayan thought not only paid heed to the hermeneutical importance of studying ancient texts in order to be more responsive to modern issues, a concern hotly debated in the field of Chinese philosophical studies, but also helped confirm the values of Confucianism under the challenge of ‘scientism’. In short, by absorbing ideas from Huayan thought, both Fang and Tang, to different extents and in different ways, provided responses to the challenge of ‘scientism’ which gave a place to science without rejecting the importance of human faculties such as aesthetic appreciation and moral judgment or asserting the dominance of perception and cognition over other human faculties, the ultimate cause, as they saw it, of ‘scientism’.

The controversy surrounding the period 1928-1930, the period of Li Li-san's leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, is the central topic of this paper. The controversy itself is over what role the Comintern played in the formation of what is commonly referred to as the "Li Li-san line." The conclusions drawn in this paper show that, though the Comintern did play a small part in the formation of Li's policy, that, nevertheless, his line was of his own making. The disastrous attempt at urban insurrection in 1930 was of Li's own doing: he had been receiving signals for some time that his policies were contradictory to those of the Comintern. In order to give the reader a sense of how this leadership controversy and the policy differences arose, there is also a presentation of some of the background information regarding the labor movement and the CCP's role in it, and Li Li-san himself -his part in the labor movement and his own personality. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

現時對於「唐宋派」的研究，學者往往以流派論爭的角度，把唐宋派置於復古派的對立面，認為四人的文論主要都是針對「前、後七前子」而發。此說固有道理，問題是，王、唐、茅、歸都是獨當一面的作家，但在流派的框架下，則只著重他們的一致性，以及與「復古派」針鋒相對的情況，而四人的差異，及其現實關懷，都在此大敘述中隱而不見了。故本文將把四人的文學主張，結合社會、政治制度及生平經歷加以考察，希望呈現出他們文學思想的差異性。並以此為基礎，說明王、唐、茅、歸四人當時是不同角度出發，希望在「文必秦漢」的風氣下，建立一道從「唐宋」上達「秦漢」的學文路徑。全文分成六章。第一章是緒論，說明研究動機及價值。第二章則先說明歸有光不與王、唐、茅三人結交的原因，並藉以呈現歸有光與王、唐、茅三人在文壇的不同佔位，以此為基礎，重新探討「唐宋派」作為一個流派的特質，提出以「陣營」取代「流派」來描述四人的關係，從而說明「唐宋派」文論主張的產生，除了為回應擬古風氣，其實還針對著當時八股文衰落的問題。第三章則討論唐宋派四人的主張，如何建構從「唐宋」到「秦漢」的復古路徑。第四章則討論唐宋派「以古文為時文」的理論內涵，探討四人從不同的角度理解時文的衰落，何以最後都得出「以古文為時文」的結論。第五章則討論唐宋派如何面對當時古文創作的困境，到了明中葉，明代立國已近百年，但古文創作一直較為沉寂，台閣文人及「復古派」先後領導文壇，但是問題始終未能解決。「唐宋派」各人為了提升古文創作的水平，提出師法唐宋，希望把古文從剽竊的困境中解救出來，由於各人對古文問題的定性不同，故以不同的策略嘗試提升古文創作的水平，本章即以此為中心，旨在呈現出四人文論主張的差異性。第六章為餘論，旨在討論文學史的撰寫方式與及唐宋派文論的局限。 In the field of researching "Tang-Song School" (唐宋派) now, scholars tend to view the object via an angle that they are just debate and struggle between schools, juxtaposing "Tang-Song School" with "Classical school" (復古派) in a binary opposition and thinking that literary claims of four leaders' are pinpointed on the "Classical school". This discourse undoubtedly has its plausible proof yet the main overlook is that Wang(王慎中), Tang（唐順之）, Mao（茅坤） and Gui（歸有光） are independent writers and literary theorists whose differences and human concerns are neglected in such a grand narrative which only puts emphasis on their homogeneity and their countering role against "Classical school". This thesis, hence, is going to examine the four's literary claims altogether with their relations to the society, the institution and the individual life respectively so as to show the difference of literary claims among the four. With the foundation of knowing their differences, it is proved that amidst the social atmosphere of "QinHan is the best for learning prose"(文必秦漢), Wang, Tang, Mao and Gui indeed aspired to found a literary learning path that approaches QinHan's level through studying Tang-Song prose from their respective angles. The thesis is divided into 6 chapters. Chapter 1 is introduction which shows the motive and value of this research. Chapter 2 will firstly discuss why Gui You Guang does not make acquaintance with Wang, Tang, Mao so as to show the different nature and occupations of theirs in the Ming literary community. Based on this clarification, the features of Tang-Song School as a school is called into re-examination that "a camp which shares similar belief" is more suitable to define their relationship, and subsequently, it is hoped to show that claims of Tang-Song Camp also aim to react to the decline of "Eight-part Essay" (八股文) except echoing to the literary trend of imitating the ancient classics. Chapter 3 discusses the fours' claims of how to construct a renaissance path from TangSong to QinHan. Chapter 4 discusses the theoretical idea of Tang-Song Camp's "regarding classic work as present work" (以古文為時文), telling how four theorists view the decline of "Eight-part Essay" in their respective angles and why they finally too share this same conclusion. Chapter 5 discusses how Tang-Song Camp faces the plight of classical prose writing. Until the period of Mid-Ming, Ming Dynasty has been found for almost a hundred year, classical prose writing however remains silent and is not actively embraced. Taige School (台閣派) and "Classical school" have led the literary community once but the problem of decline have never been solved. For levitating the level of classical prose writing, Tang-Song Camp then raises the idea of learning Tang-Song prose with the hope of saving classical prose writing from the plight of plagiarism. Due to the four have their own understandings and perspectives on the decline issue, they suggest different strategies to enhance the quality of classical prose writing. This chapter then focuses on these strategies to manifest the differences among four literary claims. And lastly, Chapter 6 is remark which aims to discuss ways of writing literature history and limits of Tang Song Camp's theories.

The imagistic language of Tang poetry can be defined as the language of Tang poetry that presents directly the immediate sensory/emotive experience, which is the early, unprocessed inner response of an external experience that involves what is previously unknown. The primary purpose of my thesis is to explore a theoretical definition of two characteristics: “now-ness” and “continuity” in the immediate sensory/emotive experience as well as to explore how the two characteristics are generally demonstrated in the imagistic language of Tang poems. Through the demonstration of seven individual analyses of Tang poems and their translations from the perspective of now-ness and continuity, this thesis also intends to foster now-ness and continuity as a particular perspective that assists us with the reading, understanding and translation of the imagistic language of Tang poetry.

In 733, Japan’s ninth diplomatic mission to Tang China conveyed two Japanese Buddhist monks committed to finding a Chinese master of Buddhist precepts. The prevailing explanation for the precepts master solicitation states that Japan lacked sufficient numbers of fully ordained monks to conduct ordinations using vinaya codes of conduct. While this campaign successfully resulted in precept masters going to Japan in 736 and again in 754, there were no notable changes to monastic ordinations until after the final monk arrived. It is commonly presumed that only the latter precepts master possessed sufficient charisma, training, and followers necessary to establish a vinaya tradition. However, this explanation presumes that the later reforms matched the original expedition’s intent. Moreover, this position ignores the other monks’ activities in Japan’s political, cultural, and religious affairs between 736-754. It is also not supported by period texts. In this work, I utilize textual and physical evidence to demonstrate that these overseas monks’ activities and significance were largely unrelated to monastic precepts and ordinations. Instead, they rose to prominence due to their knowledge of Buddhist texts and rituals, familiarity with neighboring countries’ Buddhist legitimation and protection systems, fluency in overseas forms of cultural capital, and embodied otherness. Their influence can be seen in their involvement in the Ministry for Monastic Affairs, promulgation of the Avataṃsaka Sutra, and the creation and worship of the Great Buddha of Nara. Through highlighting these understudied and highly diverse monks, I demonstrate that Japan’s overseas population was intrinsically involved with the country’s transformation into a transregionally-connected, Buddhist country. Moreover, I argue that the overseas monks affiliated with Daianji Temple (大安寺) provided the Japanese court with direct ties to foreign countries that not only expanded Japanese international awareness, but also helped establish the country’s understanding of its position within a broader Buddhist world.

Doctor Educationis / Diabetes has since been a global epidemic; an estimated 5.0 million deaths of diabetes in the world have been recorded; one in 11 adults have diabetes (415 million); and by 2040, one adult in 10 (642 million) will have diabetes. In Africa, more than two thirds of people with diabetes are undiagnosed, and 42 million have diabetes in the Sub-Saharan region with 324 877 adult deaths in South Africa (IDF, 2015). The global prevalence (age-standardized) of diabetes has nearly doubled since 1980, rising from 4.7% to 8.5% in the adult population. This reflects an increase associated with risk factors such as overweight or obese (WHO, 2016). Medicinal plants on the other hand, have played a significant role in the treatment and prevention of diabetes for centuries. In South Africa, indigenous medicinal plants have increasingly been used in the treatment of diabetes. In this study, a new anti-diabetes herbal compound named Jiang Tang 2016 (JT2016), made of three well researched South African indigenous medicinal plants is investigated for its hypoglycemic effects in HFD/STZ induced diabetic SD rats. These plants have been used for centuries in the indigenous system of medicine against various ailments, they are easily accessible, they grow in abundance, and are economically sustainable

No description available.

Xue Tao was one of the Tang Dynasty's best-known female poets. Her poems are beautiful and of her own style, but there have only been a few of studies on them. This study comprises nine close readings of her thirteen poems most of which can be defined as yongwu poems, as well as a conclusion which summarizes the main characteristics in these poems. The methodology of this research is based on the theory of New Criticism and combined with sinology. Every poem is studied as an independent entity, but its allusions and images are examined in the history of Chinese poetry. This study attempts to deepen the study of Xue Tao’s poetry and readers’ understanding of it.

No description available.