In the late nineteenth century,stimulated by the demand for modern military technology,mathematics research and education in China developed rapidly,resulting in the emergence of the first generation of professional m...In the late nineteenth century,stimulated by the demand for modern military technology,mathematics research and education in China developed rapidly,resulting in the emergence of the first generation of professional mathematicians.This marks the starting point for the professionalization of mathematics in China,a process which this paper sets out to analyze.The author first provides a brief survey of the status of Chinese mathematicians prior to 1860.Then,the paper analyzes the social and political context of mathematics,focusing on the improvement of the civil service examination system.Finally,the paper studies the development of mathematics education in the late nineteenth century,leading to the conclusion that mathematics and Chinese mathematicians were professionalized in three major ways:(1)some mathematicians could earn a stable livelihood from their mathematical competence;(2)the social position of mathematicians improved;and(3)the social status of the specialty of mathematics was enhanced.展开更多
t Read as a form of social document, one of the most interesting areas of life illuminated by the huapu （＂flower-guides,＂ that is, theatergoers＇ lists, rankings, and descriptions of the Beijing theater＇s boy-act...t Read as a form of social document, one of the most interesting areas of life illuminated by the huapu （＂flower-guides,＂ that is, theatergoers＇ lists, rankings, and descriptions of the Beijing theater＇s boy-actors）, is what they show us in relation to literati leisure in nineteenth-century Beijing. In this paper I employ the spatial/relational tropes of parergon, ekphrasis, and heterotopia to consider how huapu texts are positioned as supplement in relation to the staging of dramatic works, to boy-actors＇ performance and embodiment of erotic fantasy, as well as to performance and play among aspiring paragons of gentlemanly refinement. Doubly turned away from the stage and from public events, huapu celebrate several levels of subjective taste and deploy varying tropes of social exchange, and it was by playing with these things that they also recorded and reproduced a literati need to play with contemporary confusion around the place of private and public discourse.展开更多
文摘In the late nineteenth century,stimulated by the demand for modern military technology,mathematics research and education in China developed rapidly,resulting in the emergence of the first generation of professional mathematicians.This marks the starting point for the professionalization of mathematics in China,a process which this paper sets out to analyze.The author first provides a brief survey of the status of Chinese mathematicians prior to 1860.Then,the paper analyzes the social and political context of mathematics,focusing on the improvement of the civil service examination system.Finally,the paper studies the development of mathematics education in the late nineteenth century,leading to the conclusion that mathematics and Chinese mathematicians were professionalized in three major ways:(1)some mathematicians could earn a stable livelihood from their mathematical competence;(2)the social position of mathematicians improved;and(3)the social status of the specialty of mathematics was enhanced.
文摘t Read as a form of social document, one of the most interesting areas of life illuminated by the huapu （＂flower-guides,＂ that is, theatergoers＇ lists, rankings, and descriptions of the Beijing theater＇s boy-actors）, is what they show us in relation to literati leisure in nineteenth-century Beijing. In this paper I employ the spatial/relational tropes of parergon, ekphrasis, and heterotopia to consider how huapu texts are positioned as supplement in relation to the staging of dramatic works, to boy-actors＇ performance and embodiment of erotic fantasy, as well as to performance and play among aspiring paragons of gentlemanly refinement. Doubly turned away from the stage and from public events, huapu celebrate several levels of subjective taste and deploy varying tropes of social exchange, and it was by playing with these things that they also recorded and reproduced a literati need to play with contemporary confusion around the place of private and public discourse.
