Transmission of climate change impacts from temperature change to grain harvests, famines and peasant uprisings in the historical China

Because of the complexity of social responses to climate change,as well as limitations of proxy data concerning interactions between climate change and human responses,the social impacts of past climate change and associated response mechanisms,thus,require further investigation.To shed light on the transmission of climate change impacts within historical Chinese society,we selected 30-year resolution sequences of temperature anomalies in eastern China and 10-year resolution sequences of grain harvest grades,famine indices,and frequencies of peasant uprisings in China over the past 2000 years.Using a food security perspective,we analyzed the impacts of temperature changes historically transmitted through Chinese production,population,and social subsystems,and differences in transmission characteristics between cold and warm units.Our results were as follows.(1)From 210 BC to 1910 AD,temperature changes in China were significantly positively correlated with grain harvest grades(correlation coefficient,0.338),and significantly negatively correlated with famine indices,and frequencies of peasant uprisings(correlation coefficients,-0.301 and-0.277,respectively).The correlation coefficients between famine indices and grain harvest grades or frequencies of peasant uprisings were very low.(2)There was a higher proportion of bumper or normal harvests(86.5%of the total decades),more moderate and mild famines(76%),and a lower proportion of peasant uprisings(33.3%)in the 30-year warm units.Conversely,there was a higher proportion of poor or normal harvests(70.7%),a greater proportion of moderate and severe famines(77.6%),and more peasant uprisings(51.7%)in the 30-year cold units.(3)Of the 23 main transmission pathways extending from temperature change to the social subsystem,13 occurred in cold units,of which 7 had an endpoint of peasant uprisings,and 10 occurred in warm units of which 3 had an endpoint of peasant uprisings.The main transmission pathways that were more likely to be associated with the impacts of temperature change were:Cold→poor harvests→severe famines→more uprisings;cold→poor harvests→moderate famines→more uprisings;warm→bumper harvests→mild famines→no uprisings;warm→bumper harvests→moderate harvests→no uprisings;warm→normal harvests→mild famines→no uprisings;and warm→normal harvests→moderate famines→no uprisings.(4)The transmission of the impacts of temperature change was a complex process.Within this process,famine was most prone to being modulated by human society.In the transmission pathways from the production to the social subsystem,there was a stepwise decrease in the occurrence rate of decades that were probably affected by climate change.In all cold units,10.4%of decades ending in more uprisings were most likely to be associated with the impacts of temperature change.In all warm units,47.9%of decades ending in no uprisings were most likely to be associated with the impacts of temperature change.This research can contribute a better understanding on the past interaction mechanisms and processes within the human-climate-ecosystem complex,as well as a better response to the impacts of the ongoing climate change.

The Bahraini Uprising of 2011 and the Regime’s Securitisation of Sectarianism as a Survival Mechanism

This paper focuses on the Bahraini regime’s usage of sectarianism as a survival mechanism.The argument herein has adopted a modernist approach,where sectarian identities are not viewed as fixed and as causes of an ancient hatred struggle,but are instead viewed as a modern construction that are securitised and desecuritised.It examines how this particular struggle was framed in a sectarian context through the analysis of three pivotal stages of the 2011 uprising and its aftermath.These stages are broken down as follows:(1)the first stage of the uprising,which includes the first month of the uprising and the period prior to the regional military intervention,a period which was characterised by negotiations and dialogue;(2)the period of fragmentation within Bahraini society in which this paper explores the various reasons behind the failed reforms and the failure/ending of dialogue between the regime and the oppositions;and(3)the period of military intervention and the uprising’s aftermath,which reflected a time of securitisation and de-securitisation of the uprising’s space,image and language.These three stages showcase overriding factors such as fear,lack of inclusion of alternatives,divided opposition,and limited regime reform which contributed to the Bahraini regime’s brutal reaction to protesters in 2011 and the Qatar-Gulf crisis which emerged in 2017.The three stages reflect the regime’s pragmatism in dealing with the clashes,and its security narrative adjustment to the regional alliance shifts.The Bahraini regime was able to survive the challenges posed by the uprising in the short-term,but its short-term solutions such as the naturalisation process,would have damaging effects on society in the long-run.

Saudi Foreign Policy Towards China in the Post-Arab Uprisings Era:A Neo-classical Realist Approach

In light of the unprecedented developments in the Middle East since the Arab uprisings that started at the end of 2010,Saudi Arabia’s international and regional role began to grow.Placing a clear emphasis on its East Asia policy,this Gulf country has improved its relations with Asian powers,particularly China,across a wide range of the interests on its agenda.What are the motivating factors that led the Saudi leadership to closer relations with Beijing?As this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries,it is worth examining the growing pace of Sino-Saudi relationship.This paper draws on the‘neoclassical realist approach’to explore the evolving nature of Saudi foreign policy towards China since the Arab uprisings to the present with a particular focus on the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman era.Upon examining the main determinants that could have had an impact on Saudi foreign policy strategy towards China,this review found that Riyadh’s growing attention to Beijing is mainly influenced by a variety of both internal and external factors related to Saudi leadership,regional patterns as well as the international context.While the combination of these factors pushes Saudi Arabia and China towards cooperation,this paper argues that there are other factors that can act as limiting forces on the Sino-Saudi relationship.

Youth Role in the Arab Spring

Middle East and North Africa （MENA） has been experiencing a unique demographic transition in the world especially after September 11, whilst, its social, political and economic structures have considerably remained inflexible and can hardly meet the increasing demands of employment among the youth whose expectations are raised through expansion in education. In spite of various common causes for the Arab uprisings, the paper spotlights the ＂Youth role＂ and its regarded issues of ＂Youth Bulge＂, ＂Education＂ and ＂Unemployment＂ with a glimpse to the overturned regimes of ＂Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen＂. According to published statistics these countries are among the countries with the highest rate of youth as working age population in MENA. Therefore, the paper is to present the importance and impact of youth as a social parameter in challenging political structure of the countries in the MENA and leading to topple their political systems. Thus, the paper reasons the MENA political upheavals, in general, and the mentioned countries＇ uprisings, in particular, can not be well understood disregarding to natural tensions between economic, population structures, and political demographic challenges. This is to be done drawing on data from different international institutions. The intervened variables such as ＂ethnicity, race, religion and sexuality＂ and international parameters have not been considered.

In the Labyrinth of Memory Cultural Representations About the Warsaw Rising of 1945 in Polish Film and Media Narration

The Warsaw Uprising is one of the events key to understanding not only the history of Poland but also Central Europe and World War II. The Uprising shows that the war was not a simple fight of good against evil （as it often perceived in Western Europe） but that in fact three sides, each with different goals, were involved--two totalitarian systems and the world of Western democracies. Memory is a phenomenon that is directly related to the present; our perception of the past is always influenced by the present. The aim of the author＇s presentation is to examine how the collective memory of Polish people about the Warsaw Rising was changing. The author would argue that the remembrance of this event is situated between the communicative memory and cultural memory. To prove it, the author will examine two movies： Sewer （1956） by Andrzej Wajda, Eroica （1956） by Andrzej Munk, and the narrative exhibition of the Warsaw Rising Museum.

试论近代淄川农民起义的几个问题

在中国近代 ,山东淄川爆发了一场由地主士人发动领导的农民起义。由于这次农民起义坚持的时间较短 ,所以鲜为人知。本文利用地方史料 ,就起义的组织领导者、爆发的原因、斗争的策略。

Research on the Impact of VR Technology Application on Red Tourism in Jiangxi Province

Jiangxi Province is rich in red tourism resources.However,its current situation in the development of red culture and the combination of tourism and VR technology is not optimistic.This paper takes the subsequent development of Jiangxi red tourism as the research object and looks through the historical background of Jiangxi red resources to analyze the current situation of the Jiangxi red tourism.In the meantime,it explores and investigates the current situation of the development of VR technology in Jiangxi,the degree of the combination between theory with practice and the possibility of VR technology application.On this basis,it studies how to reasonably apply VR technology to promote the sustainable development of red tourism in Jiangxi,how to pull the economic growth of Jiangxi,and how to achieve a win-win scenario for the modern economy and traditional culture of Jiangxi.

美国研制出便携式风力发电机

据悉，美国圣地亚哥的Uprise能源公司日前开发了一种名为“便携式电源中心”的中等规模便携式风力发电机，这弥补了小型风电机组效率偏低且成本过高，大规模风电场土地和资金投入又过大所带来的不足。这种便携式风力发电机功率为50kW，可装在标准集装箱里运输，其设计初衷是为了给偏远地区提供低成本，现实可行的电力供应解决方案。此外，在进行一些人道主义救援或军事行动时，便携式风力涡轮机也能提供灵活的能源供给。Uprise能源公司称，一个技术人员花费一天时间即可将该设备安装完成，维护工作也只需要在地面进行操作，而其发电成本低于商业用电、太阳能发电和柴油发电。

The Wire： Progress, Paradox, and Disaster in the Strategic Networking of China, 1881-1901

This study of the introduction of telegraphy to China in the late-nineteenth century tells three interrelated stories： China＇s pursuit of telegraphic sovereignty with its strategic networking of the empire in the period 1881-99; the functioning of China＇s hybrid express courier-telegraphic communications infrastructure; and the international communications crisis during the Boxer Uprising and the ＂Siege of the Legations＂ in 1900. The material reality of two inter-connected networks--the privately owned Imperial Telegraph Administration network and the government-run telegraph network--allowed Qing-era Beijing and its provincial governors to communicate with much greater speed. The materiality of these networks--how this new communications technology affected the practical realities of government communications, including the ease of lateral communications between provincial governors--is explored in the context of the communications crisis of 1900. In May and June of 1900 all telegraph lines to Beijing, and throughout much of North China, were cut or otherwise destroyed. While these blinded Western governments are no longer able to exchange telegrams with their Beijing-based envoys, the Qing express courier system continued to operate. Moreover, both the court and provincial officials quickly improvised ad hoc telegraphic communication protocols through the use of ＂transfer telegrams＂ （zhuandian） that relied on mounted express couriers between Beijing and those North China telegraph stations with working network connections. This assessment of real-time secret imperial communications between the Qing court and the provinces is based on the documentary register Suishou dengji （Records of [documents] at hand） maintained by communications managers in the Grand Council. China lost its telegraphic sovereignty in the capital region when Allied troops occupied the Beijing-Tianjin line of communications in the summer and fall of 1900. Moreover, Western dreams of laying, landing, and controlling submarine cables on the China coast were finally realized in North China by the end of 1900. The British, therefore, were able to add a critical section to their planned global network of secure telegraphic communications. China＇s recognition of the Western and Japanese right of protecting the Beijing-Tianjin line ofcommunications was codified in Article 9 of the Boxer Protocol of September 1901. These losses of China＇s telegraphic sovereignty would not be completely reversed until after 1949.

New Chinese Military History, 1839-1951： What＇s the Story？

Since 1990, New Chinese Military History in the West has remedied scholarly neglect of Chinese warfare and changed the usual stories of modern China. These studies disproved Orientalist assumptions of a unique ＂Chinese way of war＂ or a strategic culture that avoided aggressive confrontation. Scholars also challenge the assumption that Confucian immobility led to a clash of civilizations and decisive defeat in the Opium Wars, First Sino-Japanese War, and Boxer War of 1900. In fact, Qing officials were quick and successful in creating a new military regime. New military histories of the warlords, the Sino-Japanese Wars, and the Chinese Civil War show that developing new types of warfare was central in creating the new nation. All these wars split the country into factions that were supported by outside powers： they were internationalized civil wars. The article also asks how the choice of terms, labels, and categories shapes interpretations and political messages.

Key Questions on Reforming China’s Cultural Governance Capability in the Internet Era

In the past ten years,with the rise and popularity of Internet technology,Chinese society has experienced a silent“cultural uprising,”which has formed a part of the lives and habits of contemporary ordinary Chinese at different levels,and has challenged the old pattern of cultural power and governance.How to identify this phenomenon,and carry out corresponding reforms,as an important aspect of national governance,is an urgent research topic.Based on the observation and analysis of the phenomenon of Chinese Internet culture in recent years,we can explore and summarize several key issues of China’s current cultural governance reform,and try to explain theoretically the influence of cultural prosperity on political power by retrospecting several governance experiences and lessons in history.In the era of the new Internet technology,how to truly enhance the nation^basic ability to avoid the situation of dying once and letting go.The complexity of contemporary cultural governance comes from the new technological conditions,while the difficult problem runs through the historical understanding of the entire new cultural governance capacity.

A Gun Is Not a Woman： Local Subjectivity in Mo Yan＇s Novel Tanxiang xing

Mo Yan＇s historical novel Sandalwood Death revisits the Boxer Uprising, exploring a local structure of feeling from the point of view of oral transmissions that, one hundred years after the events, appears gradually to e receding into oblivion. It is a project of recuperation or, rather, aesthetic reconstruction of local knowledge. The staging of a variety of local performances, such as Maoqiang opera, seasonal festivals, military and religious parades, as well as of scenes of excessive violence in executions and battle scenes, appears to be a strategy for the cultural reclamation of these local experiences. The story challenges the ingrained dualism between foreign, modern imperialist and nationalist forms of rationality, and pre-modem, local patterns of beha- viour and thought. Employing polyphony and multivalent historical represent- tations, the novel aspires to portray the social dynamics in a given geo- historical circumstances by measuring the spatiotemporal as well as the cognitive distance between the witnessed event, the testifying witness and the future receivers of the transmitted stories. Thus, the inquiry does not focus on the historical events as facts, but rather on their cultural afterlife in （founding） narratives. In times of a growing gap between the modernist vision of human liberation and the actual conditions of growing inequality, delegitimization and dispossession, this tale of unrest in the wake of globalization has as much to say about the world＇s peoples around the year 2000, when the novel was published, as about the microcosm of Shandong Gaomi County around the year 1900, when the historical events took place. Taking into account that the novel was written as a local Maoqiang opera in the making and that theatres are major providers of cultural space for the enactment of the human self as the subject of history, Sandalwood Death can perhaps best be described as a theatre of reclamation.