晋商“农缘”初探

晋商是对历史上成名的山西商人的称呼。在明清年间 ,晋商曾盛极一时 ,商贸足迹遍及华夏大地及欧亚大陆。在传统农业社会 ,晋商的发迹和农业有着密切的联系 ,不少晋商出身于农民家庭 ,并擅长农产品贸易 ,晋商的根深深地扎在农村 ,晋商和农业、农村、土地有着割不断的“情缘”。

Analysis to the Driving Force Model and Driving Factor on the Utilized Changes of Cultivated Land in Gonghe County

Using gradually regression analysis to establish the driving force model of utilized change of cultivated land in Gonghe County, and using path analysis, correlation analysis, partial correlation analysis and system dynamics method to inspect the effect of driving changing on cultivated land change under different change situations. Driving factors, action mechanism and process of utilized change of cultivated land were analyzed from the county territory scale level. At last, some corresponding policies and measures were put forward.

Changing Spatial and Structural Patterns of Non-agricultural Activities in Outward-moving Beijing Urban Fringe

As responses to metropolitan suburbanization and rural urbanization,the formation and evolution of urban fringes should be understood against the background of overall economic development and spatial reconstruction of entire metropolises.At the same time,however,endogenous interactions between industrial structure and spatial patterns of non-agricultural activities are also worthy of scholarly attention.Since the 1980s,studies on urban fringes in China have been restricted by the lack of micro-level data.This paper investigates the spatial expansion and structural evolution of the urban fringe by taking the case of Beijing and uses systematic firm-level data in 1996 and 2001 from the National Census of Basic Units.The diversity of distribution patterns across industrial sectors brings about two interrelated results.On the one hand,structural adjustment of non-agricultural industries promotes the expansion and spatial evolution of the urban fringe.On the other hand,the stability and dynamics of industrial structure coexist in the moving urban fringe.This study also reveals that the outward-moving urban fringe is the optimal location for manufacturing,especially heavy manufacturing,as well as traditional producer and consumer services.However,industries with spatial stickiness such as tourism and sports have not moved with the fringe.Most advanced services remain concentrated in the city center.The authors argue that it is essential for understanding and managing urban fringes to take into account spatial evolution and industrial structural adjustment together with their interaction with each other.

Chinese Experiences in Addressing Rural Extreme Poverty and Marginalization

Seeking to alleviate and eradicate Bao （the minimum livelihood guarantee system） extreme povertY, the Chinese government has extended Di to the entire rural sector. It has also enhanced agricultural policies and strengthened its promotion of rural socioeconomic development. In more-developed regions of the country, the Di Bao program-in combination with integrated urban and rural social insurance and public services-has significantly reduced rates of poverty and financial vulnerability, and additional employment-promotion policies have created opportunities for Di Bao recipients to achieve incomes above the poverty-line. However, because of the high number of extremely poor households in disproportionately poor areas and the paucity of locally-available financial resources there, the intensity of intervention is still insufficient. Inadequate coordination of policies and shortcomings in the targeting of subsidies have resulted in both under-coverage and welfare-leakage as well. Consequently, in China＇s efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, increasing the effectiveness of poverty-reduction strategies in poor areas remains a key prioritY.

The Scramble for LandmSaving the Remains of Rural Space in Switzerland

In 2012 and 2013, the Swiss population voted on two separate yet related issues concerning spatial planning. In 2012 a restriction on second homes was introduced into the Constitution, in 2013 referendum the planning law was revised. Both issues wanted to restrict disproportionate building activities, and were accepted after a heated debate. This outcome mirrors a change in popular attitude towards constructions in the countryside and so-called ＂cold beds＂ （second homes used for a short time only）, but also towards the disfiguration of the （rural） landscape in general. At the same time it revealed two social rifts： between urban populations （that are increasingly migrating towards rural landscapes） and rural regions that want to obtain a similar level of living as the urban majority, and between lowland and mountain regions. The results of the referenda show that the population is very much concerned about the future of our landscape and environment. The paper discusses the two referenda and their implications for Switzerland in general and for regions that are considered marginal. Its focus lies on the political aspects of the two issues, which not only concern marginality but also are a challenge for national cohesion and direct democracy.

Rise and Fall:Deciphering Urban Sites and their Environment in Overlapping Agrarian/Pastoral Regions——Based on Examination of the Border Fortified Camps along the Yansui Section of the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty

The area along the Grear Wall in northern Shaanxi between the Loess Plateau and the Ordos Desert is one of the major agrarian-pastoral regions of northwest China. Historically, the land was fought over by the nomadic and the agrarian peoples of the region. The Yansui section of the Ming Great Wall and thirty-nine fortified encampments along it were built during fighting between the Mongols and the Han people. As all of them were located along communication lines vital to economic development, they played an important role in politics, the economy and transport over three hundred years of Ming and Qing rule. However, they fell into disuse in the late Qing and the Republican period and are now in ruins. The main reason underlying their decline was that the sites had been chosen for their defensive value, so the subsequent northern expansion of China’s borders and structural changes in the border economy hastened their decline. Thus the rise and fall of these fortified towns at the intersection of the agrarian and the pastoral regions was closely related to imperial political and military activity and was in line with ethnic and tribal movements and migrations and the evolution of civilizations. In sum, the reasons behind the demise of these fortified towns and camps were highly complex and usually involved multiple factors.

Ancient China’s Legal Tradition and Legal Thought

China＇s pre-modern legal system enjoyed a continuous history of more than four thousand years. In the course of this long process, it developed distinctive legal traditions, including a tradition that prioritized agriculture, a stress on criminal law at the expense of civil law, an ethical orientation that stressed the five Confucian relationships, an approach to the legal traditions of different ethnic groups that embraced diversity in unity, and a Confucianized legal system based on virtue and ritual. These legal traditions were all based on the accretion of a deep-rooted legal culture which embodied the wisdom and creativity of the Chinese people. At the same time, they bore the stamp of China＇s national conditions： an economic structure dominated by agriculture, an autocratic political system, a multi-ethnic national structure, the preeminent position of Confucian thought, the uneven development of politics, culture and the economy, etc.