“Love” as the Key Word: New Sexual Morality and New Literature in the Late Qing and Early Republican Years(1900-1920)

Courtesy of translation, the word ＂love＂ （lian ＂ai 恋爱） entered the modem Chinese language in the early 20th century, leading to changes in the mode, experience, meaning and evaluation of ＂feelings between men and women＂ by virtue of this new nomenclature. The word entered public discourse and became the point of entry for new Chinese ethical construction, spawning a series of new moral propositions from the late Qing to the May Fourth Movement together with corresponding works of new literature. The ＂free marriage＂ advocated in the late Qing confirmed the modem consciousness of marriage premised on love and determined primarily by the will of the parties themselves, initiating a new style of civilized marriage. In the early Republican period, the word ＂love＂ was temporarily stigmatized in the course of sinicization, with the result that it was generally avoided in romance fiction. However, the widespread cult of the ＂spiritual character of love＂ in novels of tragic love laid the foundation for the emergence of＂the sanctity of love＂ in the May Fourth period. The theory of love constructed at this time under the influence of Western theories made a subtle distinction between the ＂freedom of love＂ and ＂free love,＂ reflecting the ideological divergence within the New Culture community. In terms of spatial imagery and descriptions of love, the pioneering creation of romantic literature during the May Fourth period deconstructed the patriarchal authority that suppressed individual freedom, undermining traditional morality and opening up new fields for literary expression. But since the one-dimensional pursuit of individual freedom also led to weaknesses such as superficial emotionalism, May Fourth romantic literature could not take the experiences and expression of love to a deeper level.

Railway's Effects on Economic Development:A Quantitative Study on Modern Henan(1890s-1930s)

Different arguments on the relationship between railway construction and economic development exist in literature. As the railway construction of Henan in the period of late Qing Dynasty （1644-1911） and early Republic of China （1912-1949）provides a nearly natural experiment to throw new light on this topic, this paper creates county-level panel data for this period and conducts a further test with a difference-in-difference strategy. While the effect of railway is demonstrated to be positive in some literature yet negative in others, this paper identifies some major intergroup differences： railway lines put into service after the 1910s and connecting central cities promoted population growth in regions along the railway lines, enhanced their capaci（v to cope with external market shocks, yet they did not improve integration with the intra-provincial market. By contrast, the railway lines put into operation in the 1930s and connecting hinterland areas not only improved regional market integration but contributed to higher living standards as well. The implication is that the effects of railway are subject to the economic relations of various localities along the railway lines and the economic attributes of various sectors, thus railways cannot be generally defined to be positive or negative. This conclusion helps explain the disagreements in empirical studies and highlight the impact of railways on the regional economic structure.