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Cambridge Journal of China Studies

The primary aim of CJCS is to promote the understanding of China through the dissemination of high-impact research in relevant social science subject areas. Both contemporary and historical perspectives are considered important to CJCS. CJCS always encourages interdisciplinary studies and promotes talks between scholars from different geographical areas. To that end, we have drawn on our extensive network of experts from both China and Cambridge to encourage exchange of ideas between the East and the West.

Cambridge Journal of China Studies (CJCS) is a quarterly academic publication with a focus on social sciences relating to China (ISSN: 2054-3719/ 2054-3727).

Submissions: please email notifications@cjcs-cam.org.uk

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Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 20 of 377
  • ItemOpen Access
    Contacts between the Mongols and the Latin West in the Thirteenth Century— Seen from Rabban Sawma’s Westward Mission
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) CHANG, Na
    The rising of the Mongol Empire made it convenient for missionaries, diplomats and merchants to travel across the Eurasia landmass. Direct contact between the extremes of Eurasia was thus possible. In the thirteenth century, Rabban Sawma from the East journeyed westward as far as Europe and left an account of his travels. Instead of focusing on his depiction of the political and religious situation in Western Asia, this paper looks at the aspects revealing his personal encounter with the Latin West, aiming to fill the gap in our knowledge of East-West encounters in the thirteenth century.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Changes in Higher Education Policies: A Case Study of Projects in China
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) LI, Wenwen
    Many measures have been taken to promote the development of higher education by the Chinese government since 1978. This study examined the projects launched by the Chinese government to improve the quality of higher education and elevate the status of targeted institutions to world-class universities. The policies reviewed include Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-rate University Plan. By examining the implementation of these projects, this study aimed to understand if the policy goals sought by the government were achieved. The conceptual framework used to analyze the projects included Lowi’s theory of distribution and McDonnell and Elmore’s typology of policy instruments. This study found that the projects demonstrated characteristics unique to China and that they focused on efficiency, quality, and equality.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Trade, Threat and Transformation of World Order: A Review of Belt and Road: A Chinese World Order
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) WANG,Wei
    Since its announcement in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has engendered many debates over its motive, nature, feasibility and impact among scholars and policymakers alike. Belt and Road: A Chinese World Order by Bruno Maçães, former Europe minister of Portugal (2013-2015) and currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in the US, represents one of the latest attempts to decipher the nature of the BRI and to discuss its global impact. Published in 2019, it is a compact volume that links the BRI, which is primarily designed for promoting trade and economic development, with some of the most fundamental themes of contemporary world politics – the rise of China and the transformation of world order.
  • ItemOpen Access
    An Assessment on Genesis and Justifiability of Thucydides Trap On Pretext of Asian Century & China’s Charismatic Rise
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) DAHAL, Atindra
    The world often gets loaded with lots of recently emerging ideological hazes that enormously engage academicians and analysts into hot seat for arguments and counter arguments. Recently, the notion of Thucydides Trap has alarmed and intimidated world thus has capaciously drawn the limelight of scholars around the globe. This paper tries to trace the origination of concept and examines the possibility of such threat and trap on note that a significant section of global society is presenting a persistent anxiety over the issue in general and over China in particular.
  • ItemOpen Access
    The Mysterious Dead and the Generation of Life:——John K. Shryock’s Anqing Ethnography Revisited
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) AIJMER, Göran
    This essay explores a selection of John K. Shryock’s field data from a hundred years ago, from the province of Anhui. Focus is on the ceremonialism of ancestry and the cultural semantics of ancestor worship. The account tries to demonstrate how certain phases of such rituals connect with the construction of continuity in social life, either through the cultural idiom of the cultivation of rice, or the idiom of procreation of children. The liturgies and paraphernalia employed show symbolic complexities, the understanding of which may lead us to new insights into the culture of southern China.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Factors behind rural student drop-out rates in North China: a qualitative study
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2019-01-01) LI, Wenwen
    To promote the development of compulsory education and educational equality in China, Two Exemptions and One Subsidy (TEOS) policy which initially aimed to help students from poor background finish their compulsory education was implemented by Chinese government step by step. This study examined the fact there were students in rural areas still dropping out under the policy of TEOS using a qualitative approach. Interviews were made and information was collected from different perspectives, dropouts, parents as well as teachers. The analysis from this study suggests that it was time to rethink grade retention removed in the revised compulsory education law. Furthermore, programs intended to help low achievers and parents in rural areas is suggested. Ultimately, a comprehensive evaluation should be adopted when assessing students and capabilities of teachers should be built to enhance the teaching in rural areas.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Research on Assessment Mechanism of Educational Achievements in Sino-Foreign Cooperative Running Schools in China
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2019-01-01) ZHOU, Quan
    In the context of economic globalization and educational globalization, China is increasingly becoming the world's largest transnational higher education import Country. The Sino-foreign cooperative running school is the main embodiment of educational internationalization of Chinese higher education. In this paper, the joint programs with degrees awarding in higher education is the main discussing object. During the practice, the advantages and disadvantages of this cooperation have been emerged, and the corresponding remedies have been developed by administrative institutions at different levels. Yet, in the perspective of writer, there is still not enough assessment criteria and mechanism to measure the educational outcomes of these schools. Therefore, the writer advocated that efforts should be made in three levels to construct and improve the assessment criteria of educational achievements in Sino-foreign cooperative schools
  • ItemOpen Access
    Construction of Public Enterprises with a Comprehensive Model in China: Principles, Foundations and Guarantees
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2019-01-01) PAN, Lichun
    Based on the experience from other countries, within the well-established legal system, the national model, private model, and the public-private partnership model could all become the operation approach to the public enterprises. Therefore, we shall dedicate ourselves to the construction of public enterprises with a comprehensive model, which is an integration of the state-owned model, public-private model and private-owned model with the state-owned and the public-private models mainly included. In the process of constructing the comprehensive model, the public interest shall be guaranteed, for the core of the public enterprise is in the feature of providing public goods and services instead of the ownership. Besides, competitive neutrality shall be kept as the foundation so as to attract private capital to the supplying of public goods and services. Finally, in the comprehensive model construction, laws and regulations should serve as the guarantee, because only when the law is put into force can the reform be carried out with good reason.
  • ItemOpen Access
    The 20th Anniversary of the Foundation of the FOCAC: Retrospect and Prospect
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) WANG, Ting; ZHU, Weidong
  • ItemOpen Access
    A Comparative Study on the Form of Assessment for Foreign Language Courses in the UK and China
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) FU,Hualai
    This research aims to compare the form of language assessment in secondary education between China and the UK. The education in the UK and China has been different in many aspects, there are difference in educational ideology, view on personnel; difference in exam system; and difference on the extent of emphasising individual difference and cultivate creative ability. These differences are the result of a range of factors including their different educational context and culture tradition, which reflect the problem of educational system in each country. Each system has its strength and weakness, and received both criticism and credits, by comparing them we can identify the characters of the education ideology in each, and make a better understanding though analysis. This research is going to take a insightful look into the differences between the assessment in each country and evaluate their education context through the comparison, and suggest for the prospect.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Managing Trust Through Negotiation in Doctor-patient Discourses -Evidence from Neurosurgery Clinic
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) YE,Aoshuang
    Doctor-patient relationship has always been a highly valued issue in our society. In recent years, violence against medical staff in hospitals has been on the rise in various regions of China, and the relationship between doctors and patients seems to be getting strongly intensified. The vast majority of doctor-patient disputes are caused by inadequate and inappropriate communication during the process of medical services. Negotiation System and Empathy shed light on how to regulate and improve doctor-patient communication in clinical encounters.Based on 10 recorded conversations between patients and one doctor, this essay discusses how moves are organized by the doctor and patients, and how the doctor applies the theory of Empathy to show her concern and care for patients. This paper finds that though the doctor has profound medical knowledge, she chooses to be equal with patients, solving their problems with a low profile, and communicates with less dominant moves. Meanwhile, doctors sharing some of their power with patients is beneficial for managing trust in doctor-patient relations, which is a crucial but often neglected aspect of medical care.
  • ItemOpen Access
    China's First Panoramic Study of the History of the British Empire
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) HONG, Xia
    Western academic circles have a long-standing interest in the study of the British Empire. Since the independence of the United States, many people have begun to study the history of the British Empire. It is still an important topic in the international history. After World War II, due to the disintegration of the empire, ‘empire’ and ‘post-colonial’ research has become one of the hot spots in the international academic community. The evolution of the British Empire has had a major impact on the development of British society, the development of modern world relations and political geography. How to recognize and evaluate the historical role of the British Empire is an important topic in the modern and contemporary history of the world, and it is also a topic that Chinese historians need to explore in depth. The eight-volume The History of the British Empire is such a set of works.
  • ItemOpen Access
    A Study of L2 English L1 Chinese Native Speakers’ Acquisition of Chinese Topic-comment Constructions
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) WU, Xue; TANG, Wenting; LI, Jingya; YE, Aoshuang
    The study conducted a research on L1 Chinese and L2 English speakers’ acquisition of Chinese topic-comment constructions. Several results were found. First, the type of the topic, the position of the topic, and the English proficiency did exert influence on Chinese native speakers’ perception of Chinese topic-comment constructions. To analyze Chinese native speakers’ perception of Chinese topic-comment constructions, three aspects need to be considered. Second, backward transfer from English to Chinese seemed to occur in high English proficiency group when they comprehended the Chinese topic-comment constructions. For the high English proficiency group, because of the backward transfer from English to Chinese, they seemed to have got used to subject-prominence feature of English and unlearnt the topic-prominence feature of Chinese. Therefore, when they encountered sentence that topic was placed in complement clause, they still felt acceptable. Another explanation is that they appeared to transfer the strategy used in processing English garden path sentences into Chinese, which facilitated their understanding of Chinese garden path sentences (in this study, it is the construction whose topic is in complement clause). Third, when participants, dealt with the constructions that moved-topics are in complement clause (Chinese garden path sentences), they tended to adopt the late closure strategy and minimal attachment strategy, which undermined their acceptability of this kind of sentences.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Hypothetical West and "Rise of China": On Pop-nationalism in China Today--Centering on Currency War ’s Spread and Acceptance in China
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) HAN, Sunny Han
    The book Currency Wars authored by Song Hongbing, has been of China’s best sellers related to contemporary politics and economics. The book invents a relationship between the “Rothschild family,” and American politics to allege that the world economy is controlled by the Rothschilds. This exaggeration of the influence of Americans and Europeans, consortia, and even individuals on the world has as its main intention the creation of a belief in “Western hostile forces” working against China, thus inflaming “pop-nationalism”. This paper argues that, Currency Wars caters to fears of Western influence common in Chinese history and which reflects a traditional group psychology; second, the spread and acceptance of this book reflects a pop-nationalism based around fears of globalization similar to those which inspired the “Boxer Rebellion” over a century ago. To overcome refuge in these sorts of ideas, China must find positive ways to communicate with the world and assume its international responsibilities as it continues to reform and open up.
  • ItemOpen Access
    The Settlement of Business Disputes between China and Arab Gulf States: Where to Go?
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) ZHU, Weidong; WANG, Ting
    With the increase of the civil and commercial transactions between China and Arabia Gulf countries in recent years, the business disputes between both sides increase as well. China and Arab countries have paid much attention to the efficient and fair settlement of such disputes to maintain a long-term sustainable development of business relations. The author first examines the current investment and trade disputes between both sides and the existing legal framework for settling such disputes, eg, litigation, mediation, arbitration, etc. Then the author proposes that the business disputes between China and Arab Gulf countries should be settled through amicable means such as mediation and arbitration. In case of dispute, the parties involved had better settle their disputes through mediation with the help of the mediation institutions from both sides. If the mediation fails, the parties may submit their disputes to arbitration instead of litigation, considering the difficulties in litigation and the convenience through arbitration. When the parties choose to arbitrate their disputes in the Arab Gulf countries, they’d better choose to arbitrate in the prestigious arbitral institutions in the region, also taking into account other elements such as whether the country in which the arbitration takes place adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration or not and whether it ratified the New York Convention or not.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Gauging Nepal’s Endeavors to Materialize Trilaterialism through China-led BRI
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) BHATTARAI, Gaurav
    This article aims to assess whether China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) provides an opportunity for Nepal to bridge its immediate neighbors, India to the South and China to the North. Analyzing policy coordination, connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people bonds as the five pillars of BRI, this article attempts to discover whether they will be of any help to Nepal in materializing Trilaterialism, against which India has reservations. But, for Nepal, BRI is the best opportunity not only to diversify her trade, but also to get closely connected with the global value chain. Deeming geopolitical vulnerabilities as the major challenges to Trilateralism, this article recommends to take India into confidence by convincing the southern neighbor that BRI for Nepal is not a strategic partnership with China against India, but solely a resultant of Nepal’s aspirations for infrastructure-driven development and growth-oriented prosperity.
  • ItemOpen Access
    A Long-Term Revolution——Exploring Chinese History Between 1850 and 1949
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2020-01-01) VERLY, Federico
    The period between 1839-1949 represents a crucial moment in Chinese history. This paper presents an alternative understanding of this period. Following a close view of the uprisings and revolts between those years what stands clearly is the common understanding of a nation that is at risk of disappearance and needs to be saved. Divergences regarding the causes of the collapse of it provided different solutions that encouraged the revolutions, concluding in the idea of a complete change of system with the victory of the Communist Revolution. Rather than visualising this epoch as “100 years of national humiliation” this article sustains it can be supplemented by considering it as “100 years of national revolution”, providing new insights for the understanding of Chinese history...
  • ItemOpen Access
    Christian Missionaries and Modernization in China: The Evolution of meanings and Functions
    (Cambridge Journal of China Studies, 2019-01-01) ZAERI, Qasem
    This article analyses the role of Christian missionaries in the Modernization of China. The paper will examine the historical developments of Christianity's arrival in China, and the function of Jesuit and Protestant missionary groups. Furthermore, it will indicate that although the primary purpose of all missionaries was to evangelize the Chinese heathen, this developed gradually as historical and cultural conditions in China and the West changed. How did the conditions for this development come about? In sum, there were three categories of factors influencing this development including the demands of the "Treaty system", and the new relations of the weakened Qing government with the Western powers; the Protestant theological-social disputes in the West over the impossibility of Evangelization of other people in the world; China's particular climate and catastrophic natural events such as drought, floods and the like. In contrast to Jesuits, Protestant missionaries replaced the policy of Vernacularation with that of Inculturalization; replaced the Bottom-up Conversion with Top-down Conversion and, more important, they replaced Modernization with Evangelization. In sum, the religious motives of the Christian missionaries, unwittingly, made Chinese society and the government more rational, and more secular. They contributed to the emergence of new regimes and movements and elites that eventually acted against the missionaries themselves. In this paper, the Weberian approach is used for analysis of actions and subjective meanings of Christian missionaries.
  • ItemOpen Access
    China's "New Wave Cinema": A Reflection of the Sixth-Generation Auteurs and Their Productions
    (Association of Cambridge Studies, 2019-01-01) WANG, Xiaoping