Text and Its Cultural Interpretation

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Text and Its Cultural Interpretation TEXT AND ITS CULTURAL INTERPRETATION I. Alimov MORE ABOUT SUN GUANG-XIAN AND BEI MENG SUO YAN1* There is very little information remaining about Sun “Generations [of the Song family] worked on the Guang-xian (ʪ~ˏ, 895?—968, second name land, but only Guang-xian began studying diligently Meng-wen ʣĵ, pen-name Baoguang-zi Ο~ʖ); from a young age”, even his exact date of birth is not known [1]. His life- time came at the very end of the Tang rule, the period it is stated in Song dynastic history. Sun Guang-xian of the Five Dynasties and the first years of the Song was the first in his family who resolved to escape from dynasty. Information on where Sun came from is also poverty, and set his mind on science, book-learning, contradictory: well-known Song bibliophile Chen arts and achieved considerable results in these areas. Zheng-sun (ඨμʪ, 1190—1249) wrote in his bibliog- He followed the path of an official: he successfully raphy [2] that Sun Guang-xian was originally from passed the examinations and joined the public service Guiping in the region of Lingzhou (in the north-east and his first appointment the post of administrative part of what now is the Renshouxian district of assistant of his home region of Lingzhou [6]. The au- Sichuan province) [3], and the meagre biography of thor of “Springs and Autumns of the Ten Kingdoms”, Sun Guang-xian in Song dynastic history (j. 483) says Qing historian Wu Zhi-yi (吳Ɗ˖, second half of the same. Still, one of the most well-known works by 17th—first half of 18th century), says that it was at the him Bei meng suo yan (DŽžǴ܂, “Short Sayings from end of the rule of the Tang dynasty. On the one hand, Beimeng”) is signed ˵Ơʪ~ˏ, that is “Sun this evidence stresses once again the circumstance that Guang-xian from Fuchong” (now in the province of Sun Guang-xian was born before 900 — because the Zhejiang). In Si ku quan shu zong mu [4] this circum- Tang dynasty ceased to exist in 907, and a seven year stance is explained as follows: old boy could not be an official — but on the other hand, there is still an evident error by Wu Zhi-yi, to “In Shi guo chun qiu (‘Springs and Autumns of the ǨAƠŒ which contemporary Chinese scholar Liu Zun-ming Ten Kingdoms’, ) it is said that he is originally pointed out: even if we suppose that Sun Guang-xian from Guiping, but Guang-xian himself indicated Fuchun. came into the world in 895, it is still unimaginable that In the introduction to the collection he writes that he was he could occupy a serious official post of this kind at born in Mine, and that means that [Guang-xian] is from the age of twelve. Most probably, one should rather Shu [the old name of the present-day Sichuan prov- consider the reign of the Early Shu (907—925) when ince — I. A.]. The mention of Fuchun apparently means Sun Guang-xian served as a panguang [7]. that [Guang-xian] became a part of the nobility of that While in Sichuan, Sun Guang-xian travelled quite place” [5]. a lot, went to Chengdu several times and became ac- quainted with many Shu scholars, and also hermits, At the moment the generally recognized version of Sun Dao and Buddhist monks, who were given to writing Guang-xian's origin is the first, i. e. that he comes from verses. He also visited Shensi and Gansu, and after the Guiping. accession of the Late Tang he left for the region of the downstream water of the Yangzi. * This work is a part of a chapter from a book dedicated to Chinese author's collections on the preparation of which I am working at the monument. My previous publications on Sun Guang-xian are short and far from perfect: I. A. Alimov, “Preliminary information on ‘Short Sayings from Beimeng’ by Sun Guang-xian (d. 968)”, XXI nauchnaia konferntsia “Obtshestvo i gosudarstvo v Kitae” I (Moscow, 1990); idem, “Sun Guang-xian and the collection ‘Short Sayings from Beimeng’”, Vsled za kist'iu: materialy k istorii sunskikh avtorskikh sbornikov bitszi. Issledovaniia. Perevody (St. Petersburg, 1996), i, pp. 74—89. © I. Alimov, 2006 Электронная библиотека Музея антропологии и этнографии им. Петра Великого (Кунсткамера) РАН http://www.kunstkamera.ru/lib/rubrikator/03/03_03/978-5-88431-292-0/ © МАЭ РАН I. ALIMOV. More About Sun Guang-xian and Bei meng suo yan 41 The military governor-general of Jingnan (a part of and that it was not worth flinging Jingnan into another the territories of the present-day provinces of Hunan turmoil). and Hubei), Gao Ji-chang [8], when he became Sun Guang-xian stayed at the Jingnan court for Nanping-wang, set up his own court and started to thirty seven years, up to 963: he also served Gao enlist the services of educated people and talented bib- Bao-zhong, Gao Bao-xiu and Gao Ji-chong [12]. It is liophiles. Sun Guang-xian had a few acquaintances well known that Sun Guang-xian occupied the posts of among his courtiers, and one of them, the adviser of an assistant to a jiedushi, yueshi zhongcheng (the per- the governor-general Liang Zhen [9], in the summer of sonal secretary to the prince), the head of the censor- 926 introduced Sun Guang-xian to the court of the ship office, and others. When in 960 the Song dynasty smallest of all the state formations in the period of the came to power in China, Sun Guang-xian was, per- Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Gao Ji-chang gave haps, the most powerful and influential official in the Sun Guang-xian a warm welcome and appointed him lands of Jingnan. Making use of this, in 963 he easily to serve in his secretariat. His appointment was more convinced Gao Ji-chong to give the lands of Jingnan as in keeping with Sun Guang-xian's expectations than his a gift to the Song court and resign themselves to them, previous post in the Early Shu where, as a contempo- acknowledging the power of Song of their own free rary scholar Zhuang Xue-jun, ʱɻ says, even the will. The Song Tai-zu was pleased by this display of local learned men weren't much in demand, let alone obedience; after becoming aware of the role Sun the newly arrived offspring of a poor family [10]. Guang-xian played in the acquisition of Jingnan, the After Liang Zhen retired because of old age, Sun emperor appointed him head of the Huangzhou region Guang-xian inherited his post and became the adviser (it was located on the territory of the present-day in state matters to Gao Ji-chang's successor, his son province Guangxi) and Sun Guang-xian occupied this Gao Cong-hui [11], and was, as Song shi says, post from 963 till 968. His management, apparently, “awarded gold and purple”, that is the regalia of the brought fame to him, because the minister Zhao Pu high court officials, a golden stamp on a purple cord. (ࣜǙ, 922—992) recommended Sun Guang-xian for Over the course of time Sun Guang-xian became very the post of xueshi (“learned man”) at the court acad- influential at the Jingnan court and started to have an emy of Hanlinyuan, but the wish of the scholar to be- active effect the internal and foreign policy of the prin- come a member of that academy was not fulfilled, as cipality. It was he who advised a milder taxation for his death prevented him from assuming the office. the population and to maintain friendly relations with Thus, in his lifetime, and he lived seventy three neighbouring rulers (for example, Sun Guang-xian years, Sun Guang-xian witnessed the rule of seven dy- persuaded Gao Ji-chang not to spoil their relations with nasties and served at the courts of three of them, the the neighbouring kingdom Chu, arguing that the peo- Early Shu, Jingnan and Song. ple and officials had just recovered from war disorders *** Sun Guang-xian is rightly considered a prominent by the celebrated poet Wen Ting-yun (ኋ °ɑ, 820?— scholar and literary man — in Song dynastic history he 870?) [15]. Sun Guang-xian was also a talented histo- is called a profound connoisseur of canonical and his- rian. His wide erudition, large book collection, inde- torical works, a man of immense learning, who sought fatigable thirst for knowledge — all this served as the after new knowledge, and also had a book collection of basis for his numerous works. It is well known that several thousand juans [13], all the books of which, his Sun Guang-xian wrote a number of works lost as early contemporaries say, he read and if necessary corrected as in the reign of Song, of which only the titles have himself. Sun Guang-xian left a great number of prosaic survived: Xü tong li (੒৻, “Continuation of the and poetic works behind, he was a recognized master General Calendar”), Ju zhai ji (tቢ෨, “Collection of verses in the genre of ci, and was distinguished by from the Ju zhai Cabinet”), Jing tai ji (̣Ɂ෨, “Jing the originality of his style, and the number of verses Terraces”) and others [16]. We will focus our attention that belonged to his brush (61), included in the famous on the collection of biji Bei meng suo yan written by collection Hua jian ji (ʾശ෨, “Among the Flow- Sun Guang-xian.
Recommended publications
  • Towards Chinese Calligraphy Zhuzhong Qian
    Macalester International Volume 18 Chinese Worlds: Multiple Temporalities Article 12 and Transformations Spring 2007 Towards Chinese Calligraphy Zhuzhong Qian Desheng Fang Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/macintl Recommended Citation Qian, Zhuzhong and Fang, Desheng (2007) "Towards Chinese Calligraphy," Macalester International: Vol. 18, Article 12. Available at: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/macintl/vol18/iss1/12 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Institute for Global Citizenship at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Macalester International by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Towards Chinese Calligraphy Qian Zhuzhong and Fang Desheng I. History of Chinese Calligraphy: A Brief Overview Chinese calligraphy, like script itself, began with hieroglyphs and, over time, has developed various styles and schools, constituting an important part of the national cultural heritage. Chinese scripts are generally divided into five categories: Seal script, Clerical (or Official) script, Regular script, Running script, and Cursive script. What follows is a brief introduction of the evolution of Chinese calligraphy. A. From Prehistory to Xia Dynasty (ca. 16 century B.C.) The art of calligraphy began with the creation of Chinese characters. Without modern technology in ancient times, “Sound couldn’t travel to another place and couldn’t remain, so writings came into being to act as the track of meaning and sound.”1 However, instead of characters, the first calligraphy works were picture-like symbols. These symbols first appeared on ceramic vessels and only showed ambiguous con- cepts without clear meanings.
    [Show full text]
  • Historiography and Narratives of the Later Tang (923-936) and Later Jin (936-947) Dynasties in Tenth- to Eleventh- Century Sources
    Historiography and Narratives of the Later Tang (923-936) and Later Jin (936-947) Dynasties in Tenth- to Eleventh- century Sources Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Philosophie an der Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität München vorgelegt von Maddalena Barenghi Aus Mailand 2014 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Hans van Ess Zweitgutachter: Prof. Tiziana Lippiello Datum der mündlichen Prüfung: 31.03.2014 ABSTRACT Historiography and Narratives of the Later Tang (923-36) and Later Jin (936-47) Dynasties in Tenth- to Eleventh-century Sources Maddalena Barenghi This thesis deals with historical narratives of two of the Northern regimes of the tenth-century Five Dynasties period. By focusing on the history writing project commissioned by the Later Tang (923-936) court, it first aims at questioning how early-tenth-century contemporaries narrated some of the major events as they unfolded after the fall of the Tang (618-907). Second, it shows how both late- tenth-century historiographical agencies and eleventh-century historians perceived and enhanced these historical narratives. Through an analysis of selected cases the thesis attempts to show how, using the same source material, later historians enhanced early-tenth-century narratives in order to tell different stories. The five cases examined offer fertile ground for inquiry into how the different sources dealt with narratives on the rise and fall of the Shatuo Later Tang and Later Jin (936- 947). It will be argued that divergent narrative details are employed both to depict in different ways the characters involved and to establish hierarchies among the historical agents. Table of Contents List of Rulers ............................................................................................................ ii Aknowledgements ..................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Biopolitical Elements in Yan Lianke's Fiction Worlds
    Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 2018 The iopB olitical Elements in Yan Lianke's Fiction Worlds Xiaoyu Gao Eastern Illinois University This research is a product of the graduate program in English at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Gao, Xiaoyu, "The iopoB litical Elements in Yan Lianke's Fiction Worlds" (2018). Masters Theses. 3619. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3619 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The GraduateSchool � EA'ill 11.'1I·��-- h l:'ll\'tll\11'\' Thesis Maintenance and Reproduction Certificate FOR: Graduate candidates Completing Theses in PartialFulfillment of the Degree Graduate Faculty Advisors Directing the Theses RE: Preservation, Reproduction, and Distribution of Thesis Research Preserving, reproducing, and distributing thesis research is an important part of Booth Library's responsibility to provide access to scholarship. In order to further this goal, Booth Library makes all graduate theses completed as part of a degree program at Eastern Illinois University available for personal study, research, and other not-for­ profit educational purposes. Under 17 U.S.C. § 108, the library may reproduce and distribute a copy without infringing on copyright; however, professional courtesy dictates that permission be requested from the author before doing so. Your signatures affirm the following: •The graduate candidate is the author of this thesis. •The graduate candidate retains the copyright and intellectual property rights associated with the original research, creative activity, and intellectual or artistic content of the thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion in China BKGA 85 Religion Inchina and Bernhard Scheid Edited by Max Deeg Major Concepts and Minority Positions MAX DEEG, BERNHARD SCHEID (EDS.)
    Religions of foreign origin have shaped Chinese cultural history much stronger than generally assumed and continue to have impact on Chinese society in varying regional degrees. The essays collected in the present volume put a special emphasis on these “foreign” and less familiar aspects of Chinese religion. Apart from an introductory article on Daoism (the BKGA 85 BKGA Religion in China proto­typical autochthonous religion of China), the volume reflects China’s encounter with religions of the so-called Western Regions, starting from the adoption of Indian Buddhism to early settlements of religious minorities from the Near East (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) and the early modern debates between Confucians and Christian missionaries. Contemporary Major Concepts and religious minorities, their specific social problems, and their regional diversities are discussed in the cases of Abrahamitic traditions in China. The volume therefore contributes to our understanding of most recent and Minority Positions potentially violent religio-political phenomena such as, for instance, Islamist movements in the People’s Republic of China. Religion in China Religion ∙ Max DEEG is Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Cardiff. His research interests include in particular Buddhist narratives and their roles for the construction of identity in premodern Buddhist communities. Bernhard SCHEID is a senior research fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on the history of Japanese religions and the interaction of Buddhism with local religions, in particular with Japanese Shintō. Max Deeg, Bernhard Scheid (eds.) Deeg, Max Bernhard ISBN 978-3-7001-7759-3 Edited by Max Deeg and Bernhard Scheid Printed and bound in the EU SBph 862 MAX DEEG, BERNHARD SCHEID (EDS.) RELIGION IN CHINA: MAJOR CONCEPTS AND MINORITY POSITIONS ÖSTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN PHILOSOPHISCH-HISTORISCHE KLASSE SITZUNGSBERICHTE, 862.
    [Show full text]
  • Transmission of Han Pictorial Motifs Into the Western Periphery: Fuxi and Nüwa in the Wei-Jin Mural Tombs in the Hexi Corridor*8
    DOI: 10.4312/as.2019.7.2.47-86 47 Transmission of Han Pictorial Motifs into the Western Periphery: Fuxi and Nüwa in the Wei-Jin Mural Tombs in the Hexi Corridor*8 ∗∗ Nataša VAMPELJ SUHADOLNIK 9 Abstract This paper examines the ways in which Fuxi and Nüwa were depicted inside the mu- ral tombs of the Wei-Jin dynasties along the Hexi Corridor as compared to their Han counterparts from the Central Plains. Pursuing typological, stylistic, and iconographic approaches, it investigates how the western periphery inherited the knowledge of the divine pair and further discusses the transition of the iconographic and stylistic design of both deities from the Han (206 BCE–220 CE) to the Wei and Western Jin dynasties (220–316). Furthermore, examining the origins of the migrants on the basis of historical records, it also attempts to discuss the possible regional connections and migration from different parts of the Chinese central territory to the western periphery. On the basis of these approaches, it reveals that the depiction of Fuxi and Nüwa in Gansu area was modelled on the Shandong regional pattern and further evolved into a unique pattern formed by an iconographic conglomeration of all attributes and other physical characteristics. Accordingly, the Shandong region style not only spread to surrounding areas in the central Chinese territory but even to the more remote border regions, where it became the model for funerary art motifs. Key Words: Fuxi, Nüwa, the sun, the moon, a try square, a pair of compasses, Han Dynasty, Wei-Jin period, Shandong, migration Prenos slikovnih motivov na zahodno periferijo: Fuxi in Nüwa v grobnicah s poslikavo iz obdobja Wei Jin na območju prehoda Hexi Izvleček Pričujoči prispevek v primerjalni perspektivi obravnava upodobitev Fuxija in Nüwe v grobnicah s poslikavo iz časa dinastij Wei in Zahodni Jin (220–316) iz province Gansu * The author acknowledges the financial support of the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) in the framework of the research core funding Asian languages and Cultures (P6-0243).
    [Show full text]
  • Hawes.Pdf (390.5Kb)
    Reinterpreting Law in the Song: Zheng Ke’s Commentary to the “Magic Mirror for Deciding Cases” Colin Hawes University of Alberta, Canada One problem facing scholars of Chinese legal history is the lack of authentic pre- modern case materials and judicial interpretations of the law. Though abundant case records from the Qing period have been preserved in historical archives and in comprehensive collections like the Conspectus of Penal Cases (Xing’an huilan 刑案匯 覽), very few such materials from earlier periods have survived.1 The vast majority of legal case records that do survive from the Ming and earlier periods are not verbatim transcripts of actual court judgments but brief summaries recorded in the biographies of eminent judicial officials or imperial edicts and other government documents. These were occasionally collected into legal “casebooks” and published with the aim of helping local magistrates to learn investigative and adjudicative techniques.2 Yet due to their brevity, we cannot always be sure that such case summaries accurately reflect the complete methods and procedures adopted by judges in the courts. Also, because the casebooks generally include judgments from many different periods, and it is not always clear whether they are intended to be positive or negative examples, we cannot rely on them to give a clear and unified picture of the legal system at the time when they were published. These problems limit the usefulness of pre-Qing legal casebooks, and force scholars to make generalizations about pre-modern Chinese legal practices based almost exclusively on evidence from Qing sources.3 There are two ways to salvage something useful for legal scholars from the heterogeneous wreckage of the pre-Qing casebooks.
    [Show full text]
  • How Could Phenological Records from the Chinese Poems of the Tang and Song Dynasties
    https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2020-122 Preprint. Discussion started: 28 September 2020 c Author(s) 2020. CC BY 4.0 License. How could phenological records from the Chinese poems of the Tang and Song Dynasties (618-1260 AD) be reliable evidence of past climate changes? Yachen Liu1, Xiuqi Fang2, Junhu Dai3, Huanjiong Wang3, Zexing Tao3 5 1School of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Xi’an University, Xi’an, 710065, China 2Faculty of Geographical Science, Key Laboratory of Environment Change and Natural Disaster MOE, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China 3Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), Beijing, 100101, China 10 Correspondence to: Zexing Tao ([email protected]) Abstract. Phenological records in historical documents have been proved to be of unique value for reconstructing past climate changes. As a literary genre, poetry reached its peak period in the Tang and Song Dynasties (618-1260 AD) in China, which could provide abundant phenological records in this period when lacking phenological observations. However, the reliability of phenological records from 15 poems as well as their processing methods remains to be comprehensively summarized and discussed. In this paper, after introducing the certainties and uncertainties of phenological information in poems, the key processing steps and methods for deriving phenological records from poems and using them in past climate change studies were discussed:
    [Show full text]
  • Inventing Chinese Buddhas: Identity, Authority, and Liberation in Song-Dynasty Chan Buddhism
    Inventing Chinese Buddhas: Identity, Authority, and Liberation in Song-Dynasty Chan Buddhism Kevin Buckelew Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2018 © 2018 Kevin Buckelew All rights reserved Abstract Inventing Chinese Buddhas: Identity, Authority, and Liberation in Song-Dynasty Chan Buddhism Kevin Buckelew This dissertation explores how Chan Buddhists made the unprecedented claim to a level of religious authority on par with the historical Buddha Śākyamuni and, in the process, invented what it means to be a buddha in China. This claim helped propel the Chan tradition to dominance of elite monastic Buddhism during the Song dynasty (960–1279), licensed an outpouring of Chan literature treated as equivalent to scripture, and changed the way Chinese Buddhists understood their own capacity for religious authority in relation to the historical Buddha and the Indian homeland of Buddhism. But the claim itself was fraught with complication. After all, according to canonical Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha was easily recognizable by the “marks of the great man” that adorned his body, while the same could not be said for Chan masters in the Song. What, then, distinguished Chan masters from everyone else? What authorized their elite status and granted them the authority of buddhas? According to what normative ideals did Chan aspirants pursue liberation, and by what standards did Chan masters evaluate their students to determine who was worthy of admission into an elite Chan lineage? How, in short, could one recognize a buddha in Song-dynasty China? The Chan tradition never answered this question once and for all; instead, the question broadly animated Chan rituals, institutional norms, literary practices, and visual cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • An Explanation of Gexing
    Front. Lit. Stud. China 2010, 4(3): 442–461 DOI 10.1007/s11702-010-0107-5 RESEARCH ARTICLE XUE Tianwei, WANG Quan An Explanation of Gexing © Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag 2010 Abstract Gexing 歌行 is a historical and robust prosodic style that flourished (not originated) in the Tang dynasty. Since ancient times, the understanding of the prosody of gexing has remained in debate, which focuses on the relationship between gexing and yuefu 乐府 (collection of ballad songs of the music bureau). The points-of-view held by all sides can be summarized as a “grand gexing” perspective (defining gexing in a broad sense) and four major “small gexing” perspectives (defining gexing in a narrow sense). The former is namely what Hu Yinglin 胡应麟 from Ming dynasty said, “gexing is a general term for seven-character ancient poems.” The first “small gexing” perspective distinguishes gexing from guti yuefu 古体乐府 (tradition yuefu); the second distinguishes it from xinti yuefu 新体乐府 (new yuefu poems with non-conventional themes); the third takes “the lyric title” as the requisite condition of gexing; and the fourth perspective adopts the criterion of “metricality” in distinguishing gexing from ancient poems. The “grand gexing” perspective is the only one that is able to reveal the core prosodic features of gexing and give specification to the intension and extension of gexing as a prosodic style. Keywords gexing, prosody, grand gexing, seven-character ancient poems Received January 25, 2010 XUE Tianwei ( ) College of Humanities, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumuqi 830054, China E-mail: [email protected] WANG Quan International School, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing 100029, China E-mail: [email protected] An Explanation of Gexing 443 The “Grand Gexing” Perspective and “Small Gexing” Perspective Gexing, namely the seven-character (both unified seven-character lines and mixed lines containing seven character ones) gexing, occupies an equal position with rhythm poems in Tang dynasty and even after that in the poetic world.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Regulatory and Policy Framework for Religion During The
    1 FREEDOM OF RELIGION Regulatory and Policy Framework for Religion During the Commission’s 2015 reporting year, the Chinese gov- ernment and Communist Party continued to restrict freedom of re- ligion in China. China’s Constitution guarantees ‘‘freedom of reli- gious belief’’ 1 but limits protection of religious activities to ‘‘normal religious activities.’’ 2 This narrow protection contravenes inter- national human rights standards. Article 18 of the Universal Dec- laration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 18 of the Inter- national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)—the lat- ter of which China has signed 3 and stated its intent to ratify 4— recognize not only an individual’s right to adopt a religion or belief, but also the freedom to manifest one’s religion in ‘‘worship, observ- ance, practice and teaching.’’ 5 The Chinese government continued to recognize only five reli- gions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism, and Taoism. The 2005 Regulations on Religious Affairs (RRA) require groups wishing to practice these religions to register with the government and subject such groups to government controls.6 The government and Party control religious affairs mainly through the State Ad- ministration for Religious Affairs (SARA) and lower level religious affairs bureaus under the State Council,7 the Party Central Com- mittee United Front Work Department (UFWD),8 and the five ‘‘pa- triotic’’ religious associations—the Buddhist Association of China (BAC), the Catholic Patriotic Association of China (CPA), the Is- lamic
    [Show full text]
  • Meike International Holdings Limited 美克
    Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “HKEx”) and the Securities and Futures Commission (the “SFC”) take no responsibility for the contents of this Web Proof Information Pack, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this Web Proof Information Pack. Web Proof Information Pack of MEIKE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LIMITED A1A1 LR8.02 美克國際控股有限公司 (Incorporated in the Cayman Islands with limited liability) WARNING This Web Proof Information Pack is being published as required by the HKEx/the SFC solely for the purpose of providing information to the public in Hong Kong. This Web Proof Information Pack is in draft form. The information contained in it is incomplete and is subject to change which could be material. By viewing this document, you acknowledge, accept and agree with Meike International Holdings Limited (the “Company”), any of its affiliates, sponsors, advisers and members of the underwriting syndicate that: (a) this Web Proof Information Pack is solely for the purpose of facilitating equal dissemination of information to investors in Hong Kong and not for any other purposes. No investment decision should be based on the information contained in this Web Proof Information Pack; (b) the posting of the Web Proof Information Pack or any supplemental, revised or replacement pages thereof on the HKEx’s website does not give rise to any obligation of the Company, any of its affiliates, sponsors, advisers or members of the underwriting syndicate to proceed with an offering in Hong Kong or any other jurisdiction.
    [Show full text]
  • UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT Southern District of New York *SUBJECT to GENERAL and SPECIFIC NOTES to THESE SCHEDULES* SUMMARY
    UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT Southern District of New York Refco Capital Markets, LTD Case Number: 05-60018 *SUBJECT TO GENERAL AND SPECIFIC NOTES TO THESE SCHEDULES* SUMMARY OF AMENDED SCHEDULES An asterisk (*) found in schedules herein indicates a change from the Debtor's original Schedules of Assets and Liabilities filed December 30, 2005. Any such change will also be indicated in the "Amended" column of the summary schedules with an "X". Indicate as to each schedule whether that schedule is attached and state the number of pages in each. Report the totals from Schedules A, B, C, D, E, F, I, and J in the boxes provided. Add the amounts from Schedules A and B to determine the total amount of the debtor's assets. Add the amounts from Schedules D, E, and F to determine the total amount of the debtor's liabilities. AMOUNTS SCHEDULED NAME OF SCHEDULE ATTACHED NO. OF SHEETS ASSETS LIABILITIES OTHER YES / NO A - REAL PROPERTY NO 0 $0 B - PERSONAL PROPERTY YES 30 $6,002,376,477 C - PROPERTY CLAIMED AS EXEMPT NO 0 D - CREDITORS HOLDING SECURED CLAIMS YES 2 $79,537,542 E - CREDITORS HOLDING UNSECURED YES 2 $0 PRIORITY CLAIMS F - CREDITORS HOLDING UNSECURED NON- YES 356 $5,366,962,476 PRIORITY CLAIMS G - EXECUTORY CONTRACTS AND UNEXPIRED YES 2 LEASES H - CODEBTORS YES 1 I - CURRENT INCOME OF INDIVIDUAL NO 0 N/A DEBTOR(S) J - CURRENT EXPENDITURES OF INDIVIDUAL NO 0 N/A DEBTOR(S) Total number of sheets of all Schedules 393 Total Assets > $6,002,376,477 $5,446,500,018 Total Liabilities > UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT Southern District of New York Refco Capital Markets, LTD Case Number: 05-60018 GENERAL NOTES PERTAINING TO SCHEDULES AND STATEMENTS FOR ALL DEBTORS On October 17, 2005 (the “Petition Date”), Refco Inc.
    [Show full text]