In recent years, the research of chaos theory has developed from simple cognition and analysis to practical engineering application. In particular, hyperchaotic systems with more complex and changeable chaotic characteristics are more sensitive and unpredictable, so they are widely used in more fields. In this paper, two important engineering applications based on hyperchaos pseudorandom number generator and image encryption are studied. Firstly, the coupling 6D memristive hyperchaotic system and a 2D SF-SIMM discrete hyperchaotic mapping are used as the double entropy (...) source structure. The double entropy source structure can realize a new PRNG that meets the security requirements, which can pass the NIST statistical test when the XOR postprocessing method is used. Secondly, based on the double entropy source structure, a new image encryption algorithm is proposed. The algorithm uses the diffusion-scrambling-diffusion encryption scheme to realize the conversion from the original plaintext image to the ciphertext image. Finally, we analyze the security of the proposed PRNG and image encryption mechanism, respectively. The results show that the proposed PRNG has good statistical output characteristics and the proposed image encryption scheme has high security, so they can be effectively applied in the field of information security and encryption system. (shrink)

BackgroundCoronary heart disease is closely associated with cognitive impairment, especially in severe cases of heart failure. However, it is unclear whether cardiac systolic function plays a role in the relationship between pre-existing CHD and cognitive impairment in subjects without clinical heart failure.MethodsIn total, 208 subjects from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University were recruited from June 2014 to January 2015, and were divided into CHD and non-CHD groups according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The global cognitive function (...) of all subjects was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination and cognitive impairment was defined as the score lower than the cutoff value. Left ventricular ejection fraction was measured using transthoracic echocardiograms. The relationship among pre-existing CHD, LVEF, and cognitive impairment was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression.ResultsIn total, 34 subjects met the criteria of cognitive impairment. Univariate analysis showed that the cognitive impairment prevalence in the CHD group was significantly higher than that in the non-CHD group. Multivariate logistic analysis revealed that CHD was significantly associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment after adjusting for confounds except for LVEF. However, the OR of CHD decreased when LVEF was further corrected as a continuous variable, and LVEF was negatively associated with the risk of cognitive impairment.ConclusionPre-existing CHD is associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment, and such an association can be considerably explained by reduced LVEF. An impaired cardiac systolic function may play a key role in the relationship between CHD and cognitive impairment among patients with pre-heart failure conditions. (shrink)

Models of the work-to-family and family-to-work interface were tested in two heterogeneous samples of workers, one from North America (N = 408) and one from China (N = 442), using the same measures translated from English to Chinese using back translation. Consistent with proposed differences in the centrality of work and family, tolerance of work demands, and the availability of family support, work-to-family spillover effects tended to be stronger in the North American sample, whereas family-to-work spillover effects tended to be (...) stronger in the Chinese sample. However, some inconsistencies across cultures did not conform to this generalization. Results point to asymmetric differences between North America and China in the work–family interface. Theoretical implications for resource scarcity and expansionist perspectives are discussed, as well as those for the applicability of work–family interventions across North America and China. (shrink)

The main idea of S-curve diagram is to assign different angle values to different nucleotide acid residues or to different protein amino acids, and then according to cos α j and sin α j, the values are accumulated to construct an S-curve diagram, which is in strict one-to-one correspondence with the biological sequence. In addition, the S-curve diagram proves to be without the degeneracy phenomenon, so that both the degeneracy problem represented by diagrams and the problem of visualization for biological (...) sequence data are solved. Meanwhile, a new approach to differentiate the similarity of biological sequences—the degree of similarity—is put forward on the basis of the S-curve diagram. To put it in detail, the least square approach is first adopted to obtain a straight line equation according to the S-curve diagram, then according to the distance formula of the point to the straight line, the average ratio of square sum for the distance between the S-curve and the straight line is calculated, and finally, the similarity of the biological sequences is presented by the new standard—the degree of similarity. As is shown by the experimental results, the S-curve diagram can better represent biological sequences within Cartesian coordinate system, and the mutation point of biological sequence. Thus, it turns out that the new standard—the degree of similarity is of obviously great advantage. (shrink)

In this paper, we propose a method to design the pseudorandom number generator using three kinds of four-wing memristive hyperchaotic systems with different dimensions as multientropy sources. The principle of this method is to obtain pseudorandom numbers with good randomness by coupling XOR operation on the three kinds of FWMHSs with different dimensions. In order to prove its potential application in secure communication, the security of PRNG based on this scheme is analyzed from the perspective of cryptography. In addition, PRNG (...) has passed the NIST 800.22 and ENT test, which shows that PRNG has good statistical characteristics. Finally, an image encryption algorithm based on PRNG is adopted. In the encryption algorithm, the optimized Arnold matrix scrambling method and the diffusion processing based on XOR are used to obtain the final encrypted image. Through the evaluation of encryption performance, it is concluded that there is no direct relationship between the pristine image and encrypted image. The results show that the proposed image encryption scheme has good statistical output characteristics and security performance in line with cryptography. (shrink)

In the current research, we show that low-power state promotes variety-seeking. We argue that this effect occurs because consumers in low-power state desire control and variety-seeking as a way to restore sense of control. The effect of power on variety-seeking is reduced when consumer knowledge in a certain consumption domain is high because knowledge is an alternative way to retain sense of control. Three experiments provide systematic evidence for this effect across different product categories. These findings contribute to the literature (...) on how variety-seeking can be used as a way to compensate and enhance our understanding of power and consumer knowledge. (shrink)

A neural network is a model of the brain’s cognitive process, with a highly interconnected multiprocessor architecture. The neural network has incredible potential, in the view of these artificial neural networks inherently having good learning capabilities and the ability to learn different input features. Based on this, this paper proposes a new chaotic neuron model and a new chaotic neural network model. It includes a linear matrix, a sine function, and a chaotic neural network composed of three chaotic neurons. One (...) of the chaotic neurons is affected by the sine function. The network has rich chaotic dynamics and can produce multiscroll hidden chaotic attractors. This paper studied its dynamic behaviors, including bifurcation behavior, Lyapunov exponent, Poincaré surface of section, and basins of attraction. In the process of analyzing the bifurcation and the basins of attraction, it was found that the network demonstrated hidden bifurcation phenomena, and the relevant properties of the basins of attraction were obtained. Thereafter, a chaotic neural network was implemented by using FPGA, and the experiment proved that the theoretical analysis results and FPGA implementation were consistent with each other. Finally, an energy function was constructed to optimize the calculation based on the CNN in order to provide a new approach to solve the TSP problem. (shrink)

ObjectiveBasic combat training is a kind of necessary high-intensity training to help each military recruit convert into a qualified soldier. In China, both the physical fatigue and passive psychological state have been observed in new recruits during BCT. However, after same-intensity training, the degree of fatigue and passive mood vary among recruits. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect of BCT on mood state of recruits with different physical fitness levels from a perspective of fatigue.Materials and methodsBefore and after (...) BCT, the degree of fatigue and mood state of participants were evaluated via the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale and Profile of Mood States Questionnaire immediately after 20 push-ups as RPE and POMS scores [total mood disturbance, passive mood and positive mood ]. The participants were divided into two groups according to the RPE score measured after BCT: group 1: RPE score after BCT < 13 and group 2: RPE score after BCT ≥ 13.ResultA total of 564 recruits were included. After BCT, in group 1, TMD and passive mood Ttension, Tfatigue, Tdepression, Tconfusion declined significantly, but positive mood both increased significantly ; while in group 2, only Tanger and Testeem increased significantly.ConclusionBCT could alleviate passive mood and add to positive mood for recruits with better physical fitness, while had no ameliorative effects on or even deteriorate most of the passive mood for recruits with worse physical fitness. (shrink)

Playing an important role in electromechanical systems, hydraulic servo system is crucial to mechanical systems like engineering machinery, metallurgical machinery, ships, and other equipment. Fault diagnosis based on monitoring and sensory signals plays an important role in avoiding catastrophic accidents and enormous economic losses. This study presents a fault diagnosis scheme for hydraulic servo system using compressed random subspace based ReliefF method. From the point of view of feature selection, the scheme utilizes CRSR method to determine the most stable feature (...) combination that contains the most adequate information simultaneously. Based on the feature selection structure of ReliefF, CRSR employs feature integration rules in the compressed domain. Meanwhile, CRSR substitutes information entropy and fuzzy membership for traditional distance measurement index. The proposed CRSR method is able to enhance the robustness of the feature information against interference while selecting the feature combination with balanced information expressing ability. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed CRSR method, a hydraulic servo system joint simulation model is constructed by HyPneu and Simulink, and three fault modes are injected to generate the validation data. (shrink)

In practice, more and more companies are using warmth appeals in their advertisements, but not all warmth appeals can bring the expected results. Grounded in social perception, we propose that consumers’ inferences and behavioral intentions stemming from warmth appeals in advertising are moderated by brand concepts. Specifically, warmth appeal decreases competence inferences and, in turn, behavioral intentions toward the self-enhancement brands. However, it increases warmth inferences and, in turn, behavioral intentions toward self-transcendence brands. We tested our hypotheses through two experimental (...) studies. Experiment 1 demonstrated that for self-enhancement brands, warmth appeals in advertisements decreased brand attitudes and purchase intentions; for self-transcendence brands, warmth appeals in advertisements increased brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Experiment 2 showed further evidence to the proposed effect and tested the mediating effects of warmth perception and competence perception. This research provides significant implications for advertising strategies. (shrink)

The aberrations of a gene can influence it and the functions of its neighbour genes in gene interaction network, leading to the development of carcinogenesis of normal cells. In consideration of gene interaction network as a complex network, previous studies have made efforts on the driver attribute filling of genes via network properties of nodes and network propagation of mutations. However, there are still obstacles from problems of small size of cancer samples and the existence of drivers without property of (...) network neighbours, limiting the discovery of cancer driver genes. To address these obstacles, we propose an efficient modularity subspace based concept learning model. Our model can overcome the curse of dimensionality due to small samples via dimension reduction in the task of attribute concept learning and explore the features of genes through modularity subspace beyond the network neighbours. The evaluation analysis also demonstrates the superiority of our model in the task of driver attribute filling on two gene interaction networks. Generally, our model shows a promising prospect in the application of interaction network analysis of tumorigenesis. (shrink)

PurposeTo explore the changes of cerebral blood flow and fractional anisotropy in stroke patients with motor dysfunction after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment, and to better understand the role of rTMS on motor rehabilitation of subcortical stroke patients from the perfusion and structural level.Materials and MethodsIn total, 23 first-episode acute ischemic stroke patients and sixteen healthy controls were included. The patients were divided into the rTMS and sham group. The rehabilitation assessments and examination of perfusion and structural MRI were performed (...) before and after rTMS therapy for each patient. Voxel-based analysis was used to detect the difference in CBF and FA among all three groups. The Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between the CBF/FA value and the motor scales.ResultsAfter rTMS, significantly increased CBF was found in the ipsilesional supplementary motor area, postcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus, pons, medulla oblongata, contralesional midbrain, superior cerebellar peduncle, and middle cerebellar peduncle compared to that during the prestimulation and in the sham group, these fasciculi comprise the cortex-pontine-cerebellum-cortex loop. Besides, altered CBF in the ipsilesional precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, and pons was positively associated with the improved Fugl-Meyer assessment scores. Significantly decreased FA was found in the contralesional precentral gyrus, increased FA was found in the ipsilesional postcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus, contralesional supplementary motor area, and bilateral cerebellum, these fasciculi comprise the corticospinal tract. The change of FMA score was positively correlated with altered FA value in the ipsilesional postcentral gyrus and negatively correlated with altered FA value in the contralesional precentral gyrus.ConclusionOur results suggested that rTMS could facilitate the motor recovery of stroke patients. High frequency could promote the improvement of functional activity of ipsilesional CPC loop and the recovery of the microstructure of CST. (shrink)

Hormonal changes across the menstrual cycle have been shown to influence reward-related motivation and impulsive behaviors. Here, to compare neural mechanisms of cognitive impulse control during the mid-luteal phase (LP) versus during the late follicular phase (FP), we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with an event-related monetary delay discounting (EMDD) behavioral task (study 1) and then employed resting state (RS)-fMRI (study 2). The imaging data were analyzed and related to behavior-associated neural activation. In study 1, women in the late (...) FP showed a preference for sooner rewards while exhibiting enhanced activity in the dorsal striatum (DS), whereas women in the mid-LP showed a preference for delayed, higher-value rewards with enhanced activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Discount rate (transformed k) in the EMDD task correlated with functional connectivity (FC) of the DS-dlPFC circuitry, consistent with the possibility that DS-dlPFC circuitry may regulate impulsivity. In study 2, the right dlPFC was significantly more active in mid-LP than in late FP, and this effect was sensitive to estradiol (E2) and relative E2 levels during mid-LP. The magnitude of DS-dlPFC FC correlated negatively with psychometric impulsivity scores during the late FP. These results replicated findings from study 1 and further indicated that relative E2 levels may play an important role in increasing cognitive control during the mid-LP, which provides new insight into the treatment of conditions characterized by hyper-impulsivity, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, Parkinson disease, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In conclusion, our results suggest that cyclical gonadal hormones affect cognitive control on impulsive behavior periodically, possibility via DS-dlPFC circuitry. (shrink)

Memristor is the fourth basic electronic element discovered in addition to resistor, capacitor, and inductor. It is a nonlinear gadget with memory features which can be used for realizing chaotic, memory, neural network, and other similar circuits and systems. In this paper, a novel memristor-based fractional-order chaotic system is presented, and this chaotic system is taken as an example to analyze its dynamic characteristics. First, we used Adomian algorithm to solve the proposed fractional-order chaotic system and yield a chaotic phase (...) diagram. Then, we examined the Lyapunov exponent spectrum, bifurcation, SE complexity, and basin of attraction of this system. We used the resulting Lyapunov exponent to describe the state of the basin of attraction of this fractional-order chaotic system. As the local minimum point of Lyapunov exponential function is the stable point in phase space, when this stable point in phase space comes into the lowest region of the basin of attraction, the solution of the chaotic system is yielded. In the analysis, we yielded the solution of the system equation with the same method used to solve the local minimum of Lyapunov exponential function. Our system analysis also revealed the multistability of this system. (shrink)

Pain has not only sensory, but also emotional and cognitive, components. Some studies have explored the effect of pain on time perception, but the results remain controversial. Whether individual pain-related emotional and cognitive factors play roles in this process should also be explored. In this study, we investigated the effect of electrical stimulation–induced pain on interval timing using a temporal bisection task. During each task session, subjects received one of five types of stimulation randomly: no stimulus and 100 and 300 (...) ms of non-painful and painful stimulation. Pain-related emotional and cognitive factors were measured using a series of questionnaires. The proportion of “long” judgments of a 1,200-ms visual stimulus duration was significantly smaller with 300 ms painful stimulation than with no stimulus and 100 ms and 300 ms non-painful stimulation. The point of subjective equality did not differ among sessions, but the average Weber fraction was higher for painful sessions than for no-stimulus session. The pain fear score correlated positively with the PSE under 100 ms non-painful and painful and 300 ms painful stimulation. Pain catastrophizing and pain anxiety scores correlated significantly with the WF under no stimulus and 100 ms non-painful stimulation, respectively. These results suggest that electrical stimulation–induced pain affects temporal sensitivity, and that pain-related emotional and cognitive factors are associated with the processing of time perception. (shrink)

Electroacupuncture (EA) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are often used in the management of schizophrenia. This study sought to determine whether additional EA and ECT could augment antipsychotic response and reduce related side effects. In this retrospective controlled study, 287 hospitalized schizophrenic patients who received antipsychotics (controls, n = 50) alone or combined with EA (n = 101), ECT (n = 55) or both (EA+ECT, n = 81) were identified. EA and ECT were conducted for 5 and 3 sessions per week, (...) respectively, with a maximum of 12 sessions for ECT during hospitalization. The Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) and Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) were used to assess the severity of psychotic symptoms. Clinical response on SAPS and SANS, weight gain, and adverse events were compared. Survival analysis revealed that the ECT and EA+ECT groups had markedly greater clinical response rate than controls on SAPS [72.7% and 90.1% vs. 64.0%; relative risk (RR), 1.974 and 2.628, respectively, P ≤ 0.004] and on SANS (67.3% and 70.4% vs. 42.0%; RR, 1.951 and 2.009, respectively, P ≤ 0.015). A significantly greater response rate on SANS than controls was also observed in the EA group (64.4% versus 42.0%; RR = 1.938, P = 0.008). EA-containing regimens remarkably reduced weight gain and incidences of headache, insomnia, dry mouth, and electrocardiographic abnormalities. These results suggest that EA and ECT can serve as additional treatment for enhancing antipsychotic response and reduce the side effects in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. (shrink)

GraphicalPatients with early- to middle-stage PD were enrolled for C-Gait assessment and traditional walking ability assessments. The correlation of C-Gait assessment and traditional walking tests were studied. Two models were established based on C-Gait assessment and traditional walking tests to explore the value of C-Gait assessment in predicting freezing of gait.ObjectiveEfficient methods for assessing walking adaptability in individuals with Parkinson’s disease are urgently needed. Therefore, this study aimed to assess C-Gait for detecting freezing of gait in patients with early- to (...) middle-stage PD.MethodPeople with PD diagnosis were recruited from April 2019 to November 2019 in Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital. The participants performed six items of walking adaptability on an instrumented treadmill augmented with visual targets and obstacles. The patient’s walking adaptability was evaluated by C-Gait assessment and traditional walking tests, and FOG-related indexes were collected as outcome measures. Two discriminant models were established by stepwise discriminant analysis; area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was used to validate the models.ResultIn total, 53 patients were included in this study. Most C-Gait assessment items had no or low correlations with traditional walking tests. The obstacle avoidance and speed of adaptation items could lead to FOG with high sensitivity. In addition, the C-Gait assessment model had slightly better discrimination of freezers from non-freezers compared with traditional walking test models ; specifically, obstacle avoidance and speed of adaptation have uniquely discriminant potential.ConclusionC-gait assessment could provide additional value to the traditional walking tests for PD. Gait adaptability assessment, as measured by C-Gait, may be able to help identify freezers in a PD population. (shrink)

The biology major has developed rapidly in recent years. Biology is a science that penetrates every aspect of human life and is one of the core majors in most agricultural colleges and universities. However, many teachers lack practical experience in the subject. To overcome this problem, in recent years, we have been trying to introduce new reforms into our teaching. This article provides some insight into the way that biology majors have been reformed, which will help educators in agricultural colleges (...) and universities. At present, teachers implement the “Industrial Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talent Cultivation” model, but it is not clear whether this helps biology majors to master the course and improve their practical skills. In this study, the IIETC model is outlined, and the academic achievement and satisfaction of students taught under the IIETC model are assessed. A T-test is used to examine potential differences between IIETC and traditional teaching models. In-depth interviews and questionnaires were given to two groups of students who followed different teaching models as part of an exploratory study. The aim was to explore how effective IIETC is at helping biology majors master the course and improve students’ wellbeing. Our results show that compared with traditional teaching methods, the IIETC model has a significant positive impact on the academic performance and happiness of biology students. Students trained under the IIETC model were more active and scored more highly in their final exams. They were more likely to feel that they had achieved success and happiness through the course. The outcomes of this research reveal a novel teaching reform that improved students’ enthusiasm for innovation and entrepreneurship during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The effects are very encouraging and deserve further exploration and expansion in future work. (shrink)

volume 1. Yi tong ; Zhou yi jiang zuo -- volume 2. Zhou yi quan jie -- volume 3. "Zhou yi, Xi ci zhuan" xin bian xiang jie ; "Shang shu, Yu xia shu" xin jie -- volume 4. Zhongguo nu li she hui de ji ge wen ti ; Lun jing tian zhi du ; Zhongguo nu li she hui shi -- volume 5. Kongzi xin zhuan -- volume 6. Jing xue gai lun ; Xian Qin si xiang shi (...) ; Xian Qin si xiang shi zhuan ti jiang shou ti gang -- volume 7. Lun wen Jing xue bian, Shi xue bian -- volume 8. Lun wen Shi xue bian, Zi xue bian -- volume 9. Lun wen Zi xue bian, Xu ba bian, Za zhu bian ; Zi zhuan -- volume 10. Fu lu. (shrink)

Zhu Xi, the chief architect of neo-Confucian thought, affected a momentous transformation in Chinese philosophy. His ideas came to dominate Chinese intellectual life, including the educational and civil service systems, for centuries. Despite his influence, Zhu Xi is known as the great synthesizer and rarely appreciated as a thinker in his own right. This volume presents Zhu Xi as a major world philosopher, one who brings metaphysics and cosmology into attunement with ethical and social practice. Contributors from the English- and (...) Chinese-speaking worlds explore Zhu Xi s unique thought and offer it to the Western philosophical imagination. Zhu Xi s vision is critical, intellectually rigorous, and religious, telling us how to live in the transforming world of "li" the emergent, immanent, and coherent patternings of natural and human milieu.". (shrink)

_A reconsideration of Zhu Xi, known as the “great synthesizer” of Confucianism, which establishes him as an important thinker in his own right._.

Han Fei was a central figure in Chinese Legalism, which was a leading school of thought in the Warring States period of China, and which left a huge imprint on political culture in imperial China. This article examines the complex duality of public and private interests in Han Fei’s political thought, a crucial aspect of his thinking. I argue that Han Fei adopted a sophisticated statist approach to understanding public and private interests. For Han Fei, public interests are embodied in (...) the state while private ones have dual functions. On the one hand, private interests threaten public ones by inviting corrupt material interests, personal morality, and knowledge, as well as human relationships. On the other hand, self-centered human psychology plays a dialectic role in strengthening the state. (shrink)

本书是一本关于西方国家教育思想研究的书籍. 主要内容有: 卢梭的自然教育思想、杜威的教育本质论、柏拉图的教育理想国等.

本书是我国一部重要的思想资料选辑著作。本书分门别类为道体、为学、致知、存养、家道、克治、治体、政事、教学等十四卷。.

This book engages in cross-tradition scholarship, investigating the processes associated with cultivating or nurturing the self in order to live good lives. Both Ancient Chinese and Greek philosophers provide accounts of the life lived well: a Confucian junzi, a Daoist sage and a Greek phronimos. By focusing on the processes rather than the aims of cultivating a good life, an international team of scholars investigate how a person develops and practices a way of life especially in these two traditions. They (...) look at what is involved in developing practical wisdom, exercising reason, cultivating equanimity and fostering reliability. Drawing on the insights of thinkers including Plato, Confucius, Han Fei and Marcus Aurelius, they examine themes of harmony, balance and beauty, highlight the different concerns of scepticism across both traditions, and discuss action as an indispensable method of learning and, indeed, as constitutive of self. The result is a valuable collection opening up new lines of inquiry in ethics, demonstrating the importance of philosophical ideas from across cultural traditions. (shrink)

This study centers on a valuable specimen of the early vernacular Chinese novel, San Sui pingyao zhuan, to explore dynamic possibilities at the formative stage of the Chinese novel. Close inspection of the physical aspects of the extant edition of the work suggests it is a reprint bearing traces of multiple earlier editions. The analysis of the obscure chuanqi play Si xi ji shows that the story tradition of “Three Sui quelling the rebels” already existed in the mid-sixteenth century. San (...) Sui pingyao zhuan shares much common ground with early zaju drama, fifteenth-century cihua (chantefables), and pinghua (historical novels). Linking this novel with other early examples of popular literature that preceded or were contemporaneous with it, my study deepens our understanding of the formation of the early vernacular novel as well as the world of popular literature in which the novel was situated. (shrink)

By analyzing Zhu Xi and Zhang Zai’s three representative explanatory paradigms—that of Feng Youlan, Mou Zongsan and Zhang Dainian, the paper tries to show that studying Chinese philosophy in a Western way and emphasizing logical consistency will unavoidably lead to the defects of simplicity and partiality. In addition to Buddhism and Daoism, Song-Ming philosophy had also absorbed thoughts from the Pre-Qin, Han, Wei and Jin dynasties. The existence of multiple philosophical thoughts and their new synthesis lead to internal contradictions in (...) Song-Ming philosophy and Li Xue 理学 (Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties). The contradiction between the doctrine of tiandao 天道 (the way in which the world runs) and that of xinxing 心性 (mind and human nature) was even sharper. Li Xue and Xin Xue also overlapped one another. The transition from the doctrine of tiandao to that of xinxing was a long journey. It was begun by Zhu Xi in his later years, and was finally completed by Wang Yangming. Unveiling the complexity and special characteristics of Song-Ming philosophy is a task for scholars on the history of Chinese philosophy. (shrink)

Both Ancient Chinese and Greek philosophers provide accounts of the life lived well: a Confucian junzi, a Daoist sage and a Greek phronimos. Cultivation in Early China and Ancient Greece engages in comparative, cross-tradition scholarship and investigates the processes associated with cultivating or nurturing the self in order to live such lives. -/- By focusing on the processes rather than the aims of cultivating a good life, an international team of scholars investigate how a person develops and practices a way (...) of life. They look at what is involved in developing practical wisdom, exercising reason, cultivating equanimity and fostering reliability. Using the thought of those thinkers central to both traditions, including Plato, Confucius, Han Fei and Marcus Aurelius, they examine themes of harmony, balance and beauty, and highlight the different concerns of scepticism across both traditions. They also discuss the action of doing as an indispensable method of learning. As a result, Cultivation in Early China and Ancient Greece is a valuable collection opening up new lines of inquiry in ethics and demonstrating the importance of drawing on philosophical ideas from across cultural traditions. (shrink)