Inspire Summer Term 2020

INSPIRE Summer Term 2020 16th I s s u e

- Contents Eva Stuart – The Great Wall: China’s Troubled Attitude to Foreigners and its Historical Origins - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 Freddie Kottler – Thomas Young and Egyptology - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 Sophie Smith – The Building of the Forbidden City - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 Valentina Milne – Chinese Whispers: Is the Rumoured Downfall of the Chinese Economy Dependent on the Future of International Trade? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 Jonte Catton – Thomas Young and the Theory of Light - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13 Honor Mills – Mao’s approach to religions in China - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14 Charlie Wright – Introduction to Thomas Young - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16 Nadia Johnson – The religious functions of the Temple of Heaven - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18 Hugo Mayne – The Last Emperor Puyi and the End of the Empire - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21 Minty Corbett – The 2008 Beijing Olympics and the re-shaping of the city - - - - - - - - - - - - 23

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- Editorial Following on from the success of the Beijing and Thomas Young conspectuses, these last reviews of the year shed some more light into the intellectual curiosity of the Lower 6 scholars. th

Such was the nature of this summer term due to – we’re sure no one needs reminding – Covid-19, it was with slight sadness that the annually anticipated scholars’ trip to Bristol was cancelled. Determined not to let this fact hinder an opportunity for scholarship, this merry band of scholars turned their focus to a new project which encompassed a vast range of topics from modern architecture in Beijing and the origins of gunpowder to the Egyptology of the polymath Thomas Young. While the challenge of trying to coordinate a weekly scholars’ meeting on zoom – including varying degrees from the Greenwich Prime Meridian and varying degrees of forgetfulness – made for a seemingly impossible task, the scholars, in true Marlburian style, produced some gleaming compositions of academic exploration.

These took the form of articles, a selection of which are included in this term’s edition, as well as some thoroughly insightful presentations as part of the Beijing aspect of the project.

This year has certainly been one to remember, and while unique in terms of academic learning, it is clear to see the ‘Marlburian way’ of striving forwards remains unchanged. As this is our final edition of the year, huge thanks must be said to Mr Moule, whose knowledge and guidance is always available and very much appreciated. Lastly, thanks to you, our readers, we hope we have managed to share a small part of our academic passions with you over the course of this past year, and indeed have Inspired at least some of you.

Keep well and we hope you enjoy this final edition!

Rose and Sasha

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Eva Stuart – The Great Wall: China’s Troubled Attitude to Foreigners and its Historical Origins There is little doubt that there is at least something of a degree of hostility between China and the West- the Hong Kong protests, the demonstrations at the flame-carrying relay at the 2008 Olympics and the 1999 NATO bombing of the embassy in Belgrade are some examples of why a somewhat suspicious mentality can be seen to be maintained on either side.

Additionally, the experience of the “century of humiliation”- the Chinese term for the intervention of Western Powers, Russia and Japan from 1839-1949 is perhaps a further explanation of this. This article seeks to show that this hostility towards foreigners extends back beyond the 19 and 20 centuries and that any persisting suspicion has perhaps been embedded as a mindset over the course of China's history. Perhaps the suggestion of a longstanding rejection of foreign intervention is best epitomised in the Great Wall that stretches 13,171 miles across the region. th

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The Great Wall of China is perhaps, to Western society, one of the most ubiquitous characteristics of the country: it seems to be commonly known about (I, for one, did a project on it in Year Three- a horrendous poster full of bad handwriting and gleaming with gold glitterglue stars on red sugar-paper). I confess that the only things I really knew about the wall- and walls in general- prior to researching this were rather callow: that the Great Wall can be seen from outer space (it can’t- look it up), that a certain American President ever-charmingly threatened to “build a wall and make Mexico pay for it”, and that the British constructed a rather ridiculous-sounding “Great Hedge” in India in lieu of bricks and mortar in the 19 century (they did- look it up).

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Armed with this rather useless knowledge and appalled by my lack thereof about the Great Wall of China, I began my research. The history is fascinating and spans centuries, and it raised, for me, questions about China’s attitude to foreigners throughout its time. The wall was built progressively through various dynasties, but fundamentally began its existence as a series of connected fortifications under the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huang, for his newly founded Qin dynasty against incursions from nomads from Inner Asia. The wall seems to epitomise an image of hostility, but this projection is given a great deal of context when considering the country’s history, and the troubled relationships it has had with foreign interaction.

One of the first most prominent examples of foreign engagement that may have helped cultivate something of a hostile mindset was the invasion of the Mongols under Genghis Khan.

From 1205, the Mongols invaded the Chinese states, and perhaps here a degree of hostility is understandable when considering the fact that they torched the land and dominated the battlefield with highly sophisticated weaponry. Their relentlessness is perhaps best exemplified in their re-invading in 1209, advancing along the Yellow River and then digging ditches and destroying dams in an attempt to divert the river to hit the city of Beijing: spoilerit utterly failed and drowned their own camp- and yet they still were not deterred, invading the neighbouring Ching state in 1211. The social unrest inevitably caused by the Mongol invasion- the southern Song dynasty was initially firmly allied with them before they too were invaded after the Ching emperor agreed to become a vassal state- is perhaps an example of why such fear arose from foreign invasion. War against the Mongols only ended in 1271, when

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Kublai Khan proclaimed the Yuan dynasty after the Song were defeated at the battle of Yamen. However, even the outstanding facts of the Mongol rule support the notion that a distrust of foreigners has been long-embedded in the native thought. The heavy taxation produced class conflict, and the Mongols arguably never attempted to fully integrate themselves with the Chinese people, thereby encouraging hostile feelings of “us” suppressed by “them”: they introduced the four -class system, a legal caste system placing Mongols hierarchically at the top. This system caused ethnic contradictions and segregation, and the dissatisfaction of the natives is apparent in the 1351 “Army with Red Head Scarves” peasant uprising. The Yuan dynasty was overthrown and Zhu Yuanzhang subsequently established the Ming dynasty in 1368.

A further example of the cultivation of a hostile attitude can be perceived in the invasion of 120,000 Manchus, who established the Qing dynasty following the collapse of the Ming empire in 1644. Essentially a tribal society, they were organised into eight “banners”: social military organisations that transcended the tribal groupings. Whilst they can be seen to have integrated with regard to adopting literary styles and approaches to academia, there persisted nonetheless something of a society within a society that served to separate the Manchus from those they had invaded. They were careful to maintain their own identity from their Han subjects- for example, they did not pursue the tradition of foot-binding. Whilst they gained the support of the intellectuals, they nonetheless were dismissed as barbaric because of their lack of adherence to older traditions. This inability to sinicise and consequent lack of integration and unity arguably perpetuated a dislike of foreign rule. This dislike is apparent in the fact that there was serious economic decline in the 18 and 19 centuries and thus nationalistic feelings were aroused, with secret nationalistic societies set up in private revolt again the Qing rule. Ultimately, a Kingdom of Heavenly Peace- a mixture of Christianity and Confucianism- was proclaimed by Hong Xiuquan, who claimed to be the brother of Jesus, causing the Taiping rebellion of 1851-64. This situation eventually devolved into total war- Ian Morris labelled it the “world’s last traditional war”- and perhaps can display the way that foreign invasion and subsequent lack of unification amongst different peoples in the same region provoked the rupturing of systems. th

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The fall of the Qing dynasty coincided with another example of foreign invasion that, whilst it did not form a dynasty, certainly be seen to have perpetuated a suspicion and a somewhat enduring dislike of the West. The British maritime success and consequent flourishing of their East India Company lead to their seeking an expanded market for tea across the globe. This was initially rejected by the Chinese- the Chinese government only wanted silver in exchange for goods- but the opium was accepted by the Chinese people. However, where the British and Indians ate and drank the opium, the Chinese smoked it- a far more potent means of consuming it. This led to Daoguang declaring a war on drugs in 1839, and thus began the Opium Wars. It is apparent that the way in which the British company relentlessly fed drugs to the Chinese people that they had little thought for those people but rather for the profit that could be obtained. Rather understandably, a significant dislike for this callous disregard prompted perhaps lasting feelings of suspicion.

Exacerbating these contemporary hostilities was an event that still rankles- the sacking of the Summer Palace. In 1860, during the Second Opium Wars, the British and French forces burned the Old Summer Palace, to the northwest of Beijing, and, as one soldier recorded “Officers

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and men seemed to have been seized with temporary insanity. In body and in soul they seemed absorbed in one pursuit which was plunder, plunder.” The Chinese are still taught about it, learning that it was called Yuanmingyuan- the Garden of Perfect Brightness- and how, under the command of Lord Elgin, the palace was burned. Following the looting, the palace was ordered to be razed in retaliation to the arrest and torture of some of the delegation- an observer recorded that “Mr Bowlby died…of maggots forming in his wrist.. his body remained there for nearly three days and the next day it was tied to a cross beam and thrown over the wall to be eaten by dogs and pigs.” The Chinese people, enraged at this savage destruction, cried out “Kill the foreign devils! Kill the foreign devils!”. Victor Hugo decried “what Civilisation had done to Barbarity”. This feeling of outrage has become entrenched and unhealed, with the remains of the palace have become a deeply revered site for the Chinese. Scholars and researchers continue the pursuit of re-obtaining the stolen property (about 1.5 million ancient relics were stolen, as well as a rare breed of dog taken back to England for Queen Victoria, who named him Looty): Niu Xianfeng, the general director of the National Treasures Fund has declared that “China will never give up the right to bring these looted or stolen treasures back”. There was widespread outrage at the auctioning of a relic by Christie’s in Paris in 2009- clearly, the event is remembered as a humiliation and the lack of repatriation of the plunder serves only to exacerbate this. During the Communist- led Cultural Revolution of the 1960s “some remnants of the Summer palace were literally slashed with knives by Red Guards” (Vera Schwarcz), but following the Tianamen Square protests in 1989 nationalistic memories were revived. The enduring recollection of this event may well help account for a modern suspicion.

These are but a few examples, but regarding them holistically it is possible to conclude that any prevailing feelings of hostility that may be identified in this modern world towards the West are somewhat due to a persisting recollection of past foreign interaction. The Great Wall of China, sprawling 13,171 miles across the country, dually epitomises an enduring suspicion, whilst also serving to represent how the country’s history can, at least in part, help explain it.

Bibliography: • (Book) Why the West Rules (For Now)- Ian Morris.

• (Article) Sack of the Summer Palace- James Beresford, The International Review of Ancient Art and Archaeology. https://www.academia.edu/10930548/Sack_of_the_Summer_Palace_2010_ • (Article) Recent Changes in China’s Attitude to Foreign Countries- Dr. Hans J. Hendrischke, JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20635550?seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents • (Article) A Brief History of the Old Summer Palace- Tom Smith, Culture Trip. https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-old-summer-palace/ • (Article) The Palace of Shame that Makes China Angry- Chris Bowlby, BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30810596 • (Article) The British and the French at their Worst? Scarlett Zhu, History is Now. http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2016/3/6/the-british-and-french-at-their-worst-the-burning-ofchinas-magnificent-summer-palace#.Xsehyy-ZM_U=ch

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Freddie Kottler – Thomas Young and Egyptology During the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, led by Napoleon, in July of 1799 a slab of granitoid was discovered by soldiers in the Egyptian village of Rashid (Rosetta). The laternamed ‘Rosetta Stone’ was covered in engravings of three different languages: the top third was previously undecipherable Hieroglyphs; the second, then-unknown Demotic; and the third, ancient Greek; it features a decree given by Ptolemy V in 196 BC. The final line of Greek, which was easily translated, revealed that each portion was equivalent in meaning.

Following the British invasion in 1801, the original stone was confiscated and carried to England where it was put on display in the British Museum until 1814 when the intellectual ‘phenomenon’, Thomas Young, turned his marvellous mind to cracking the ancient codes. Previously, Young had studied and worked professionally as a physician and continued to do so with his study of languages on the side. From a young age he had been acquainted with a vast array of languages: ancient Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Hebrew, German, Aramaic, Syriac, Samaritan, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Amharic, and so it is no surprise that, while writing a review of a book on the history of languages by German linguist, Johann Christoph Adelung, in 1813, his inquisitive mind fixed on a note from the book’s editor which presented the idea that the Demotic language on the Rosetta stone ‘…was capable of being analysed into an alphabet consisting of little more than thirty letters’. Intrigued by the possibility of decoding not one but two unknown languages, Young spent the next four years attempting to do so.

In 1819 Young published his findings in a supplement for the Encyclopaedia Britannica, titled ‘Egypt’, in which he laid out his belief that Demotic was an intimidation of Hieroglyphs; the language seemed to consist of fragments of hieroglyphic symbols mixed with letters of an alphabet, therefore indicating that Demotic contained symbolic and phonetic elements. Young also pointed out the six identical ‘cartouches’, which are the ovals surrounding certain letters to indicate royal names, and he came to the conclusion, with the aid of the Greek text, that they were referring to Ptolemy. In turn, using a Turing-esque method, he broke down the cartouches to work out which phonetic symbols had been used to spell ‘Ptolemy’. Of course he could not completely crack the code using this breakthrough alone, but a breakthrough it was, nonetheless. In his article he managed to give phonetic values for 13 hieroglyphic symbols, which he labelled ‘Sounds?’. This allowed him to include translations of 200 hieroglyphic proper names, numerals, non-Egyptian words, etc. With regards to Demotic, he included in his article 218 translated words and a ‘supposed…alphabet’ for the Demotic script.

It would have been difficult for Young’s work not to inspire deeper study from other fellow academics, and surely enough a certain Monsieur Jean-François Champollion did just this in September 1822 at a meeting of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris, as he read out his paper. While impressed by Champollion’s work, Young was displeased by the lack of credit given to his own work which undoubtedly provided the platform for Champollion’s study. Back and forth this unspoken competition went, with Young firing back with his book about further hieroglyphic discoveries and Egyptian antiquities on the cover of which was written the almost goading subtitle “Including the author’s original alphabet, as extended by Mr Champollion”.

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Despite Young’s best efforts it would seem that his French counterpart pipped him to the post in 1824 with his book laying out his complete decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Following this, Young received criticism from his Italian colleague, Amedro Peyron who wrote to him saying “…there is universal regret that your versatility is so widely engaged in the sciences – medicine, astronomy, analysis etc etc that you are unable to press on with your discoveries and bring them to that pitch of perfection which we have the right to expect from aa man of your conspicuous talents’. Young’s response to this is evidence of his admirable determination as he, at last, decided to focus his brilliant mind and he devoted his last few years to further decipherment of Demotic and he proved any cynics wrong with the publishing of his rudimentary Egyptian dictionary two years after his death in 1831.

As I hope I have demonstrated here, it is only right to don Young the title of Father of Egyptology and it is a sad thing that he is often left uncredited for his work in setting the hieroglyphic ball rolling. His work has provided a foundation for almost two centuries worth of linguistic, historical, philosophical and archaeological discoveries, and so much more.

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Sophie Smith – The Building of the Forbidden City Looking on at the striking symmetry and meticulous order of Beijing’s Forbidden City is an extraordinary sight. The yellow-orange glow of rooftop tiles, the careful alignment of forms and spacious aesthetics is demonstrative of an ultra-organised culture, full of grandeur and confidence. The construction of the Forbidden City was begun in 1406 by the third emperor of the Ming dynasty, under whom the capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing – a move prompted by the need for a more advantageous position against the Mongols. The walled complex was from then on to be the residence of the emperor, and an area from which the population of the surrounding Imperial city was barred from entering, unless under specific and rare permission from the emperor. The city, completed in 1421, was no ordinary construction, nor was its location a chance selection. Every aspect of its being was carefully considered in a thorough and scrupulous attempt to adhere to the traditional rules and principles of Chinese geomancy.

There were two ancient principles in particular which have influenced the construction of all Chinese building complexes for most of the country’s history: the principles of Feng Shui, and the Yin and Yang. The Yin and Yang refer to the existence of opposite but complementary forces, which act as a symbol of balance, symmetry and order – ideas which were central not only to construction, but also to daily life. Feng Shui, which can be otherwise thought of as Chinese Geomancy, was the method by which the Chinese would establish the location of a settlement, with the aim to align the site with the forces of the Ying and Yang. The location of a city, as well as the sacred significance of particular places, were fundamental considerations, and so required much careful planning. Feng Shui was based on the idea of energy in the universe which was in constant flow, and it was the study of this good energy, or Qi, which signalled whether a particular location would be suited to the functioning of society. This idea echoes a principle of Chinese philosophy, specifically Taoism, which stresses the need for humanity to follow the Dao – to live in harmony with nature and the universe, and to achieve perfect balance in life. Location was, therefore, of vast significance. Feng Shui outlined the ideals and requirements a location ought to have. One example is an important idea which can be seen not just in Beijing but in sites all over China – the need for mountains to the north and water to the south, presumably for some kind of protection or harmonisation with Qi. Further requirements outlined the need for structures to be orientated on a northsouth axis, with the most important buildings facing south to honour the sun.

In reality, the conditions were so specific and numerous as for it to be almost impossible for perfect Feng Shui to be achieved. However, in the building of Beijing and the Forbidden City at this time during the Ming dynasty, we can observe arguably the most successful and completely thorough attempt to create the model city. According to the Feng Shui practice, a north-south axis line runs through the complex, along which the great halls and palaces are aligned centrally. This directional alignment was of central importance and can still be seen with some modern Chinese buildings to this day, as with the building of the Beijing Olympic stadium in 2008. The number nine and its multiples were used extensively in the practice of Feng Shui, and in this respect the designers of the Forbidden city again show extraordinary adherence to these principles; the city contains 9,999 buildings, with nine brass water jugs, and nine carved animals guarding the roofs of most important buildings. The man-made river (Jingshui) and hill (Jingshan) are located south and north of the city respectively, in addition

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to altars devoted to cosmic bodies such as the sun, moon and heaven which occupy the periphery and are also carefully positioned. These are only a small number of the countless symbols and features which were so thoroughly considered.

A great awareness of cosmology can also be seen to have had a more direct influence on the layout of Chinese cities, and the Forbidden City in particular. The fundamental belief of Taoist philosophy was to live in harmony with the universe and accept the hierarchies of heaven, and so it follows that there was great interest in what could be seen of the heavens above.

The ‘Purple Forbidden Enclosure’ was one of a group of constellations observed, and clear links can be drawn between it and the Forbidden City; two longer lines of stars act as boundaries, like the outer walls of the city, which enclose within them a number of smaller constellations, one of which is the pole star, representing the emperor. Likewise, the emperor’s residence in the Forbidden City lay centrally among surrounding structures and all within the enclosing walls. While this link between constellations and the city can perhaps be drawn, it does seem unlikely that the curves and organic forms of the night sky should lead the Chinese to construct such a geometric and exact complex. However, despite this initial appearance, curves were also of great importance, as can be seen in the arc of the tiled roofs and in several circular temples, such as the Temple of Heaven in south-east Beijing. In many instances, circles were seen to symbolise heaven, while squares were representative of the earth.

All of these systems and requirements, the use of Feng Shui, Yin-Yang and the cosmos show the intriguing beliefs and priorities of traditional China. Yet the design of the Forbidden City goes further towards absolute order and hierarchical ordering, as can be seen in the architecture of the buildings themselves. Height was a particularly important aspect.

Traditionally Chinese palaces and temples were very low when compared to Western cathedrals of the same period, and this was most likely a result of the Taoist desire to harmonise with nature and fit in with the landscape. The limitations of timber, the material predominantly used, was also a barrier to the construction of tall buildings. Within the city however, differences in height were made to distinguish between buildings – a relatively taller structure typically signalled that the building was of great importance, and those select few which were raised on a three-tiered platform held particular significance. The most important hall in the Forbidden City, the ‘Hall of Supreme Harmony’, was the tallest building within the complex, and it was forbidden that any taller structure could be built. Along with height, colour was another clear indicator of importance, with yellow tiles permitted only on the roofs of buildings that had been commissioned or funded by the emperor. Yellow was particularly significant as it was associated with power, the earth, and symbolised the central authority of the emperor. Yet colour could also have a purpose; black, the colour symbolising water, was used for the tiles of the imperial library in order to ensure that precious documents would be protected in the case of a fire.

The level of thorough consideration and conscious effort that was invested in the building of the Forbidden City is evident merely from looking at the order and symmetry of the aligned buildings. Yet delving further into the practices and principles of Chinese geomancy and cosmological ideas, and the influence this had on the city itself, reveals another fascinating layer of complication and symbolism. What I find most striking is the sheer level of order in the structures, so different to the sprawling complexity of a medieval city in the West. In the

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Forbidden City, the design of every street and every roof strives to follow what were believed to be the rules of the cosmos, and in doing so present a sense of such control and grandeur still potent to onlookers today.

The Forbidden City Palace Complex - By Vicky T on Unsplash

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Valentina Milne – Chinese Whispers: Is the Rumoured Downfall of the Chinese Economy Dependent on the Future of International Trade?

With China itself considered to have the fastest growing major economy in the world, it is no surprise that its capital city, Beijing, contributes to around $314 billion of the world’s GDP. Albeit that finance is the most prosperous industry within Beijing, its future surrounding the world of international trade is at risk of depletion on account of the recent COVID-19 struggles that have changed the world as we know it. It is evident that the restrictions put in place, in an attempt to control the virus, have disrupted the rapidly growing economy of China. Could this be the beginnings of a downfall of the Chinese economy?

Throughout history, China has been known to withhold a strong economy but in the recent decades it has grown like no other. However, in the 1970s after the death of Mao Ze Dong, China was far behind in not only the industrialized nations of Europe and the West but the more prosperous neighboring countries of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. While these countries were rivalling the rapid modernization of the West, the Chinese people were suffering from a shortage of food, housing and clothes. Furthermore, the service sector was poor and inefficient after an attempt at reflecting the economic model of the USSR that they implemented for several decades. Evident that this had failed them, it was then Deng Xiaoping who set in motion a series of reforms that would eventually take China to where they are today.

1982 saw the introduction of China to the Global Market, a change that has shaped the way China interacts with the world's economy today. Legalization of several trade and credit arrangements between private sector companies allowed China to catch up to the speed of modern international trade. Furthermore, the legalization of foreign direct investments into China brought large companies and modern technology straight into its borders. Domestic free markets were encouraged by further liberalization of restrictions meaning an increasing number of citizens could participate within the trading sector of the world’s economy and earn a viable income. Little did they know that the overly liberalized restrictions of these domestic markets, such as the ‘wet market,’ could be the cause of a global pandemic resulting in a severe disruption of this rapidly growing economy.

As the second largest ‘first-tier' city in terms of GDP, Beijing is home to most of China’s largest state-owned companies as well as housing the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the country. However, Beijing is centered mainly around financial investment and despite feeling the aftermath of possible economic depletion, the primary effects of COVID-19 will be felt in China’s rapidly growing coastal provinces. Due to various trade restrictions, a severe impact on shipping has taken place and Chinese ports have only been filled to around 10% of their former capacity. There is a lower demand for commodities and raw materials around the world given the apparent ‘freeze’ on activity during this pandemic, meaning freight fares have decreased massively. Supply chains have been disrupted both within China and internationally meaning trade wars are a possible imminent effect. For a country such as China, so dependent on its international trade and relations to feed its booming economy, these restrictions and decrease in income could be catastrophic.

Furthermore, even within Beijing, the labor-intensive nature of Chinese work surrounding textiles and clothing is affected due to the contagious nature of COVID-19. Even before the

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virus hit the rest of the world, an estimated drop of $50 billion in the Chinese economy took place due to the significant decrease in production of materials.

Both China and the rest of the world have felt the damaging effects of this global pandemic and scientists predict the worst is still to come. The question now comes down to whether the Chinese economy, centered and most prevalent in its capital city Beijing, is durable enough to withstand the damaging effects that entail. Furthermore, could the downfall of one of the most influential economies in the world cause international trade disputes on a global scale?

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Jonte Catton – Thomas Young and the Theory of Light Thomas Young started life as a physician and a physicist and it was his interest in the lens of the eyes that made him want to study light more.

He started by establishing the principle that light experienced interference and thus by this principle could show that light exhibits wave-like properties. This is shown by doing Young’s double slit experiment where there are many bands of brightness and darkness. This interference was demonstrated first by using a tank of water and showing how the waves going through two slits would interact, and then by comparing it to the results of doing the same thing with light so that he could make a parallel with the wave nature of light and water.

Young's wave theory of light, even though the theory could explain colours of thin films like soap bubbles and even approximate wavelengths from Newton’s seven prism colours, was mostly disfavoured by scientists of his time as this opposed Newton’s prevalent theory that light was a particle, a theory that was over a century old that was first written in Newton’s book Opticks.

Young also observed that even without a prism you could observe the diffraction of light. All you need is a piece of card and to make a small beam of sunlight, which could be done by partially closing the curtains. You then place the card perpendicular with the beam of light and ensure that one of the edges of the card is in the beam of the light. This will allow you to see light diffracting around the paper and even have light separate as different colours diffract differently Because Young was intensely interested in the eye, he studied colour perception and wanted to figure out how the eye could perceive so many colours without almost infinite separate mechanisms for perceiving each wavelength of light. He went on to develop the three-colour theory alongside a German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz, which shows that the primary colours which make up light are red, green and blue, and that these colours can be used to create the colours of almost everything around us.

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Honor Mills – Mao’s approach to religions in China On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong, leader and founding member of the Chinese Communist Party, declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Immediately, Chairman Mao and other Communist leaders set out to reshape Chinese society, establishing a policy of state atheism, amongst other things. Initially, religious practices weren’t suppressed although popular religious movements were viewed as potentially seditious. Mao himself expressed a strong personal antipathy to religion, comparing the Christian missionaries in China to the Nazis in Europe. Supposedly, the triumph of the workers, who were now in power, had ended the need for such escapism as religion, in all its many forms. Religious worship had been replaced by loyalty to the state. As American historian, Arthur Waldron, put it, “Communism was, in effect, a religion for its early Chinese converts; more than a sociological analysis, it was a revelation and a prophecy that engaged their entire beings and was expounded in sacred texts”. In many ways, religious worship had been replaced by loyalty to the party and the state, as was expected of the people of China. st

The persecution began with the forcible closure of Christian churches and the seizure or destruction of their property. Christianity and Islam, the major foreign religions, were soon forbidden from being openly practiced. Priests and monks were prohibited from wearing their customary attire while foreign clergymen and women were expelled from the country all together. Even the Chinese traditional faiths, including Buddhism and Confucianism, were treated in a similar manner. Furthermore, the time-honoured customs and rituals of the peasants, such as songs and dances performed at weddings and festivals, and chants that had accompanied their work in the fields, were banned. Bear in mind that Mao was especially wary of religious movements in the countryside, more so than urban areas. Presumably, this was because of the ability for counter-revolutionary, or as the Chinese Communist Party called it, revisionist, sentiment to spread unbeknown to Communist leaders.

While the vast majority of religious organisations were condemned by the government, those that entailed the ancestral tradition of consolidated rule were somewhat tolerated. An example of this is the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, a Protestant organisation unique to the People’s Republic of China, the three principles being self-governance, self-support, meaning financial independence from other countries, and self-propagation, entailing indigenous missionary work. Thus, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, which renounced foreign control and foreign funding as imperialist, shared much of the same ideologies as the government itself. They hoped that permitting the TSPM would not only give the government the appearance of tolerance but also reinforce the CCP ideologies in an ecclesiastical context.

Consequently, there was a sharpening of conflict between the People’s Republic and the Vatican which condemned the imprisonment or expulsion of clergymen, amongst other things. Although the TSPM too was banned during the Cultural Revolution, 1966-76, its permit earlier on is demonstrative of the objection to religion being an objection to anything that undermines the authority of the party and the state.

The persecution intensified during the Cultural Revolution which aimed to purge the country of ‘impure’ elements and revive the revolutionary spirit, essentially an attempt to reassert control over the party and the state by obliterating enemies, whether real or imaginary. This involved a systematic effort to destroy religion, including Confucianism, commonly

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considered a system of thought and behaviour rather than a religion. The name Confucius, that of the founder of Confucianism, was linked to any individual, organisation or movement that the authorities wished to denounce, becoming a standard term of abuse. The Cultural Revolution encompassed the bulk of the physical persecution of religious personnel and property. On the 1 June 1966, the People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece newspaper of the PRC and still that of China, encouraged the population to “clear away the evil habits of the old society” by launching an all-out assault on “monsters and demons”. During August, Red Guards, groups of militant students formed into paramilitary units, were urged to destroy the “four olds”; old ideas, old customs, old habits and old culture, essentially everything that religion represents. They roamed the streets of the cities of China, including Beijing, attacking those with “bourgeois” clothing, reactionary haircuts and the clergy who hadn’t yet been imprisoned and dared to walk around in their traditional attire. Much of the country's cultural heritage was destroyed in violent demonstrations involving the tearing down of religious buildings and the destruction of irreplaceable objects and relics. st

A popular chant of the Cultural Revolution was a quote of Mao’s, “a revolution is not a dinner party or writing an essay or painting a picture or doing embroidery. A revolution is an interaction, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.” For many, this chant legitimised the acts of brutality committed against both religious personnel, encouraging the utmost atrocities, including public humiliation, beating, seizure of property and imprisonment. Bear in mind that although historians believe between 500,000 and 2 million people died as a result of the Cultural Revolution, religion had been largely stamped out by this point and during the early stages of the socio-political movement. Members of the Five Black Categories were supposedly prosecuted more harshly during the period.

All in all, Mao was unbelievably intolerant of all different types of religion in China, including Confucianism which doesn’t in fact classify as a religion. This was due to the threat religion posed to the party and the state as they had the potential to recognise a higher authority and demand the divided attention of the population.

Mao intended for the people of the People’s Republic to embrace Maoism as their new faith.

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Charlie Wright – Introduction to Thomas Young Young was one of the greatest polymaths to ever exist and excelled in many areas: linguistics, biology, history, music, and in the field of physics. This vast array of knowledge has earned him the nickname ‘The last man who knew everything’. Young viewed himself primarily as a doctor, resigning as a professor in 1803 due to its disruption of his medical practice.

Thomas young is responsible for discovering a host of conundrums: in language, he created a universal phonetic alphabet, he did this unplanned and only because he did not want to leave pages of his book blank, he writes ‘as not to leave these pages blank’, furthermore, he translated the enchorial (rare) texts on the Rosetta stone a feat which was never done before.

In medicine he devised the dosage of medicinal drugs for children, saving lives to this day. In music he developed new tuning methods.

All these discoveries alone would earn him the name polymath however his most famous discoveries were in the field of physics. His most important discoveries were: Wave-particle duality and the Young’s Modulus.

Thomas Young’s discovery of wave-particle duality is impressive as beforehand everyone believed that light was a particle or a wave however he managed to prove that it was both a particle and a wave, his experiment was simple by modern standards however he also had to create a (very weak) laser, his was not a true laser as it was not created by (Light Amplification

by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) however it shared all the same properties-it was coherent. The coherent light passed through two slits a small distance apart, if light were just a particle you would expect two lights to form on the screen beyond the slits. Instead, as Young predicted, a series of alternating light and dark patches appeared on the screen that shows that the light diffracts and therefore light must be a wave. The light forms patches of light and dark as the peaks of light from one slit interacts with the peak of light from the other slit to form a light patch, this is constructive interference. When a peak meets with a trough a dark patch forms, this is destructive interference. The discovery of duality allowed others such as Einstein, de Broglie, and Bohr to discover much more, it allowed the discovery of quantum mechanics, which research is still going into, to this day.

The discovery of Young’s Modulus had more effect in his time as it allowed people to scientifically consider what materials to use in the construction of anything. Young’s modulus claims that where E is a constant for a specific material. The lower the value of e the more flexible the material. This is helpful for an object like the wires in suspension bridges, whereas the walls of a building would want a high value for E. Although relatively simple people struggled to understand it at the time, with this letter being sent to him "The modulus of the elasticity of any substance is a column of the same substance, capable of producing a pressure on its base which is to the weight causing a certain degree of compression as the length of the substance is to the diminution of its length." When this explanation was put to the Lords of the Admiralty, their clerk wrote to Young saying, "Though science is much respected by their Lordships and your paper is much esteemed, it is too learned ... in short it is not understood."

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Young should undoubtedly go down in history as one of the greatest polymaths his discoveries were not fully appreciated in his time yet allowed others to discover the majority of discoveries in physics in the 20 century. th

Laser light show in Singapore

By Siti Rahmanah Mat Daud on Unsplash

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Nadia Johnson – The religious functions of the Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven (Simplified Chinese: 天坛 Tiāntán, meaning ‘Heaven Temple’ or ‘Altar of Heaven’[1]) is a religious building complex located in Beijing, China. Described as a masterpiece of ancient Chinese architecture, the temple holds significant religious symbolism and has been a key site of prayer and worship since its construction.

Context: construction of the temple The Yongle emperor, personal name Zhu Di, was the third emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644 CE). One of the most significant events of his reign, which lasted from 1402 to 1424, was the transfer of the national capital from Nanjing, located in east-central China, to Beijing, in the north.

This relocation reflected the country’s shift in focus from the southern oceans to the northern land frontiers.[2] It was from 1406 to 1420, during this re-establishment of China’s capital, that the Temple of Heaven was built along with the Forbidden City, also in Beijing. In 1918 the Temple of Heaven was opened to the public, and in 1998 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.[3] The Temple covers 2.73km of land[4] and comprises three main buildings, built in a straight line.

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The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests 祈年殿 (1420) After its construction, the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would visit the complex annually to worship and send prayers to Heaven for good harvest.[5] This took place in the main building of the complex, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿 Qínián Diàn ‘Pray-Year Hall’).

The hall has three concentric circles of wooden columns, symbolising the four seasons, 12 months and 12 hours in a day. These support its three-tiered roof, a square brace (representing earth), circular architrave (representing Heaven) and vast interior cupola*.[6] The hall’s three-level roof is supported by 28 large pillars.[7] After being destroyed by a lightning strike in 1889, the main hall was rebuilt. * cupola = a dome on top of a building.[8]

[1]

Tang, Cindy. “The Temple of Heaven: Interesting Intro, Expert Guide.” China Highlights, 29 Oct. 2019, www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/attraction/temple-of-heaven.htm.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Tang, Cindy. “The Temple of Heaven: Interesting Intro, Expert Guide.” China Highlights, 29 Oct. 2019, www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/attraction/temple-of-heaven.htm.

[4] Damian Harper, Beijing. Lonely Planet City Guide (Melbourne: Lonely Planet, 2005), 68.

[5] New World Encyclopedia writers. “Temple of Heaven.” Temple of Heaven - New World Encyclopedia, 21 Jan. 2020, www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Temple_of_Heaven.

[6] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Temple of Heaven.”

Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 Aug. 2019, www.britannica.com/topic/Temple-ofHeaven.

[7] Ibid, 4.

[8] "CUPOLA: Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary.” Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cupola.

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The Imperial Vault of Heaven 皇穹宇 (1530, rebuilt 1572) The Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇 Huáng Qióngyǔ ‘Imperial Dome-Room’) is smaller in size than the Hall of Prayer, of which it lies south. The circular building, which lies on a single level with a marble foundation, was constructed without cross beams[9], and its dome is held up by complex span work. Surrounding the Vault of Heaven is a smooth circular wall known as ‘the Echo Wall’, which can transmit sounds over long distances.[10] Also around the Vault are the Three Echo Stone and Dialogue Stone. The Imperial Vault of Heaven was dedicated to housing ‘God’s tablets’,[11] which were used in the prayer ceremony for good harvest.

Circular Mound Altar 圜丘坛 (built 1530, rebuilt 1740) The Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛 Huán Qiū Tán ‘Encircling Mound Altar’) is located south of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, originally built by Jiajing emperor in 1530. It is a three-layered altar made of marble, and the site of winter solstice ceremonies. At the center of the altar is a round slate known as ‘the Heart of Heaven’ (天心石 Tiānxīn Shí ‘Heaven-Heart Stone’), where the emperor would pray for good weather conditions.[12] The altar is enclosed by two sets of walls: a square wall on the outside and a round wall on the inside. The symbolism in the Temple of Heaven’s geometric shapes is evident: the square shape, facing the external world, represents earth, whilst the round shape, facing the altar, represents Heaven.

Heaven and Earth The Temple of Heaven has been described as ‘the most representative example of Chinese ritual architecture’.[13] Its symbolic layout holds significant meaning concerning the belief in cosmological laws at the time[14], which were thought to hold fundamental truths about the universe. The buildings, including their arrangement, design, and overall structure, are reflections of the perceived relationship between two worlds: heaven and earth. The layout of the Temple of Heaven as a whole represents the belief that the earth is square while heaven is round.

Numerology, which I will discuss in the following paragraph, also played a vital role in the temple’s construction, with symbolic numbers used throughout its design.

[9]

Ibid, 3.

New World Encyclopedia writers. “Temple of Heaven.” Temple of Heaven - New World Encyclopedia, 21 Jan. 2020, www.ne wworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Temple_of_Heaven.

[11] Ibid, 6.

[12] Tang, Cindy. “The Temple of Heaven: Interesting Intro, Expert Guide.” China Highlights, 29 Oct. 2019, www.chinahighlights. com/beijing/attraction/temple-of-heaven.htm.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[10]

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Influence of Numerology There are several examples of symbolic numbers used throughout the temple. One example is in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. Inside the hall, as I described previously, are 28 large pillars, which are divided into 4 main pillars. Here, the number 4 represents the four seasons. Then there are the 12 inner columns, which represent the twelve months, and the 12 outer columns, which represent the twelve two-hour periods comprising a day. Another meaningful number is the number 9, representing eternity. Reflecting the power of this important number, the marble slabs forming the Circular Mound Altar were laid in multiples of nine.

To conclude, there is an abundance of religious symbolism in the Temple of Heaven complex, seen not only through its buildings’ functions, but also through its design, decorations, geometry, numerological symbolism, and layout. The Temple of Heaven is without a doubt a masterpiece of Ancient Chinese architecture, and is a testament to the dedication and hard work put in by its architects, builders, and designers. It is, additionally, a pivotal example of the importance of symbolism in Chinese religious sites. The Temple of Heaven has stood for over 600 years, and the beauty of its intricate architecture remains.

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Hugo Mayne – The Last Emperor Puyi and the End of the Empire Puyi was the 12 Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the last Emperor of China. He reigned as the Xuantong Emperor in China and the Khevt Yos Khaan in Mongolia from 1908 to 1912. He was forced to abdicate on the 12 February 1912 due to the Xinhai Revolution, which also signified the end of imperial rule and the formation of the Republic of China. th

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Puyi became emperor aged two years and ten months in December 1908. He was taken from his family without any advance notice and processed to the Forbidden City by eunuchs and guardsmen. In his coronation on 2 December 1908, he was frightened by the deafening sounds of ceremonial drums and music and is said to have cried his way through the service, granted he was only two. During his short reign as emperor, despite his young age, Puyi developed a reputation for being cruel. He often had his eunuchs flogged, and once ordered one to eat a cake baked with iron filings in it, so he could see what he looks like when he had eaten it. Nonetheless, the toddler’s cruel reign was to only last about three years. Puyi was forced to abdicate on 12 February 1912 due to the Xinhai Revolution (which will be mentioned further). He still retained his imperial title and was to be treated by the new government with the protocol attached to a foreign monarch. nd

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For the majority of his teenage and young adulthood he was prepared as if the monarchy would eventually be restored. A Briton, Sir Reginald Johnston, was employed in the Forbidden City as Puyi’s tutor. He was hired to teach political science, constitutional history and English.

Under Johnston’s influence, Puyi began to prefer being called Henry, and insisted that his late wife (Wanrong) be called Elizabeth. He also began to speak ‘Chinglish’, a mixture of Mandarin and English. As Puyi grew older, he began to understand more and more of his situation. He had very little authority and the people of China really didn’t care about him. He tried to escape the Forbidden City in 1922 to go and study at Oxford. However, his ‘daring’ attempt failed as Johnston wouldn’t order him a taxi and he was too scared to go into Beijing all alone.

Later that same year he married Princess Wanrong. Puyi, who was shy and knew very little about women, fled from the bridal chamber on his wedding night. It had been subsequently commented that “it was perhaps too much to expect an adolescent, permanently surrounded by eunuchs, to show the sexual maturity of a normal seventeen-year-old."

Puyi was expelled from the Forbidden City in 1924 by the warlord Feng Yuxiang who took control of Beijing. He went on to live a life of luxury in Tianjin for the next six years. Then, in 1931, Puyi sent a letter to the Japanese Minister of War expressing his desire to be restored to the throne. Later that same month, the Mukden Incident occurred and Puyi was established as head of a Manchurian state. He was the puppet ruler of Manchukuo (Japanese name for Manchuria) between 1932-45. Ultimately it was all being controlled by the Japanese, but he was the face of the operation. After 1945 when the war had ended, the Soviets took Puyi to a sanatorium in Siberia where he was treated well and allowed to keep some of his servants. He returned to China for the later stage of his life and died on 17 October 1967 at the age of 61.

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Puyi’s forced abdication in 1912 signified the end of imperial China. He was the 12 and last emperor of the Qing dynasty. The abdication came about due to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911. It was called the Xinhai revolution as it occurred in the year of the Xinhai, part of the th

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Chinese calendar. The revolution consisted of many revolts and uprisings. It ended with the abdication of six-year-old Puyi and the beginning of China’s early republican era. The revolution arose mainly in response to the decline of the Qing state, which had proven ineffective in its efforts to modernize China. A brief civil war ensued until a political compromise between the Qing leaders and the United League was formed. However, the newly founded republic failed to last long before political power in the new national government was monopolized by the Qing leaders. This led to decades of political division and warlordism, including several attempts at imperial restoration.

The Xinhai Revolution did not restructure society and there were no major improvements in the standard of living. However, it did get rid of feudalism from China. It was the first revolution to overthrow the monarchy completely and attempt to establish a republic to spread democratic ideas throughout China. Although it didn’t revolutionise the whole of China in one go, the Xinhai Revolution opened up the path for future political evolution.

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Minty Corbett – The 2008 Beijing Olympics and the re-shaping of the city Beijing received worldwide attention when it was chosen as the venue for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. It was a chance for China to reveal its rapid economic growth as well as the Communist Party’s capable leadership. They wanted to affirm China’s status as a rising global power not only to the world but also to the citizens of China. As soon as Beijing won the bid to host the Olympics, it began to reinvent its landscape in order to improve its international image and fit the mould of Beijing as a modern metropolis. No expense was spared in the process and was the most extravagant building projects in the history of the Olympics. China spent $40 billion; which was over three times what Athens had spent in 2004 and more than the cost of all the Summer Olympics since 1984 combined. To put this into context, the Chinese government spent just $560 million annually on health care for the 900 million rural Chinese people, the majority of whom have annual incomes below $360.

Beijing had experienced an ongoing building boom in response to the many major shifts in ideology that China faced. For example, in the 1950s, Mao commissioned a range of Soviet inspired monuments to mark the rise of the new Communist nation. Then, in the late 1980s, the Mayor Chen Xitong tried to reassert Beijing’s distinctive Chinese charm by imposing a traditional design law. But it was President Jiang Zemin who decided to aid China’s emergence as a global force by beginning the new era of Beijing’s construction in sight of the Olympics.

He wanted to create the tallest and most technologically advanced buildings in order to display China’s superiority and so nineteen new venues were constructed. Beijing’s building projects are unmatched and reflect its ambition to reform its outdated image as an ancient capital city. One of the grand projects which was built for the Olympics deadline was the National Theatre, envisioned by President Jiang Zemin as a monument to his own leadership, and had an extremely futuristic design costing ten times the country’s annual spending on poverty alleviation. Beijing was undeterred by the controversy which this obviously created, and instead announced a sequence of competitions for the design of the Olympic venues. The result – vast global-scale architecture that can be seen from a helicopter and experienced on media across the globe – was characteristic of the new image that Beijing was creating for itself. They also created a third terminal for the International airport which was the largest building in the world and budgeted $7 billion to build new expressways, expand all public transport and improve public spaces.

Many ancient houses and neighbourhoods were smartened up or demolished and modern skyscrapers were built. As a result of this reconstruction, Beijing was left with fewer than 5% of its historical buildings. In 1980 there were still 6,100 hutongs, the ancient streets of Beijing, but after this, only a few hundred were preserved.

Setting to one side the Olympics Games bill, the rebuilding of Beijing must count as one of the greatest building projects ever undertaken and the cost probably exceeds $200 billion.

However, although the cost of this construction was vast, it was significantly lower than it would have been elsewhere as most of the land which was being built on was acquired by the government at very low prices. This was because the state was able to confiscate people’s land in the name of ‘public interest’. This led to the demolition of entire neighbourhoods and also extreme mass eviction of residents. It is estimated that by 2004 alone, already 300,000 citizens had been evicted from their homes to make way for Olympics facilities. These people were given little time to move out and virtually no compensation for losing their homes. Then, 23

not only had they been evicted, but they also had to come to terms with the fact that the Olympic sites being built on the remains of old homes weren’t accessible for the general public, but instead were turned into luxury locations for China’s new rich population. The destruction of old Beijing created greater inequality, as there was a dramatic rise in property prices which meant that it was less affordable for people to live near the city centre.

Therefore, the destruction and modernisation of Beijing in the lead up to the 2008 Olympics reveals China’s struggle to redesign their world reputation into one of new prosperity and modernity, however there were certainly many victims who suffered as a result of this reconstruction and Beijing lost the majority of its historic architecture. It marked a significant decision to prioritise the future and impress other world leaders instead of embrace the past.

Beijing Olympic Tower

By Bruce Tang on Unsplash

All Images in the INSPIRE Lent Term 2020 Magazine are Copyright-free and have been obtained from the website below on 27 / 06 / 2020. Credit has been given to the authors.

Website: https://unsplash.com/images/stock/non-copyrighted

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