The Korean peninsula knows a long history of book culture, and attention to it has ranged from the earliest known texts to the recently growing interest in modern Korean literature that came with...Show moreThe Korean peninsula knows a long history of book culture, and attention to it has ranged from the earliest known texts to the recently growing interest in modern Korean literature that came with the ‘Korean wave’. Many of the now canonical works find their roots in the colonial era in Korea (1910-1945) and various aspects pertaining to textual production during this era have been researched by scholars. However, an often-overlooked history is that of the printers and printshops in colonial Korea who had a significant influence over book production. With this loss of primary source material directly stemming from these printshops, the only other source indicating the printer of a text is the included colophon. This colophon is often damaged or simply missing in older books, and to this date there is no efficient method to recover this lost information. Thereby preventing any sizeable quantitative study of printshops in colonial Korea. This MA Thesis will examine the possibility of using convolutional neural networks (ConvNet) to identify the printshop of a given text dating to colonial Korea in order to allow large- scale quantitative research into colonial Korean printshops, which has been impossible thus far It will do this through a case study approach that aims to successfully classify books of four colonial Korean printshops, namely, the Hansŏng Tosŏ Chusik Hoesa (漢城圖書株式會社), Taedong inswaeso (大東印刷所), Sinmungwan (新文館), and Chosŏn inswae chusik hoesa (朝鮮印刷株 式會社). The findings here can be applied to a more extensive set of printers, given enough data and time. Therefore, this research is of high importance to the field of Korean history, as it is an essential step in charting the history of colonial Korean printers. Additionally, the benefits gained from this study are also helpful in the field of digital humanities, as this study will not only focus on the production and performance of a model but also include dataset construction and model explainability. The latter is a vital part and often missing in other DH scholarly work related to ConvNets. Hence, this paper is highly relevant to Korean historical research, and its methodology can be used far beyond the context of colonial-era printshops.Show less
Image building within and about China-Africa relations play as major role in the way this growing international engagement is understood. Despite recognition for its important role in high level...Show moreImage building within and about China-Africa relations play as major role in the way this growing international engagement is understood. Despite recognition for its important role in high level dialogue and policy creation, non-media platforms, such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, are often overlooked as an important image-building medium. Therefore, by questioning how Chinese and African officials frame their own relationship through official FOCAC-discourse, this thesis seeks to add to contemporary framing theory on China-Africa relations. Three case studies on written and visual framing processes within important FOCAC policy documents, photographs and speeches highlight the multiplicity of frameworks that contribute to the creation of a relational self-image. These analyses reveal how images of China-Africa relations are built on co-existing, but contrasting discourses, and how different framing mechanisms influence each other to shape a multiplicity of images.Show less
This thesis examines the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (ETAT) and the Setouchi Triennale (ST), two of the largest and best-known Art Triennale in (and outside) Japan, and considers how these art...Show moreThis thesis examines the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (ETAT) and the Setouchi Triennale (ST), two of the largest and best-known Art Triennale in (and outside) Japan, and considers how these art festivals intend to provide a solution to the continuing ageing population and declining birthrate in Japanese rural areas. Japan contains the largest proportion of elderly people in the world and its population continues to decline since 2004. Yet, this decrease is especially severe in rural areas because the majority of the population consist of elderly people. The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (ETAT) and the Setouchi Triennale (ST), have been established as strategies to tackle Japan’s increasingly ageing population. The former was established by Kitagawa Fram (1946-present) whereas the latter was co-founded in 2010 by Kitagawa Fram and Fukutake Sōichirō (1945/46-present). The common aim of the ETAT and ST initially seems to be the restoration of these economically declining rural areas through contemporary art projects. Yet, this thesis claims that Kitagawa’s and Fukutake’s idealistic views about the countryside and ‘traditional’ countryside lifestyles resulted into their attempt to reshape Japanese society by reidentifying neglected rural areas through contemporary art. This is because both men’s strong partnership and their active involvement in both Triennale shape these art festivals according to their own convictions and objectives. Therefore, this thesis demonstrates that the ETAT and ST’s purpose exceeds rural revitalization and is actually about the creation of a ‘new’ society which is brought together by the art festivals.Show less
This present study provides a historical correction to a common misinformation on the nature of the Second Kongsi War in West Borneo, between 1850 and 1854. The Chinese settlement of West Borneo...Show moreThis present study provides a historical correction to a common misinformation on the nature of the Second Kongsi War in West Borneo, between 1850 and 1854. The Chinese settlement of West Borneo were recruited under the authority of Malay sultans to the mining sector in the mid-eighteenth century. Thereafter these immigrants established themselves in the island by building their communities, based on lineages and brotherhood in the vicinity of the mining fields. Gradually, they became independent economically, militarily, and culturally. Within the near one-hundred-and-thirty-year settlement, internal conflicts between the Chinese communities frequently turned into violent and bloody battles. Since the interests of everyone in the region of West Borneo were interrelated, those internal disputes between the Chinese communities, the Chinese and other groups, developed into regional conflicts, involving every party, from Malay sultans and Dayak tribesmen to Europeans and other Chinese counterparts who attempted to remain neutral during the wars. This study specifically centres on the Chinese experience of the Second Kongsi War, between 1850 and 1854, during which different ethnic and political parties in West Borneo were engaged. By employing a bulk of Chinese letters stored at Leiden University Library, I sorted out four strategies used by the Chinese kongsis in West Borneo to win the inter-Chinese war. As a result of these strategies, militarily and diplomatically, the inter-Chinese disputes developed into a regional conflict, with the Dutch colonialists, which were however not beneficial for the kongsis. The wars unfortunately, resulted in serious defeats of the Chinese in 1854, and hence, the decline of the Chinese political institutions of West Borneo by the turn of the mid-nineteenth century.Show less
This thesis argues that the notion of a samurai film genre is actually an Anglophone construct that is used to classify Japanese films from the 'jidaigeki' (period film) and 'chambara' (swordplay)...Show moreThis thesis argues that the notion of a samurai film genre is actually an Anglophone construct that is used to classify Japanese films from the 'jidaigeki' (period film) and 'chambara' (swordplay) genres. Because of the political situation during the Cold War and the orientalist perspective of Western audiences, Western cultural conventions that would eventually create the samurai film genre were thought of as Japanese cultural conventions based on Japanese cultural tradition. Kurosawa Akira's 'samurai films', which were the first to be shown in the West and also the most widely exported outside Japan, have become representative of this genre, despite the fact that Kurosawa’s jidaigeki films often do not follow the cultural conventions that is believed to be the samurai film genre.Show less
Since opening up in the 1980’s China became a major player in the global economy. Despite its size, the country plays a marginal role in the global financial system and relies heavily on the USD to...Show moreSince opening up in the 1980’s China became a major player in the global economy. Despite its size, the country plays a marginal role in the global financial system and relies heavily on the USD to facilitate its international trade. This heavy reliance on the US-led system is a source of strategic vulnerability. PRC authorities tried tackling this problem through the internationalization of RMB, yet failed due to domestic opposition. This paper critically assesses the mechanism of dependence ingrained in the International Monetary System and explores the potential of state cryptocurrency, the Digital RMB, to achieve Chinese strategic policy objectives. So far cryptocurrencies have not been analyzed in the geopolitical context. This article closes that gap and contributes to the important debate on the impact of emerging cryptographic technologies on the global financial system. The overall analysis suggests that utilizing Digital RMB could help the country reassert its monetary sovereignty and ensure the security of domestic financial data.Show less
With the drastic shift started by the Meiji Revolution in 1868 and the opening of Japan’s borders also came a need to create a national Japanese identity, and one of several ways to achieve this...Show moreWith the drastic shift started by the Meiji Revolution in 1868 and the opening of Japan’s borders also came a need to create a national Japanese identity, and one of several ways to achieve this was to create a standardised national language. Ueda Kazutoshi stood at the forefront of this movement, advocating for the conceptualisation of kokugo, the national language, and in turn educational reforms which would implement this national language for the improvement and modernisation of the Japanese empire. In the book, Kokugo no tame, he goes into further detail on how to achieve this. This thesis looks at how idealistic and influenced by nationalism Ueda’s Kokugo no tame is by reading, interpreting and finally reflecting on his writings found in the book, as there is discourse on its abstract nature and its achievability. This thesis finds that Ueda’s writings were heavily influenced by the new social context of Meiji Japan and its recent victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, and that with the limitations that nationalism and racialisation bring, it also put limits on the feasibility of Ueda’s envisioned kokugo. While achievable in some ways with concrete ideas on how to implement kokugo, and indeed Ueda’s writings did set up the foundation of language standardisation, it is also the caveats made by Ueda on how kokugo should be educated under nationalist terms which made it more difficult to bring it to fruition according to Ueda’s ways.Show less
Purpose – This paper argues that education alone will not solve China’s AI talent shortage crisis. To successfully attract top international and domestic talent, China needs to reposition itself in...Show morePurpose – This paper argues that education alone will not solve China’s AI talent shortage crisis. To successfully attract top international and domestic talent, China needs to reposition itself in modern and people-centered ways. AI talent must be valued by companies (like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent) and the government. Design/methodology/approach – This research adopts a two-part qualitative analysis. The policy document analysis utilizes the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan (NGAIDP) to identify a central framework. The secondary content analysis is an analysis of job advertisements and company websites of Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. Findings – Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, are not equal in how they appeal to prospective employees. The consequence of this is the impact on the AI talent shortage crisis; without being able to attract the best talent in the world – China faces the disadvantage of not becoming the world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030. Research limitations/implications –The study has several unaccounted variables, including the recruiter and the impact of COVID on employee value proposition. Furthermore, this study assumes that EVP is cross-cultural. Practical implications – The Chinese government places much value on the artificial intelligence training of youth rather than the importance of talent retention and attraction. It is evident via the NGAIDP that companies are responsible for following the values of the Chinese Communist Party. However, there is little to be said about the human value of employees and the necessity for China’s tech giants to find practical solutions. In addition, the criticism from Western scholars toward China’s AI national ecosystem is based on fear and assumption – without realizing that China’s tech companies face the challenge of appealing to a highly educated generation of AI talent. Originality/value – This paper takes a different approach to investigating the NGAIDP and combining it with research outside the traditional Chinese-studies scholarship. The combination of Chinese scholarship with Human Resources scholarship adds depth to the discussion of employee value in China and how companies should be moving forward in the future. Keywords - China, New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, AI Talent, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent (BAT), Employee Value Proposition, Talent ManagementShow less
