Architectural Glazed Tiles Used in Ancient Chinese Screen Walls (15th–18th Century AD): Ceramic Technology, Decay Process and Conservation

The glazed tile is an important building material used throughout the history of traditional Chinese architecture. Architectural glazed tiles used to decorate the screen walls of ancient China are studied scientifically for the first time. More than 30 glazed tile samples from the screen walls of the 15th to 18th century AD of the Hancheng Confucian Temple and Town God’s Temple in Shaanxi Province were carefully investigated using SEM–EDS and XRD. Microstructure and chemistry indicated the raw materials, the recipes and the technological choices used to produce the paste and glaze of the glazed tile samples studied. The causes for the key degradation processes of these glazed tiles used as building materials in the screen walls have also been discussed. This work has clear implications for the restoration and conservation treatments on these kinds of ancient Chinese building materials.

Guo Moruo on Marx and Confucius

Through the analysis of two of Guo Moruo’s literary works––his “Marx Enters a Confucian Temple” published in 1926, and “Confucius Eats” published in 1935––Guo Moruo’s assessment of Confucius and Marx is discussed. It is shown how Guo Moruo, although being a self-declared Marxist, kept on adhering to some Confucian principles, and how this attitude of his helps to explain why Guo Moruo, after having been criticized in the “pi Kong pi Lin” campaign, is now, within the revival of Confucianism in the People’s Republic of China, being revaluated.

Assessing Destination Brand Image Chinatown In Term of Semarang City Branding Implementation

Concerning to city branding, the role of brand image is very important for visitors to remember the tourism destination. The destination brand image can identify by 5 elements of city image, namely path, edge, node, district, and landmark. Semarang Chinatown is one of the historical tourism sites in Semarang that can represent the Semarang's city branding as a "variety of culture" with various cultures and interactions. The aim of this research is to identify the Semarang's City Branding (variety of culture) through destination brand image that revealed by 5 elements of city image. Research methods are carried out in two stages. The first step analysis was described the image of Chinatown area using the descriptive qualitative method. The second step was tried to find the correlation between image of the Chinatown area and the Semarang city branding. Descriptive comparative technique used to compare between the existing and the trend of Chinatown development with theory image of the city. The result of this reserach is identification destination brand image based on 5 elements of the city image. The first element is path with character toponym of alley based on its history as well as the special function as trading area, namely the Gang Baru as traditional market path and Gang Warung as semicircular market path. The second element is edge that shown by the form of Kali Semarang and Gang Beteng which has a history of Chinatown development as centre trade zone in Semarang at the past until now. The third element is node that can be seen from every pagoda located at Chinatown junction (skewers location) because of the fengshui that is embraced by Chinatown communities and it is believed that the location of pagoda can protect against evil and crime. The fourth and fifth elements are districts and landmarks that represented by the Semawis Market and pagoda as the Confucian temple. As a conclusion, Semarang Chinatown's destination brand image as a historical and cultural tourism area of China is memorable and has a strong character.