The Spreading of Christianity and the introduction of Modern Architecture in Shannxi, China (1840-1949): Christian churches and traditional Chinese architecture

La arquitectura china ha experimentado grandes cambios a lo largo de un extenso proceso histórico. El hito de mayor importancia es el que da paso al denominado Tiempo Moderno, periodo en el cual irrumpe por vez primera en China la arquitectura occidental, que comienza a tener una influencia muy activa y significativa sobre los rasgos y la identidad de la arquitectura tradicional china, hasta ese momento el único estilo o forma de hacer –muy diferente, en cuanto a su concepción y fisonomía, de los planteamientos occidentales- que había sobrevivido sin desvíos significativos, configurando un panorama milenario bastante homogéneo en los aspectos técnicos y artísticos en el desarrollo de esa arquitectura. Por un cúmulo de complejas razones, la mayor parte de la arquitectura china del periodo feudal -es decir el que forman todos los años anteriores a 1849- ha desaparecido. Sin embargo, desde la fecha indicada hasta la Revolución de 1949 (el denominado periodo semicolonial o semifeudal), sí se conservan muchas edificaciones, que fueron mejor construidas y mantenidas luego, destacando por su importancia en ese sentido las iglesias cristianas. Dichos templos representan cronológicamente, no sólo la primera irrupción de la arquitectura clásica occidental en China, sino el inicio de un proceso de modernización de la profundamente enraizada y, en buena medida, estancada arquitectura vernácula, combinando técnicas y estilos de ambos planteamientos, para dar como resultado originales edificaciones de un singular eclecticismo que caracterizarían buena parte de la arquitectura de dicha etapa semicolonial. En términos generales, últimamente se ha ido prestando cada vez más atención a esta arquitectura de los tiempos modernos, aunque las iglesias cristianas de la provincia de Shaanxi no han sido objeto de estudio específico, a pesar de que su tipología es muy representativa de las construcciones de esta clase en otras regiones del interior de China. La investigación que desarrolla la presente tesis doctoral sale al paso de esa deficiencia, abriendo puertas a la continuación del trabajo referido, extendido a otras zonas o arquitecturas, y, por extensión, a la profundización analítica de la hibridación arquitectónica y cultural entre China y Occidente. Sobre las bases de investigación documental, estudios de campo y dibujo, la tesis plantea un estudio aclaratorio de los rasgos y raíces de la arquitectura tradicional china, al que sigue otro histórico y tipológico de los templos cristianos en la provincia de Shaanxi, deteniéndose en sus características fundamentales, situación (uso) actual y estado de conservación. Se ha considerado imprescindible añadir al trabajo, como apéndice, un elaborado glosario conceptual ilustrado de términos básicos arquitectónicos y constructivos, en chino, inglés y español. ABSTRACT The Chinese architecture has gone through great changes during the long process of history. The tremendous changing period was the named Modern Times of China when, for the very first time, the western architecture was introduced into China and became to influence majorly on the traditional Chinese architecture. Before that, the traditional Chinese architecture which has its own, yet totally different system from the occidental architecture system was the only architectural style could be found in China. Although, due to many historical, conceptual and architectural characteristic reasons, large amount of the ancient Chinese architecture built in the feudal China was not preserved, there are a lot of buildings of semi-feudal China that was well constructed and conserved. The most important architectural type of the semi-feudal China is the Christian Churches. It was not only the first western architectural form that was brought into and well developed in China, but also was the beginner of the modernization process of Chinese architecture. Because of the deep root of the 2000-year traditional Chinese architecture, all the Christian Churches built in China during the semi-colonial society has a combined style of both the traditional Chinese architecture and the classic western churches. They are a priceless asset of the Chinese architectural history. Recently, more and more attention had been paid on the Chinese Modern Times architecture, however, the Christian Churches in Shaanxi Province, the province which has a unique history with the Christian, but less economically developed have never been researched yet. The Christian Churches of Shaanxi Province reflect the general feature of developing history of the Christian Churches of common inner-land regions in China. The research opens the door to further study on other Christian Churches and related buildings, and also for the further study on the Chinese-western architectural and culture communication. On the base of document research, field survey and mapping, in this thesis, an in-depth study had been done on the general history of the features and roots of the traditional Chinese architecture, the developing history of the Christian Churches of Shaanxi Province and the architectural types, examples, characteristics, present situation and conservation status. By comparing the Christian Churches of the cities in Shaanxi province to the Christian Churches in other more developed cities, and by comparing the Christian Churches in China to the classic western churches, the architectural combination feature of the Christian Churches in China are highlighted. The thesis is a fundamental research on which many further studies about the architectural developing history, characteristics and conservation of the Christian Churches in China could be done. It is considered essential to add to the work, as an appendix, an elaborate conceptual illustrated glossary of architectural and construction terms in Chinese, English and Spanish.

Construction History in Spain: the Discipline's Foundation

In the past two decades the History of Construction has started to become an independent discipline. On one hand, the number of articles, theses and books that could be assigned to this field has grown exponentially. Furthermore, there have been numerous and remarkably successful Congresses: 12 National (Spain 8; France 2; United Kingdom 1; Germany 1) and 4 International Congresses (Madrid 2003, Cambridge 2006, Cottbus 2009, Paris 2012), see Table 1 below. However, the situation is far from that corresponding to an already recognized discipline, such as the History of Art or the History of Science. There are no University chairs and departments, and in the reference databases “Construction History” is not listed as a common descriptor. This is not surprising; it reflects the inertia of academia to accept new disciplines. In what follows we will discuss the current state of discipline in Spain. Previous articles have tackled the matter. We will try to avoid unnecessary repetitions and concentrate on: 1) The activities of the Spanish Society of Construction History; 2) Its consequences on teaching and research, taken as a case study the experience in the School of Architecture of Madrid, and 3) We will give a provisional List of dissertations on Construction History read in Spain in the last forty years. First, we will try to define with the least possible ambiguity its field and its objectives. The intention is not to enter into the actual debate on the "definition" of Construction History, but to expose, in as detached as possible way, the ideas behind the actions made.

The Double‐Edged Sword Of Interdict: Some More Warnings From History

In this paper I revisit the age-old question of the relationship between philosophy and theology by rejecting the claim that throughout the history of the Christian Church, whenever Christian thinkers have baptized philosophy, they have done so to the detriment of theology. Church history reveals just the opposite, i. e., that sometimes theologians have creatively and fruitfully used philosophical language, concepts, methods, and conclusions to understand and express the faith. In addition, church history records numerous attempts to limit philosophical enquiry for theological reasons that proved unsuccessful and counter-productive. Both types of interaction between philosophy and theology occurred at the University of Paris during the thirteenth century. Despite repeated efforts of some officials to place philosophy under interdict, that is, to ban the reading of particular philosophical works or the teaching of philosophical propositions from the university faculties, a series of university theologians applied Aristotelian tools of enquiry to questions about the Christian faith with positive and constructive results. If academic theology at Paris during the thirteenth century has anything to teach us, it is that interdict cuts both ways. It might protect some theological claims from philosophical contamination or compromise, but it can also insulate theological claims from much needed critical analysis. The thinkers and developments surveyed in this paper suggest that perhaps instead of placing deconstruction under interdict, today’s Christian thinkers should use some of the language, concepts, methods and conclusions of Derrida to further theological understanding.

Religion, Democracy and the Public Sphere

Throughout the development and maturation of the American democratic experience, religiously inspired conduct has contributed significantly to democratically progressive political concerns such as the abolition of slavery and campaigns for civil rights, but also the encouragement and perpetuation pf anti-democratic practices such as the institution of slavery and policies of racial segregation. It may be rarely admitted, but there is no essential conceptual affinity between conduct proper to democratic political association. It may, therefore, be useful in our own political circumstances to try to determine boundaries for conduct that expresses and satisfies compatibly both religious and democratic commitments. Perhaps most Americans do recognize – if not in their own cases, at least in reference to the beliefs and actions of others – that religiously inspired conduct is neither thereby justified morally or legally nor absolved from further critical appraisal. Certainly, the history of American legal practice shows that religious belief or inspiration does not serve as acceptable legal defense for conduct charged as criminal infraction. The U.S. Constitution contains only two references to religion: the non-establishment clause prohibits governmental institutionalization of religious beliefs or liberty rights – is limited in scope and application both by other constitutional rights of individuals and by constitutionally authorized powers of government. As the U.S.S.C. has repeatedly held, individual constitutional features must be understood in a manner that harmonizes all stated and implied constitutional features, not by unbridled abstractions of selected phrases. Under the American legal system, there is no absolute or unlimited right to free exercise of religion: not everything done publicly under religious inspiration is legally permissible; what is otherwise illegal conduct is not legalized by religious inspiration. In important respects, general features of the legal boundaries concerning religiously inspired conduct in public life are reasonably clear; nevertheless, broader issues concerning further moral or ethical constraints upon religiously inspired conduct remain unresolved and rarely addressed explicitly.

HIV-1 and T cell dynamics after interruption of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in patients with a history of sustained viral suppression

Identifying the immunologic and virologic consequences of discontinuing antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected patients is of major importance in developing long-term treatment strategies for patients with HIV-1 infection. We designed a trial to characterize these parameters after interruption of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in patients who had maintained prolonged viral suppression on antiretroviral drugs. Eighteen patients with CD4+ T cell counts ≥ 350 cells/μl and viral load below the limits of detection for ≥1 year while on HAART were enrolled prospectively in a trial in which HAART was discontinued. Twelve of these patients had received prior IL-2 therapy and had low frequencies of resting, latently infected CD4 cells. Viral load relapse to >50 copies/ml occurred in all 18 patients independent of prior IL-2 treatment, beginning most commonly during weeks 2–3 after cessation of HAART. The mean relapse rate constant was 0.45 (0.20 log10 copies) day−1, which was very similar to the mean viral clearance rate constant after drug resumption of 0.35 (0.15 log10 copies) day−1 (P = 0.28). One patient experienced a relapse delay to week 7. All patients except one experienced a relapse burden to >5,000 RNA copies/ml. Ex vivo labeling with BrdUrd showed that CD4 and CD8 cell turnover increased after withdrawal of HAART and correlated with viral load whereas lymphocyte turnover decreased after reinitiation of drug treatment. Virologic relapse occurs rapidly in patients who discontinue suppressive drug therapy, even in patients with a markedly diminished pool of resting, latently infected CD4+ T cells.

Réclamations à l'Assemblée-Nationale en faveur des anciens habitans de l'Acadie transportés en France lors de la prise de Louisbourg et particulierement en faveur de ceux débarqués à Cherbourg le 14 janvier 1760: Distribué au profit des acadiens 1790 : manuscript, 1790

Documents concern the landing of Acadian refugees at Cherbourg on 14 Jan. 1760.

Orleans, France, ca. 1680 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Plan de la ville d'Orleans : comme il est aujourd'huy, où sont representées en elevation les églises, palais et autres edifices. It was published by Chez le Sr. Iselin, au bas du Pont au Change between 1680 and 1715. Scale [ca. 1:4,625]. Map in French.The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the European Datum 1950, Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 31N projected coordinate system. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, drainage, built-up areas and selected buildings, fortifications, ground cover, and more. Selected features shown pictorially. Includes also a brief history of the city.This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of originators, ground condition dates, scales, and map purposes.

An Economic History of Portugal, 1143-2010

This book is about the evolution of the Portuguese economy during the course of eight centuries, from the foundation of the kingdom, in 1143, when political boundaries began to take shape in the midst of the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula, to the integration of the nation in the European Communities and the Economic and Monetary Union. While the economy we are interested in responded to external influences across the land and sea borders, its activity also exerted influence on events occurring elsewhere.

Od demokracji "wirtualnej" ku europejskiej: Geneze i konsekwencje przelomu politycznego w Moldawii. Prace OSW 32/2009. = From "virtual" to European democracy - the origins and consequences of the political breakthrough in Moldova. OSW Study 32/2009

2009 may become a turning point in the history of post-Soviet Moldova. The country’s political class and society are faced with a fundamental choice. On the one hand, if the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, which has governed the country since 2001, remains in power, this would mean a consolidation of the authoritarian rule of the party leader Vladimir Voronin, perpetuation of the superficial nature of democratic institutions and a continuation of the manoeuvring between the European Union and Russia (with the increasing risk of falling into the latter’s exclusive zone of influence). On the other hand, the take over of political power by the opposition parties creates an opportunity for Moldova to resume building a democratic, pluralistic political system based on the rule of law and to develop closer links with the European Union within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy, including the Eastern Partnership.

Supporting the Revolution: America, Democracy, and the End of the Cold War in Poland, 1981-1989. ACES Working Paper (Report) No. 8, 2007

Early on the morning of December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the leader of the communist Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), declared martial law, ending the so-called "Polish Crisis," which began with the creation of the Independent Free Trade Union "Solidamosc" in August 1980. Over the next eight years, the Communist government and the opposition struggled over power, culminating in 1989 with the creation of a Solidamosc-led government which ended fifty years of Communist rule in Poland and led the way to further democratic revolutions throughout Eastern Europe. The purpose of this dissertation is to utilize newly available and underutilized archival sources as well as oral history interviews, from both international and American perspectives, to fully chronicle American policy toward Poland from the declaration of martial law until the creation of the Solidarnosc government. Rather than explaining Polish-American relations in bilateral terms, the dissertation illuminates the complex web of influences that determined American policy in Washington and affected its implementation within Poland. This includes descriptions of internal tensions within the Reagan administration, differences between American decisions in Washington and implementation in Warsaw, lobbying from Polish-American groups, clashes between Capitol Hill and the White House, coordination with American labor organizations to support Solidarnosc, disagreements with West European allies in NATO and international financial organizations, cooperation with the Vatican and the Polish Catholic Church, synchronization with American humanitarian organizations working in Poland, limitations caused by the realities of Soviet power in Eastern Europe, and complications caused by domestic Polish concerns. By taking a broad view of American policy and highlighting internal Polish decisions, with both the Communist government and the democratic opposition, the dissertation provides concrete examples of America's role in Poland's transformation, arguing, however, that this role was very limited. These conclusions are relevant to arguments about the end of the Cold War, the nature of American power, as well as current discussions about possibilities to promote democracy within hostile regimes.

The History and Challenges of Cohesion Policies. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 14 No. 2, February 2014

From Introduction. Regional economic disequilibria was viewed as both an obstacle to and result of integration (European Commission 1965; European Commission 1962; European Commission 1969). Even within the Treaty of Rome, the Community tried to establish mechanisms to alleviate regional inequality. However, it was not until 1975 that the main mechanism of regional policy was established as a result of British and Irish enlargement: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Since then, cohesion policy has become a significant EU expenditure accounting for €347bn, or 35.7% of the total EU budget for 2007-13(European Commission Regional Policy-Info Regio 2012). It has also become a key policy linked to enlargement. The underlying principle of cohesion policy assumes that the market alone cannot solve development problems and therefore government intervention is needed. This notion is in direct contrast to the underlying principle of EU competition policy, which asserts that the free market can solve economic development problems (Meadows, interview by author, 2003). The logic underlying cohesion policy is not only counter to EU competition policy, but also regulatory policies. Unlike other EU policies, cohesion policy is not a sectoral policy, but rather territorial in nature (Leonardi, 2006). Thus at times EU regulatory policy has also unintentionally worked counter to the goals of regional policy, sometimes disadvantaging poorer regions (Dudek, 2005). As the Community has sought to ameliorate regional disparities, it meant that all levels of government: local, regional, national and supranational would need to be involved, however, member states have different territorial governance and European regional development programs have to varying degrees impacted the relationship and policy responsibility of different levels of government (Leonardi, 2006; Bachtler and Michie 1993; Marks, 1993). The very nature of regional development policy has provoked a re-examination of subsidiarity, or which level of government is the lowest and most appropriate level. The discussion of policy formulation and implementation at the lowest level possible also addresses the issue of the democratic deficit. Some argue that the closer government is to the people the more responsive and representative it is. Democracy, however, also implies that public funds are used in a transparent way and for public rather than private good. Yet, as we examine the history and current situation of EU regional funds we find that corruption and misuse still abound. Thus, to understand the history of regional policy it is imperative to look at the major transformations of the policy, how regional policy has impacted subsidiarity and the quality of democracy, become an important instrument of enlargement and contradicted or conflicted with other EU policies.

The New European Commission Presidency and the Advent of European Democracy. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 14 No. 17, August 2014

On June 15, 2014, Jean-Claude Juncker, the lead candidate of the European People’s Party, was elected President of the European Commission, with the support of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and some of the European Socialists and Greens. Amid unprecedented Euroscepticism, the media and many pundits predicted a record-low voter turnout and record-high results for Europhobic parties. The aforementioned parties then decided that the political outcome of these 2014 European elections would also be unprecedented. For the first time in EU history, the European political parties agreed to nominate candidates to chair the institution, which they justified by putting forward Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty. The European Parliament has often characteristically used political discourse - the logos, to influence the EU’s institutional framework, even though it entails grappling with Member States. It took the form of reports and resolutions, like the official use of the phrase “European Parliament” in 1962, direct universal suffrage elections in 1975 and a European Union in 1984. Nominating contenders to chair the European Commission is no exception. It requires a specific political discourse whose origins can be traced back to the early years of the European Parliament, when it was still the “Common Assembly”. This political discourse is one of the elements thanks to which the European Parliament acquired visibility and new prerogatives, in pursuit of its legitimacy. However, the executive branch in all member states is not intent on yielding such prerogatives to the European Parliament. As a matter of fact, the European Parliament has often ended up strengthening the heads of state and governments, since MEPs are forced to resort to self-discipline. The symbolic significance of its logos and, consequently, its own politicisation as a source of legitimacy, is thus undermined. For instance, in 2014, Jean-Claude Juncker’s election actually strengthened German Chancellor Angela Merkel. First she questioned the fact that the candidate whose party holds the parliamentary majority after the election should be appointed President of the Commission. Then she seemed strongly intent on democratising the Union, when she confronted David Cameron, who openly opposed Juncker, believed to be too federalist and old-fashioned a candidate. By doing so, she eventually reduced the symbolic dimension of the European Parliament’s initiative, and Juncker’s election. She also unquestionably embodied EU leadership. This paper aims at analysing Juncker’s election to the Presidency of the European Commission, as well as other questions it raises. In the first part, I lay out some thoughts about the sociohistorical context of voting in European elections in order to make the readers understand why the European Parliament should be bolder. Secondly, I try to explain how the European Parliament has used the logos as a weapon to grapple with member states for more power, as was the case during the 2014 European elections. Last but not least, I seek to show how Angela Merkel got hold of that weapon and took advantage of it, thus proving that despite MEPs’ best efforts, Juncker’s task will be all the more complicated as he was not the consensual candidate of all the governments.

An EU mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights. CEPS Paper in Liberty and Security in Europe No. 91/April 2016 Thursday, 21 April 2016

The European Union is founded on a set of common principles of democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights, as enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union. Whereas future Member States are vetted for their compliance with these values before they accede to the Union, no similar method exists to supervise adherence to these foundational principles after accession. EU history proved that this ‘Copenhagen dilemma’ was far from theoretical. EU Member State governments’ adherence to foundational EU values cannot be taken for granted. Violations may happen in individual cases, or in a systemic way, which may go as far as overthrowing the rule of law. Against this background the European Parliament initiated a Legislative Own-Initiative Report on the establishment of an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights and proposed among others a Scoreboard on the basis of common and objective indicators by which foundational values can be measured. This Research Paper assesses the need and possibilities for the establishment of an EU Scoreboard, as well as its related social, economic, legal and political ‘costs and benefits’.