Cultural Forum

The pulse of a new culture: A study of the impact of cultural integration on corporate innovation

Xingyu Wan — 2024-11-18

This study investigates the influence of cultural fusion between China and the West, particularly in the context of Western powers’ historical invasions, on corporate innovation. The purpose of this research is to quantify the degree of cultural fusion and its implications for innovation within corporations. Utilizing a regional variance method and entropy approach, the findings reveal several key insights. First, while traditional Chinese culture tends to constrain innovation, Western culture exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with corporate innovation, suggesting that cultural fusion acts as a significant driver of innovation. Second, regarding executive characteristics, teams with less international exposure but greater professional diversity demonstrate heightened innovation capabilities under cultural integration. Third, firm characteristics reveal that cultural fusion exerts a more pronounced impact on innovation in state-owned enterprises and firms with lower pollution levels. Additionally, an extended analysis indicates that cultural fusion significantly enhances innovation in firms with moderate innovation levels, improving both innovation inputs and outputs as well as overall quality. This study provides valuable empirical evidence for understanding the dynamic relationship between cultural fusion and corporate innovation, contributing to the broader discourse on innovation in the context of cross-cultural interactions.

Chu culture-related romanticism and shamanism in Zhuangzi: A translation perspective

Peihang Li — 2024-12-11

Zhuangzi is a representative philosophical classic of Chu culture, which contains many Chu cultural elements. This article selects some Chu culture-specific items, such as Kun 鲲, Peng 鹏, Wu Zhu 巫祝, Shenwu Jixian 神巫季咸, and Wu Xianshao 巫咸袑 from Zhuangzi to explore the romanticism and shamanism in the canon from the perspective of Chu culture, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their rendering in the translations of the canon by sinologists such as James Legge, Herbert Giles, and Burton Watson. A new translation is proposed for them in this study to promote the cross-cultural dissemination of Chu culture.

From national park to cultural park an Algerian experience

Mourad Betrouni — 2024-12-16

The status of National park was adopted in Algeria in 1921, during French colonisation, within the framework of the forestry law in force. It was renewed as is, after 1962 by independent Algeria and placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, in its general forestry directorate. In 1983, it was redefined in the first national law on the environment, then, from 2011, in that of protected areas, within the framework of sustainable development. All Algerian national parks are created under the forestry regime and agricultural administration, with the exception of a single case where they are attached to the cultural sector: that of Tassili and Ahaggar, both located in the extreme south of the Sahara, including the Tuareg customary domain of Kel Ajjer and Kel Ahaggar. A particular case, linked to the process of administrative construction of the Saharan space. It is following the adoption of paradigm of sustainable development and a new law on the protection of cultural heritage , that this particularism has disappeared, with the introduction of a new legal category of protection, called “parc culturel”, based on the principle of “indissociability” between culture and nature, an innovative notion which has not yet acquired the conceptual force necessary to achieve the required stabilization and social appropriation, hence the difficulty of its translation into operational tools.

Ideal personality of Confucian thoughts and its contemporary relevance for education

Yinuo Zhou — 2024-12-20

Amidst significant transformations in both domestic and international contexts, as well as profound changes in China’s economy and society, numerous challenges persist in the realm of social morality, with social values becoming increasingly pluralistic. This paper seeks to examine the historical evolution of the connotation of the Confucian ideal of personality, explore its contemporary relevance and practical applications, and provide theoretical support for the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s rich traditional culture. By doing so, it aims to contribute to the enrichment and refinement of the core socialist values with Chinese characteristics, offer a cultural foundation for these endeavors, and propose an ideal personality model aligned with contemporary requirements to strengthen the moral construction of citizens. Drawing from the theories of Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi on the ideal of personality, this paper delves into the historical evolution of the Confucian concept of ideal personality, with a particular focus on the theoretical interpretation of the principle of being “inner sagehood and outer kingship”. It systematically traces the historical development of Confucian personality theory, highlights the alignment between traditional Chinese cultural values and the core values of socialism, and investigates the integration of Confucian ideals of personality with the practical demands of contemporary civic morality.