This paper investigates whether religious traditions influence firm-specific crash risk in China.Using a sample of A-share listed firms from 2003 to 2013,we provide evidence that the more intense the religious environ...This paper investigates whether religious traditions influence firm-specific crash risk in China.Using a sample of A-share listed firms from 2003 to 2013,we provide evidence that the more intense the religious environment,the lower the stock price crash risk,implying that religion plays an important role in Chinese corporate governance.Further,we find that(1) religion affects stock price crash risk by reducing earnings management and the management perk problem;(2) different religions have different effects,and Taoism,in particular,is unrelated to crash risk; and(3) the effects of religion are more pronounced with higher quality corporate governance and a stronger legal environment.Religion constrains the management agency problem,thus reducing stock price crash risk in China.Our paper enriches the literature on stock price crash risk and religion,and on new economic geography.展开更多
The Three Rivers Headwaters Region(TRHR) plays a key role in regulating water supply and climate of East Asia. A comprehensive understanding of the processes and driving forces of the long-term land use dynamics of th...The Three Rivers Headwaters Region(TRHR) plays a key role in regulating water supply and climate of East Asia. A comprehensive understanding of the processes and driving forces of the long-term land use dynamics of the TRHR is needed to guide sustainable land resource management and regional ecological conservation strategies. This study examined long-term land change patterns in the TRHR and investigated the driving forces of the change. First, Landsat TM/ETM+ images covering TRHR of four time points from 1987 to 2016 were used to derive land use patterns, and statistical metrics were applied to quantify the spatial and temporal changes. Second, Principal Component Analysis and correlation analysis were employed to analyze environmental and social-economic data to identify the driving forces of land use change. Third, potential influences of the religion of Tibetan Buddhism on land use change were explored using GIS analysis, questionnaire survey and field observation. Results showed that areas of barren land, agricultural land, and built-up land largely increased, while areas of grassland and forest greatly decreased, with the highest change rate occurring in the most recent decade of analysis(from 2007 to 2016). Among the three headwater regions, the Yellow River Headwater Region showed an overall higher changing speed than the other two headwater regions. The regional driving forces of change in TRHR includedsocial-economic development, climatic condition, pressure of population growth, and environmental protection activities. It was also found that Tibetan Buddhism can help slow down the changes caused by human activities.展开更多
With government support,more young people are studying Thangka art,securing its innovative development.THE 1,300-year-old Thangka art,religious painting on woven material,has been lauded as an illustrated encyclopedia...With government support,more young people are studying Thangka art,securing its innovative development.THE 1,300-year-old Thangka art,religious painting on woven material,has been lauded as an illustrated encyclopedia of Tibetan culture.Its unique artistic and cultural value earned it a place on China’s intangible cultural heritage list in 2006.One institution tasked with preserving and developing this ancient art is the Tibet Academy of Thangka(TAT)in Lhasa.It focuses on the Mansar School of Thangka painting.Visitors can observe the whole process of creating a Mansar Thangka piece,from sketching to adding the final touch.展开更多
This study reviews the historical development,current applications,and multifaceted impacts of religious psychological coping on the physical and mental health of cancer patients.As a method for coping with life’s pr...This study reviews the historical development,current applications,and multifaceted impacts of religious psychological coping on the physical and mental health of cancer patients.As a method for coping with life’s pressures through religious beliefs or activities,religious psychological coping has been proven to alleviate the negative emotions of cancer patients and enhance their spiritual well-being and quality of life(QOL).Research indicates that religious faith can alleviate the physical symptoms of cancer patients,extend survival time,reduce the fear of death,assist in coping with treatment side effects,and improve self-efficacy and overall quality of life.Additionally,this study explores factors influencing religious psychological coping,including demographic and sociological characteristics,the faith status of caregivers,types of religion,the relationship between the course of the disease and the duration of belief,and psychological factors.Considering the cultural differences between China and other countries,this study calls for further research into the real experiences of cancer patients with religious beliefs and provides theoretical guidance for clinical nursing practices to achieve holistic care for the body,mind,and spirit of cancer patients.展开更多
To construct our religious property system, we must first define its purpose and function, and then clarify the connotation, subject, and capacity of religious property, the premise of which is to scientifically under...To construct our religious property system, we must first define its purpose and function, and then clarify the connotation, subject, and capacity of religious property, the premise of which is to scientifically understand the nature, purpose and function of religions. The"religious purpose"of the religious property system is different in its appeal to different subjects: The state, religious groups and believers. For different types of property, religious purposes differ in directness and indirectness, but they are unified in the realization of the basic religious policy of the Party and the state.展开更多
Neither logical deduction nor empirical induction is capable of mediating the dispute between religious disciples and non-disciples. The case is particularly acute when it comes to the divine Reality （God）. Within W...Neither logical deduction nor empirical induction is capable of mediating the dispute between religious disciples and non-disciples. The case is particularly acute when it comes to the divine Reality （God）. Within Wittgenstein＇s theoretical framework, some scholars start from the perspective of language games, contending that this dispute is meaningless and should be abandoned, while others are not satisfied with such a settlement and extend Wittgenstein＇s aspect theory to religious issues, arguing that God is an aspect. The extension includes analogous and theoretical extensions. This article will show that even if these two extensions are successful, their interpretations with regard to the disputes between religious disciples and non-disciples are not convincing. Worse still, the extension from aspect theory to religious issues is by no means successful in proving that God is an aspect.展开更多
The paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of religions is based on theory of mind as the product of interdependent division of labor between the forest specialist group (women and small children) and the woodlan...The paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of religions is based on theory of mind as the product of interdependent division of labor between the forest specialist group (women and small children) and the woodland specialist group (men) in early hominins who lived in the mixed forest-woodland habitat. To complement each other’s work without interfering each other’s work, one specialist group had to recognize (imagine) that the other specialist group existed to think for themselves and to do different works. The result was theory of mind which is to recognize (imagine) that the others exist to think for themselves. (The forest-woodland groups became the hunter-gatherer groups for the Homo species in the savanna habitat.) Under existential pressure, hominins invented imaginary specialists as imaginary agents who existed to think for themselves and to do different works in imaginary division of labor to enhance survival chance. The result was religion with imaginary behaviors. Therefore, religion is defined as a set of beliefs and behaviors based on theory of mind that produces a shared imagination to enhance survival chance under existential pressure. This paper proposes that the religious evolution consists of the premodern imaginative religion for local society habitat starting from bipedalism, the modern rational imaginative religion for regional society habitat starting from the Axial Age, and the postmodern diverse rational imaginative religion for global society habitat starting from the Information Revolution. In conclusion, the religious brain is the imaginative brain, and the religious social behaviors are imaginary social behaviors. The religious evolution is the evolution of human imagination to enhance survival chance under existential pressure, such as the religious reinforcement of social bonds to enhance the survival chance of social group and the religious relief of stress and anxiety to enhance the survival chance of individuals.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Project Nos.7137215171502040+1 种基金715702041971332004)
文摘This paper investigates whether religious traditions influence firm-specific crash risk in China.Using a sample of A-share listed firms from 2003 to 2013,we provide evidence that the more intense the religious environment,the lower the stock price crash risk,implying that religion plays an important role in Chinese corporate governance.Further,we find that(1) religion affects stock price crash risk by reducing earnings management and the management perk problem;(2) different religions have different effects,and Taoism,in particular,is unrelated to crash risk; and(3) the effects of religion are more pronounced with higher quality corporate governance and a stronger legal environment.Religion constrains the management agency problem,thus reducing stock price crash risk in China.Our paper enriches the literature on stock price crash risk and religion,and on new economic geography.
基金supported by the Graduate Research Support Scheme,Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,National University of Singapore
文摘The Three Rivers Headwaters Region(TRHR) plays a key role in regulating water supply and climate of East Asia. A comprehensive understanding of the processes and driving forces of the long-term land use dynamics of the TRHR is needed to guide sustainable land resource management and regional ecological conservation strategies. This study examined long-term land change patterns in the TRHR and investigated the driving forces of the change. First, Landsat TM/ETM+ images covering TRHR of four time points from 1987 to 2016 were used to derive land use patterns, and statistical metrics were applied to quantify the spatial and temporal changes. Second, Principal Component Analysis and correlation analysis were employed to analyze environmental and social-economic data to identify the driving forces of land use change. Third, potential influences of the religion of Tibetan Buddhism on land use change were explored using GIS analysis, questionnaire survey and field observation. Results showed that areas of barren land, agricultural land, and built-up land largely increased, while areas of grassland and forest greatly decreased, with the highest change rate occurring in the most recent decade of analysis(from 2007 to 2016). Among the three headwater regions, the Yellow River Headwater Region showed an overall higher changing speed than the other two headwater regions. The regional driving forces of change in TRHR includedsocial-economic development, climatic condition, pressure of population growth, and environmental protection activities. It was also found that Tibetan Buddhism can help slow down the changes caused by human activities.
文摘With government support,more young people are studying Thangka art,securing its innovative development.THE 1,300-year-old Thangka art,religious painting on woven material,has been lauded as an illustrated encyclopedia of Tibetan culture.Its unique artistic and cultural value earned it a place on China’s intangible cultural heritage list in 2006.One institution tasked with preserving and developing this ancient art is the Tibet Academy of Thangka(TAT)in Lhasa.It focuses on the Mansar School of Thangka painting.Visitors can observe the whole process of creating a Mansar Thangka piece,from sketching to adding the final touch.
文摘This study reviews the historical development,current applications,and multifaceted impacts of religious psychological coping on the physical and mental health of cancer patients.As a method for coping with life’s pressures through religious beliefs or activities,religious psychological coping has been proven to alleviate the negative emotions of cancer patients and enhance their spiritual well-being and quality of life(QOL).Research indicates that religious faith can alleviate the physical symptoms of cancer patients,extend survival time,reduce the fear of death,assist in coping with treatment side effects,and improve self-efficacy and overall quality of life.Additionally,this study explores factors influencing religious psychological coping,including demographic and sociological characteristics,the faith status of caregivers,types of religion,the relationship between the course of the disease and the duration of belief,and psychological factors.Considering the cultural differences between China and other countries,this study calls for further research into the real experiences of cancer patients with religious beliefs and provides theoretical guidance for clinical nursing practices to achieve holistic care for the body,mind,and spirit of cancer patients.
基金National social and scientific project"Research on Religious Property System in Our Country"(13XZJ014)
文摘To construct our religious property system, we must first define its purpose and function, and then clarify the connotation, subject, and capacity of religious property, the premise of which is to scientifically understand the nature, purpose and function of religions. The"religious purpose"of the religious property system is different in its appeal to different subjects: The state, religious groups and believers. For different types of property, religious purposes differ in directness and indirectness, but they are unified in the realization of the basic religious policy of the Party and the state.
文摘Neither logical deduction nor empirical induction is capable of mediating the dispute between religious disciples and non-disciples. The case is particularly acute when it comes to the divine Reality （God）. Within Wittgenstein＇s theoretical framework, some scholars start from the perspective of language games, contending that this dispute is meaningless and should be abandoned, while others are not satisfied with such a settlement and extend Wittgenstein＇s aspect theory to religious issues, arguing that God is an aspect. The extension includes analogous and theoretical extensions. This article will show that even if these two extensions are successful, their interpretations with regard to the disputes between religious disciples and non-disciples are not convincing. Worse still, the extension from aspect theory to religious issues is by no means successful in proving that God is an aspect.
文摘The paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of religions is based on theory of mind as the product of interdependent division of labor between the forest specialist group (women and small children) and the woodland specialist group (men) in early hominins who lived in the mixed forest-woodland habitat. To complement each other’s work without interfering each other’s work, one specialist group had to recognize (imagine) that the other specialist group existed to think for themselves and to do different works. The result was theory of mind which is to recognize (imagine) that the others exist to think for themselves. (The forest-woodland groups became the hunter-gatherer groups for the Homo species in the savanna habitat.) Under existential pressure, hominins invented imaginary specialists as imaginary agents who existed to think for themselves and to do different works in imaginary division of labor to enhance survival chance. The result was religion with imaginary behaviors. Therefore, religion is defined as a set of beliefs and behaviors based on theory of mind that produces a shared imagination to enhance survival chance under existential pressure. This paper proposes that the religious evolution consists of the premodern imaginative religion for local society habitat starting from bipedalism, the modern rational imaginative religion for regional society habitat starting from the Axial Age, and the postmodern diverse rational imaginative religion for global society habitat starting from the Information Revolution. In conclusion, the religious brain is the imaginative brain, and the religious social behaviors are imaginary social behaviors. The religious evolution is the evolution of human imagination to enhance survival chance under existential pressure, such as the religious reinforcement of social bonds to enhance the survival chance of social group and the religious relief of stress and anxiety to enhance the survival chance of individuals.
