Between Tradition and Modernity

How to deal with the relationship between tradition and modernity has become a global concern under the impact of pluralism. This book explores the relationship between traditional Dai culture and modern school education through a field study in the Dai region of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. The study analyses the reasons for conflicts between monastic education and modern school education in the Dai region of Xishuangbanna. It also discusses the logic behind the formation of the Dai people’s belief in Southern Theravada Buddhism and its importance in Dai culture. Through the analysis of the changes in monastic education before and after the intervention of the modern school system, the study finds symbiosis in the differences and conflicts between these two forms of education. The author proposes a symbiosis theory of multiple educational forms in ethnic areas and offers targeted solutions to specific problems between the Dai monastic education and modern school education in Xishuangbanna. This book will be a great read to students and scholars of Chinese studies, ethnic studies, education, and those who are interested in multi- ethnicity issues in general.

Aby Warburg (1866-1929), founder of the Warburg Institute, was one of the most influential cultural historians of the twentieth century. Focusing on the period 1896-1918, this is the first in-depth, book-length study of his response to German political, social and cultural modernism. It analyses Warburg's response to the effects of these phenomena through a study of his involvement with the creation of some of the most important public artworks in Germany. Using a wide array of archival sources, including many of his unpublished working papers and much of his correspondence, the author demonstrates that Warburg's thinking on contemporary art was the product of two important influences: his engagement with Hamburg's civic affairs and his affinity with influential reform movements seeking a greater role for the middle classes in the political, social and cultural leadership of the nation. Thus a lively picture of Hamburg's cultural life emerges as it responded to artistic modernism, animated by private initiative and public discourse, and charged with debate.