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Tales of “Tiger Women” from Ancient China
In ancient China, Confucian traditions required women to be gentle and obedient. According to “The Book of Rites,” a collection of texts mainly published in the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) on the society and politics of the Zhou era (1046 – 256 BCE), unmarried women must obey their fathers, while married women were supposed to be subservient to their husbands and obey their sons if their husbands died. Wives who failed to meet the requirement would be called “female tigers,” generally a pejorative term for tough, imperious, or “unreasonable” women — similar to the modern term “tiger mom,” though not exclusive to parents.To get more news about women in ancient china, you can visit shine news official website.
Throughout history, many women gained — often unfair — reputations as intractable. Much of this stemmed from the sexism of patriarchal ancient Chinese society. A closer look reveals most of the women labeled “female tigers” merely stepped in when their husbands scuffled with others, or disliked them visiting prostitutes and taking concubines. Here are some of the most famous “tiger women” from ancient China:
The woman who frightened an assassin
Zhuan Zhu was one of the “Four Assassins” of ancient China, each of whom became famous for killing a tyrant. Born in the Spring and Autumn period (770 – 476 BCE), he was hired by Prince Guang of the State of Wu to assassinate the Wu king. Prince Guang arranged a dinner with the king and Zhuan disguised himself as a servant, hid a knife in the belly of a cooked fish, and stabbed the king to death as he served the fish to him. The king’s bodyguards killed Zhuan at the scene as he tried to make his escape.
But this supposedly fearless assassin was most afraid of his wife. According to The Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, a historical record from the Eastern Han dynasty (25 – 220), when Wu Zixu, an official serving Prince Guang, met Zhuan for the first time, an enraged Zhuan was fighting ruffians on the street. But when Zhuan’s wife appeared, and asked him to stop fighting and return home, to everyone’s surprise, he immediately ended his combat and left with her.
Surprised, Wu asked Zhuan why he was so obedient to a woman, to which he replied: “I am second to just one person, but I am above all the others.” Hearing that, Wu concluded that Zhuan was brave, but not reckless, and so recommended him to Prince Guang for the assassination mission.
Though details of Zhuan’s wife are sparse, including even her surname, she was recorded as a “tigress” in official records, while Zhuan was labeled “the first henpecked man in history” by scholars in later dynasties.
China’s economic slowdown is impacting the rest of the world
China and growth have been synonymous for so long it’s hard to imagine a world in which they part ways. Due to a rare confluence of events, China’s nearly two decades of rapid expansion appear to be coming to an end. The covid pandemic, effects of climate change and a range of internal economic difficulties — from high local government debt to a cratering real estate sector — have buffeted the country. The damage has been well documented. But there’s a huge and less well-understood ripple effect spreading around the globe. Countries large and small are not prepared for the fallout.To get more latest news about china economy, you can visit shine news official website.
For the most export-dependent nations — primarily South and Southeast Asia, and Africa — the effects of an already-slowing global economy will be amplified by a shrinking China market. For others, new markets may open up as trading patterns shift to rapidly growing India and other countries, but such shifts will take years to fully materialize. World leaders will need to rethink their own economic plans in a world that can no longer count on China growth to fuel their own prosperity.
A China under economic strain is a relatively new phenomenon for the rest of the world. Developed and developing countries alike have grown used to Beijing’s seemingly insatiable appetite for their products. The poorest have also become dangerously dependent on China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative and the lending spree that came with it — which was meant to rival the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a source of capital and infrastructure.
All these China-related opportunities are now being thrown into question. Even Beijing’s flexibility when it comes to economic policy — once a hallmark of its enduring success — can no longer be taken for granted. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s singular grip over decision-making is turning the country into a one-man show with potentially disastrous results for many countries.
The troubles inside China
The great driver of economic trouble in China has been Xi’s zero-covid policy, which has sent hundreds of millions of people into mandatory lockdowns that have led to food and medicine shortages, and a stifling of economic activity. Many factory workers were stuck at home during the worst of the lockdowns — apart from the minority who lived at their facilities. Perpetually shifting closures, from even a single nearby case, continue to cause production slowdowns. Meanwhile, this summer’s crippling heat wave, exacerbated by climate change, has dried up massive riverbeds and diminished hydropower generation — so much so that China’s southeastern industrial and exporting hubs had to shut down as well. If that weren’t enough, low birthrates — despite the lifting of the decades-old one-child policy — and a rapidly aging population are poised to slow growth even further.
As much as centralized planning has traditionally helped China avoid the worst of major global recessions, this time the scale of the problems far outpaces the policies that might fix them. Massive infrastructure investment and real estate development, China’s preferred boosts for much of the last decade, look ill-equipped to deal with the current slowdown.
And it’s worth defining what the 2022 “slowdown” looks like. Growth estimates are falling monthly, with major banks including Goldman Sachs and Nomura now predicting barely 3 percent or lower GDP growth for 2022 and the World Bank forecasting a figure of 2.8 percent. That might be a satisfactory number for many countries; it’s an anemic figure for China, down from a jaw-dropping 8.1 percent last year, and — perhaps more important — nowhere near the government’s own forecast of 5.5 percent for 2022. Add to this a significant drop in imports and exports, and the subsequent pressure on the yuan, and the much-touted “China century” is hitting its first major speed bump. It may very well knock off a tire or two as well.
Xi, up for a third term at this month’s party congress, has distinguished himself with a neo-Maoist leadership style that would compel his people to “eat bitterness” through difficult years. That’s a stark departure from former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s reforms of the 1990s that opened the state-dominated economy to private firms and foreign companies. Those policies ignited decades of explosive growth. Now, foreign access is becoming more and more limited, fast-growth tech firms are under fire, and state-owned enterprises are on the rise again.
Kazakhstan received the first batch of the Chinese-made Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine this week amidst a mass immunization campaign rolled out in early February.To get more sinopharm latest news, you can visit shine news official website.
SK-Pharmacia, a distributor of medicines in Kazakhstan, has purchased four million jabs of Sinopharm following the talks with the Chinese government. The first batch delivered on Tuesday included one million jabs.
The Sinopharm vaccine will become the fifth registered vaccine in Kazakhstan. Central Asia’s largest country has so far authorized four vaccines, including Russian-made Sputnik V, Kazakhstan’s first domestically developed QazVac, as well as Chinese CoronaVac and Hayat-Vax. The last one has been produced in the United Arab Emirates based on Sinopharm technology.
Sinopharm was developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, a subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG). Its efficacy was confirmed at 78.1 percent based on peer-reviewed results of third phase trials conducted in UAE and Bahrain, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The vaccine efficacy against severe coronavirus cases is said to be 100 percent. The two-dose vaccine can be transported and stored at normal refrigeration temperatures.
On May 7, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved Sinopharm for emergency use. The green light from the global health body has given impetus to the wide use of the Chinese-made vaccine across the globe. As of today, 60 countries have already registered Sinopharm. Sinopharm had supplied over 200 million doses of the vaccine at home and abroad by May.
Since Kazakhstan launched mass vaccination on February 1, the country has been relying mainly on the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. Kazakhstan even began its production at the local pharmaceutical complex.
Sputnik V was registered in Russia on August 11, becoming the world’s first registered vaccine against Covid-19. The Russian-made jab showed an impressive 92 percent efficacy, according to late-stage trial results published in the prestigious Lancet medical journal. Russia’s vaccine is in use in about 70 countries.
Covid-19 has so far infected 687,259 people in Kazakhstan since the pandemic began. Deaths from the virus stand at 7,554, while 566,613 recovered from the disease.
In an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus, the government has introduced new rules requiring people working in contact with the public – anywhere from government offices and stores to leisure facilities – to show evidence of vaccination before being allowed into their place of work.
As of August 3, Kazakhstan has vaccinated almost 40 percent of the eligible population with two components. The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will continue in Kazakhstan through late 2021, providing coverage for up to six million people out of the country’s population of almost 19 million.
SK-Pharmacia, a distributor of medicines in Kazakhstan, has purchased four million jabs of Sinopharm following the talks with the Chinese government. The first batch delivered on Tuesday included one million jabs.
The Sinopharm vaccine will become the fifth registered vaccine in Kazakhstan. Central Asia’s largest country has so far authorized four vaccines, including Russian-made Sputnik V, Kazakhstan’s first domestically developed QazVac, as well as Chinese CoronaVac and Hayat-Vax. The last one has been produced in the United Arab Emirates based on Sinopharm technology.
Sinopharm was developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, a subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG). Its efficacy was confirmed at 78.1 percent based on peer-reviewed results of third phase trials conducted in UAE and Bahrain, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The vaccine efficacy against severe coronavirus cases is said to be 100 percent. The two-dose vaccine can be transported and stored at normal refrigeration temperatures.
On May 7, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved Sinopharm for emergency use. The green light from the global health body has given impetus to the wide use of the Chinese-made vaccine across the globe. As of today, 60 countries have already registered Sinopharm. Sinopharm had supplied over 200 million doses of the vaccine at home and abroad by May.
Since Kazakhstan launched mass vaccination on February 1, the country has been relying mainly on the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. Kazakhstan even began its production at the local pharmaceutical complex.
Sputnik V was registered in Russia on August 11, becoming the world’s first registered vaccine against Covid-19. The Russian-made jab showed an impressive 92 percent efficacy, according to late-stage trial results published in the prestigious Lancet medical journal. Russia’s vaccine is in use in about 70 countries.
Covid-19 has so far infected 687,259 people in Kazakhstan since the pandemic began. Deaths from the virus stand at 7,554, while 566,613 recovered from the disease.
In an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus, the government has introduced new rules requiring people working in contact with the public – anywhere from government offices and stores to leisure facilities – to show evidence of vaccination before being allowed into their place of work.
As of August 3, Kazakhstan has vaccinated almost 40 percent of the eligible population with two components. The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will continue in Kazakhstan through late 2021, providing coverage for up to six million people out of the country’s population of almost 19 million.
China’s huge manufacturing and service industries just saw their first month of growth since February, according to surveys published Thursday, as Covid restrictions were eased in many cities.To get more Shanghai economy news, you can visit shine news official website.
But the shadow of further lockdowns still looms over the world’s second biggest economy as Beijing sends mixed messages about the best way out of the Covid pandemic.The Chinese government’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for manufacturing — which mainly covers larger businesses and state-owned companies — rose to 50.2 in June, the first time it has crossed the 50 mark since February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. A reading above 50 indicates that activity is increasing.
Meanwhile, the official non-manufacturing PMI, which includes construction and services industries, jumped to 54.7 in June, compared with 47.8 in May. It was also the first time the index has moved back into expansion territory in four months, and its strongest reading since May 2021.
The surveys provide the latest signs of recovery in China’s economy, as the country gradually reopens for business following months of widespread Covid lockdowns.“The official PMIs point to a surprisingly rapid recovery in services activity this month after virus restrictions were mostly lifted,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist for Capital Economics.
But he also pointed to continued weakness in the labor market, warning that it means household finances and consumer confidence remain fragile.
“Once the reopening boost fades, this will weigh on any further recovery,” he added in a research note.
Many cities — including mainland China’s business hub Shanghai — had been under strict Covid restrictions since March, resulting in a sharp contraction in economic activity. People were confined to their homes, shops and restaurants were shut, and factories were closed. Analysts worry that the Chinese economy will contract in the second quarter, putting the government’s annual growth target of 5.5% for 2022 out of reach.
Signs of an economic slowdown and soaring unemployment have rattled top government officials, who have moved to loosen Covid restrictions and boost confidence.
Premier Li Keqiang — No. 2 in the hierarchy of China’s Communist Party — has repeatedly sounded the alarm on rising unemployment in recent months and urged the government to take stronger steps to support business and stabilize growth.On Monday, Li visited a job training center in Beijing and underscored the need to “steer the economy back on track as soon as possible” and “bring down unemployment as quickly as possible.”
Earlier this month, many cities lifted their lockdowns or relaxed Covid-related curbs, including Shanghai.On Tuesday, the National Health Commission said China will cut the quarantine period for international travelers by more than half, a major shift in the country’s Covid policy.But analysts fear that China may stick to harsh Covid restrictions for a while.
On Wednesday, China’s President Xi Jinping reaffirmed his commitment to the zero-Covid policy during a visit to Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Xi said he would rather “temporarily sacrifice a little economic growth” than “harm people’s health,” according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, expected the recent surge in China’s economic activity to be sustained into July, as further relaxation of mobility restriction takes place. But Xi’s adherence to the zero-Covid stance would keep a lid on growth, he added.
But the shadow of further lockdowns still looms over the world’s second biggest economy as Beijing sends mixed messages about the best way out of the Covid pandemic.The Chinese government’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for manufacturing — which mainly covers larger businesses and state-owned companies — rose to 50.2 in June, the first time it has crossed the 50 mark since February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. A reading above 50 indicates that activity is increasing.
Meanwhile, the official non-manufacturing PMI, which includes construction and services industries, jumped to 54.7 in June, compared with 47.8 in May. It was also the first time the index has moved back into expansion territory in four months, and its strongest reading since May 2021.
The surveys provide the latest signs of recovery in China’s economy, as the country gradually reopens for business following months of widespread Covid lockdowns.“The official PMIs point to a surprisingly rapid recovery in services activity this month after virus restrictions were mostly lifted,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist for Capital Economics.
But he also pointed to continued weakness in the labor market, warning that it means household finances and consumer confidence remain fragile.
“Once the reopening boost fades, this will weigh on any further recovery,” he added in a research note.
Many cities — including mainland China’s business hub Shanghai — had been under strict Covid restrictions since March, resulting in a sharp contraction in economic activity. People were confined to their homes, shops and restaurants were shut, and factories were closed. Analysts worry that the Chinese economy will contract in the second quarter, putting the government’s annual growth target of 5.5% for 2022 out of reach.
Signs of an economic slowdown and soaring unemployment have rattled top government officials, who have moved to loosen Covid restrictions and boost confidence.
Premier Li Keqiang — No. 2 in the hierarchy of China’s Communist Party — has repeatedly sounded the alarm on rising unemployment in recent months and urged the government to take stronger steps to support business and stabilize growth.On Monday, Li visited a job training center in Beijing and underscored the need to “steer the economy back on track as soon as possible” and “bring down unemployment as quickly as possible.”
Earlier this month, many cities lifted their lockdowns or relaxed Covid-related curbs, including Shanghai.On Tuesday, the National Health Commission said China will cut the quarantine period for international travelers by more than half, a major shift in the country’s Covid policy.But analysts fear that China may stick to harsh Covid restrictions for a while.
On Wednesday, China’s President Xi Jinping reaffirmed his commitment to the zero-Covid policy during a visit to Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Xi said he would rather “temporarily sacrifice a little economic growth” than “harm people’s health,” according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, expected the recent surge in China’s economic activity to be sustained into July, as further relaxation of mobility restriction takes place. But Xi’s adherence to the zero-Covid stance would keep a lid on growth, he added.