In the article, the author presents reflections on the importance of the idea of the road and perfection in Chinese philosophy on the basis of Chinese aphorisms. In Chinese philosophy, the central concept is tao 道, or “road,” understood as the path that a person walks through life in search and pursuit of wisdom and perfection. The wisdom of Chinese sages, such as Confucius, Lao-cy, Lie-cy, Mo Ti, and others, cited in the article, show what the pursuit of perfection is in terms of Chinese philosophy, and also contain recommendations on how to act in order to live well, in order to follow the path of virtue. This does not apply only to Taoism, because all the recommendations of Chinese sages concern how to proceed in order to experience our life as best as possible – both in ethical and praxeological dimensions. Most of the recommendations are united by the idea of self-improvement, based on the imperative of striving for excellence. This idea permeates the culture of the Far East – China, Japan, and Korea. In these countries, the ordinary activities of daily life have become “art.” Even if it is known that perfection can only be approached and never attained, it is still to be pursued, putting into it your daily effort in the thought of what Confucius preached: “the path is more important than the goal.”

This paper is the first part of a bigger whole titled “What do we need China for.” It is focused on the incidentality of historical Sino-Polish relations before 1949. Although the state of Poland has existed since time of Song dynasty in China, earlier mutual Polish-Chinese relations were incidental and limited to very loosely connected or completely unrelated historical events, e.g. legacies to Great Khan, missionary activities, military and civil service to foreign powers, occasional contacts between revolutionary politicians, the refuge for Poles in Harbin. The second part titled “The superpower of East Asia and new perspectives of Polish raison d’État” will be published soon.

The article shows the beginnings of forensic medical opinions in China in antiquity and the Middle Ages. The issues of the participation of experts – experts in matters related to the assessment of health and life were discussed. In addition, the length and tradition of Chinese forensic medicine that has developed since the dawn of time is highlighted. For hundreds of years, inspections and forensic examinations were carried out by government officials – not by doctors. Significant changes in this matter were introduced by Song Ci – a doctor and a judge who is considered to be the “father” of forensics around the world. His work, The Washing Away of Wrongs, changed the fate of forensic and medical opinion in the history of China.

The author describes the difficult beginnings of publishing in new China, a country devastated in large part by the Japanese occupation and civil war. Publishing houses of all types were then scattered over a huge territory and very few. This was particularly the case for publishing children’s and youth literature. Despite this difficult situation, as early as the end of 1950, the first specialized publishing house for children and youth audiences was established in Shanghai. The author shows the difficult further way of building a large publishing movement and institutions cooperating with it, which specialized in work for children and youth audiences. It indicates the role of the publishing movement in expanding the education of children and young people in China. It signals the collapse of an excellent business in the gloomy period of the cultural revolution, and then shows a gradual rebirth, and then, again, the dynamic development of the industry in the early 1980s in connection with the implementation of the “reform and opening up” policy. An important stage in this dynamic development was the formation of a new media group aimed at children and youth audiences in 2000 – the Chinese youth and children’s information and publishing cooperative. This has led to the creation of similar media groups throughout China. Over 70 years of operation, new China has made tremendous progress in the field of children’s and youth literature and publishing. Interestingly, this process, especially in the initial period, was carried out in cooperation with its counterpart in Poland. Many Polish books for young Chinese readers have appeared on the Chinese market and this phenomenon continues to be beneficial for both sides.

Polish and Chinese cultures were shaped in completely different geopolitical, social, and historical conditions. Non-verbal communication is closely related to cultural conditions. Chinese culture is based on the principle of face, and Polish culture is based on the principles of honour. However, it is very visible in the process of nonverbal communication, which directly influences the transmission and interpretation of information concerning the social reality of an individual. Additionally, the way messages are interpreted is not the same everywhere. You have to remember about the international filter in decoding the message. As a result, the lack of knowledge about these meanings very often causes misunderstanding and sometimes conflict situations. It should be emphasized that in the negotiation process one should know the cultural code, if we do not know it, misinterpretation may occur. For example, when on a pole, the nodding of a head in China may mean approval, but unfortunately the Chinese say that they are only listening to their opponent. These intercultural misunderstandings often result from intercultural egocentrism. The awareness of a foreign culture, its nuances, history, norms, and values can greatly facilitate cooperation, not only on a business or friendly basis.

To sum up, having contact with the Chinese, whether on a business or a friendly basis, we should be aware of the above dependencies. Sometimes it requires a very high sensitivity on the context of messages expressed indirectly. Identifying the right context can greatly speed up and improve communication.

China is not only a country of cheap production (“Made in China”). China is becoming more and more innovative, as evidenced by its growing position in the annual Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking. Over the past decade, China has become an emerging superpower while the economic position of the United States and the European Union has weakened. The purpose of this article is to answer the question of whether the US innovation supremacy becoming the past. The role of China is growing as a result of departing from “Made in China” and illegally obtained technological solutions in favor of innovation and technologically advanced production “Created in China.” Huawei is one of the most innovative companies in the world. The analysis is carried out in the context of the significance of the Thucydides trap in the technological war between the United States and China and the location of changes in the innovativeness of both countries in the aspect of the Kondratiev cycle. Additionally, China may come out stronger from the pandemic that has changed the whole world.

Over the past few years, many scientists have analyzed China’s Belt and Road Initiative, but very few have studied a significant component of this initiative – the Digital Silk Road (DSR). Although the attention regarding the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative is focused mainly on the implementation of international transport infrastructure projects, such as roads, railways or ports, it seems important to pay attention to the technological component of this project. The main goal of the article is to present the most comprehensive information possible on the Digital Silk Road and to investigate Chinese activities in this area. It should be emphasized that the early stage of development, namely the planning of the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the Digital Silk Road, raises many scientific questions, such as: what is the Digital Silk Road? What actions have been taken to implement it? What challenges and threats can it generate? Will the Digital Silk Road contribute to an even greater exposure – the technological, growing role of China in the world? Undoubtedly, the Digital Silk Road, which is a platform promoting the development of digital connections between the countries participating in the initiative, can help spread Chinese digital “inventions – products.” In addition, it may contribute to facilitating the economic and social development of the countries along the initiative, thus improving the level of economic development of the beneficiary countries and generating new international competitive advantages. The Digital Silk Road is an inherent requirement for building China’s digital power in the world, and therefore a current and very important research area. The work on this article uses desk research on the changing position of the People’s Republic of China in the competition for technological leadership in the world, as well as the consequences it entails.

This article aims to bring forward the directorial output of Kang-sheng Lee by both exposing and minimizing its correlation with Ming-liang Tsai’s body of work. Lee is mainly known for acting in Tsai’s films, which led to the marginalization of his directorial oeuvre. The discourse is divided into two parts. The first one is largely biographical and delineates Lee and Tsai’s creative relationship while acknowledging the former’s path to directing and the reception of his films. The second section is devoted to a comparative analysis of both filmmakers’ bodies of work through the lens of alienation. Thus, by understanding the differences between the two Taiwanese filmmakers, Lee’s body of work can finally be analyzed on its own merits.

The aim of this article was to analyze the applicability of the Asian development model in selected Southeast Asian countries. The presentation of the main assumptions of the model together with an analysis of the initial conditions of Japan from 1950–1960 allowed for a comparison, of which the conclusion was the relative similarity of Vietnamese and Laotian economies to post-war Japan. Next, the case study of China’s policies endeavoured to highlight the adaptability of the model to domestic specifities. Henceforth, the article aimed at formulating policies featuring the usage of Asian development model, which could be implemented by Vietnam and Laos. Its main conclusion was the observation, that after adjusting certain assumptions of the model to domestic conditions, it still remains an attractive alternative for countries wishing to pursue development through industrialisation.

The Meiji era (1868–1912) pushed Japan towards a modern, industrialized and, most of all, positivist state. This era plays an important role in shaping the ethnographic (anthropological, folklore) thought in the country. However, this is only one side of the coin, a medal which, apart from a gigantic leap in civilization, had a reverse – traditional, familiar, “Japanese” side. Japan went through two important periods of modernization in the years of 1868-1962. From a feudal country ruled by samurai transformed into a country capable of competing with the previously industrially developed colonial powers, and after World War II, giving up imperial ambitions, transformed into a modern state. During the century, numerous changes have occurred in the streets of the Japanese capital. From the carriages, trough automobiles, and finally, after 1945, to the jets flying overhead. It was in such times that the pioneer of Japanese ethnography, folklore or socio-cultural anthropology, Yanagita Kunio, came to live and work. This text aims to present the profile and main theses of this Japanese researcher.

This article offers a reflection – against the historical and literary background of the epoch – on Chūya Nakahara’s work (1907–1937), who was the precursor of the Japanese syllabicaccentual verse (particular of the sonnet). Comparative analysis of his poem Mata kon haru (Spring comes again) and its Polish translation (included in the only Polish anthology of contemporary Japanese poetry entitled Cherries bloomed in winter) aims at shedding light on how difficult was the adaptation of the sonnet to the Japanese language.

The OJAD (Online Japanese Accent Dictionary) service seems to offer a new promise for the research practice, proving that the intonation cadence may be treated similarly as feet in the poetry written in European languages.

The Korean wave, especially over the past few years, has had a significant impact on the world. More and more people have begun to be interested in the culture of South Korea to a greater or lesser extent. Some people are interested only in K-pop or Korean series, but there are many people who expand their interest in Korean culture, start learning the language, history, and customs. Of all aspects of South Korean culture, K-pop is certainly the most popular. Much more artists organize concert tours for the benefit of European countries and America, in 2019, in Poland there were 15 such concerts. More and more often, Korean food festivals, stationary stores selling Korean cosmetics and food products are organized, in some countries, there even appear themed dance schools focusing on learning specific K-pop dance arrangements. The Korean wave also affects the perception of beauty by people – in 2018, on the annual list of the most handsome men, there appeared much more Koreans than in previous years, even members of the BTS group occupy the first places on the list.

In the twentieth century, Korea had a violent change in its history. Initially, Korea lost its independence and became a Japanese colony. It regained freedom after the defeat of Japan, but soon, the Korean War broke out. From that time until today, Korea has been divided into two parts: the southern one and the northern one. After the war, South Korea was a country under military dictatorship for a long time. South Korea after the Korean War belonged to one of the poorest countries over the world. In the present time, however, South Korea has become a country that has a great impact on the global economy. This change in history had a huge impact (positively and negatively) on the mentality of Koreans. The aim of my article is to present the economic development of South Korea from a Confucian point of view and to analyze the impact of Korean history in the twentieth century on the mentality of Koreans and its operation in Korean society (work ethos and ethos of science, Korean language, etc.).

The article describes Kamienne tablice (Stone Tablets), one of the last movies directed by Ewa and Czesław Petelscy, the once-known director’s tandem. In the 1980s, after the introduction of martial law, they remained faithful to the communist authority, so they could realize high-budget films. That is why the film Kamienne tablice was taking place in India in 1956, and some of the pictures were just filmed in India. Therefore, the movie was very poor and its three threads – political, erotic, and exotic – do not make up the whole. Political thread has been considerably softened compared to the initial plans and tailored to ideological needs. Petelski also failed to create a credible melodrama (the only thing that was supposed to attract viewers was erotic scenes, but they were poorly staged), and India is shown superficially, like in travelogue, from the perspective of a stranger.