Estudios Complutenses de Asia Oriental (ISSN xxxx-xxxx) is a six-monthly journal.
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Writing History on the Body: Contingency, Rumor, and Realism in Feng Tang’s Tianxia luan
This article reads Feng Tang’s Tianxia luan (2012) as a radical displacement of historical fiction in which sovereignty is no longer grounded in moral legitimacy or narrative causality, but in the negative inscription of power on the body. It argues that mutilation, loss, and corporeal deprivation function not as thematic motifs but as structuring operators of both political authority and narrative intelligibility. By foregrounding rumor, bureaucratic euphemism, and archival residues, the text replaces explanation with procedural opacity and fragmentation, thereby exposing the contingent conditions of historical “truth.” This epistemic instability extends to temporality itself: history is no longer organized by continuity but by irreversible gaps and belated effects. Tianxia luan thus articulates a poetics of contingency in which bodies, archives, and temporal disjunctions jointly produce historical experience.
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Eighteenth-Century Spanish Sinology: Developments and Repercussions
: The Enlightenment gave rise to substantial methodological innovations in Spanish Sinology. Following a sharp decline of missionary news sources dependent on the Spanish Patronage, those originating from other European languages and institutions became predominant. The study methodology was categorized into distinct thematic areas. Due to Jesuit chronicles, China was no longer perceived as a culturally hermetic country, disconnected from the outside world. Consequently, Spanish erudites drew a contrast between the Sinitic civilization and their own. In several respects -including agrarian practices, system of government, merit-based recruitment of public officials, and aesthetic pursuit- China was regarded as a paradigmatic model for European reform proposals. The aesthetic of chinoiserie was widely adopted as a hallmark of royal and noble distinction. During the 18th century Spain established its inaugural major commercial enterprise on Chinese soil; concurrently, the Malaspina-Bustamante overseas expedition sought to execute a large-scale mercantile operation while also accumulating intelligence regarding Macau and Canton. However, criticism of the Celestial Empire dramatically increased in Europe during the last third of this century, as China was considered outdated and incapable of embracing modernity.
Nationalism and Politics in Asian Sinicization: From Fukoku Kyohei to Chinese Soft Power
This research work, taking as a reference the sinicization process/theory and its effect on the eastern geographical periphery of China to, based on its three historiographical aspects, focus on its political, nationalist and cultural identity influence proposes: 1. Review the emergence and Japaneseization of the Chinese slogan “Rich country, strong army” (known by its Japanese version Fukoku Kyohei). 2. Assess its impact and analyze the origins of the geopolitical and geostrategic concept of “East Asia” and the current reflection on the paradoxes of today's China, its multilateralism and the mode of activation and execution of the term Soft Power as a resource in global Sinization. 3. Echoing the innovative term of “Hualish” as a current conceptual framework for understanding the distinctive Chinese cultural identity. The results evaluate the sinicization process to understand the global news and, especially, the Chinese inertia in its process of consolidation as a world power. Nods to the past and adaptations of these ancient formulas to the contemporary context are discovered, among them, the value of the expansion of the Chinese language as a tool of sinicization. With this, an analysis from ethnosymbolism is proposed that fosters a better hermeneutics of sinity as an identity construct.
The explicitness of disjunctive conjunctions in Chinese-Spanish translation of legal texts
This work explores the phenomenon of the manifestation of the Spanish disjunctive conjunctions "o" and "u" in Chinese-Spanish translation. It utilizes a parallel corpus of Chinese-Spanish legal texts and a comparable corpus of Spanish legal texts, analyzing possible causes using tools such as AntConc. In conjunction with Zeng's previous studies (2018, 2020), this research demonstrates that in the translation of legal texts, both the Spanish-to-Chinese and the reverse translation processes exhibit explicit features. Meanwhile, quantitative analysis showed that the explicitation of disjunctive conjunctions was influenced by the type of semantic relationship expressed. Qualitative analysis revealed that explicitation was related to two factors: linguistic factors and textual ones.
Spanish Translation of Chinese Political Discourse in the Context of Skopos Theory
With the increasing political, commercial, cultural, and diplomatic interactions between China and other countries, political discourse reflecting China’s content and political orientation plays a crucial role in international exchanges. This study aims to analyze the Spanish translation of Xi Jinping’s political speeches (The Governance and Administration of the State, Volumes I–IV), identifying translation strategies and assessing their suitability for Spanish-speaking audiences. Based on Skopos theory, a Chinese–Spanish parallel corpus was constructed, and a qualitative analysis was conducted to classify the translations into four categories: literal, literal with annotations, free, and interpretative. The results show that literal and literal-with-annotations translations predominate, preserving fidelity to the original political content, while free and interpretative translations are employed for culturally loaded terms or idiomatic expressions. The findings provide guidance for the Spanish translation of other Chinese political speeches, enhancing intercultural comprehension and supporting the international projection of China’s political image.
La tensión constitutiva de la teoría literaria china: Moralidad y literariedad
Chinese literary theory, which originated around 800 BC, has developed a comprehensive theoretical system encompassing multiple schools over the millennia, playing a significant role in world literary theories. Although each phase exhibits diverse characteristics, its evolution originates from the inherent tension in the pre-Qin concept of “poetry expresses aspirations” (诗言志, shī yán zhì), which generates a central debate around practicality and literariness, giving rise to two pathways of development of Chinese literary theory: one practical grounded in ethic-political function and moral edification, and the other literary, focusing on emotional expression and aesthetic literariness. These paths are not independent, but interact in a dynamic process of confrontation and integration, thus constituting the essence of Chinese literary theory
El fin de la época imperial: el enfrentamiento de los poderes revolucionarios y la República de China de 1912
The article aims to delve into the unknown republican period of China before 1949, starting in the era of the great popular revolutions of the nineteenth century and ending with the proclamation of the New China. An era in which they went from traditionalist Confucian models of thought to others of Marxist-Leninist style with collectivist dyes; from the imperial model of government to a republic of Soviet cote, passing through turbulent times of warlords in an almost feudal way, who administered their own justice and sometimes used their own laws and currency, outside the central government. With these brushstrokes we will try to explain how the imperial power began to falter and the causes that caused this collapse to reach the establishment of the republican model in the hands of the Guomindang, which for thirty-seven years would be the one to administer the millenary Asian country. A historical period characterized by political instability, internal struggles, ideological purges and the search for new aesthetic conceptions that would direct the future of the new and emerging country that was being forged.
Copyright (c) 2025 Estudios Complutenses de Asia Oriental
A Contextual Reading of Xianqing Ouji:Leisure, Taste, and Everyday Life
Abstract: This article offers a contextual reading of Xianqing Ouji, a seventeenth-century work by the writer and playwright Li Yu, in order to explore how the text articulates reflections on leisure, personal tastes, and everyday practices. Drawing on selected passages from the original classical Chinese text —accompanied by the author’s translations as a philological tool— the study examines how Li Yu understands daily life as a space of creativity, aesthetic pleasure, and self-reflection. Rather than proposing generalized interpretations about Chinese culture, this article situates Li Yu’s ideas within their historical and literary context, showing how his reflections on “leisure (xianqing)” resonate with intellectual traditions such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Chan Buddhism. The analysis aims to provide a nuanced understanding of this work and to highlight its relevance for contemporary discussions on lifestyle, aesthetic sensitivity, and everyday forms of selfcultivation.
La estética musical en las óperas revolucionarias chinas
Entender la realidad estética de la dimensión musical de las óperas revolucionarias chinas conlleva ahondar en el fenómeno que la Revolución Cultural supuso para China en la década de los sesenta del siglo pasado. Es preciso entender también que la producción artística obsesionó tanto a las clases dirigentes que reorientaron esfuerzos nacionales para la consecución de unos fines estéticos que ellos entendían como básicos para hacer la revolución dentro de las masas de obreros, agricultores y soldados. Así pues, se presenta en este artículo el estudio pormenorizado de las características fundamentales para entender el plano musical de las óperas revolucionarias chinas, haciendo un barrido general de lo tradicional para, sobre él, cimentar la renovación que llevó a cabo el Partido Comunista de China de toda la dramaturgia. Sólo entendiendo que la finalidad no era puramente propagandística, sino que había un horizonte estético claro, se podrá vislumbrar el titánico esfuerzo que un puñado de hombres formados dentro y fuera del país asiático llevó a cabo en un período menor a una década renovando siglos de tradición semiótica.
The landscape identity of the Longjing temple and its relation with the tea cultivation
In this article the relationship between Longjing temple and tea through its historical evolution is examined using the methodologies of landscape studies. It demonstrates how specific geographical conditions give rise to a transformation of the landscape from a material point of view and in the different narratives that are built around it. In this sense, we will demonstrate that the fame of Longjing tea raise from the Buddhist landscape identity of the site and later on will parallel the resurgence of West Lake as famous landscape and tourist destination in Ming and Qing periods.
Back to the future or to the past? On the Former Buddhas and the Buddhist messiah, Maitreya, in the Konjakumonogatarishū
The historical figure of Gautama Buddha was exalted by his followers. The interpretation that he had understood the Dharma gave rise, even before our era, to the cult of the Seven Former Buddhas (過 去仏) in Indian Buddhism. These served to sanctify the figure of the historical Buddha. Some of them are described in the medieval Japanese text Konjakumonogatarishū (KON), an anthology with a marked Buddhist catechetical intent. This work analyzes the narrative of the Seven Former Buddhas present in the KON, with the aim of understanding why their presence is so limited in the Japanese religious context. The results show the transmission of the Indian narrative about the Former Buddhas, as well as a paradigm shift—through contact with the religions of Central Asia—that enshrined the hope of future salvation in the figure of the Buddhist ‘messiah’: Maitreya. This temporal leap in the KON reflects the progressive loss of prominence of the Former Buddhas, among whom Gautama Buddha himself was relegated over time.
El Reino de las mujeres en Viaje al Oeste: aspectos culturales chinos de un pueblo femenino
As a masterpiece of classical Chinese literature, Journey to the West (西游记) is a paradigmatic representative of the narrative of deities and demons. In the episode of the Female Kingdom, Wu Cheng’en constructs a feminine utopian world. In both text and visual representation, the Female Kingdom in Journey to the West continues to show how, beneath the appearance of female primacy, it is still difficult to escape the social structure of patriarchy rooted in Chinese society. Therefore, this article takes the novel and its film adaptations as objects of analysis and examines the female characters and the structure or narrative form of the Female Kingdom in Journey to the West within the framework of semiotics. The analysis reveals that in both the linguistic and iconic stratum, the apparently matriarchal textuality reproduces the patriarchal archetypes of the Confucian social imaginary.
The meaning of Goguryeo’s mural funerary iconography and its relation to the paintings of the Han Dynasty and the Six Dynasties period
The present paper aims to explain the religious significance of the tomb murals of the Goguryeo Kingdom (37 BC – 668 AD). For this purpose, the main categories and typologies of these images will be identified and separated. Since the iconography of this Korean kingdom bears a strong relationship to the religious images of the Chinese tombs of the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and the Six Dynasties period (220 – 589 AD), they will be referred to when necessary, as they help to understand the function of the Goguryeo murals.
The demon slayer sword Dōjigiri Yasutsuna: Japanese Folklore and Legend of Demonic Entities Through Art History.
Those beings whose evil exceeds the thresholds of the human, we usually attribute the qualification of demons. However, the Japanese interpretation of such a phenomenon, distances itself and diversifies from our Judeo-Christian conception. In this way, we will find in ogres (oni), ghosts (yūrei) and other supernatural beings (yōkai), some examples of entities that torment the human world. At this point the heroes intervene, mortal human beings, but momentarily acquire a status of equality with the demons when they face them in combat. The samurai, the Japanese warrior nobility, assume this role, and their swords (nihontō) will be the item that will forge the legend, cutting the space that separates this universe from the one "on the other shore". This article search the analysis of the written sources that, directly or indirectly, relate to this sword, with the piece itself being the ultimate reference, using, in particular, the example of the Dōjigiri Yasutsuna sword. Thus, this masterpiece positions itself between myth and legend. The conclusions will justify this nihontō as one of the most important art works in Japanese history.
Dressing in hispanic-asian attire in the mid-17th century: jewelry, weapons, and luxurious accessories of governor Don Diego Fajardo
The baroque attire constitutes a very relevant visual language of the elites, especially in the peripheries of the empire, where other cultures converged with their own cultural representations. In the Spanish Empire, the first globalization uniquely characterized the Indians of Asia, where aesthetic transfers competed with Eurocentric ones. The case of don Diego Fajardo, governor of the Philippines, allows us to discover these characteristics in his own attire, which becomes the second skin of the character. Little treated by historiography, accessories and complements constitute fundamental pieces of clothing, since they emphasize the meanings and signifiers of its purpose.
Edición y traducción de «Los chicos guapos de Japón», de Matsuda Osamu
Traducción del texto Edición y traducción de: Matsuda, O. (1978). Nihon no bishōnentachi: shintōfu o otte 「日本の美少年たち・神統譜を追って」. JUN, 12 (2), 69-72.
Lenguas y familias lingüísticas de Asia oriental en el Diccionario de la Lengua Española. Revisión y propuestas de reforma y de inclusión de nuevas definiciones
Una guía para el estudio de la cultura ‘Li’ (en chino: 礼)
With a history spanning more than five millennia of civilization, China has a fundamental component rooted in its cultural tradition: the culture of ‘Li’. A deeply historical concept that has exerted great influence on the evolution of Chinese society and history, standing out for the richness and complexity of its content when analyzing the classical literature of the Asian giant. Given this situation, the publication of "A study on the family ritual culture of the Jia Mansion in Dream of the Red Chamber" emerges as an invaluable contribution. It stands as a highly relevant academic resource for researchers interested in the subject. This literary classic provides the reader with comprehensive information on Li culture, covering aspects such as etiquette, rules, ceremonies, and family customs. Through detailed explanations, the origin and evolution of these practices are explored, as well as the relationships between the characters, social taboos, and norms of etiquette according to the different classes.
Deep South’s Zen: Flannery O’Connor, Reviewer of the Oriental
In 1959 and 1963, Flannery O’Connor published two extremely interesting approaches to zen and the methods to master it. To do that, she composed two reviews that emphasized the traditional values of this Buddhist school for the development of everyday life in the United States. Those years, O’Connor wrote the aforementioned reviews, being the first published in 1959 and remaining the second unpublished until 1983. The main objective of the present article is to study how O’Connor, a devout Southern catholic, reflected about the postulates of zen, assimilating them in her ordinary life, through the access to the books she reviewed.
The Origin and Development of Chinese Language Studies in Spain from the Perspective of Sinology
: Chinese language education and studies in Spain originated from Spanish sinology. Early Spanish missionary is the first group of sinologists and language experts in Europe. In the process of contacting, learning and studying Chinese, they constructed the field of Chinese language research that integrates Chinese and Spanish language studies. Chinese language studies experienced the rise and fall with the development of Spanish Sinology. The research contents, theoretical perspectives and research methods of Contemporary Spanish Chinese tend to be diversified, and Chinese research literature has high linguistic research value. This article reviews the evolution process and key figures of Chinese Studies in Spanish Sinology since the 16th century, and identifies the development context and research fields of Chinese language studies conducted by the Spanish linguists, so as to reveal the important role that Chinese language plays in the exchange and mutual understanding between Chinese and Spanish civilizations, and provide a historical reference for the development of contemporary Chinese education in Spain.
Wounded butterflies with heavy wings: a comparison of female characters in the theater of Federico García Lorca and Cao Yu
Federico García Lorca and Cao Yu represent two outstanding playwrights in the world theater. Both have bequeathed to the present day works that stand out for their reflection on the life and society at the time, of which the creation of numerous unique characters is also appreciated. Through a close reading, it is easy to discover in them the special attention paid to the characterization of female characters. And due to the coincidence in the era that Lorca and Cao Yu lived, their feminist theaters show great similarities. They criticized the social darkness, and tried to find a way out for the women. By means of a comparison between the female characters of both, we can deeply understand the differences in their concepts about the women and their circumstances. From here it will be possible to address the particularity of the two when dealing with the female figures and their surrounding society.
Estudio sobre la construcción discursiva de la imagen de China en los medios de comunicación principales de Perú: Un análisis basado en la cobertura sobre el Covid-19
Studies on the image of China overseas have drawn great attention in academic circles, and the coverage of the COVID-19 by the overseas media is now significantly relevant to the construction of the national image of China. Under the theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis, this article uses corpus-based approach to describe and analyze the coverage of the COVID-19 in China by two main-stream media in Peru, in terms of the application of high frequency words, key words and modal verbs, which is intended to explore how the image of China is constructed in the news coverage discourse system and the reasons behind it. The studies show that, despite the slight difference in the points of focus, both Peruvian main-stream media have portrayed a positive image of China. We believe that the image is based on Peru’s cultural affinity with China, its deep economic ties with the former and the mutual political trust between these two countries.
¡The archaeological object in the cultural and intellectual tradition of premodern Japan
This article aims to analyze the interpretations raised by the inhabitants of Japan regarding artifacts and prehistoric sites discovered in the archipelago between Antiquity and the Edo period. Specifically, the responses to the dōtaku (bell-shaped objects) of the Yayoi culture, as well as the shell middens and stone tools of the Jōmon culture, are analyzed. The direct analysis of the primary sources allows observing how the chronological and technological distance between the prehistoric world and premodern Japan, in its different stages, decisively conditioned the answers given before these findings, giving rise to a heterogeneous and disparate reaction. This also reflects the different intellectual and religious currents prior to the country embracing western knowledge, beginning with the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
The translation of the Chinese dragon culturema into Spanish: evangelical adaptation in History of the Great Kingdom of China by Juan González de Mendoza
For more than five centuries, the history of the Great Kingdom of China always has a significant cultural influence on scholars. However, most of them have overlooked the strategy adopted by González de Mendoza in translating some Chinese culturemes into Hispanic culture. Among other details, I have been particularly struck by the translation of the term "Chinese dragon", an exclusive symbol of authoritarian emperors in the Ming dynasty, where the author employed the word "serpent", a term that refers to a well-known animal in the Iberian Peninsula. This procedure represents a significant cultural clash, as the translation carries a completely different meaning, and thus unacceptable for traditional Chinese culture. Although some studies have perceived this incongruity, they have merely justified it, indicating the semantic difference of "dragon" in the two cultures. So far, there has been no clear explanation of the allegory of "serpent" in the contemporary Spanish context, nor have the reasons for the Augustunian's use of this adaptation been accurately identified. For this reason, our attention has focused on identifying the reasons that drove the author to apply this term, along with all its interpretations of its allegory in the sixteenth century. In the end, we have managed to discover the evangelical motivation that led to the adaptation strategy, which aligns with the purpose of this monumental work of the Golden Age.
Indian mithology as buddhism catecism. Vedic terminology and references to Indian cosmology in the Konjakumonogatarishū
Indian Buddhist narratives were translated from classic Chinese in the Japanese collection known as Konjakumonogatarishū (KON). Numerous tales and mythological figures of ancient India constituted a part of Japanese folklore due to this type of literary adaptation. Its Indian section is formed not only by many of the most idiosyncratic tales that compound the hagiography of Gautama Buddha but also portrayed how the heterogeneous religious background of ancient India was transmitted in medieval Japan. This work analyses the Vedic terminology and references to the Indian cosmology in the KON, focusing on its Indian section. The achievements of this study show the interpretation and catechism implied in these references, which expose the authentic intention of its editors.
Wǔ Zétiān's Golden Tablet has attracted the attention from Chinese epigraphers since its discovery, and especially of those who study the Tang Dynasty. It is a prayer written in first person intended to be read by a delegate to gods. Because of this document's nature, contents and the support itself, it has brought light on two poorly known aspects on the reign of Wǔ Zétiān since its discovery: the Empress's Taoist beliefs and the use of zhào character.
The way of the kami or a descent into hell: Shinto in J-Horror through the films Noroi and Shikoku
The term J-Horror was born in the late 90s to refer to Japanese horror films. It soon became not only one of the most prolific and exported subgenres of Japanese cinema, but also a mass phenomenon, which promoted the creation of numerous remakes in the West. With a marked aesthetic and appealing to psychological horror and B-movies, J-Horror resorts to a wide range of resources to capture the fears, conflicts and tensions that exist at a social and political level in Japan. On this occasion we will investigate the importance of religious elements, and specifically Shintoism, through the cult films Noroi and Shikoku. This analysis of a symbolism that can be obscured for culture reasons will allow us to delve into the significance of the selected films and their social and cultural impact.
Borges and his approach to East Asia: A barbarian in Asia
In this article, we try to discover how Borges approaches the literature and metaphysics of East Asia, in particular, those of China and Japan, through the reading, as well as his peculiar facet as a twentieth-century Latin American Orientalist. We will analyze his contact with Oriental world from his childhood education in his father's English library, through his youth in Geneva, where he became interested in Buddhism and Taoism. On the other hand, through his publications in the 1930s and 1940s in Argentinean magazines, we will observe his literary taste for canonical Chinese and Japanese works, which were marginal in Argentina at THAT period. Finally, we will discuss Borges' interesting view on the theory of civilization and barbarism and his claim to be a "barbarian in Asia".
Origin of the Shang between Mythology and Inscriptions
Every civilization in the world has its own splendid myths. Of course, these legends are not created out of thin air, but are further processing and sublimation of the distant history of the ancient ancestors of their own civilization. The second dynasty in Chinese history was founded by Tāng around 1600 B. C. and was destroyed by the zhōu in 1046 B. C. This dynasty was already known through the records in the later classical books, and, in the year 1899, the discovery of the bone inscriptions of the Shāng dynasty has allowed us to access the first-hand data of the time. But if we make a comparison between the traditional records and the Shāng records, we can find several discrepancies. In this article, we will compare the records related to the origin of the Shāng in the traditional records such as Chronicles of the great historian, classic of Mountains and Seas, Elegies of Chǔ, etc., with the contemporary inscriptions of the Shāng dynasty and some information obtained through archeaology to see if they are consistent or contradictory.