Sinology

""One of the most common occasions for the use of colour symbolically was in the attribution of colours to the cardinal directions. This practice is found in far-distant cultures, and was widespread in the Americas, India, Central and East Asia, notably in China. The conceptual scheme found throughout traditional Chinese thought is pentamerous. It represents complex and cosmic interrelationships among the Five Agents (also known as Elements or Phases) (Metal, Wood, Fire, Water and Soil), the Five Directions (North, South, East, West and ‘Middle’), the Five Colours, the Five Tastes, etc.
The origins of the colour symbolism extend far back into the earliest records of Chinese intellectual history, to the Late Shang era (ca.1300-1046 BC) oracle bone inscriptions (used in divination rituals). The earliest records on five “pure” and five “intermediate” colours are found in several Confucian classics of the Warring States period (V-III cc. BC). The theory matured and developed to its present form during the Later Han dynasty (25-220 AD), when the term ‘wu se’ (Five Colours) was coined: GRUE (qing) was associated with spring, East and Wood, red (chi) represented summer, South and Fire, white (bai) was the colour of autumn, West and Metal, black (hei) related to winter, North and Water, yellow (huang) was the colour of the special season, the end of the summer, the time of ripening grain, and therefore was associated with the ‘Middle’ and Soil. The existence of the set of these five colours is also confirmed by the archaeological discoveries.
However, the explanatory dictionary of graphic etymology Shuowen jiezi (ca.100 AD) limits the description of the above lexemes only as the colours of the relevant Directions. In my presentation I will also explain why ancient Chinese chose these very terms to denote the “pure” colours as well as the etymology of each of the five basic back then colour lexemes.""

"The solar photovoltaics (PV) industry would not exist without government policies. Governments around the world have implemented  policies to support consumption  of solar energy and production of solar PV products. These policies have  varied  across countries  and  across time, thus contributing  to
regulatory uncertainty. This  article addresses two related questions. First, how does regulatory  uncertainty  in the solar PV industry shape  firms’ market and non-market strategies? Second, how might firms’ responses to this public-policy environment affect technolog- ical development and the locus of manufacturing? Government policies on solar PV, and firms’ strategies to over-come regulatory uncertainty, may have unintended consequences. Firms’ decisions on location and
technology development  may result in loss of employment  and national competitiveness for developed countries; and firms’ market strategies may increase regulatory uncertainty if they do
not involve non-market stakeholders. (Keywords: Government  and Business, Energy Policy, Public Policy, Green Manufacturing, Regulation, Corporate Strategy)
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