Human desire is like a crocodile, it will expand rapidly if it is not controlled

Mingshi Lucida | Beijing United Publishing Company 2023-4

Well-known public health experts Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett show the social problems caused by income inequality and class differences in their latest work, "Income inequality", and strongly demonstrate that the greater the gap between the rich and the poor, the more stressful life people face, the more health problems, and pay more attention to the negative impact of income inequality on everyone's mind.

In a previous book, The Wrath of Equity, the authors found that societies with greater income inequality tend to have worse health outcomes: shorter life expectancy, higher rates of infant mortality, mental illness, illicit substance abuse, and obesity. Greater inequality also hurts social relations: there is more violence (measured by homicide rates) and higher incarceration rates; People trust each other less, and community ties are weaker. Inequality also hurts children's life chances: more unequal societies have lower levels of child happiness and educational achievement, higher teenage birth rates, and less social mobility.

Continuing this focus, the new book further explores the causes of these psychological problems and social stresses, including how the concept of inequality enters our minds, how it raises anxiety levels, how people react to it, and the consequences of varying degrees of mental illness and mood disorders. The income gap affects the poor more profoundly than the rich, and the lower you are in the social class, the greater the pressure. While inequality disproportionately affects those near the bottom of the social ladder, the authors emphasize that most people suffer from it in some way - and that inequality makes everyone more involved in competition for social status and more insecure.

The Web of Luxury: Huizhou Salt Merchants, Social Classes, and Economic Practices in the 18th Century

Translated by Wu Yulian and Lin Lei

Qiwei · Social Sciences Academic Press, 2023-1

This book examines the 18th century salt merchants of Huizhou, and tells how, through the circulation of goods, they formed a network of close ties between their hometown of Huizhou, their residence in Jiangnan (Yangzhou, Hangzhou), and Beijing. During his reign, Emperor Qianlong intentionally or unintentionally extended his influence to the economic and cultural fields of local society through this network, including the hinterland of Jiangnan and the remote countryside of Huizhou.

The emperor often appointed salt officials to manage the production of these exquisite objects. The salt merchants' extensive network allowed them to work with the most skilled craftsmen. Nothing was more important than meeting Qianlong's standards - the ultimate goal of local artisans and the basic criteria by which merchants employed them. As the rising Huizhou salt merchants more actively participated in the luxury consumption culture of Jiangnan, salt merchants influenced and even constructed the tastes and fashion trends of the time. These merchants eventually became literate and well-informed "general people" who played a crucial role in the economic, social and cultural world of 18th century China.

Children of the Middle Ages

Translated by Nicholas Aume and Tao Wanyong

Gezhi Publishing House | Shanghai People's Publishing House 2023-5

In this book, the author uses a history of children in medieval England to show the similarities and differences between the life of children in the past and the life of children in the present, from the beginning of the mother's pregnancy and childbirth to the adulthood of the child. The book discusses the importance of baptism, birthday and age, as well as the family life of the child, including nurturing, food, clothing, sleep and the plight of the poor; The book also Chronicles the misfortunes of childhood, from disability, abuse, and accidents to illness and death. There are also special chapters devoted to the study of medieval children's songs, toys, and literature.

The examples of medieval children's literature are interesting. The widely known "Magic Flute" fairy tale has been around since the early 16th century, in which a motherless boy named Jack is given three magical gifts for helping a poor old man: a bow that always hits its target, a flute that makes everyone dance, and a spell that makes his stepmother fart when she is angry. He plays the flute, returns home with his dancing animals, and uses magic to overcome his abusive father and stepmother. In the 13th century, a boy and a girl appear clothed at the edge of a mine, their skin pale green and their words ununderstood, and are taken back to a knight's house without eating anything except pods. The boy soon died, but the girl survived. She gradually got used to a normal diet, lost her skin color, and later married.

As a direct counterpoint to Philippe Alies' The Century of the Child: Children and Family Life under the Old System, Aume highlights the importance of childhood in medieval society: in the Middle Ages, childhood was clearly considered a distinct cultural period of life, and children were considered to be special and distinct from adults. Nicholas Orme is emeritus Professor of History at the University of Exeter, UK. His research focuses on medieval studies and Tudor history, focusing on the history of medieval English education, the Church and the history of children.