Journal articles on the topic 'Shandong Sheng'

Two new species of genus Cymodusa Holmgren, 1859, C. culaiica Sheng, Li & Sun, sp.nov. collected from Culaishan Natural Reserve, Shandong province and C. melana Sheng, Li & Sun, sp.nov. collected from Guiyang and Fanjingshan National Natural Reserve, Guizhou province, are described and illustrated. A taxonomic key to the species of Cymodusa from China and the Oriental region is provided.

A new genus, Verruca Sheng & Sun gen. nov., of the ichneumonid tribe Atrophini, subfamily Banchinae is described for one new species, Verruca dentia Sheng & Sun, sp. nov. The species was collected from Shandong and Jiangxi Provinces, situated near the northern border of the Oriental part of China. The new genus is placed within the existing key to genera. A key to the genera of Atrophini, with the apical portion of the ovipositor with ridges, is also provided.

Abstract Shandong province is the leading peanut-producing province in China which in turn is the leading peanut-producing country in the world. Shandong Peanut Research Institute (SPRI), an institute of the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, has had an ongoing breeding program for more than 40 yr and is the source of the peanut cultivars that dominate production in Shandong province and northern China. About 75 peanut cultivars and breeding lines have been released in Shandong by SPRI and other institutions. The genetic base of Shandong peanut cultivars has been described as narrow. The objective of this study was to (a) determine the genetic contribution of main ancestors to the genetic base of Shandong peanut cultivars and (b) study the genetic relationships among the peanut cultivars released in Shandong province during 1950-1999. Twentysix ancestors were identified in the pedigrees of 69 improved lines, 24 ancestors of Chinese origin contributed 96.1% of the Shandong peanut genetic base, and two exotic introductions contributed only 3.6%. The four most important ancestors based on average coancestry with the 69 improved lines are Fu Hua Sheng (PI 436545), Shi Tou Qi (PI 430227 and PI 461435), Jianggezhuang Ban Man (PI 433351), and Shuyang Da Zhan Yang from which 67, 28, 27 and 19 lines were derived, respectively. Among the 20 dominant cultivars of Shandong province, recently released cultivars Lu Hua 14 and Lu Hua 15 have the lowest average coancestry with the others which means those two new cultivars' have the high genetic divergence. In contrast, the very popular cultivars Fu Hua Sheng, Baisha 1016, Xuzhou 68-4, Lu Hua 9, and the new cultivar 8130 were closely related to the other cultivars. The results suggest that the genetic base of Shandong peanut cultivars released before 1990 is narrow, but that cultivars released after 1990 have broadened the genetic base due to introduction and use of new germplasm in the pedigrees. This information will be used as a guide for peanut breeders in choosing parents and avoiding genetic vulnerability to pests. For new cross combinations, parents with low coefficients of coancestry should be chosen in order to keep enlarging the gene pool of the new cultivars.

A new species of Cryptinae, Hylophasma luica Sheng, Li & Wang, sp.n., collected from Shandong Province, in the southern border of the Eastern Palaearctic Region of China, is described and illustrated. The new species is placed within the existing key to species.

A new species of Cryptinae, Hoplocryptus qingdaoensis Sheng, Wang & Schwarz, sp. nov. collected from Qingdao, Shandong Province, in the north border of oriental part of China, is described and illustrated. A key to species known from the Oriental and Eastern Palaearctic regions is provided.

A new species of Cryptinae, Endasys pristiphorae Sheng, sp.n. reared from cocoons of the tenthredinid sawflies Pristiphora erichsonii (Hartig), P. xibei Wei & Xia and P. (Stauronematus) compresicornis (Hartig) in Ningxia, Shandong and Shan’xi, China, is described and illustrated. A key to species of Endasys known from China is provided.

This is a report of a short trip made in November 1997 to investigate the workings of the Provincial People's Congresses (sheng renda: PPCs) in Shandong and Heilongjiang as part of a more general enquiry into the democratic possibilities of the mainland's renda (NPC) system in the light of democratization in Taiwan. The visit was somewhat zouma kanhua, but since the Heilongjiang PPC at least had never before had an English-speaking visitor, some of the observations are possibly worth wider currency.

This paper focuses on ancient settlements in the Luzhong region (the centre of Shandong Province) of China and analyses the spatial–temporal distribution and morphological characteristics of ancient settlements with the help of GIS technology and the perspectives of archaeology and cultural geography. Specifically, the 1972 settlements collected were used to establish a database of settlement site attributes. Then, the DEM data were superimposed with the settlement sites, and calculations of the kernel density, elevation, slope, aspect, and buffer zone were further carried out. The distribution and characteristics were refined based on quantitative and qualitative analyses. The study found that the Neolithic period, the Shang–Zhou period, and the Qin–Northern and Southern Dynasties were the three high points of settlement development. In these three periods, the centres of the large-scale distribution of settlements experienced changes from a “single centre” to a “continuous belt” to a “double centre’. In general, the spatial and temporal characteristics of the settlement distribution were continuously developed through time, while the spatial characteristics show that the main body continued to change locally. In different periods, settlements tended to be in the alluvial plains located between 20 and 60 m and with a slope of less than 6°. At the same time, they showed the obvious characteristic of living close to water. The past, present, and future are in the same chain of time; meanwhile, these settlements are the predecessors of today’s cities, towns, and villages. So, this study provides a basis for protecting their heritage value and provides a reference for the coordination of human–land relations, which can help achieve global sustainable development.

New Generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy ( CoupledCAR ) Induces High Rate Remissions in Solid Tumor Yu Liu1,Song Li2,Youli Luo3,Haixia Song4,Chengfei Pu5, Zhiyuan Cao 5, Cheng Lu5,Yang Hang5,Xi Huang5,Xiaogang Shen5 ,Xiaojun Hu3 , Renbin Liu1,Xiuwen Wang2,Junjie Mao3,Shihong Wei4 ,Zhao Wu5and Lei Xiao5* 1.The Third Affiliated Hospital, SUN YAT-SEN University 2.Qilu Hospital of Shandong University 3.The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, SUN YAT-SEN University 4.Gansu Procincial Cancer Hospital 5.Innovative Cellular Therapeutics *Corresponding to: Lei Xiao, xiaolei@ictbio.com Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy made significant progress for treating blood cancer such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. However, the therapy faces many challenges, such as physical barrier, tumor microenvironment immunosuppression, tumor heterogeneity, target specificity, and cell expansion in vivo for treatment of solid tumors Conventional CAR T cell therapy showed weak CAR T expansion in patients and thus achieved no or little response for treating solid tumors. Here, we generated "CoupledCAR" T cells including an anti-TSHR CAR molecule. Compared with conventional CART cells,these "CoupledCAR" T cells successfully improved the expansion of CART cells more than 100 times and enhanced CAR T cells' migration ability, allowing the CAR T cells to resist and infiltrate the tumor microenvironment and killed tumor cells. To verify the effect of "CoupledCAR" T cells on solid tumors, we have completed several clinical trials for different solid tumors, including two patients with thyroid cancer. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) results showed that thyroid stimulating hormone receptors (TSHR) were highly expressed in thyroid cancer cells. In vitro co-culture experiments showed that TSHR CAR T cells specifically recognized and killed TSHR-positive tumor cells. Animal experiments showed that TSHR CAR T cells inhibited the proliferation of TSHR-positive tumor cells. Therefore, we designed "CoupledCAR" T cells expressing a binding domain against TSHR. Further,we did clinical trials of two group patients that were successfully treated using conventional TSHR CAR T cells and the "CoupledCAR" T cells, respectively. In the first group using conventional TSHR CAR T cells, patients showed weak cell expansion and less migration ability. In the group using TSHR "CoupledCAR" T cells, patients showed rapid expansion of CAR T cells and killing of tumor cells. One month after infusion (M1), the patient was evaluated as PR(Partial Response): the lymph node metastasis disappeared, and thoracic paratracheal tumors decreased significantly. Three months after infusion (M3), the patient was evaluated as a durable response, and the tumor tissue was substantially smaller than M1. Further, two patients with colonrectal cancer were enrolled in this trial and infused "CoupledCAR" T cells. One patient achieved PR and the other one achieved SD (Stable Disease). Therefore, "CoupledCAR" T cells can effectively promote expansion, migration and killing ability of CAR T cells in patients with thyroid cancer. "CoupledCAR" T cell technology is a technological platform, which may be used to treat other cancer types. Next, we are recruiting more patients with solid tumors in clinical trials using "CoupledCAR" T cells. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Ten species of Campodorus Förster, 1869 are reported from China and five species are new to science: C. albilineatus Sheng, Sun & Li sp. nov. from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the Oriental part of China, C. punctatus Sheng, Sun & Li sp. nov. and C. rasilis Sheng, Sun & Li sp. nov. from Beijing, C. shandongicus Sheng, Sun & Li sp. nov. from Shandong Province and C. truncatus Sheng, Sun & Li, sp. nov. from Liaoning Province. Three species, C. ciliatus (Holmgren, 1857) and C. dauricus Kasparyan, 2005 collected from Liaoning Province and Mesoleius faciator Kasparyan, 2001 from Beijing, are new records for China. A key to species of Campodorus and a related genus known in China is provided.

AbstractReferring to the results of the special surveys on the saltmaking archaeology in northern Shandong Province in recent years, the settlement pattern and the distribution rules of the salt-making workshops of the late Shang through Western Zhou Dynasties could be revealed. These workshops tended to be built in the places with the “yangzi” terrain (hillock or mound surrounded by wet lowland) or lacustrine landform, where the sweet water could be easily fetched. Through the comparative studies with the relevant situations in the Eastern Zhou Period, the issues such as the production organization and social attribution of the salt-making workshops of the late Shang through the Western Zhou Dynasties could be further explored. At that period, the salt-making industry was small-scaled production activities conducted by separated workshops without unified management, and this was exactly the fundamental cause for which the location selection of the salt-making workshops was heavily restricted by the natural resources.

Hibiscus mutabilis L. is a deciduous shrub native to China. Because of its ornamental value and ecological value, it has been widely cultivated in many provinces of China (Shang et al. 2020). In October 2021, leaf spot on Cotton rose with about 80% disease incidence was observed in Jinan (116.9408° N, 36.6688° E), Shandong, China. Symptoms first appear on leaves with small dark brown spots surrounded by yellow halos, then become irregular necrotic spots with yellow halos. The diseased leaf samples were packed in paper bags and transferred to the laboratory for isolation. The infected leaves were firstly surface-sterilized for 45 seconds in 75% ethanol, 1 min in 1% sodium hypochlorite, and 1 min in 75% ethanol, then rinsed for 2 min in distilled water and blotted on dry sterile filter paper. Then samples were cut into 5 × 5 mm pieces using a double-edge blade, and transferred onto the surface of potato dextrose agar (PDA; 200 g potatoes, 20 g dextrose, 20 g agar per L) and malt extract agar (MEA; 30 g malt extract, 5 g mycological peptone, 15 g agar per L), and incubated at 25 ◦C to obtain the pure culture. After 7 days of incubation, greyish fungal colonies appeared on PDA. Single-spore isolation method was employed to recover the pure cultures for six isolates. The colonies initially produce light gray aerial hyphae, which turn dark gray as they mature. Conidiophores (n=50) single or in small groups, straight or curved, sometime geniculate, 20–50 nm long, with scars. Conidia (n=50) were obclavate to pyriform and measured 15 to 60 μm long, 4 to 16 μm wide with 0 to 3 longitudinal, and 1 to 6 transverse septa with short beak (2–30 μm). The morphological characters matched those of Alternaria alternata (Simmons 2007). DNA was extracted from the fungal colonies using a Ezup Column Fungi Genomic DNA Purification Kit. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) were amplified with the primers ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), gpd1/gpd2 (Berbee et al. 1999) and EF1-728F/EF1-986R (Carbone & Kohn 1999). The obtained sequences were deposited in the GenBank (ITS: OM759881 and OM759882, GAPDH: ON376732 and ON376733, tef1: ON376730 and ON376731). The morphological characteristics and molecular analyses of the isolate matched the descriptin of A. alternata. To perform pathogenicity test, The seedlings of twenty 2-year-old potted H. mutabilis plants were inoculated by spraying conidial suspension at the concentration of 1 × 106 conidia/ml on both sides of leaves and ten plants sprayed with sterile water served as control. The test was repeated three times. All plants were covered with polyethylene covers and kept under the greenhouse at 26 ± 1 ℃. After six days, the inoculated plants showed the same symptoms as the original diseased plants and the controls remained asymptomatic. The fungal pathogen was reisolated from the artificially infected plants and confirmed as A. alternata based on morphocultural characteristics and PCR assays. The results indicated that A. alternata is a causal agent of the disease. The leaf spot disease of cotton rose caused by Nigrospora oryzae has already been reported from Sichuan, China (Han et al. 2021). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the presence of A. alternata affecting H. mutabilis plants. The identification could provide relevant information for adopting appropriate management strategies to control the disease.

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.), which belongs to the family Cruciferae, is a cool-season vegetable with green leaves around a large hard white head of flowers. China is the leading cauliflower and broccoli producing country in the world, with approximately 10.71 MT production (FAOSTAT 2019). During September 2018 to July 2019, wilting symptoms were observed on cauliflower in several commercial fields, with approximately 45% to 65% disease incidence in Shen county (115°48′E, 35°98N) of Liaocheng city, Shandong province, China. Plant stunting, leaves yellowing and wilting, and dark brown, hollow appearance of vascular stem tissues were the symptoms prominently observed. To isolate the causal organism, nine symptomatic tissues were collected and cut into small pieces (5 × 5 mm), disinfected in 75% ethanol for 30 s, rinsed three times in sterile water, transferred onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. The plates were then incubated in air-conditioned room at 26°C with an artificial 12 h light-dark cycle provided by incandescent lamp. In total, 15 single-spore isolates were obtained and morphological characterization of 15 isolates was done on both PDA and carnation leaf agar (CLA; Leslie and Summerell 2006). The mycelia on PDA were initially white, fluffy, later becoming brown, and the underside of the colonies were light brown. Typical macroconidia were abundant on CLA. Macroconidia were hyaline, slightly curved, one to five septa, both ends were smooth, measuring 3.7 to 6.4 μm × 23.7 to 38.1 μm (n = 40). Microconidia were oval to cylindrical, hyaline, zero to one septate, measuring 2.0 to 4.1 × 4.3 to 10.3 μm (n = 40). Chlamydospores were terminal or intercalary, solitary or in pairs, globose to oval, thick wall, smooth or rough, 6.3 to 9.8 μm. Based on morphological characteristics, all of the 15 isolates were identified as Fusarium solani (Leslie and Summerell 2006). The isolates were further identified based on PCR amplification. The ITS, mtSSU, EF-1α and RPB2 genes were amplified using primers ITS1/ITS4, NSM1/NSM2 (Li et al. 1994), EF-1 Ha/EF-2Tb (O’Donnell et al. 1998) and RPB2-5F2/fRPB2-7cR (O’Donnell et al. 2008). BLAST analysis showed that 15 isolates were highly similar to F. solani species complex, with 100% similarity for ITS (AB470904.1), mtSSU (KF125009.1), EF-1α (KF372878.1), and RPB2 (MK048113.1), respectively. The sequences of isolate HYC1410080102 had been deposited in GenBank with accessions MT378292.1 for ITS, MT383122.1 for mtSSU, OK595059.1 for EF-1α and OK595060.1 for RPB2, respectively. Pathogenicity of the 15 isolates were conducted on 4-true-leaf seedlings cv. Jinsong by dipping the roots into a conidial suspension (107 conidia/mL) for 10 min. The conidial was prepared from 7-day old cultures grown on CLA at 26°C and suspended in sterilized water. Control plants were dipped in sterile distilled water. All treated seedlings were planted in 5.0 cm diameter plastic pots containing pasteurized soil matrix. Then the plants were kept in a greenhouse at 15°C (night)/26°C (day) and 80%RH with natural daylight. Twelve days later, brown lesions appeared on stem bases in all inoculated cauliflowers, and finally, the plants wilted, similar to those observed in the field. The control plants remained healthy. Re-isolation of the infected tissues showed same morphological characteristics of F. solani as the original isolates, which were verified using PCR. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. solani causing cauliflower wilt in China and the world (Farr and Rossman 2021). F. solani is a destructive pathogen with a broad host range worldwide and is responsible for significant crop losses, prevention and control measures should be considered.

In post-socialist China, gender norms are marked by rising divorce rates (Kleinman et al.), shifting attitudes towards sex (Farrer; Yan), and a growing commercialisation of sex (Zheng). These phenomena have been understood as indicative of market reforms unhinging past gender norms. In the socialist period, the radical politics of the time moulded women as gender neutral even as state policies emphasised their feminine roles in maintaining marital harmony and stability (Evans). These ideas around domesticity bear strong resemblance to pre-socialist understandings of womanhood and family that anchored Chinese society before the Communists took power in 1949. In this pre-socialist understanding, women were categorised into a hierarchy that defined their rights as wives, mothers, concubines, and servants (Ebrey and Watson; Wolf and Witke). Women who transgressed these categories were regarded as potentially dangerous and powerful enough to break up families and shake the foundations of Chinese society (Ahern). This paper explores the extent to which understandings of Chinese femininity have been reconfigured in the context of China’s post-1979 development, particularly after the 2000s.The popular television dramas Chinese Style Divorce (2004, Divorce), Dwelling Narrowness (2009, Dwelling), and Divorce Lawyers (2014, Lawyers) are set against this socio-cultural backdrop. The production of these shows is regulated by the China State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT), who has the power to grant or deny production and distribution permits. Post-production, the dramas are sold to state-owned television stations for distribution (Yu 36). Haiqing Yu summarises succinctly the state of Chinese media: “Chinese state manipulation and interference in the media market has seen the party-state media marketized but not weakened, media control decentralized but not reduced, and the media industry commercialized but not privatized” (42). Shot in one of the biggest cities in Shandong, Qingdao, Divorce focuses on Doctor Song Jianping and his schoolteacher wife Lin Xiaofeng and the conflicts between Song and Lin, who quits her job to become a stay-at-home mom after her husband secures a high-paying job in a foreign-invested hospital. Lin becomes paranoid and volatile, convinced that their divorced neighbour Xiao Li is having an affair with Song. Refusing to explain the situation, Song is willing to give her a divorce but fights over guardianship of their son. In the end, it is unconfirmed whether they reconcile or divorce. Divorce was recognised as TV Drama of the Year in 2004 and the two leads also won awards for their acting. Reruns of the show continue to air. According to Hui Faye Xiao, “It is reported that many college students viewed this TV show as a textbook on married life in urban settings” (118). Dwelling examines the issue of skyrocketing housing prices and the fates of the Guo sisters, Haizao and Haiping, who moved from rural China to the competitive economically advanced metropolis. Haiping is obsessed with buying an apartment while her younger sister becomes the mistress of a corrupt official, Song Siming. Both sisters receive favours from Song, which leads to Haiping’s success in purchasing a home. However, Haizao is less fortunate. She has a miscarriage and her uterus removed while Song dies in a car accident. Online responses from the audience praise Dwelling for its penetrating and realistic insights into the complex web of familial relationships navigated by Chinese people living in a China under transformation (Xiao, “Woju”). Dwelling was taken off the air when a SARFT official criticised the drama for violating state-endorsed “cultural standards” in its explicit discussions of sex and negative portrayals of government officials (Hung, “State” 156). However, the show continued to be streamed online and it has been viewed and downloaded more than 100 million times (Yu 34). In Lawyers, Luo Li and Chi Haidong are two competing divorce lawyers in Beijing who finally tie the knot. Chi was a happily married man before catching his wife with her lover. Newly divorced, he moves into the same apartment building as Luo and the drama focuses on a series of cases they handle, most of which involve extramarital affairs. Lawyers has been viewed more than 1.6 billion times online (v.qq.com) and received the China Huading award for “favourite television drama” in 2015. Although these dramas contain some conventional elements of domestic melodramas, such as extramarital affairs and domestic disputes, they differ from traditional Chinese television dramas because they do not focus on the common trope of fraught mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships.Centred on the politics of family ethics, these hugely popular dramas present the transformation in gender norms as a struggle between post-socialist and pre-socialist understandings of femininity. On the one hand, these dramas celebrate the emergence of a post-socialist femininity that is independent, economically successful, and sexually liberated, epitomising this new understanding of womanhood in the figures of single women and mistresses. On the other hand, the dramas portray these post-socialist women in perpetual conflict with wives and mothers who propound a pre-socialist form of femininity that is sexually conservative and defined by familial relationships, and is economically less viable in the market economy. Focusing on depictions of femininity in these dramas, this paper offers a comparative analysis into the extent to which gender norms have been reconfigured in post-socialist China. It approaches these television dramas as a pedagogical device (Brady) and pays particular attention to the ways through which different categories of women interrogated their rights as single women, mistresses, wives, and mothers. In doing so, it illuminates the politics through which a liberal post-socialist femininity unleashed by market transformation is controlled in order to protect the integrity of the family and maintain social order. Post-Socialist Femininity Unleashed: Single Women and Mistresses A woman’s identity is inextricably linked to her marital status in Chinese society. In pre-socialist China, women relied on men as providers and were expected to focus on contributing to her husband’s family (Ebrey and Watson; Wolf and Witke). This pre-socialist positioning of women within the private realm of the family, though reinterpreted, continued to resonate in the socialist period when women were expected to fulfil marital obligations as wives and participate in the public domain as revolutionaries (Evans). While the pressure to marry has not disappeared in post-socialist China, as the derogatory term “leftover women” (single women over the age of 27) indicates, there are now more choices for single women living in metropolitan cities who are highly educated and financially independent. They can choose to remain single, get married, or become mistresses. Single women can be regarded as a threat to wives because the only thing holding them back from becoming mistresses is their morals. The 28-year-old “leftover woman” Luo Li (Lawyers) is presented as morally superior to single women who choose to become mistresses (Luo Meiyuan and Shi Jiang) and therefore deserving of a happy ending because she breaks up with her boss as soon as she discovers he is married. Luo Li quits to set up a law firm with her friend Tang Meiyu. Both women are beautiful, articulate, intelligent, and sexually liberated, symbolising unleashed post-socialist femininity. Part of the comic relief in Lawyers is the subplot of Luo’s mother trying to introduce her to “eligible” bachelors such as the “PhD man” (Episodes 20–21). Luo is unwilling to lower her standards to escape the stigma of being a “leftover woman” and she is rewarded for adhering to her ideals in the end when she convinces the marriage-phobic Chi Haidong to marry her after she rejects a marriage proposal from her newly divorced ex-lover. While Luo Li refuses to remain a mistress, many women do not subscribe to her worldview. Mistresses have existed throughout Chinese history in the form of concubines and courtesans. A wealthy and powerful man was expected to have concubines, who were usually from lower socio-economic backgrounds (Ebrey and Watson; Liu). Mistresses, now referred to as xiaosan, have become a heated topic in post-socialist China where they are regarded as having the power to destroy families by transgressing moral boundaries. Some argue that the phenomenon is a result of the market-driven economy where women who desire a financially stable life use their sexuality to seek rich married men who lust for younger mistresses as symbols of power. Ruth Y.Y. Hung characterises the xiaosan phenomenon as a “horrendous sex trade [that is] a marker of neoliberal market economies in the new PRC” (“Imagination” 100). A comparison of the three dramas reveals a transformation in the depiction of mistresses over the last decade. While Xiao Li (Divorce) is never “confirmed” as Song Jianping’s mistress, she flirts with him and crosses the boundaries of a professional relationship, posing a threat to the stability of Song’s family life. Although Haizao (Dwelling) is university-educated and has a stable, if low-paying job, she chooses to break up with her earnest caring fiancé to be the mistress of the middle-aged Song Siming who offers her material benefits in the form of “loans” she knows she will never be able to repay, a fancy apartment to live in, and other “gifts” such as dining at expensive restaurants and shopping at big malls. While the fresh-faced Haizao exhibits a physical transformation after becoming Song’s mistress, demonstrated through her newly permed hair coupled with an expensive red coat, mistresses in Lawyers do not change in this way. Dong Dahai’s mistress, the voluptuous Luo Meiyuan is already a successful career woman who flaunts her perfect makeup, long wavy hair, and body-hugging dresses (Episodes 12–26). She exudes sexual confidence but her relationship is not predicated on receiving financial favours in return for sexual ones. She tells Dong’s wife that the only “third person” in a relationship is the “unloved” one (Episode 15). Another mistress who challenges old ideas of the power dynamic of the rich man and financially reliant young woman is the divorced Shi Jiang, Tang Meiyu’s former classmate, who becomes the mistress of Tang’s husband (Cao Qiankun) without any moral qualms, even though she knows that her friend is pregnant with his child. A powerful businesswoman, Shi is the owner of a high-end bar that Cao frequents after losing his job. Unable to tell his wife the truth, he spends most days wandering around and is unable to resist Shi’s advances because she claims to have loved him since their university days and that she understands him. In this relationship, Shi has taken on the role traditionally assigned to men: she is the affluent powerful one who is able to manipulate the downtrodden unemployed man by “lending” him money in his time of need, offering him a job at her bar (Episode 17), and eventually finding him a new job through her connections (Episodes 23–24). When Cao leaves home after Tang finds out about the affair, Shi provides him with a place to stay (Episode 34). Because the viewers are positioned to root for Tang due to her role as the female lead’s best friend, Shi is immediately set up as one of the villains, although she is portrayed in a more sympathetic light after she reveals to Cao that she was forced to give up her son to her ex-husband in America (who cheated on her) in order to finalise her divorce (Episode 29).The portrayal of different mistresses in Lawyers signals a transformation in the representation of gender compared to Divorce and Dwelling, because the women are less naïve than Haizao, financially well-off because of their business acumen, and much more outspoken and determined to fight for what they want. On the surface these women are depicted as more liberated and free from gender hierarchies and sexual oppression. Hung describes xiaosan as “an active if constrained agent . . . whose new mode of life has become revealingly defensible and publicly acceptable in socioeconomic terms that reflect the moral changes that follow economic reforms” (“State” 166). However, the closure of these storylines suggest that although more complex reasons for becoming a mistress have been explored in the new drama, mistresses are still regarded as a threat to social stability and therefore punished, challenging Hung’s argument about the “acceptability” of mistresses in post-socialist China. Post-Socialist Femininity Restrained: Wives and MothersCountering these liberal forms of post-socialist femininity are portrayals of righteous wives and exemplary mothers. These depictions articulate a moral positioning grounded in pre-socialist and socialist understandings of a woman’s place in Chinese society. These portrayals of moral women check the transgressive powers of single women and mistresses with the potential to break families up. More importantly, they remind the audience of desired gender norms that retain the integrity of the family and anchor a society undergoing rapid transformation.The three dramas portray wives who are stridently righteous in their confrontations with women they perceive as a threat to their families. These women find moral justification for the violence they inflict on transgressors from cultural understandings of their rights as wives. Lin Xiaofeng (Divorce) repeatedly challenges Xiao Li to explain the “logic” underlying her actions when she discovers that Xiao accompanied Song Jianping to a wedding (Episode 14). The “logic” Lin refers to is a cultural understanding that it is her right as wife to accompany Song to public events and not Xiao’s. By transgressing this moral boundary, Xiao accords Lin the moral authority to cast doubt on her abilities as a doctor in a public confrontation. It also provides moral justification for Lin to slap Xiao when she suggests that Lin is an embarrassment to her husband, an argument that underscores Lin’s failure and challenges her moral authority as wife. Jiang Miaomiao (Dwelling) draws on similar cultural understandings when she appears at the apartment Haizao shares with Song Siming (Episode 33). Jiang positions herself in the traditional role of a wife as a household manager (Ebrey) whose responsibilities include paying Song’s mistresses. She puts Haizao into a subordinate position by arguing that since Haizao is less than a mistress and slightly better than a prostitute, she is not worth the money Song has given her. When Haizao refuses to return the money a tussle ensues, causing Haizao to have a miscarriage. Likewise, Miao Jinxiu (Lawyers) draws on similar cultural understandings of a wife’s position when she laments popular arguments that depict mistresses such as Luo Meiyuan as usurping the superior position of wives like herself who are less attractive and able to navigate the market economy. Miao describes these arguments as “inverting black into white” (Episode 19). She publicly humiliates Luo by throwing paint on her at a charity event (Episode 17) and covers Luo’s car with posters labelling Luo a “slut,” “prostitute,” and “shameless” (Episode 18). Miao succeeds in “winning” her husband back. The public violence Miao inflicts on Luo and her success in protecting her marriage are struggles to reinforce the boundaries defining the categories of wife and mistress as these limits become increasingly challenged in China. In contrast to the violent strategies that Lin, Jiang, and Miao adopt, Tang Meiyu resists Shi Jiang’s destructive powers by reminding her errant husband of the emotional warmth of their family. She asks him, “Do you still remember telling me what the nicest sound is at home?” For Cao, the best sounds are Tang’s laughter, their baby’s cries, the sound of the washing machine, and the flushing of their leaky toilet (Episode 43). The couple reconciles and even wins a lottery that cements their “happy ending.” By highlighting the warmth of their family, Tang reminds Cao of her rightful place as wife, restrains Shi from breaking up the couple, and protects the integrity of the family. It is by drawing on deeply entrenched cultural understandings of the rights of wives that these women find the moral authority to challenge, restrain, and control the transgressive powers of mistresses and single women. The dramas’ portrayals of mothers further reinforce the sense that there is a need to restrain liberal forms of post-socialist femininity embodied by errant daughters who transgress the moral boundaries of the family. Lin Xiaofeng’s mother (Divorce) assumes the role of the forgiving wife and mother. She not only forgives Lin’s father for having an affair but raises Lin, her husband’s love child, as her own (Episode 23). On her deathbed, she articulates the values underlying her acceptance of this transgression, namely that one needs to be “a little kinder, more tolerant, and a little muddleheaded” when dealing with matters of the family. Her forgiveness bears fruit in the form of the warm companionship and support she enjoys with Lin’s father. This sends a strong pedagogical message to the audience that it is possible for a marriage to remain intact if one is willing to forgive. In contrast, Haizao’s mother (Dwelling) adopts the role of the disciplinary mother. She attempts to beat Haizao with a coat hanger when she finds out that her daughter is pregnant with Song Siming’s child (Episode 31). She describes Haizao’s decision as “the wrong path” and is emphatic that abortion is the only way to right this wrong. She argues that abortion will allow her daughter to start life anew in a relationship she describes as “open and aboveboard,” which will culminate in marriage. When Haizao rejects her mother’s disciplining, her lover dies in a car accident and she has a miscarriage. She loses her ability to speak for two months after these double tragedies and pays the ultimate price, losing her reproductive abilities. Luo Li’s mother (Lawyers), Li Chunhua, extends this pedagogical approach by adopting the role of public counsellor as a talk show host. Li describes Luo’s profession as “wicked” because it focuses on separating the family (Episode 9). Instead, she promotes reconciliation as an alternative. She counsels couples to remain together by propounding traditional family values, such as the need for daughters-in-law to consider the filial obligations of sons when managing their relationship with their mothers-in-law (Episode 25). Her rising ratings and the effectiveness of her strategy in bringing estranged couples like Miao Jinxiu and Dong Dahai back together (Episode 26) challenges the transgressive powers of mistresses by preventing the separation of families. More importantly, as with Haizao’s and Lin’s mothers, the moral force of Li’s position and the alternatives to divorce that she suggests draw on pre-socialist and socialist understandings of family values that underscore the sanctity of marriage to the audience. By reminding errant daughters of deeply embedded cultural standards of what it means to be a woman in Chinese society, these mothers are moral exemplars who restrain the potentiality of daughters becoming mistresses. ConclusionMarket reforms have led to a transformation in understandings of womanhood in post-socialist China. Depictions of mistresses and single women as independent, economically successful, and sexually liberated underscores the emergence of liberal forms of post-socialist femininity. Although adept at navigating the new market economy, these types of post-socialist women threaten the integrity of the family and need to be controlled. Moral arguments articulated by wives and mothers restrain the potentially destructive powers of post-socialist womanhood by drawing on deeply embedded understandings of the rights of women shaped in pre-socialist China. It is by disciplining liberal forms of post-socialist femininity such that they fit back into deeply embedded gender hierarchies that social order is restored. By illuminating the moral politics undergirding relationships between women in post-socialist China, the dramas discussed underscore the continued significance of television as a pedagogical device through which desired gender norms are popularised. These portrayals of the struggles between liberal forms of post-socialist femininity and conservative pre-socialist understandings of womanhood as lived in everyday life serve to communicate the importance of protecting the integrity of the family and maintaining social stability in order for China to continue to pursue development. ReferencesAhern, Emily. “The Power and Pollution of Chinese Women.” Women in Chinese Society. Eds. Margery Wolf et al. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1975. 193–214. Brady, Anne-Marie. Marketing Dictatorship: Propaganda and Thought Work in Contemporary China. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. China Huading Award. “Top 100 TV Series Satisfaction Survey.” 9 Aug. 2015. Chinese Style Divorce. Writ. Wang Hailing. Dir. 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