Shuanglei Wu, Yongping Wei, Brian Head et al, “The development of ancient Chinese agricultural and water technology from 8000 BC to 1911 AD,” Palgrave Communications 5, no. 77 (July 2019), https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0282-1

habermas sees communicative power as originating in the public sphere!

classification of inference: savartha anumana vs paratha anumana - savartha anumana is firsthand experience that leads to the inference. A man encounters smoke on the hill and remembers where there is smoke there is fire. Therefore there must be fire on the hill - paratha anumana focuses on proving the truth of this conclusion to others

major terms that create the conceptual basis of inference: - paksa (minor term)- the subject of our inference ie. the smoke - sadhya (major term)- the inferable character of our subject ie fire - hetu (middle term)- the reason that connects the paksa to the sadhya ie. where there is smoke there is fire

example, there is smoke on the hill. There is a universal relation between smoke and fire. Therefore we infer that there is fire on the hill.

"anu" means after and "mana" means knowledge - anumana (inference) literally means knowledge/ cognition that follows other knowledge

Purpose: sensory perception is limited and thus can't completely fulfil logical needs anumana (inference) connects our knowledge from perception to beyond it

Patna Women’s College

waterways connected the economy and so the delta assumed economic centrality

Sea routes were important for long distance trade in late Imperial China: - key waterways include the Yangzi River, the Grand Canal and the coastlines - Yangzi river was the most efficient network of inland transportation due to connecting lakes

Yangazi Delta - hub of interregional trade because 3 principle arteries/ rivers converge here - centre of the textile trade - agriculture was insufficient for feeding its population; highest population density in the country; cultivated lands were occupied by cash crops - developed a 2 way system where staple products of the delta was distributed to the rest of the country whilst surplus food from inland went to the delta

*highlights how grain trade coalesced with regions producing cash crops

Grains are a crucial commodity within domestic trade because food consumption makes up more than half the household budget

Fang Ren, “The Rural Market in Late Imperial China,” Asian Social Science 6, no. 6 (2010): https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/view/6220.

late imperial china had impressive economic performance because rice farms were highly productive and fed the nation - rice was mainly farmed in the south where rainfall was abundant; rice could be only successfully grown in half the territory but yields were in surplus and fed the north<br /> - rice brought to capital city in the north to feed the political elites, imperial court, state ministries, the army

some scholars critique that China had become a “society of mass consumption,” - by the 1500s- goods were high in demand; exported cooking ware, silk and delicate porcelain. - this brought 3/4 of the world's silver supply into china between 1500 and 1800

Francesca Bray, “Rice, Technology, and History: The Case of China,” in Education About Asia 9, no.3 (2004): https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/rice-technology-and-history-the-case-of-china/.

• description: image depicts a mass protest of british patriots waving the union jack flag
• context: viral image shared in support of far right and anti immigration groups.
• Image has been debunked as AI generated: objects in the foreground (flags, faces and limbs) bleed together.

Stephen McDermott, “Debunked: A viral image appearing to show UK 'patriots' waving British flags is AI-generated,” The Journal, September 4, 2025, https://www.thejournal.ie/uk-flags-london-patriots-ai-generated-6807401-Sep2025/

Habermas, Between Facts and Norms (1992):

transparency laws can be circumnavigated by distributing on unregulated platforms/ international domains

Dan et al (2024)- if voters can't trust the authenticity of political content, democratic participation itself is jeopardised

political trust is essential for democratic stability

growing culture of distrust is seeping into political institutions, distorting foundations of knowledge (Coeckelbergh (2024)) - loss of epistemic agency and one's confidence in independently assessing the truth which is essential to democracy

AI technology directly weakens societal trust by fueling disinformation- what is real? who can be a trusted source? is the person i'm seeing actually the person who's relaying the information?

Buzzfeed social experiment (2018)- viral deepfake video of Barack Obama with manipulated speech to highlights dangers of AI generated disinformation

ISSUE: AI enables fabrication and misleading content which undermines our collective belief in governmental transparency; erodes trust in democratic institutions

Hetherington (2005)- political trust is rooted in the perception that the government will act within the public's interests - ensure transparency, authenticity and accountability are more than ideals; but principles that are actively practiced

Hawley (2014)- institutional trust exceeds belief in government goodwill- also includes the expectation that they are abled to complete democratic duties in good faith

Devos et al (2002) finds that citizen trust in institutions shape how confident they feel towards governmental actions and policies

Gilbert's concept of collective belief (1987)- a collectively maintained expectation that citizens have towards their government to uphold democratic values of transparency, authenticity, and accountability

Heimer (2001)- Trust is embedded in institutional and legal structures because societies manage uncertainty through formal and informal mechanisms

trust defined as the relationship between a collective and an institution - difficulties in assigning an unanimous defintition from political and philosophical scholars - seen as an abstract interaction between faith, legal assurances and social expectations to form a foundation for societal cooperation

investigating psychological impacts of deepfake exposure and legislative intervention- perceived effectiveness of california regulations on transparency and accountability

paper demonstrates the urgent need for proactive regulations: - for institutional transparency and to protect democratic integrity: - because even when participants were able to detect deepfakes, they showed slightly decreased trust in public figures and US governmental institutions

• highlights that even when ai deception failed, participants expressed ethical concerns of this technology and the way it may be used to fabricate political truths

deepfakes disrupt the collective belief in government transparency, accountability and authenticity

how information authenticity affects democratic stability

THEORIST: - Coeckelbergh (2024) and Vaccari & Chadwick (2020) note that deepfakes do not merely deceive - they destabilize the public’s ability to discern truth, undermining the foundations of informed democratic participation

LIT REVIEW

Natalie S.K. Ringdahl, "Deepfakes and the Erosion of U.S. Democracy: Societal Trust and AI Regulation," (May 2025), UC Irvine Department of Political Science

1. Prophet Nuh

"Israel’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Jaffa city," Aljazeera, April 16, 2014, https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2014/4/16/israels-ethnic-cleansing-of-jaffa-city.

Allison Deger, "The sacking of Jaffa during the Palestinian Nakba, as narrated by three Omars," Mandoweiss, May 15, 2016, https://mondoweiss.net/2016/05/sacking-palestinian-narrated/.

Mark Curtis, "When Britain aided Israel’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestine," Declassified UK, November 7, 2023, https://www.declassifieduk.org/when-britain-aided-israels-ethnic-cleansing-of-palestine/

Adam LeBor, "Jaffa: Divided it fell," The Independent, January 21, 2006, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jaffa-divided-it-fell-5336910.html

Megan McCluskey, "How Companion‘s Twist Imagines a New Place for AI in Horror," Time, January 31, 2025, https://time.com/7210266/companion-movie-ai-ending/.

Peyton Robinson, "Companion," Robert Ebert, January 31, 2025, https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/companion-movie-review-2025.

Maria Cohut, "The controversy of female hysteria," Medical News Today, October 13, 2020, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/the-controversy-of-female-hysteria

An Lushan was a Tang general/ military governor with considerable authority- he served at the western frontier- had an army of 160,000 soldiers by 755 which made it easy for him to turn against central government

Eugene Larson,"Rebellion of An Lushan," EBSCO, 2022, https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/rebellion-lushan

targeted railroad infrastructure to choke supply routes:

Roads, bridges, and rail lines were targeted in bombing and demolition campaigns.

• Without functioning transport, even areas that had food could not distribute it to hungry civilians elsewhere.

• b26 (pg3)
• USAF archival records admit “accidentally bombed friendly civilians “ in Andong South Korea, highlights the “dangers” of close air support missions (p5)
• Incendiary bombs being dropped (pg17)

“one of the heaviest air campaigns of the 20th century,”- ref unlimited targets?

Civilian starvation treated as a by product of war- not formally acknowledged as collective punishment

A. Timothy Warnock, “The U.S. Air Force's First War: Korea 1950-1953 Significant Events,” https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/Portals/16/documents/Timelines/Korea/KoreanWarChronology.pdf?ver=2016-08-30-151058-710

president truman considered nuclear weapons for korea as it may be "cheaper" to use in terrains that NK forces honeycombed with dugouts

starvation and slow death

The Sui-ho hydroelectric plant also located on the Yalu River; provided 90 percent of North Korea’s power supply. - In blatant violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Time of War, Article 56, - in 1952, U.S. bombers struck majorirrigation dams in Toksan, Chasan, and Kuwonga, - then attacked two more in Namsi and Taechon.<br /> - The effect was to unleash flooding and to disrupt the rice supply.

Jeremy Kuzmarov, “The Korean War: Barbarism Unleashed,” United States Foreign Policy History and Resource Guide, https://peacehistory-usfp.org/korean-war.

“Fraternal socialist project” North Korea dependent on fraternal assistance for more than 80% of its industrial reconstruction needs between 1954 and 1956

majority of 3 million killed in the north even tho they had half the population of the south

USAF targeted irrigation dams on the Yalu River (spring 1953) to destroy rice crops. They hit 5 reservoirs which flooded thousands of acres of farmland, making it unusable. Essential food source, affected millions of North Koreans

Charles K. Armstrong, “The Destruction And Reconstruction Of North Korea, 1950 – 1960," The Asia Pacific Journals 8, no 2 (March 2009): https://apjjf.org/charles_k_-armstrong.

Charles K. Armstrong, “The Destruction And Reconstruction Of North Korea, 1950 – 1960," Asia Pacific Journals 7, no 0 (March 2009): https://apjjf.org/charles_k_-armstrong

Geoffrey Cain, “Scorched Earth Doctrine, ” Los Angeles Review of Books, May 11, 2015, https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/scorched-earth-doctrine

political propoganda fed to north Korean korean- math textbook with questions like how many “American imperialist bastards” would be alive if they lost hypothetical battles against the North Korean military.

"Bombs, hunger, specter of death… what US left behind after partially withdrawing troops from Korean Peninsula," Global Times, May 28, 2023, https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202305/1291493.shtml

"History of Islam in China," Muslim Ink, December 14, 2020, https://www.muslimink.com/history/history-of-islam-in-china/

Lee, Hee-soo. “The Spread of Islamic Culture to the East Asia Before The Era of Modern European Hegemony”. İslam Araştırmaları Dergisi, no. 7 (January 2002): 57-74.

between the rebellion and the battle of talas, the emperor sent many gifts to Lushan, his favourite general. its assumed that most of these gifts were most likely imports and highlights how trade persisted even under political tension

After military victory at talas, the influence of the islamic empire in central asia grew as most people were converted to islam

Umayyads overthrown by the Abbasid dynasty in 750

first major serttlements were muslim arabs and persians:

somewhat segregated, mercantile Muslim communities existing in port cities- Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Hangzhou on China's southeastern seaboard also in the interior centers such as Chang'an, Kaifeng and Yangzhou during the Tang and especially Song eras

Paul Lunde, "Muslims in China," Aramco World Magazine 36, no.4, July/ August (1985), 12-19, Aramco World Archive, https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/198504/muslims.in.china-the.history.htm

importance of Islam during Tang period - (particular emphasis on political considerations)

Sandra Aili Green, "Tracing Muslim Roots: A Brief History of the Hui," Education about Asia 10, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 34-35. https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/tracing-muslim-roots-a-brief-history-of-the-hui/.

Gayla Koerting, "Battle of Talas River," EBSCO, 2022, https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/battle-talas-river.

Gloria Lotha, Aakanksha Gaur,Virginia Gorlinski et al, "Tang Dynasty," Britannica, July 19, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tang-dynasty

"Tang Dynasty," Britannica, June 19, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tang-dynasty

Asma Afsaruddin, "Umayyad dynasty," Britannica, June 19, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Umayyad-dynasty-Islamic-history

"Emperors of the Tang Dynasty," Travel China Guide, February 28, 2022, https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/tang/tang-dynasty-emperors.htm?srsltid=AfmBOopexniCpcgh973vlK8_yOe3HEhZ285J8PAGG1J_2ui6Z-QAvfDH.

"The Ancient Record" of the T’ang Dynasty notes that an emissary from Arabia came to the royal court bearing gifts (651AD) for emperor Gaozong - falls under Uthman ibn Affan (third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate) ruling from 644 to 656 CE. (the MET) - according to traditional chinese muslim accounts, this is considered to be the first time islam was introduced to china

Muslim assistance against the rebellion: - In 755AD there was an uprising against the Tang Dynasty - Emperor Hsuan Tsung sent emissionaries to ask for assistance from the muslims of north west China- 8000 soldiers came to assist. - To show his appreciation, the emperor gave the soldiers the option to settle down in China- they were settled on farm land, provided with land, homes and 8000 women in marriage

persians and arabs who came to china were highly esteemed in trade - had a whole monopoly on the import/ export industry - by the Sung period (960-1279) they had a foreign quarter in Kwangchow

Friendly relations between china and the muslim rulers - relations between china and the muslim empire further improved under the religious political successors of the Abbasids (750 to 1258 CE) - the muslim empire sent delegates to deliver precious gifts to the chinese emperors- well received as they were laden with gifts to carry back to the caliphs - emissaries in the time of the Umayyads (661–750 CE) were known as the "white robed tashi"; under the Abbasid empire emissaries were known as the "black robed tashi"

emperor inquired about the religion of muhammad - considered it to be compatible with confucian teachings (family values, social duties towards the community) - felt the 5 daily prayers and the month of fasting to be too strict, thus he didn't convert - gave Said and his delegates permission to teach islam - built the first mosque in chinese history in Ch-ang-an (modern day Sian)

Kenneth W. Morgan, "Chapter 9: Islamic Culture in China by Dawood C. M. Ting," in Islam — The Straight Path: Islam Interpreted by Muslims (Ronald Press Company, 1958), 344-374, https://www.religion-online.org/book-chapter/chapter-9-islamic-culture-in-china-by-dawood-c-m-ting/.

islam introduced to china: - historians aren't in agreement with when islam came to china - no record in arab history, only briefly mentioned in Chinese annals - ^chinese annals are considered a foundational part of China's long historiographical tradition; annalistic records kept by the state court in ancient china (chicago)

Betsy Williams, Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow, "The Third Caliph: Uthman ibn Affan," The Metropolian Museum of Art, April 5, 2012, https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/byzantium-and-islam/blog/characters/posts/uthman.

Edward L. Shaughnessy, "Annals of Ancient China," EALC University of Chicago, 2021, https://ealc.uchicago.edu/node/668.

Cultural assimilated communities? - arab and persian businessmen usually settled in southern provinces and many of them married chinese women - in order to hold onto religious obligations, they often lived apart as a Muslim community w/ their own living habits, marriage and funeral rites, - They had their own courts to handle marriage, divorce, inheritance, in accordance to Islamic law - ^evidence of the Muslims' influence and power in China at that time.

Early muslim settlements in china: - Migration by sea: between 651-800AD, a considerable number of Arab and Persian businessmen came to settle in China - they first settled in Kwangchow, but slowly began to push their way along the coast/ to the main cities/ and even as far north as Hangchow, building mosques and religious centres as they went - these buildings were relatively large and well built, attesting to the economic position of these traders

muslim visitors (usually arabian or persian) came to china for commercial reasons - Arabians who came in the time of the Umayyads were known as the "White Robed Tashi" - when relations between China and the Muslim empire improved under the Abbasids, their emissaries were later known as the "Black Robed Tashi"

uncertainty of historical sources as to whether Said died in Arabia or China - Chinese historians believe he died in Kwangchow, China- a mosque was constructed at his grave site to honour prophet Muhammad - but Arab historians point to a grave in mecca

How islam was introduced to china - The Ancient Record of the Tang Dynasty notes that an emissary from Arabia came to the royal court bearing gifts in 651 - this would've been during Uthman's caliphate - Said Ibn Abi led the delegation

emperor felt islam was compatible with confucian values - importance of family, social duties when you exist as part of a wider community

Dawood Ting, "Chapter 9: Islamic Culture in China", in Islam—The Straight Path: Islam Interpreted by Muslims (1958) New York: The Ronald Press Company, pp. 344–374

Battle of Talas (751CE) - Abbasid Caliphate defeated Tang China at the Battle of Talas - ended Tang westward expansion, resulted in Muslim control of Transoxiana for the next 400 years.

Guangzhou massacre (879CE) - during the Huichang era (841–845) - chinese rebels murdered around 120,000 to 200,000 arab/ persian foreigners

Huichang persecution of Buddhism (845CE) - it's believed that Muslims were exempt from persecution due to their trader status and low profile presence - however, the Chinese government drove Zoroastrianism and the church of the east to extinction

traders settled along the vast inland trade routes of the silk road, which expanded across the Mediterranean all the way to east asia - traders carried their culture and beliefs with them, importing new ideas as well as merchant goods along the trade routes

Gernet, Jacques (1996), A History of Chinese Civilization (2nd ed.), New York: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-49712-1

Chang-Il Ohn, "The South Korean Military and the Korean War," International Journal of Korean Studies 5, no.1 (March 2001): 35-54 https://icks.org/journal/spring-summer-2001-volume-v-number-1/.

Balazs Szalontai, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: the Forgotten Side of a Not-so-forgotten War,"

Balazs Szalontai ("The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Forgotten Side of a Not-so-forgotten War")

"History of the 38th Parallel and how it epitomized the Cold War," World History Edu, May 1, 2024, https://worldhistoryedu.com/history-of-the-38th-parallel-and-how-it-epitomized-the-cold-war/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

Kallie Szczepanski,"Why the Peninsula Is Split Into North Korea and South Korea," ThoughtCo, April 5th, 2023,, https://www.thoughtco.com/why-north-korea-and-south-korea-195632

Ji-Yeon Yuh, "Beyond Numbers: The Brutality of the Korean War," The Korea Policy Institute (KPI), September 24, 2015, https://www.kpolicy.org/post/beyond-numbers-the-brutality-of-the-korean-war.

Jong Won Lee, "The Impact of the Korean War on the Korean Economy," International Journal of Korean Studies 5, no.1 (March 2001): 97-118. https://icks.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/1482456154_add_file_6.pdf..

undermine the " morale of enemy civil population"

Kim Taewoo, "LIMITED WAR, UNLIMITED TARGETS," Critical Asian Studies 44, no. 3 (August 2012): 467-492. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2012.711980.

ERIC TALMADGE "64 years after Korean War, North still digging up bombs," AP News, July 24, 2017,, https://apnews.com/article/international-news-asia-pacific-ap-top-news-north-korea-dd6256bad51e458cb2e8a1bf64b5c2b6?

https://science.howstuffworks.com/napalm.htm

Emily Abrams Ansari. 2012. Shaping the Policies of Cold War Musical Diplomacy: An Epistemic Community of American Composers , Diplomatic History 36 (1): 41–52

individual talent doesn't make it's way to the public without intermediaries like talent scouts.

telephone vs radio: - technological as a clamp on individual consciousness - distinguished roles because telephone allows for mutual engagement and interactions whereas radio creates social functions of a listener and a speaker

products have been built with a short life span; short lived trends means the consumer also has a short attention span towards their belongings - "built in demand to be discarded after a short while like empty food cans"

The Great Silk Road is a system of caravan routes of ancient times and in the Middle Ages which connected Asia with the Mediterranean and European world.

These routes highly influenced the development of trade interactions and cultural ties between the West and the East.

The Silk Road served not only as route for exporting goods such as silk, spices, precious metals, minerals handicrafts, architecture and paintings but also transmitted cultural exchange including theatric performance, dance and music art.

The Great Silk Road played moreover a major role in dissemination of religions.

The Silk Road can thus be considered as an important fundament of human civilization.

Dmitry Voyakin, "The Great Silk Road", UNESCO, https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/default/files/knowledge-bank-article/SKMBT_C35313071814540.pdf.