Chinese martial arts cinema is held to be a synthesis drawing on artistic conventions of traditional Chinese theatre. Film sound and music perform as the legitimate heirs of some of the aesthetic ideas and norms of traditional Chinese theatre. This book critically examines the history of this under-explored field of inquiry from a theoretically comparative perspective, demonstrating that the musical codes drawn from traditional theatre are a constantly changing component integral to Chinese martial arts cinema. It explores the interaction between traditional Chinese theatre and Chinese martial arts cinema in how the musical codes of the former have shaped the aesthetics of the latter uniquely. This departs from conventional existing studies that focus on “adaptation.” The book’s historical and theoretical approach connects film, theatre and music, and re-defines the status of distinctive domains of filmic expression, grounding theatre as the pivot – or “hinge” – of film aesthetics. The book proffers this unique angle of research to rethink and re-imagine film sound and audiovisual synchronisation. Primarily intended for scholars in Chinese cinema, film music, Chinese theatre and visual culture, this monograph also presents introductory and comprehensive material for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in film and media studies, film music, Chinese cinema, and Chinese theatre.

Different from the traditional legislation in family issues which focused on marriage and divorce, current legislation in Germany has come to highlight the relationship between parents and children. The book focuses on parental custody after separation or divorce in Germany and China before a legal comparison is drawn. Furthermore, the book explores possible legal reforms in this field in the two legal systems.

This book introduces the current state of research on dark energy. It consists of three parts. The first part is for preliminary knowledge, including general relativity, modern cosmology, etc. The second part reviews major theoretical ideas and models of dark energy. The third part reviews some observational and numerical works. The aim of this book is to provide a sufficient level of understanding of dark energy problems, so that the reader can both get familiar with this area quickly and also be prepared to tackle the scientific literature on this subject. It will be useful for graduate students and researchers who are interested in dark energy.