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Investiture of Chinese culture in character design

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Investiture of Chinese culture in character design

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Copyright 2020 Ling Ding
Investiture of Chinese Culture in Character Design

By

Ling Ding

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSKI SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS (DESIGN)

May 2020

ii

Contents
Table of Figures ................................................................................................................. iii
Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1
The Chinese Novel Investiture of the Gods .................................................................... 2
Significant Prior Projects ................................................................................................ 3
Context ................................................................................................................................ 6
The Background Story .................................................................................................... 6
The Environment Design ................................................................................................ 7
The Character Design ................................................................................................... 10
Nezha ........................................................................................................................ 10
Daji ............................................................................................................................ 16
Nuwa ......................................................................................................................... 20
Underground residents .............................................................................................. 23
The Exploration Team .............................................................................................. 24
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 28
References ......................................................................................................................... 29

iii

Table of Figures
Figure 1. Research in Gundam series ............................................................................................. 5
Figure 2. Research in Rahxephon ................................................................................................... 5
Figure 3. Sketch of different kinds of societies .............................................................................. 9
Figure 4. Traditional Image of Nezha ........................................................................................... 12
Figure 5. Character Design for Nezha Bot One ............................................................................ 13
Figure 6. Character Design for Nezha Bot Two ........................................................................... 14
Figure 7. Character Design for Nezha War Weapon .................................................................... 15
Figure 8. Traditional Image of Daji .............................................................................................. 17
Figure 9. Character Design for Daji Human Form ....................................................................... 18
Figure 10. Character Design for Daji War Weapon ..................................................................... 19
Figure 11. Traditional Image of Nvwa ......................................................................................... 21
Figure 12. Character Design for Nvwa ......................................................................................... 22
Figure 13. Character Design for Underground Residents ............................................................. 23
Figure 14. Drawing for the scene with the Underground Residents ............................................. 24
Figure 15. Character Design for the Exploration Team ................................................................ 25
Figure 16. Drawing for the scene one with the Exploration Team ............................................... 26
Figure 17. Drawing for the scene two with the Exploration Team ............................................... 26
Figure 18. Cover for the comic ..................................................................................................... 27

iv

Abstract
In order to recollect memories of a lost culture and to promote a legend that may soon be
forgotten, my thesis explores designing characters that combine ancient Chinese culture with
machine-based or machine-driven science fiction worlds set in the future. An art book and an
animation place the story, the characters, and the worlds in which they live and interact in a
futuristic landscape.
Keywords: characters, ancient Chinese culture, fictional, futuristic, cyborg.

1

Introduction
Today people are losing respect for their own cultures and beliefs. In order to recollect
their memories of a lost culture and to promote the lost culture, my thesis explores designing
characters that combine ancient Chinese culture with machine-based or machine-driven science
fictional worlds. Its final form will be an art book that narrates the story, the characters, and the
worlds in which they live and interact.
This book’s genre appeals to teenagers and young adults from fourteen to thirty years old.
They may not know much about ancient culture but are fans of science fiction. The intention of
this work is to inspire people’s interest in historical or ancient Chinese culture within a sci-fi
setting. Ultimately the book and its narrative bring to light how we are losing our cultural stories
and what impact that has on us.
The concept art book and animated movie will share and reveal a story happening in a
faraway future where technology is well developed, but resources are limited. People battle daily
in wars using remotely controlled war-machines to overcome enemies and secure lands and
resources. Eventually, they discover the power of regaining an understanding of a long-lost
culture and the power of the Gods. Designing the characters and “mech” (giant robots controlled
by people in science fiction) which are inspired by and originate from the individuals in the
ancient Chinese story, Investiture of the Gods, is the first phase of this project. Simultaneously,
developing the plotline is critical to the overarching themes of rediscovery, cultural impact, and
future worlds.
The development of the storyline includes creating a timeline and storyboard that
presents the overview of the story. The storyboard shows important events and background. A
book outline for the development of this project is an accompanying deliverable. Further

2

deliverables include a graphic novel that represents the major plot points in the story. On-going
character design research refers to the various Chinese elements as well as “mech” designs and
existing examples of machines combined with cultures. The initial focus was on designing one
machine combining the background of the character and the functions necessary in the world.
The design of this first character model became the basis for the design and creation of the style
attributes and features of all the other characters. All characters will be created in 2D. The
intention for designing the characters is to show the combination of ancient culture and future
design in a story showing their functions in a future war as well as the attributes described in the
ancient story.
The Chinese Novel Investiture of the Gods
The original narration on which I based my characters is Investiture of the Gods, a well-
known Chinese fantasy that intertwines numerous elements of Chinese mythology attributed to
Xu Zhonglin. Investiture of the Gods is based on historical events but combines ancient folktales
and legends, telling the story of a war between two countries, whose religions display differing
forms of spirit magic.
As a Chinese historical fantasy novel, later generations comment differently on this work.
The general public deems the narrative style less remarkable than the “Four Great Masterpieces”
in China. According to Chien-te Li’s article in which he deeply researches the history and
reception of Investiture of the Gods, the work collected and fictionized the stories of the feud
between King Wu and King Zhou around 1040 BCE.
1
Though the literary worth of this work is
still questioned, there is no doubt that it is one of the most important of the Chinese canon.

1
李建德(Chien-Te Li). “論《封神演義》呈現的儒道義理與小說之教. ” 國立彰化師範大學文學院學報, no. 9
(March 1, 2014): 201 –219.

3

Investiture of the Gods is also a representative work of Taoism describing ancient social
conventions and values. Chien-te Li also compared the ideological structure of Investiture of the
Gods to Confucianism and Taoism finding that it accepted and reformed both pre-Qin, Song, and
Ming Dynasty Confucianism, and Taoist practice and theology.
2
This is reflected in both the
supernatural and human characters. This mixed ideology changed as it spread and was adapted as
folklore. The general public unconsciously accepted, identified, and worshiped the modified
characters through their own understanding of the supernatural beings in the book. Even today
this book still enjoys great popularity.
The great thing about this work is the author’s imagination and characterization. The
distinctive appearances for the gods, spirits and demons in Investiture of the Gods are detailed,
while the magic they use in the story is fascinating. As a result, some characters have become
classical references in modern literatures, movies, and games. Thus, many contemporary
artworks like the animate movie Ne zha (2019) are based on this narrative work.
However, modern adaptions of Investiture of the Gods are still restricted to the original
ancient settings. This project is about combining contemporary elements with the ancient story in
a futuristic context to create god characters that explore conflicts between modern and ancient
Chinese ideology.
Significant Prior Projects
Although not many projects combine ancient Chinese ideology, with modern society,
character designs, and completed world building, there are many machine-based art works that
rely on other ancient cultures.

2
ibid

4

The Gundam is a well-known as a Japanese science fiction series of animation, games
and products. The design of Gundam is originally based on the Japanese Samurai solider. The
weapons and attacking movements are similar to Samurai’s use of the Katana, a Japanese sword-
like weapon.
However, the Gundam story is rarely related to Japanese traditional stories. The hard
surface and futuristic weapons decrease the connection between Gundam and Japanese tradition.
Gundams are purely new weapons invented by humans, which makes the origins of Gundam less
mysterious. In Gundam stories, most set Gundam as a powerful weapon on the battlefield and
revolve around the idea of pursuing peace. Now, though Gundam doesn’t relate to Japanese
culture much, it has already been an important part of Japanese culture, especially in the field of
animation.
Compared to Gundam series, RahXephon is a different mecha (robot) work in both the
mecha design and the storytelling. Though RahXephon is a machine-based animation, the
mechas in the story are not fully mechanical. The design of RahXephon includes less hard
surfaces and more organic surfaces that mimic the outline of the structure which is similar to
human body. The “Dolems” which play an enemy role are made out of clay, and each of them
are named with terms taken from music theory. They are closer to mysterious creatures.
However, even though the design and world setting seem to have religions origins based in Aztec
mythology, the main topic of RahXephon is about the development of human and space species
rather than the culture.
Both Gundam series and RahXephon are very typical machine-based futuristic works
referring to culture or ancient mythology. The designs of machine are incredible and impressive,
however, neither of the stories in Gundam series and RahXephon focus on the culture on which

5

their designs are based. With Investiture of the Gods I have created not only characters based on
the Chinese mythology but also the world the inhabit.

Figure 1. Research in Gundam series
3

Figure 2. Research in Rahxephon
4

3
https://na.gundam.info/ accessed on December 2019
4
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/RahXephon
https://rahxephon.fandom.com/wiki/ accessed on December 2019

6

Context
This thesis project consists of three parts: background storytelling, world-building
environment design, and the character design. Each character will have their own brief story.
The Background Story
In ancient times, the gods sorted and selected out those humans who were qualified to
becomes gods. After these chosen people died, they became gods, and they left part of their
bodies on the human plane as statues through which communication between gods and humans
was possible.
After a long time passed, the human world developed steadily, and people gradually
forgot the legends of the gods and their statues were buried. Technology was well developed,
and Artificial Intelligence became an indivisible part of human life. As time went on humans
generated distrust in AI and one day the conflict between humans and AI was elevated to War. A
mysterious “Ultimate Weapon” became the key to the human’s victory. People celebrated their
victory and started to rebuild their world. However, there were consequences.
Both the civilization and the environment were ruined. The weapon turned the land into a
wasteland, oceans and forests were almost gone. The effects caused by the weapon was similar
to radiation. Some people’s bodies began to rot as organs stopped working normally. To continue
their life and propagate the species, they revived mechanical and bio- technology, using
mechanical parts as replacements for their broken body parts. They became half-human/half-
machine. This was the first generation of cyborgs. Then they set up institutions for reproduction
to examine infants. They “modified” or “corrected” them to be “normal” humans. Community
structures also changed based on ideology rather than nationality. Conflicts rose again about land
and resources among countries and leagues in regular battles developed.

7

Fragments of the “Ultimate Weapon” were left and appeared as monsters. The mysterious
energy driving these monsters becomes a hot topic for research and every government
commissions private companies to search fragments, offering them obsolete bots and large sums
of money.
The Environment Design
I aim to reflect current social issues through world building. I imagine a future world in
which humans suffered drastic environmental changes. Humans are facing population decline,
environmental pollution, cultural crisis. They build up a cyborg society, and there is one source
of power, the statue of the gods.
Considering that this story is to raise awareness of a lost culture, I put the world setting
into an extreme situation, wiping out features of contemporary culture and keeping only the style
a “future” that people commonly know from sci-fiction film. In such future movies, people live
closer with technology, and the styles of machines described are simplified and designed for
efficiency. This world setting also reflects our reality and through the contrast between character
and environment, the audience can visualize a conflict between two different styles existing in
one story.
The story is also exploring societal issues in a cyborg world, which is also parallels the
real world. As technology has been developed, the relationship between human and machine has
been frequently discussed. In A Cyborg Manifesto, Donna Haraway elaborated that in cyborg
society, the boundaries between human, animal and machine will be different, and the social
relationship between humans will also change. As technology develops, people are more
independent and self-reliant. Human more easily arm up in a cyborg society. “The relationships
for forming wholes from parts, including those of polarity and hierarchical domination” will be a

8

social issue since each person is recognized more as an individual
5
. In my story I assume that a
future cyborg society will appear more anarchic than regulated. On the other hand, hierarchical
domination will still exist. In such a severe environment, some people would rely on people or
institutions they trust, or rely on something abstract, which is similar to religions. Since the
existence of the statues are exposed, I assume some people will choose to worship the statues, or
gods, and establish a society using the statues as the base.
Since in the cyborg world, people can literarily edit their body, sex is much less
distinctive in this world. Therefore, kinship and family relationships will be different from our
real life. As people are individuated, the connection with family loosens as do national
boundaries. As humans form communities based on ideology rather than nationality, they face
choices if they want to be one of the societies: Anarchy society based on technology and
military industries where people live independently; Absolute government where people have
clear hierarchy while the standards differ among cities, and residents live in relatively closed
areas which are shielded from the outside; The residents in Religious area are believers of the
god statues while the whole cities are built for and based on the statues.

5
Haraway, Donna, Joel Weiss, Jason Nolan, Jeremy Hunsinger, and Peter Trifonas. “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology,
and Socialist-Feminism in the Late 20th Century.” In The International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments, 117–158.
Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2006.Fornaro, R. J. (1976). Ideology and Archaeology in China, Economic and Political
Weekly, 11(20), 743-745.

9

Figure 3. Sketch of different kinds of societies

10

The Character Design
Nezha
Nezha, one of the most famous characters, was a son and warrior. In the story of
Investiture of the Gods, he fought against the Dragon King as well as the King’s sons to save his
friends but brought trouble to his family and the whole city. He committed suicide as a way to
“return" his flesh to his parents in repayment for the debt of his birth. When his mother tried to
revive him, his father stopped her. His body was rebuilt by his master with Lotus roots and he
was revived. This is also the reason why he didn’t get into the Fengshen List, which lists names
of people who were qualified to be gods. Enmity between father and son grew. But in the end,
Nezha was forced to submit to his father by another powerful deity.
Nezha is one of the most popular characters from Chinese literature. He is originally
based on the figures in Hindu mythology.
6
After being modified and portrayed for many years,
his figure has been massively accepted by Chinese folk legend in Buddhist and Taoist traditions.
Nezha is a youth character who is rebellious against his father. He possesses a great number of
powerful magic weapons, so he is always shown as war god. Nezha also appears in Journey to
the West, one the Four Great Masterpieces in China.
In Investiture of the Gods, Nezha surrendered to his father, to the traditional class
system.
7
The symbol of rebellion ends miserably. Since he submitted to his father unwillingly, I
assume his rage remains even thousands of years passed.

6
Shahar, Meir. “Nezha, Nalakūbara, and Kṛṣṇa.” In Oedipal God. University of Hawaii Press, 2015.
7
李豐楙. “從哪吒太子到中壇元帥：‘中央－四方’ 思維下的護境象徵. ” 中國文哲研究通訊 19, no. 2 (June 1,
2009): 35 –57.

11

In my story, Nezha was buried underground at first. One day he comes to the ground and
joins the human society. He was given a new body by one person and learned about human
culture. As his memory recovers, he finds many of gods he knew before who now appear as war
weapons. He also finds his father is in the battlefield. The old humiliation and rage is recalled,
and willingly enters the battles.
Nezha is one of the main characters in my story. He comes from a traditional ancient
Chinese family but does not approve of such family relationships, which is similar to
contemporary families. As Nezha stays in human society and is influenced by his surroundings,
he identifies himself as an individual rather than part of his family or the god system. He may
rethink the relationships within human societies and between the gods and humans. He will
behave more like a human, but one who is powerful enough to change the world.
My design of the Nezha character is based on old images and the descriptions of his
appearance and adapt it to the war weapon version of the world I have constructed. Here, Nezha
has different appearances: when he just comes to the ground, the parts of his body was randomly
picked, and the statue objects leaks out of the body; to live in human society he has a more
advanced mech with special containers to keep his statue elements safe while powering his
mech; when attending battles, he becomes a god weapon with arms ready and giant sizelooking
more like a god of the past.

12

Figure 4. Traditional Image of Nezha
8

8
https://mttmp.com/u57gnif.html accessed on December 2019

13

Figure 5. Character Design for Nezha Bot One

14

Figure 6. Character Design for Nezha Bot Two

15

Figure 7. Character Design for Nezha War Weapon

16

Daji
Daji is a real person who once existed in Chinese history in Shang Dynasty. She is
beautiful but she is one of the most wicked women in Chinese history. The King was charmed by
her beauty and follows her every word. In history, Daji abused people, often hanging them, while
carousing all day with the King.
In Investiture of the Gods, she is a nine-tailed fox spirit who takes possession of a girl
who was the original Su Daji. She is a major antagonist who is seen as the first corrupter of the
declining Shang dynasty as a concubine of the King.
9
In the end, she was executed Jiang Ziya, in
his attack decapitation of Shang rule.
Linxi Yang analyzed the types of women in Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the
West. In traditional Chinese ideology, a woman is an attachment to a man. Linxi compares this
role to Helen of Troy. Both of these stereotypes reflect the slander and injustice against woman
in ancient male-dominated society.
10
Daji was originally an oblation given by her own family to
the King to show surrender and loyalty. In Investiture of the Gods, Daji was used as a tool for
revolution. Even the fox spirit obeys the orders from her superior, Nvwa. Though she was
villainous in the story, to a certain extent, she was forced by the discrimination against woman
and traditional hierarchy system in ancient Chinese society.
In my version, she was supposed to be executed, but she survives and obtains power
similar to other gods. She is a powerful entity who uses her human form hiding in human society

9
Chen, Ya-chen. Women in Chinese Martial Arts Films of the New Millennium Narrative Analyses and Gender
Politics Lanham: Lexington Books, 2012.
10
杨林夕(Lin-Xi Yang). “不同的表现相同的本质－论《封神演义》和《西游记》女性类型的异同. ” 廣西師
範大學學報（哲學社會科學版） 46, no. 5 (October 1, 2010): 75 –79.

17

as well as a giant war weapon form in battle. She was an attachment to the King, but now she is
more independent in the story. She is an agent, assassin, and warrior fighting for her own.
In this telling Daji is no longer a stereotypical concubine figure attached to the man, I reimagine
her as powerful, independent, sly, and sophisticated.

Figure 8. Traditional Image of Daji
11

11
http://m.seegold.cn/renwu/fengyun/5601.html accessed on December 2019

18

Figure 9. Character Design for Daji Human Form

19

Figure 10. Character Design for Daji War Weapon

20

Nuwa
Nuwa is the mother goddess in Chinese mythology, a figure similar to Gaia in Greek
mythology. In her legend, she is a serpent figure with powerful magic. She created human with
yellow clay and mud and repaired the sky. The origin of Nvwa is considered to be a primitive
matriarchal society.
In Investiture of the Gods, Nvwa is still a powerful goddess worshiped by humans. As a
female character in a male-dominated work, the figure of Nvwa was inevitably polarized as Lin-
xi Yang summarizes.
12
She sent the fox spirit who became Daji to retaliate against the King who
had humiliated her. In this way she helped in a great battle between the two countries. However,
Nvwa disappears afterward the battle and never shows up again. Since she is the superior of the
evil fox spirit, Nvwa is not a complete decent character in the story.
I adapt and expand Nvwa’s experience based on her long absent in Investiture of the
Gods. In my story, humans discover the power of Nvwa and launch her as the ultimate weapon
to Earth. Her fragments are all over earth and become the source of mutation. Moreover, the
fragments take in mech parts and imitate humans. Nuwa wants to regain the fragments and
power to avenge her use by humans. Before retrieving her original power, she lies dormant
underground.
My intention is to break the traditional impression that Nvwa is motherly and beautiful. I
want to create a disturbing figure and remake her as an avenger rather than a traditional
saint. Moreover, she is one of the key characters in my story. I refer to her legends of creating
humans with yellow clay and mud as the origin of humankind. This clay and mud are also the

12
杨林夕(Lin-Xi Yang). “不同的表现相同的本质－论《封神演义》和《西游记》女性类型的异同. ” 廣西師
範大學學報（哲學社會科學版） 46, no. 5 (October 1, 2010): 75 –79.

21

same as the material of the god statues. In my story, the process of becoming gods is through a
return to an original state, but with magic, power, and memory. The mutation of humans is
caused by the reaction between the human’s body which was clay and mud and the creator.

Figure 11. Traditional Image of Nvwa
13

13
https://mttmp.com/u57gnif.html accessed on December 2019

22

Figure 12. Character Design for Nvwa

23

Underground residents
To enrich the world building, I will include a more complete human society which can
also reflect the real world we live in. In this world the underground residents are humans
abandoned by the social systems due to inborn unfixable defects. They managed to survive
underground and form a group to help each other. Most of them have mental deficiencies, but
their leader, “the woman,” has normal intelligence. She received knowledge from an AI, learning
language and the use of digital devices before the AI “died” (ran out of battery). They put the
AI’s head on a platform as a signal of respect. “The boy” is a new member of the group who just
escaped from the execution chamber and found the group. He will be the next leader.
They represent the marginalized within human society.

Figure 13. Character Design for Underground Residents

24

Figure 14. Drawing for the scene with the Underground Residents

The Exploration Team
The exploration team takes contracts from the government search for fragments of the
ultimate weapon underground and send the pieces to labs for research in remote areas.
The story of an exploration mission will be the trigger for god statues entry into the
human system. In one mission the team discovers the god statue, but no one knows where the
pilots of the bots are now. The illustrated comic about this exploration mission is the prologue
for the whole story, and it is a test for the further production of my concept art design.

25

Figure 15. Character Design for the Exploration Team

26

Figure 16. Drawing for the scene one with the Exploration Team

Figure 17. Drawing for the scene two with the Exploration Team

27

Figure 18. Cover for the comic

28

Conclusion
This project intends to not only explore designing characters that combine ancient
Chinese culture, but also change the common ideas on those classic characters. The difference
between them relates to the contemporary issues nowadays, like gender and class. The world-
building is based on a science fiction world set in the future, but this fictitious world reflects
many social issues like the environment, abuse of power, marginalized people and the conflicts
among different ideologies. The characters coming from ancient times will bring their power and
traditional ideas into the worlds, which intensifies the conflicts. Overall, I hope this story can
make viewers notice the great imagination of ancient Chinese culture and relate the plots and
characters to the social issues in reality, and this concept art design project will be a start.

29

References
Chen, Ya-chen. 2012. Women in Chinese Martial Arts Films of the New Millennium Narrative
Analyses and Gender Politics. Lanham: Lexington Books.
n.d. Fandomwiki Rahxephon. Accessed December 2019. https://rahxephon.fandom.com/wiki/.
Fei, Hsiao-Tung. January 1, 1936. "The Problem of Chinese Relationship System." Monumenta
Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies 2 125–148.
n.d. Gundam.Info. Accessed December 2019. https://na.gundam.info/.
Haraway, Donna. 2006. "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in
the Late 20th Century." In The International Handbook of Virtual Learning
Environments, 117-158. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
n.d. imfdb RahXephon. Accessed December 2019. http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/RahXephon.
Shahar, Meir. 2015. "Nezha, Nalakūbara, and Kṛṣṇa." In Oedipal God, by Meir Shahar.
University of Hawaii Press.
Topitsch, Ernst. October 1, 1954. "Society, Technology, and Philosophical Reasoning."
Philosophy of Science 21, no. 4 275–296.
Zhang, Zailin. September 1, 2009. "Theories of Family in Ancient Chinese Philosophy."
Frontiers of Philosophy in China 4, no. 3 343–359.
2017. 封神演義人物百圖（全）. October 26. Accessed December 2019.
https://mttmp.com/u57gnif.html.
李建德. March 1, 2014. " 論《封神演義》呈現的儒道義理與小說之教." 國立彰化師範大學
文學院學報, no. 9 201–219.
李豐楙. June 1, 2009. " 從哪吒太子到中壇元帥：“ 中央－四方” 思維下的護境象徵." 中國文
哲研究通訊 35-37.

30

杨林夕. October 1, 2010. " 不同的表现相同的本质－论《封神演义》和《西游记》女性类
型的异同." 廣西師範大學學報（哲學社會科學版） 46, no. 5 75-79.
n.d. 苏妲己. Accessed December 2019. http://m.seegold.cn/renwu/fengyun/5601.html.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract In order to recollect memories of a lost culture and to promote a legend that may soon be forgotten, my thesis explores designing characters that combine ancient Chinese culture with machine-based or machine-driven science fiction worlds set in the future. An art book and an animation place the story, the characters, and the worlds in which they live and interact in a futuristic landscape.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Ding, Ling (author)

Core Title Investiture of Chinese culture in character design

School Roski School of Art and Design

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Design

Publication Date 04/30/2020

Defense Date 03/01/2020

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag ancient Chinese culture,characters,cyborg,fictional,futuristic,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor O’Connell, Brian (committee chair), Mayerson, Keith (committee member), Trujillo, Osvaldo (committee member)

Creator Email candituccio@foxmail.com,lingding@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-295476

Unique identifier UC11663788

Identifier etd-DingLing-8389.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-295476 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-DingLing-8389.pdf

Dmrecord 295476

Document Type Thesis

Rights Ding, Ling

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA