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A study on detective story authors' style differentiation and style structure based on Text Mining (텍스트 마이닝 기법을 활용한 고전 추리 소설 작가 간 문체적 차이와 문체 구조에 대한 연구)

  • Moon, Seok Hyung;Kang, Juyoung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.25 no.3
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    • pp.89-115
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    • 2019
  • This study was conducted to present the stylistic differences between Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, famous as writers of classical mystery novels, through data analysis, and further to present the analytical methodology of the study of style based on text mining. The reason why we chose mystery novels for our research is because the unique devices that exist in classical mystery novels have strong stylistic characteristics, and furthermore, by choosing Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, who are also famous to the general reader, as subjects of analysis, so that people who are unfamiliar with the research can be familiar with them. The primary objective of this study is to identify how the differences exist within the text and to interpret the effects of these differences on the reader. Accordingly, in addition to events and characters, which are key elements of mystery novels, the writer's grammatical style of writing was defined in style and attempted to analyze it. Two series and four books were selected by each writer, and the text was divided into sentences to secure data. After measuring and granting the emotional score according to each sentence, the emotions of the page progress were visualized as a graph, and the trend of the event progress in the novel was identified under eight themes by applying Topic modeling according to the page. By organizing co-occurrence matrices and performing network analysis, we were able to visually see changes in relationships between people as events progressed. In addition, the entire sentence was divided into a grammatical system based on a total of six types of writing style to identify differences between writers and between works. This enabled us to identify not only the general grammatical writing style of the author, but also the inherent stylistic characteristics in their unconsciousness, and to interpret the effects of these characteristics on the reader. This series of research processes can help to understand the context of the entire text based on a defined understanding of the style, and furthermore, by integrating previously individually conducted stylistic studies. This prior understanding can also contribute to discovering and clarifying the existence of text in unstructured data, including online text. This could help enable more accurate recognition of emotions and delivery of commands on an interactive artificial intelligence platform that currently converts voice into natural language. In the face of increasing attempts to analyze online texts, including New Media, in many ways and discover social phenomena and managerial values, it is expected to contribute to more meaningful online text analysis and semantic interpretation through the links to these studies. However, the fact that the analysis data used in this study are two or four books by author can be considered as a limitation in that the data analysis was not attempted in sufficient quantities. The application of the writing characteristics applied to the Korean text even though it was an English text also could be limitation. The more diverse stylistic characteristics were limited to six, and the less likely interpretation was also considered as a limitation. In addition, it is also regrettable that the research was conducted by analyzing classical mystery novels rather than text that is commonly used today, and that various classical mystery novel writers were not compared. Subsequent research will attempt to increase the diversity of interpretations by taking into account a wider variety of grammatical systems and stylistic structures and will also be applied to the current frequently used online text analysis to assess the potential for interpretation. It is expected that this will enable the interpretation and definition of the specific structure of the style and that various usability can be considered.

Exploring the Role of Preference Heterogeneity and Causal Attribution in Online Ratings Dynamics

  • Chu, Wujin;Roh, Minjung
    • Asia Marketing Journal
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    • v.15 no.4
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    • pp.61-101
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    • 2014
  • This study investigates when and how disagreements in online customer ratings prompt more favorable product evaluations. Among the three metrics of volume, valence, and variance that feature in the research on online customer ratings, volume and valence have exhibited consistently positive patterns in their effects on product sales or evaluations (e.g., Dellarocas, Zhang, and Awad 2007; Liu 2006). Ratings variance, or the degree of disagreement among reviewers, however, has shown rather mixed results, with some studies reporting positive effects on product sales (e.g., Clement, Proppe, and Rott 2007) while others finding negative effects on product evaluations (e.g., Zhu and Zhang 2010). This study aims to resolve these contradictory findings by introducing preference heterogeneity as a possible moderator and causal attribution as a mediator to account for the moderating effect. The main proposition of this study is that when preference heterogeneity is perceived as high, a disagreement in ratings is attributed more to reviewers' different preferences than to unreliable product quality, which in turn prompts better quality evaluations of a product. Because disagreements mostly result from differences in reviewers' tastes or the low reliability of a product's quality (Mizerski 1982; Sen and Lerman 2007), a greater level of attribution to reviewer tastes can mitigate the negative effect of disagreement on product evaluations. Specifically, if consumers infer that reviewers' heterogeneous preferences result in subjectively different experiences and thereby highly diverse ratings, they would not disregard the overall quality of a product. However, if consumers infer that reviewers' preferences are quite homogeneous and thus the low reliability of the product quality contributes to such disagreements, they would discount the overall product quality. Therefore, consumers would respond more favorably to disagreements in ratings when preference heterogeneity is perceived as high rather than low. This study furthermore extends this prediction to the various levels of average ratings. The heuristicsystematic processing model so far indicates that the engagement in effortful systematic processing occurs only when sufficient motivation is present (Hann et al. 2007; Maheswaran and Chaiken 1991; Martin and Davies 1998). One of the key factors affecting this motivation is the aspiration level of the decision maker. Only under conditions that meet or exceed his aspiration level does he tend to engage in systematic processing (Patzelt and Shepherd 2008; Stephanous and Sage 1987). Therefore, systematic causal attribution processing regarding ratings variance is likely more activated when the average rating is high enough to meet the aspiration level than when it is too low to meet it. Considering that the interaction between ratings variance and preference heterogeneity occurs through the mediation of causal attribution, this greater activation of causal attribution in high versus low average ratings would lead to more pronounced interaction between ratings variance and preference heterogeneity in high versus low average ratings. Overall, this study proposes that the interaction between ratings variance and preference heterogeneity is more pronounced when the average rating is high as compared to when it is low. Two laboratory studies lend support to these predictions. Study 1 reveals that participants exposed to a high-preference heterogeneity book title (i.e., a novel) attributed disagreement in ratings more to reviewers' tastes, and thereby more favorably evaluated books with such ratings, compared to those exposed to a low-preference heterogeneity title (i.e., an English listening practice book). Study 2 then extended these findings to the various levels of average ratings and found that this greater preference for disagreement options under high preference heterogeneity is more pronounced when the average rating is high compared to when it is low. This study makes an important theoretical contribution to the online customer ratings literature by showing that preference heterogeneity serves as a key moderator of the effect of ratings variance on product evaluations and that causal attribution acts as a mediator of this moderation effect. A more comprehensive picture of the interplay among ratings variance, preference heterogeneity, and average ratings is also provided by revealing that the interaction between ratings variance and preference heterogeneity varies as a function of the average rating. In addition, this work provides some significant managerial implications for marketers in terms of how they manage word of mouth. Because a lack of consensus creates some uncertainty and anxiety over the given information, consumers experience a psychological burden regarding their choice of a product when ratings show disagreement. The results of this study offer a way to address this problem. By explicitly clarifying that there are many more differences in tastes among reviewers than expected, marketers can allow consumers to speculate that differing tastes of reviewers rather than an uncertain or poor product quality contribute to such conflicts in ratings. Thus, when fierce disagreements are observed in the WOM arena, marketers are advised to communicate to consumers that diverse, rather than uniform, tastes govern reviews and evaluations of products.

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American Culture at the Crossroad : Debates over NEA(National Endowments for the Arts) (미국 문화, 그 기로에 서서 - NEA(국립예술진흥기금)를 둘러싼 논쟁 중심으로)

  • Kim, Jin-A
    • The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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    • no.4
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    • pp.33-56
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    • 2006
  • The cultural debates between conservatives and liberals at the end of the 1980s and in the early 1990s were termed as "culture wars." The "culture wars" involved a diverse range of controversial issues, such as the introduction of multicultural curricula in educational institutions, prayers in schools, whether to allow gays to serve openly in the military, and whether abortion should be permitted. The most heated debates of the "culture wars" regarding art raged over the NEA and the question of whether Andres Serrano's works should have been publicly funded, in addition to the exhibition "Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment" which were charged as projecting "obscene" or "blasphemous" images. This paper examines the development of culture wars in art and focuses on several issues invoked by the NEA debates. However, it is not a detailed chronological investigation. Rather it pays attention to the several phases of the debates, analyzing and criticizing the clashes of the political and esthetical points of views between conservatives and liberals. How could NEA funding, a mere fraction of the federal budget, have become so critical for both sides(conservative and liberal), for politicians and artists' groups, and for academics and the general public? The art community was astounded by this chain of events; artists personally reviled, exhibitions withdrawn and under attack, the NEA budget threatened, all because of a few images. For conservative politicians, the NEA debate was not only a battle over the public funding of art, but a war over a larger social agenda, a war for "American values and cultures"based on the family, Christianity, the English language, and patriarchy. Conservative politicians argued the question was not one of "censorship" but of "sponsorship," since the NEA charter committed it to "helping museums better serve the citizens of the United States."Liberals and art communities argued that the attempt to restrict NEA funding violated the First Amendment rights of artists, namely "free speeches." "No matter how divided individuals are on matters of taste," Arthur C. Danto wrote, "freedom is in the interest of every citizen." The interesting phase is that both sides are actually borrowing one another's point of view when they are accompanied by art criticism. Kramer, representative of conservative art critic, objected the invasion of political contents or values in art, and struggled to keep art's own realm by promoting pure aesthetic values such as quality and beauty. But, when he talked about Mapplethorpe's works, he advocated political and ethical values. By contrast, art experts who argued for Mapplethorpe's works in the Cincinnati trial defended his work, ironically by ignoring its manifest sexual metaphor or content although they believed that the issues of AIDS and homosexuality in his work were to be freely expressed in the art form. They adopted a formalistic approach, for example, by comparing a child nude with putti, a traditional child-angel icon. For a while, NEA debates made art institutions, whether consciously or unconsciously, exert self-censorship, yet at the same time they were also producing positive aspects. To the majority of people, art was still regarded as belonging to the pure aesthetic realm away from political, economical, and social ones. These debates, however, were expanding the very perspective on the notion of what is art and of how art is produced, raising questions on art appreciation, representation, and power. The interesting fact remains: had the works not been swiped in NEA debates, could the Serrano's or Mapplethorpe's images gain the extent of power and acceptance that it has today?

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Fernand Khnopff's Belgian Symbolism and Nationalism in I Lock My Door upon Myself (페르낭 크노프(Fernand Khnopff)의 작품에 나타난 벨기에 상징주의와 내셔널리즘)

  • Chung, Y.-Shim
    • The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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    • no.9
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    • pp.171-193
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    • 2010
  • This paper examines Fernand Khnopff's Symbolism, focusing on the I Lock My Door upon Myself as a manifesto of his artistic credo in style and theme. Its title was originally in English, originating from the poem "Who Shall Deliver Me?" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti's sister Christina Rossetti. I use the term "Social Symbolism" which combines a nationalist perspective with traditional French Symbolism, in order to explain how the image of Bruges is represented in his oeuvre. Symbolism calls for psychological introspection evoking death, love, silence, and solitude and recluse from realty in pursuit of the Unknown and the Ideal. Although Khnopff shared this idea, he departed from symbolist tradition by incorporating a political milieu in his paintings. First, I discuss Khnopff's early stage in the formation of his artistic concept, including his family background as well as his early opportunity to visit the Exposition Universelle in Paris where he formed his early interests in aesthetics, philosophy, literature, mythology and Egyptian art. His early works, La Painture, la Musique, la Poesie(1880-1881), Le Crise(1881), and En ecoutant Schuman(1883) reveal his favorite subjects which were quite prevalent in the symbolist traditions of both Belgium and France. By looking at Khnopff's paintings, I endeavor to situate his Symbolism in the context of the development of Belgian modernity and cultural nationalism. Second, my analysis of Khnopff creates a new overview of Symbolism in Europe, especially in Belgium. In the absence of socio-political integration, the Symbolist painter adds nostalgic meaning to the landscape of Bruges. The scene of Bruges illuminates the social atmosphere in Belgium at that time. Since Belgium became an independent country, it tried to differentiate its own cultural and national identity from France. There was a powerful social movement for Belgium to claim its own identity, language, and culture. Bruges was, for Symbolists, the epitome of Belgium's past glory. This encouraged the formation of Belgian nationalism centering on Brussels, as I demonstrate in Khnopff's Bruges-la-Morte(1892). The relationship between Symbolist artist and writers is crucial for understanding this development. Khnopff, for instance, illustrated or provided frontispieces for many Symbolist writers such as Rodenbach, Peladan, Spencer and Le Roy. Khnopff did not objectify the exact meaning, but rather provided his own subjective interpretation. In this respect, I Lock My Door, inspired by Rossetti, started from the same motif, but Khnopff seeked escape into silence and death while Rossetti searched for Christian salvation. Finally my paper deals with the social context in which Khnopff worked. He was a founding member of Les XX in 1883 and later La Libre Esthethetique he also participated in the exhibition of le Salon de la Rose + Croix. Les XX was not a particular school of art and did not have a uniform manifesto, but its exhibitions focused on decorative arts by encompassing art for all people via common, everyday objects. The Periodical, L'art moderne was founded to support this ideal by Edmond Picard and Maux. Les XX declared art as independent art, detached from all official connections. Khnopff designed the 1890 catalogue cover of Les XX and the 1891 cover. These designs show decorative element of Art Nouveau in an early example of "modern poster." Les XX pursued all art including graphic arts, prints, placard, posters and book illustrations and design. These forms of art were l'art social and this movement was formed by the social atmosphere in Belgium in terms of social reforms and strikes by working class. Khnopff designed the book cover for la Maison du Peuple. The artist, however, did not share the ideal egalitarianism of the working class to a certain degree, while he was working in his villa he designed under the ideal motto, "on n'a pas que," he expressed the nihilistic emotions toward society by the theme of interiority such as solitude, silence, narcissism, introspection, and introversion. In the middle of his Symbolism, we find the "cultural nostalgia" or longing that the artist develops in the I Lock My Door upon Myself. Khnopff's longing toward the lost city of "Bruges" form the crux of his "Social Symbolism."

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The identification of optimal data range for the discrimination between won and lost

  • Han, Doryung;Choi, Hyongjun
    • Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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    • v.25 no.7
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    • pp.103-111
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    • 2020
  • Performance indicators have often investigated and developed in order to identify foundational elements and factors for an enhancement of performance in sports. In order to identify the valid performance indicators it is important that the indicators used within a performance analysis system discriminate between the winning and losing performances within a match (Hughes and Bartlett, 2002). However, the performance indicators proposed in research studies on basketball performance have not been used for real-time analysis and feedback within a coaching context. Such real-time support for the coach and players has been described within research on other sports (Choi et al., 2004; O'Donoghue, 2001; Palmer et al., 1997). Within the process of real-time feedback, the identification of relevant performance indicators that distinguish winning and losing performances should be the first stage of the development of a real-time analysis system. Therefore, this study investigated the differences between winning and losing teams in terms of a set of performance indicators gathered during the analysis of 10 English National Basketball League matches. Winning and losing teams were compared using whole match data (N=10) as well as individual quarters (N=40). A series of Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests was used to identify the relevant performance indicators that discriminate between winning and losing performers within whole matches and individual quarters. The tests found that 3 point shots made (p<0.05) and Assists (p<0.05) were significantly different between winning and losing teams within matches. However, 2 point shots made (p<0.05), 2 point shots attempted (P<0.05), percentages of 2 point shots scored (p<0.05), 3 point shots made (p<0.05), Defensive Rebounds (p<0.05) and Assists (p<0.05) were significantly different between winning and losing performance within quarters. The analysis task should be based on relevant performance indicators which explain the current performances to performance analysts and coaches. Within a real-time analysis and feedback scenario, this will have the additional benefit of supporting a decision based on immediate performance within the most recent quarter. Consequently, the real-time analysis system would use performance indicators which have the property of construct validity to support the decisions of the coach.

The Pattern of Pusan Station Shopping District( I ) (부산역(釜山驛) 상점가(商店街)의 패턴( I ))

  • Kim, Won-Kyung
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.5 no.1
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    • pp.25-75
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    • 1999
  • This study concern with the pattern of Pusan Station Shopping District within Pusan City, Korea, one of the third ranked centers within Pusan-the first ranked is CBD, the second is subCBD, the third are Spa Shopping district, Tongnae shopping district, Jobang-Ap shopping district and Yangjeong shopping district. This paper serves as a part of series studies which attempt to clarify the internal structure of Pusan as a whole. Part(I) of this study deals with the pattern of functions including information & culture, business, recreation and retailing. The results are as follows. 1. Pusan Station is one of higher ranked class of central places within Pusan City. But the ratio of dwelling houses is the highest in Pusan Station among the 9 higher ranked central places within Pusan. It means that the residential areas still remain along the maze type of narrower streets inner part of the blocks, especially western belt of this shopping district. 2. Business functions are one of the important criteria which classified the central places within the city and Pusan Station is the first ranked shopping districts in terms of these criteria among the 9 higher ranked central places including CBD within Pusan City. It suggests that Pusan Station is the miniature of the CBD, SubCBD is not the miniature of CBD in the view point of business function. It also means that Pusan Station Shopping District has been developed as a special shopping district or as a special central place. It has not been evolved as a center of the hierarchy of central places within the city by the natural or organic growth. 3. Pusan Station as 'the third space or drinking place' and it's characteristics as a amusement center presents at so called the 'Texas Town'-free tax area- whose customers are mainly U. S. soldiers and foreign sailors. But from the 1990s, this 'Town' changed to 'Russian Town', You can easy to meet many Russians and Russian lettered signboards-not English- along the street. 4. Convenient stores distribute mainly at back streets or along the narrower streets. It means that this kinds of stores have a residential oriented character. And a certain convenient stores locate with almost same distances. It suggests that it's hinterland is limited in nearer neighborhoods.

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K-POP fandom and Korea's national reputation: An analysis on BTS fans in the U.S. (K-POP 팬덤과 한국의 국가 명성: 미국의 BTS 팬 중심 분석)

  • Soojin Kim;Hye Eun Lee
    • Journal of Public Diplomacy
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.1-19
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    • 2023
  • Objectives: This study aims to discover how the spread of K-POP and the diversification of the Korean Wave affects Korea's national reputation. K-POP stars are diversifying their interactions with fandom by creating an online space to consume various products and services related to their stars and engage in fan activities. Because of this, this study aims to examine the relevance of K-POP to national reputation through a parasocial relationship with K-POP stars by fandom forming a community and utilizing media. Methods: An online survey was conducted in English using the Amazon survey company Mechanical Turk for BTS fans living in the United States. A total of 195 people's data, excluding incomplete responses, were used for the analysis. Results: It was found that BTS fans' social media participation activities themselves did not directly affect Korea's national reputation. But the mediating effect of BTS fans' parasocial relationship was found. That is, BTS fans' social media participation activities had a positive effect on their parasocial relationships with BTS which in turn had a positive effect on their national reputation. Conlusions: The use and participation of BTS fans in social media in Korea's national reputation has no significant effect on itself, but it has been found that it affects the national reputation through forming parasocial relationships. From the study results, the parasocial relationship of K-POP fans can be used as a strategic mechanism to enhance the national image and Korea's national reputation.

Studies on Frozen Semen Characteristics Following Pentoxifylline Treatment and Artificial Insemination in Dog (개에서 Pentoxifylline 첨가에 따른 동결정액 성상과 인공수정에 관한 연구)

  • Ji, D.Y.;Kim, C.K.;Lee, J.H.;Park, S.J.;Ryu, L.S.;Ryu, J.W.;Lee, J.H.;Jeong, Y.C.;Pang, M.G.
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.47 no.6
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    • pp.925-936
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    • 2005
  • The present study evaluated whether pentoxifylline added to the freezing extender could improve the sperm characteristics and function in canine frozen semen. Also the conception rate following AI with frozen-thawed semen was investigated. The beneficial effects of pentoxifylline supplementation were visible in motility, viability, acrosome reaction, and tail swelling patterns. Especially, highest sperm viability and function were obtained in the forzen semen supplemented with 1mM pentoxifylline. The follicle size measured by ultrasonography was 6.48 mm, 11.52 mm and 8.9 mm on 11, 13 and 15 days after the onset of natural estrus, respectively and ovulation occurred on 13 and 15 days. The pregnancy rates in bitches inseminated with frozen semen on natural and induced estrus were 71.4% and 75.0%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the pregnancy rates in bitches inseminated with frozen semen following natural and induced estrus, but the litter size was slightly increased in natural cycle.

The Effects of Family Structure and Socialization Influences on Compulsive Buying: A Life Course Study in Thailand (가족구조와 사회화가 강박구매에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구: 태국의 인생행로연구를 중심으로)

  • Nguyen, Hung Vu;Moschis, George P.;Shannon, Randall;Gotthelf, Kristian
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.27-39
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    • 2009
  • Compulsive consumption is regarded as a global phenomenon that can adversely affect consumer well-being. Although the topic has been studied in different cultural settings, we have seen relatively little theory development and explanations of compulsive behavior Nearly all previous empirical studies attempt to explain this behavior by correlating measures of compulsive behavior with independent variables taken within the same time frame. However, recent developments in social sciences suggest that such a phenomenon may best understood in the context of the person's earlier-in-life experiences. Using the life course paradigm as an overarching framework, the present research extends previous work on this topic. Following hypotheses were drawn from literature review: H1: The earlier in childhood and adolescence a person experiences family dislocation, the greater his or her likelihood of exhibiting compulsive behaviors in adulthood. H2: The earlier in life the young person experienced family dislocation, the greater the number of family disruption events the young person experienced prior entering adulthood years. H3: Family dislocation leads to (a) increased frequency of socio.oriented family communications and (b) decreased frequency of concept-oriented family communication. H4: Young adults who were raised in families characterized by a strong socio-oriented communication structure are more likely to exhibit compulsive consumption tendencies than those who were raised in families characterized by a weak socio-oriented family communication structure. H5: Young adults who were raised in families characterized by a strong concept-oriented communication structure are less likely to exhibit compulsive consumption tendencies than those who were raised in families characterized by a week concept-oriented family communication structure. H6: The relationship between family disruption events experienced during adolescence and perceived stressfulness of these events is moderated by (a) global family support, (b) emotional family support, and (c) material family support. Those reporting higher levels of family support as teenagers are less likely to report experiencing stress due to family disruption events. H7: Perceived stressfulness of family disruption events experienced during adolescent years are associated with compulsive consumption tendencies in early adulthood. H8: The greater the number of family disruption events young adults experienced during their adolescent years the more frequent was their communication about consumption with their peers. H9: The more frequent was the young persons' communication with their peers about consumption during their adolescent years, the more likely they are to report compulsive buying tendencies as young adults. We use a sample of 120 Thai undergraduate students attending classes taught in English as part of a four-year international program. Product-moment correlations, hierarchical regression analysis and partial correlation were used to analyze data. Results of testing hypotheses showed that hypothesis 2, 4, 7 and 9 were supported and hypothesis 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 were not supported. Our study did not find a significant relationship between the age when a person experienced family dislocation and their compulsive behavior tendencies expressed as young adults. We did not find a significant relationship between family dislocation and family communication structures. But we found a significant positive relationship between socio-oriented communication structure and compulsive buying and a significant relationship between our peer communication and compulsive buying measures. Also we found perceived stressfulness due to the disruptive events to have a significant positive relationship between the perceived stressfulness and compulsive buying. Implications from these findings, limitations of this research and future research suggestions were discussed.

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THE ECOLOGY, PHYTOGEOGRAPHY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF GINSENG

  • Hu Shiu Ying
    • Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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    • 1978.09a
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    • pp.149-157
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    • 1978
  • Ginseng is the English common name for the species in the genus Panax. This article gives a broad botanical review including the morphological characteristics, ecological amplitude, and the ethnobotanical aspect of the genus Panax. The species of Panax are adapted for life in rich loose soil of partially shaded forest floor with the deciduous trees such as linden, oak, maple, ash, alder, birch, beech, hickory, etc. forming the canopy. Like their associated trees, all ginsengs are deciduous. They require annual climatic changes, plenty of water in summer, and a period of dormancy in winter. The plant body of ginseng consists of an underground rhizome and an aerial shoot. The rhizome has a terminal bud, prominent leafscars and a fleshy root in some species. It is perennial. The aerial shoot is herbaceous and annual. It consists of a single slender stem with a whorl of digitately compound leaves and a terminal umbel bearing fleshy red fruits after flowering. The yearly cycle of death and renascence of the aerial shoot is a natural phenomenon in ginseng. The species of Panax occur in eastern North America and eastern Asia, including the eastern portion of the Himalayan region. Such a bicentric generic distributional pattern indicates a close floristic relationship of the eastern sides of two great continental masses in the northern hemisphere. It is well documented that genera with this type of disjunct distribution are of great antiquity. Many of them have fossil remains in Tertiary deposits. In this respect, the species of Panax may be regarded as living fossils. The distribution of the species, and the center of morphological diversification are explained with maps and other illustrations. Chemical constituents confirm the conclusion derived from morphological characters that eastern Asia is the center of species concentration of Panax. In eastern North America two species occur between longitude $70^{\circ}-97^{\circ}$ Wand latitude $34^{\circ}-47^{\circ}$ N. In eastern Asia the range of the genus extends from longitude $85^{\circ}$ E in Nepal to $140^{\circ}$ E in Japan, and from latitude $22^{\circ}$ N in the hills of Tonkin of North Vietnam to $48^{\circ}$ N in eastern Siberia. The species in eastern North America all have fleshy roots, and many of the species in eastern Asia have creeping stolons with enlarged nodes or stout horizontal rhizomes as storage organs in place of fleshy roots. People living in close harmony with nature in the homeland of various species of Panax have used the stout rhizomes or the fleshy roots of different wild forms of ginseng for medicine since time immemorial. Those who live in the center morphological diversity are specific both in the application of names for the identification of species in their communication and in the use of different roots as remedies to relieve pain, to cure diseases, or to correct physiological disorders. Now, natural resources of wild plants with medicinal virtue are extremely limited. In order to meet the market demand, three species have been intensively cultivated in limited areas. These species are American ginseng (P. quinquefolius) in northeastern United States, ginseng (P. ginseng) in northeastern Asia, particularly in Korea, and Sanchi (P. wangianus) in southwestern China, especially in Yunnan. At present hybridization and selection for better quality, higher yield, and more effective chemical contents have not received due attention in ginseng culture. Proper steps in this direction should be taken immediately, so that our generation may create a richer legacy to hand down to the future. Meanwhile, all wild plants of all species in all lands should be declared as endangered taxa, and they should be protected from further uprooting so that a. fuller gene pool may be conserved for the. genus Panax.

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