Weaving a New Fabric of Natural History

Abstract

Natural history offers an interestingly rich mix of traditional and modern ways of organizing data, information, and knowledge. The Linnaean tradition still defines the basis of how taxonomic knowledge of organisms is organized, while at the same time complementary perspectives on databases and ontologies are developed and implemented, to provide enhanced access to natural history collection data to researchers in taxonomy and biodiversity. Some of this knowledge enrichment may even be automated, and bootstrapped from basic object metadata. This metadata is largely composed of natural language text, which is generally more noisy and ambiguous than numeric data. In this contribution, we present two methods for the automated discovery of metadata from textual object databases: first, the automatic detection of new metadata in existing free-text database columns, and second, the discovery of new ontological relations between metadata elements.     

苏州缂丝织造技艺

60多年前考古学家打开了明万历皇帝定陵,众多灿若云霞的丝织品出现了,正当他们惊叹古代织造技艺的高超时,转瞬间那些珍贵文物在自然环境下立即发生了风化,让文物专家痛心疾首,尤其是那件万历皇帝的缂丝龙袍。为了重现龙袍昔日芳容,专家们努力寻找一位工匠来复制龙袍,后来他们终于找到了合适的人选,苏州缂丝老艺人王嘉良。由此这个曾辉煌一时的皇家工艺,引起了世人的关注。在2006年列入第一批国家级非物质文化遗产名录,     

清代的官营丝织业

官营丝织业在整个清代丝织业中占有重要和特殊的地位,它代表着清代丝织业发展的最高水平。本文着重考察其组织机构、沿革、规模、产品种类和经营方式等,力求对清代的官营丝织业有一个较全面系统的梳理和认识。     

让青海藏毯织出好日子来

如今,人们对青海藏毯并不陌生,它像传说中的“飞毯”。漂洋过海,远销世界上22个国家和地区。借助这个特色产业,地处高原内陆腹地的青海又一次亮出了阔步走向世界,也让世界进一步了解青海的“金名片”;借助这个特色产业,也为世代生活在贫困山区、高寒草原的广大青海农牧民开辟了一条增收之路。换句话说,我们举全省之力打造的藏毯产业,一头伸向了广阔的国内、国际市场,另一头则连着千千万万户农牧民。     

嘉兴博物馆藏耕图瓷板

嘉兴博物馆藏有清光绪五彩耕图瓷板8块,均采国画勾勒线描线描填色,并配墨书耕诗,诗画合一,意境深远。因其描绘农家耕种的生产场面,又称为“田家乐”或“农家乐”。虽仅是传统耕图中的部分,但作品形象生动、细腻传神地描绘了劳动者耕种的场景和生产过程,起到了普及农业生产知识、推广耕作技术的作用,不失珍贵的耕作资料。     

贯通近代百年历史的鸿篇巨制

中国社会科学院近代史研究所组织编撰的《中国近代通史》近期已由江苏人民出版社出版。全书共10卷,约550万字,各卷名称如下:第1卷《近代中国历史进程概说》,第2卷《近代中国的开端(1840—1864)》,第3卷《早期现代化的尝试(1865—1895)》,第4卷《从戊戌维新到义和团(1895—1900)》,第5卷《新政、立宪与辛亥革命(1901—1912)》,第6卷《民国的初建(1912—1923)》,第7卷《国共合作与国民革命(1924—1927)》,第8卷《内战与危机(1927—1937)》,第9卷《抗日战争(1937—1945)》,第10卷《中国命运的决战(1945—1949)》。本书的出版,完成了近代史研究所几代人的夙愿。对于1840—1949年完整的中国近代史来说,本书的撰写还是一个尝试。本刊特别约请我国近代史学界几位著名学者通过笔谈的形式发表看法,以期引起关注和讨论。     

郑州纺织机械厂东周墓葬发掘简报

１９９８年１２月,为配合郑州纺织机械厂住宅楼的建设,郑州市文物考古研究所在该厂南生活区发掘清理古墓葬３８座,其中东周墓２４座,唐墓１座,清代墓１３座。本简报仅介绍２４座东周墓。郑州纺织机械厂南生活区位于郑州市南阳路与黄河路交叉口西北,地势较高,南与岗杜相邻。（图一）岗杜一带,是东周墓葬相对集中的地区,以往在配合城市基本建设过程中多次发现。这次发掘的２４座东周墓葬主要分布在郑州纺织机械厂南生活区６号、７号、８号、１１号楼基下。（图二）发掘前,此处已平均下挖１．２０米。一、墓葬形制２４座墓葬均为长方…     

Weaving value: Selling carpets in the liminal space of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

All around the world, places of trade are typically conceived as places of deceit, if not outright danger: the plight of the carpet seller in Istanbul might be likened to that of the used car salesman in the West, for instance. But Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is a particularly well-known centre of (perceived) deceit – the home of the trickster par excellence – and carpet sellers are the iconic bearers of this reputation. As a threshold of thresholds, the bazaar is a global crossroads, where a huge diversity of cultures and histories intersect, and carpets are objects that express this perhaps the most magnificently.     

处处是江南:中国古代耕织图中的地域意识与观念

从南宋楼璹《耕织图》始,我国历史上先后创绘了几十套体系化的耕织图,而它们基本上又是以"江南"为具体描绘区域的。这种情况的出现,与唐宋以后"江南"的重要地位及其象征意义直接相关的。首先,农业经济的发达使"江南"成为重农、劝农的"示范"之地;其次,浓厚的文化艺术氛围,加之创作者心目中的江南情怀与意识,促进了"江南"场景的表现与传播;再次,作为王朝统治合法性的重要隐喻与象征,使"江南"受到历代统治者的高度重视。这一现象背后,深刻体现出古人的地域意识与观念。     

天虫吐丝福万民 经纶织就传古今 中国蚕桑丝织技艺

正蚕桑丝织是中国古代最重要的发明创造之一,是中华民族认同的文化标识。在中华民族五千年的发展史中,丝绸与中国社会的方方面面都密不可分,它为中国文明写下了灿烂的一页,也为世界文化贡献了耀煌的篇章。中国蚕桑丝织技艺遗产包括栽桑、养蚕、缫丝、染色和丝织等整个过程的生产技艺,同时也包括这一过程中衍生的相关民俗活动,至今还较好     

Arts and Crafts in Iron Age Britain: Reconsidering the Aesthetic Effects of Weaving Combs

Recent years have witnessed the formal acknowledgement of the privileged position from which decorative media in Iron Age Britain have traditionally been studied. Tension remains, however, between the study of the decorated metals that formed the basis for models of Celtic expansion, and decorated non‐metals. Despite the general paucity of decoration in Iron Age Britain, decorated non‐metals are still not viewed in the same light of social significance as metals. This paper will examine weaving combs from Glastonbury Lake Village, highly decorated objects of antler and bone. By concentrating on the fabrication and display of weaving combs, I aim to highlight the potential significance of the aesthetic effects of these objects.     

Informality and Flexible Specialization: Apprenticeships and Knowledge Spillovers in an Indian Silk Weaving Cluster

This article draws on quantitative and qualitative data from the Banaras (Varanasi) silk weaving cluster in North India to show how informal institutions based on family and community interact with the relations of production to enable flexible specialization while reproducing or accentuating inequality. The family‐based apprenticeship system produces a supply of highly skilled workers but contributes to labour surplus by lowering the costs of entry and making exit difficult. Surplus labour ensures that productivity gains resulting from technical improvements do not accrue to weavers as higher wages. A community of artisans called the naqsheband (designers) produces fabric patterns that are central to the industry's market. Geographical clustering results in quick diffusion of these designs and free imitation is the key to innovation. But this entails hyper‐competition, conservative changes, a culture of secrecy and quickly dissipating monopoly rents. The Banaras case enables us to understand how collective efficiencies as well as inefficiencies are created by the same institutions.