From the Archives: Pacific Research Archives

The Pacific Research Archives (PRA) is one of three national collections held in the archives at the Australian National University (ANU). This paper describes the origins of and relationships among the three core archival collections: the Noel Butlin Archives Centre, the ANU University Archives and the Pacific Research Archives. The entire ANU Archives boasts over 20 kilometres of records, largely held in the ‘Acton Tunnel’, an underground car park redeveloped as a repository. Established in 2007, the Pacific Research Archives includes over 150 collections created by scholars, missionaries, colonial administrators, organisations and individuals who were working, or had interests, in the Pacific Islands in the politico-cultural regions of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. This paper traces the origins of the university’s role as a leader in Pacific studies, the context in which the Pacific Research Archives was created in 2007 and its current method of operation in a collaborative and digital world.     

全球视野下的美国早期史研究国际学术研讨会述评

2007年5月24~27日在天津召开的"全球视野下的美国早期史研究国际学术研讨会"为中外学者提供了一个独特的增进相互交流和了解的机会,将有助于推动中国学者对美国早期史的研究。提交会议的国外学者的论文在研究课题、视角、观点、材料和方法上多有新颖之处,从中可以看出国外美国早期史研究的一些发展趋势。相较而言,中国美国早期史研究尚存在极大局限和不足,提交会议的中国学者的论文大多选题偏大,观点缺乏新意,同时缺少详尽新颖的一手史料。可见,中国的美国早期史研究亟需得到提高。     

The Visual Inheritance: Collections of Historical Photographs from Papua New Guinea

Knowledge about historical photographic collections of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is limited both in source communities and amongst scholars. This article aims to shed light on significant collections of PNG photographs, describing some of the collections, and pointing to their importance at both ends of the ‘exchange’. I discuss some limitations in present uses of these visual records and point to the need for repatriation initiatives. The poor knowledge of extant photographic collections among today’s Papua New Guineans is described, and I raise some thoughts about what this signals to archives and researchers. As examples, special mention is given to the collections of photographers Albert English, William Saville, Rudolf Pöch and Captain F.R. Barton. Finally, I comment on current challenges and future opportunities for the keepers of these historical collections. A list of the collections mentioned in the article can be found at the end.     

读万卷书行万里路--魏宏运先生访谈录

魏宏运教授是中国现代史研究的知名专家,是20世纪50年代最早投身中国现代史研究的学者之一。他在主持华北抗日根据地史料的收集整理,率先与国外学者合作进行口述史调查研究,改进、拓宽民国社会史研究的方法与领域,培养中国现代史研究领域的年轻学者,积极推动中国现代史研究参与国际学术交流等方面,做出卓越的成就。     

近年来学术界对"封建"及"封建社会"问题的反思

在新时期,越来越多的学者认为中国只有在西周时期才有封建制。从秦到晚清的社会不应被称为“封建社会”。在这一阶段,社会状况与西欧中世纪的封建社会并不相同,也与斯大林所概括的以经济为特征的封建社会有较大的距离。他们批评滥用“封建”的现象,并力图用新的概念来代替“封建社会”,用新的理论体系描述从秦到晚清的历史。一些学者还注意到,中国古代社会的主要矛盾不能简单地归结为地主阶级与农民阶级的矛盾。可以预料,关于封建社会的认识必将有重大的突破。     

Huancavelica 1563–1824: History and Historiography

The colonial mines of Huancavelica in central Peru boasted unique status, as the sole significant colonial American source of mercury, the main catalyst in the production of silver. This importance notwithstanding, Huancavelica remains relatively little known, in part because its historiography lies widely dispersed among journals and edited collections. This article seeks to facilitate further research by reviewing all significant existing work on the mines (more than eighty publications in total). In doing so, it provides a new guide to the history of Huancavelica, designed primarily to highlight major areas still requiring the attention of scholars.     

“中国西南与东南亚地区冶金技术的起源与传播暨临邛冶铁实验考古”国际学术研讨会综述

2019年11月,"中国西南与东南亚冶金技术的起源与传播暨临邛冶铁实验考古"国际学术研讨会在四川邛崃市召开。来自海内外的百余位学者,就中国西北与西南、中亚、东南亚地区冶金技术的起源与传播进行深入探讨,并在临邛汉代冶铁实验考古现场就汉代冶铁和炒钢的技术与工艺、考古遗迹与各个生产环节的对应关系、出土冶铸遗物的科技检测分析等问题展开讨论。与会代表一致认为,研讨会的召开不仅展示了亚洲大陆冶金考古的新发现和新成果,临邛冶铁实验考古也为今后冶金考古研究提供了新的思路和有效借鉴。     

清史编纂中档案的整理和利用

档案的整理和利用是清史编纂工程的基础。目前,中国大陆约保存2000多万件清朝档案,台北故宫博物院、台北中央研究院史语所、近代史所收藏了清代档案70多万件,此外,美国国会图书馆、英国大英图书馆、日本国会图书馆、俄罗斯历史档案馆等也有约3万多件的清代档案。其中,康熙中期以前的许多档案是满、蒙文,康熙到乾隆前期有相当多的是满、汉合璧。清代的中央档案,特别是大宗的内阁题本和宫中朱批奏折是研究清代社会国计民生、庶政刑名各方面的重要原始资料。因此,清朝档案的整理和利用应贯穿于清史编纂的全过程,换言之,这一工作是清史编纂工程前期准备工作的重中之重。     

"市镇研究"大有可为--"中国江南市镇国际学术研讨会"综述

2003年底在浙江湖州召开的“中国江南市镇国际学术研讨会”上,学们提交的论涉及市镇研究的多个层面,有宏观研究,也有中观、微观研究,有关注经济的,还有关注社会的,展示了近一时期我国江南市镇研究的最新成果。但目前市镇研究有很多空白点,大有章可做,有待学们作进一步研究。     

The Revival of zhiguai 志怪 Storywriting in the Qing Dynasty: In Search for Its Reasons

After having enjoyed its heyday during the Six Dynasties, the zhiguai genre gradually declined in popularity in the realm of Chinese literature. Although some famous zhiguai collections were published in later dynasties, they merely belonged to the marginal literary stream. However, the zhiguai writing reached two obvious pinnacles in the Qing dynasty: The first took place at the end of the 18th century and the second in the last quarter of the 19th century. These pinnacles can be defined as the “revival of zhiguai.” Some scholars only have unilaterally discussed this issue. This article will, by examining some zhiguai collections that have not yet received much attention from previous scholars, examine the reasons why the zhiguai writing revived in the Qing dynasty and how the frustrated literati consequently led the zhiguai to flourish.     

浙江明清契约文书研究综述

自20世纪80年代以来,明清土地契约文书越来越被学者所关注,逐渐成为显学,其中以傅衣凌、杨国祯等为代表。当时他们的目光主要集中在徽州、福建等地的契约文书上,浙江的契约文书仅被零星提到。随着研究的不断深入,一批浙江地方契约文书的专辑、图录及相关论述纷纷面世,如宁波、绍兴、松阳等地契约整理研究的成果。民间契约文书的整理研究,是相当辛苦的一项工作,但意义重大。浙江省博物馆藏有大量的契约文书,目前正在整理当中。在此,对近年来浙江明清契约文书的搜集、整理和研究情况作一梳理回顾,以便为将来进一步的研究提供参考与借鉴。     

Access anxiety: HIPAA and historical research

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) establishes new standards for the protection of private health information in the United States. The Privacy Rule, one of the specific regulatory provisions of the act, went into effect 14 April 2003 for covered health care providers, institutions, and businesses. The Privacy Rule directly affected medical archivists and their collections. It has significant implications for historians of health care, as well. The Privacy Rule is the first major regulation that protects the privacy of the deceased in perpetuity. It establishes requirements that researchers must satisfy in order to gain access to "individually identifiable health information" held by HIPAA-protected institutions. While these requirements will burden historians in some cases, the Privacy Rule could open up opportunities for well-prepared historians to work with a more extensive range of twentieth-century documents.     

The culture of investment‐led international development: the Chatham House circle (1939–45) and lessons for today

In 1939–45 an economic group for the discussion of postwar economic order was established at Chatham House, gathering a transnational community of economists and scholars at 10 St James Square in London. Papers were written and seminars were held before—and following—the conference held in Bretton Woods in 1944. Polish‐born economist Paul Rosenstein‐Rodan (1902–1985) coordinated the group, which invoked investment‐led growth and new international institutions for development. Chatham House played a role in making sense of, and disseminating, this new culture of international development. To be clear, this ‘new’ culture was not entirely new, and had its roots in the interwar years, including colonial development policy. Nor was Chatham House the only hub of this culture. This article aims at filling a gap in our understanding of the role of economic research done at Chatham House during the Second World War. In addition, by looking to the past, it may also help at broadening our views on how to globally reignite growth today. Policy‐makers seem to have learnt some of the monetary lessons of the 1930s, but not the development ones of the 1940s. This article is based on sources from the Chatham House archive and brings to special attention articles published in International Affairs.     

拓展思路,深入进行区域现代化研究--"中国东南社会变迁与现代化国际学术研讨会"综述

在福建武夷山举行的中国东南地区社会变迁与现代化国际学术研讨会,集中讨论了东南地区经济、社会的现代化变迁问题,涉及政治、经济、化各个领域,包括城市、乡村、宗教、台湾、人物等诸多方面。研究内容层面宽,时间跨度大,是本次会议的特点,尤其是与会学以解放思想,理论创新的姿态对有关问题用新的方法进行探讨和阐述,使会议始终呈现非常活跃的学术气氛。     

Human osteoarchaeology in the UK 2001–2007: a bibliometric perspective

Bibliometric analysis of osteoarchaeology publications covering the period 2001–2007 in leading journals was carried out. The aims were two‐fold: firstly, to characterise research in this field in the UK and make comparisons with selected other countries, and secondly, to shed light on the use of skeletal collections. It was found that, since a previous survey of this type,covering the period 1991–1995, isotopic and DNA studies have increased. In the UK, work on biodistance studies is minor compared with other countries, and the proportion of palaeopathology work is high. In palaeopathology, substantial effort continues to be devoted to case studies, particularly in the UK where the frequency of problem‐orientated work directed at understanding earlier populations has not increased since the early 1990s. Although it is argued that the case study still has a place in osteoarchaeology, the balance of work needs to shift further in favour of population studies, particularly in the UK. Skeletal collections are vital for primary osteoarchaeological work, and there was little evidence for any great use of skeletal databases such as the Standard Osteological Database. Skeletal collections from the UK were the most used for the research papers analysed, demonstrating the importance of UK‐held collections for research that leads to high profile publication in the international scientific literature. These observations are pertinent since legal, ethical and practical issues in the treatment of human remains, particularly those connected with retention of skeletal collections, are now coming under closer scrutiny in the UK. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新中国历史科学的盛举--论中国史学会主编<中国近代史资料丛刊>的重大成就

20世纪 5 0年代 ,经过中国史学会精心组织 ,由一批第一流学者分别担任主编 ,1 0年之中编辑出版了《中国近代史资料丛刊》 1 0种 ,62册 ,共计 3 0 0 0余万字。它是在马克思主义观点指导下对近代史资料的一次大规模的科学整理 ,为近代史研究提供了最基本和最有价值的史料 ,成就巨大 ,影响深远 ,因而堪称是新中国历史科学的盛举。     

明代御用监造漆器的款识及伪款辨识

庋藏于故宫博物院的明代漆器是国内收藏之最。作者利用在故宫文物库房工作的有利条件,用十几年的时间,将故宫及世界各地博物馆、私人收藏的明代官造漆器的款识,特别是对伪款的类型进行排比与研究,去伪存真,试图解决明代官造漆器中真假款并存的问题,为深入研究明代漆器的专家学者提供参考。     

西方收藏明朝成化与正德时期汉藏风格的唐卡

本文从西方学者们对收藏在各大博物馆和私人手里的成化和正德时期的数组风格相似、并有明确汉藏文题记的唐卡的研究成果入手,厘清了迄今为止各种学术观点的对与错,并在此基础上,综合性地提出了自己的观点,指出汉藏艺术风格(或藏汉艺术风格)从明初以来到明正德时期衰变的过程,不仅是此前相关研究的盘点和总结,而且推进了此研究向深度和广度的进一步发展。     

Some examples of Medieval Oxidized and Decorated earthenwares occurring in North-Eastern France

THIS PAPER concludes a programme of research into the medieval earthenwares of the littoral of N. and W. France.¹ (This particular research was done with the aid of a Colt Fund grant.) As in the earlier work, information was obtained by a study of suitable material held in museum collections; in this case located in the ME. of France.