Samson: The Only Nazarite in the Hebrew Bible and His Women!

Abstract

Since the publication of Eißfeldt's study in 1935, it has been doubted by some scholars that a Hebrew god named Moloch or Molekh has ever existed. Recently, however, two studies have been published, one by George Heider (1985) and the other by John Day (1989), in which the existence of the god Molekh is defended once again. Especially Day's arguments seem convincing. Nevertheless, considering the Carthaginian archaeological evidence (in 1991 gathered by Shelby Brown), and also considering the ideological bias of the biblical passages concerned, the existence of a separate god of human sacrifice in Israel remains uncertain. By a new analysis of the biblical passages, arguments are given that the god Molekh is an invention from the Persian period in an attempt to conceal that Judahite worship of YHWH in the eighth and seventh century B.C.E. also included child sacrifice.     

Personal Names of the Pentateuch in the Northwest Semitic Context: A Comparative Study

The personal names of the Pentateuch (the first 11 chapters excluded) have not very often been under systematic scientific investigations. The topic is interesting from the points of view of linguistics, onomastics, theology and ethnohistory. The anthroponyms of the Pentateuch are compared with personal names found from the 2^nd millennium BCE (from Amorite, Ugaritic and Amarna Canaanite sources) and with anthroponyms from extrabiblical and biblical Hebrew sources, as well as with Phoenician sources of the first half of the 1^st millennium. The conclusion is that the anthroponyms of the Pentateuch reflect the onomasticon of the second millennium, having slightly modified typological and lexical roots in the same Northwest Semitic entity as Amorite, Amarna Canaanite and Ugaritic personal names.     

The Judgment of God and the Immeasurable: Political Theology and Organizations of Power

Abstract

This article considers how political theologies understand and organize power. It begins with an axiomatic understanding of politics as concerned with the organization of power. This understanding of politics requires a theological inquiry, as it is concerned with questions of piety and belief that underlie and direct power within these conscious organizations. It then provides a survey of three dominant forms of political theology: liberal political theology, exemplified by John D. Caputo; conservative political theology, exemplified by John Milbank; and political anti-theology, exemplified by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. It ends by way of a speculative account of a political non-theology, based on the non-philosophy of François Laruelle, that makes each of these political theologies relative to the immeasurable itself and thus turns them into simple material that may be used to construct relative different organizations of power with greater situational efficacies.     

Revisiting Dred Scott: Prudence,Providence, and the Limits of Constitutional Statesmanship

Abstract

After the Dred Scott decision in 1857, Abraham Lincoln embarked on a public campaign to prevent the expansion of slavery in the federal territories. Lincoln's opposition to Dred Scott was, however, bound up with a certain theoretical orientation that is often rejected in the general milieu of modern constitutional theory. Within the context of two recent revisionist accounts of slavery and American constitutionalism, I argue that our retrospective evaluations of the sixteenth president's statesmanship must enter into a deeper engagement with Lincoln's attachment to natural law and his theological interpretation of the Civil War.     

“扬州书信”所见刘师培《遗书》编纂考

1934～1938年,南桂馨、钱玄同、郑裕孚等编成《刘申叔先生遗书》,许多学界名人都曾先后参与其事,成为当时一项重大的文化工程。新近发现的"扬州书信"披露了许多前所未见的原始资料,使人们对刘师培《遗书》的编纂过程有了更为清晰的了解和认识。     

河南焦作化电集团西晋墓发掘简报

2003年10月焦作市文物工作队发现一座西晋墓(2003JHM1),清理出武士俑、牛车、角兽、马、灶、井、多子槅、俑等文物23件(套)。根据墓葬形制与随葬品判断此墓时代为西晋中期。     

追寻逝去的年俗记忆——上海小校场年画述略

早期上海小校场木版年画,深受苏州桃花坞年画影响,店铺多为仿冒桃花坞的作品。清末民初,小校场石印年画以其题材新颖、色彩艳丽、物美价廉而盛极一时,木版年画开始走向尾声。而月份牌年画的出现,又开创了中国年画史上一个特殊的辉煌时期。正是近代西方印刷技术的传入,彻底改变了中国年画的命运。上海小校场年画的嬗变,清晰地呈现了传统年画消亡的历程。     

Rational Religion: Economic Patterns in Old Testament Thought

By tracing institutional and constitutional economic patterns to Old Testament thought, the thesis of a rational economic dimension of the biblical text can be advanced and the actual nature and substance of religion can be conceptualised in economic terms. Here the paper questions the widespread assumption that religion will be radically different from modern ethics (“economics as ethics”) in the tradition of the Scottish Enlightenment. In this regard the paper specifically addresses the call for a concept of “rational religion” as early on identified by Smith but contests the explicit claims of Smith or modern institutional economists like Buchanan that a concept of rational religion or “economics as ethics” necessarily is separated from the Bible. An institutional economic theory of Old Testament-based religion is proposed through a set of four theses. On the basis of these arguments, the paper outlines why Old Testament-based religion still has and could have a persistent and pervasive influence in contemporary, capitalist society.     

The Overseeing Mother: Revisiting the Frontal-Pose Lady in the Wu Family Shrines in Second-Century China

Located in present-day Jiaxiang in Shandong province, the Wu family shrines built during the second century in the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220) were among the best-known works in Chinese art history. Although for centuries scholars have exhaustively studied the pictorial programs, the frontal-pose female image situated on the second floor of the central pavilion carved at the rear wall of the shrines has remained a question. Beginning with the woman's eyes, this article demonstrates that the image is more than a generic portrait (“hard motif”), but rather represents “feminine overseeing from above” (“soft motif”). This synthetic motif combines three different earlier motifs – the frontal-pose hostess enjoying entertainment, the elevated spectator, and the Queen Mother of the West. By creatively fusing the three motifs into one unity, the Jiaxiang artists lent to the frontal-pose lady a unique power: she not only dominated the center of the composition, but also, like a divine being, commanded a unified view of the surroundings on the lofty building, hence echoing the political reality of the empress mother's “overseeing the court” in the second century during Eastern Han dynasty.     

《旧唐书》至乐楼抄本与叶石君校本考略

《旧唐书》通行本文字讹脱甚多。今存宋刻又残缺严重,学者无以据校。而新发现的叶石君原校本,乃据明常熟陈察至乐楼抄宋本对校,态度极为严谨,其中有六十五卷为残宋本所无,正可补宋本残缺之不足,可正通行本之讹误。本文对至乐楼抄本及叶石君校本的流传进行了详细考察,得知清初至乐楼抄本已多有残缺,其后则不知下落;而原以为可能亡佚的叶石君校本则幸存于湖南图书馆。对叶石君校本之价值则进行了举例性质的说明,认为其最有校勘价值的是本纪部分：有点校本已校改而此本可补确证者;有点校本已疑误而未校改,此本适可补证者;而可补点校本漏校者为最多。     

《旧唐书·地理志》西南地区正误

《旧唐书》虽经校勘,然仍有不少未尽善处。本文对《地理志》所记西南地区所涉诸州的州县领属、所领县数、设置时间及其变更等的失误,进行了订正和补遗。     

马克斯·韦伯眼中的孔子:韦伯中国史观中的精神与自然力

[提要]作为德国社会学古典理论的奠基人之一,马克斯·韦伯以“新教伦理与资本主义精神之间具有历史亲和力”的观点在世界范围内享有盛誉。他终其一生都在以摒弃西方人传统偏见的态度去探究非西方的文化。韦伯在中国宗教(尤其是儒教和道教)研究领域取得了巨大成就。他以对孔子和儒者的仰止之心指出儒教是一种高度发达的、冷静的理性主义,深刻剖析了宗教是中国未能发展成为现代化工业社会的决定性因素。韦伯进一步揭示了自然环境及其变迁对于中国历史进程的影响,阐释了自然环境状况也是中国未能发展成为工业资本主义的另一症结所在。     

从民间契约看古巴比伦时期的借贷利率——兼论《汉穆腊比法典》中借贷利率的非现实性

古巴比伦是一个商业较发达的社会,存在着较多的动产借贷行为。大量民间借贷契约显示,古巴比伦时期存在着多种多样、复杂多变的借贷利率。这些借贷利率大多与《汉穆腊比法典》中规定的借贷利率不一致,法典中所规定的借贷利率并不能反映当时借贷活动的实际。古巴比伦时期不存在一个统一的借贷利率,而是多种借贷利率共同使用。在研究古巴比伦时期借贷活动时,不能盲从《汉穆腊比法典》的条文规定,而要结合更多的民间借贷契约进行综合研究,这样才能够更加准确地、更加深入地还原历史、认识历史。     

The Limits of Super-Rationality: A New Look at the Conception of Jupiter in Prometheus Unbound

In Prometheus Unbound, the empire of Jupiter is a mythic figuration of monotheism and its corresponding hegemonies, broadly conceived in both instances as the domain of supreme oppressive governance. The ties of governance are reified by paternalism—hence the use of Jupiter (Gk. Zeu + pater) as the master embodiment of the Father, combining the role of God-the-Father in Judeo-Christianity, of the Trinity, of pope or monarch, and that of paterfamilias, such that, in Shelley's unifying vision, one becomes indistinguishable from the other: all emanations of the Law of the Father, the symbolic order of “rationality” which represses primordial desire, associated with Prometheus and Asia. The overthrow of Jupiter in Prometheus Unbound is an implicit rejection of European rationalist hegemony, embodied in the conception of a manic, autocratic sky God, uniting sacred and secular aspects, and a reinstatement of an extra, or at least more profound and enduring identity that is consistent with re-ascendant primeval forces, paradoxically embodied in the shadowy figure of Demogorgon, but repressed as long as Jupiter reigns.     

The Power and Limits of Cultural Myths in Portugal's Search for a Post-Imperial Role

The central role in Portuguese political culture of the identification of Portugal as a colonizing power legitimized a massive mobilization and violent response to the perceived existential threat of decolonization in the shape of prolonged wars in its main African colonies (1961–1974). If, however, this cultural myth of a Greater Portugal overseas was so powerful, how was decolonization eventually possible? The accumulated human and economic cost of facing three simultaneous, protracted anti-colonial insurgencies eroded this overseas creed and made Catholic and Marxist strands of anti-colonialism increasingly attractive to younger, more internationally connected, Portuguese elites. What also happened, however, this article will argue, was a refashioning of the powerful cultural myth of a special connection between Portugal and tropical Africa. A colonial myth was turned into a post-colonial myth legitimizing decolonization as a mutual and fraternal liberation from the same oppressive regime without a loss of strong ‘natural’ cultural bonds. More widely, the article aims to show that we cannot ignore the importance of cultural factors in international history. Our approach in this article is pluralist and this means that while arguing strongly for taking culture seriously and focusing on it, it does consider other, including more material, dimensions of power.     

唐代旅游资源结构与分布研究——以两《唐书》列传人物旅游活动为中心

本文以《文渊阁四库全书》为基础数据,考查两《唐书》列传人物旅游活动所涉及的旅游资源,以国标GB／T18972—2003作为分类标准,建立唐代旅游资源基础数据库,统计分析唐代旅游资源的结构与分布。结论认为：唐代旅游资源以人文旅游资源为主,佛塔寺观、山岳型旅游地、楼阁亭台是唐代最主要的旅游资源。唐代旅游资源主要分布于政治、经济、文化、旅游中心等地,并有沿主要交通线分布的特征。大多数旅游资源分布于基本经济区内,并有较强的内陆集中性。两京地区、吴越地区、长江中游地区、成都地区和永州一桂州地区是唐代五大旅游资源富集区。封禅线沿线地区和长江流域形成了唐代两大旅游资源带。     

丽江古城空心化现象治理研究

纳西居民是丽江古城的魂。随着丽江旅游的发展,近年来纳西居民纷纷外迁新城．古城空心化现象严重地危及了古城的可持续发展。纳西居民选择留下来的机会成本远高于现实收益．这是居民外迁的原因。政府应当根据古城空心化现象的成因来构建相应对策。     

说《旧唐书》的“比事”

《旧唐书》纪、传部分在“比事”方面下了很大工夫,用比较隐晦的方式对一些事关重大的唐代史事及人物进行贬斥,体现出了纂修者在书中贯彻“春秋笔法”的意图。最为典型的例子,一为效仿沈约《宋书·二凶传》的数字记日方式;二是上承班固《汉书·高后纪》及《王莽传》的成例,于《则天皇后纪》中记事非常简约。研究这一现象对更加深入地理解我国古代历史编纂思想有一定的帮助作用。     

"八王之乱"与禁卫军权

作为中国古代专制君权有机构成的禁卫军权,它既是维护君主专制政体正常运作的必要条件,同时也会成为破坏这一体制的重要因素。“八王之乱”是中国历史上规模最大、影响极为深远的一场统治集团争夺最高统治权力的政治斗争。参与政争的太后及外戚杨骏、惠贾皇后、宗室诸王之间围绕宫殿禁廷的控制权而展开了多次较量,对禁卫军权的控制和利用成为斗争中最常见的手段,能否有效掌握禁卫军权往注成为决定胜负的关键。“八王之乱”与禁卫军权的关系,提供了认识中国古代君主专制政治和禁卫军权关系的一个典型个案。