The chronology and sources of the early Irish annals

Chronological divergence between the different early Irish annals has hampered the use of their many unique records of events in Ireland, Britain and the European continent as historical sources. This paper reviews recent work which has demonstrated that their original chronological apparatus consisted of a kalend (Kł) followed, until at least the mid-seventh century, by the ferial of 1 January, and from this a consistent chronology has been restored for the annals over the years AD 1–722. In addition, critical examination of their regnal and episcopal successions has established that the 'world history' section of these annals and Bede's Chronica maiora are not mutually dependent, but rather share a common source which has been identified as a kalend-plus-ferial chronicle composed by Rufinus of Aquileia in the early fifth century.     

The importance of Old French chronicles as historical sources of the Fourth Crusade and the early Latin Empire of Constantinople

Michael Angold has shown that the collapse of Greek resistance to the crusading army has not yet been fully explained by historians (Journal of Medieval History, 25, 3 (1999) 257–78). The chronicles of Villehardouin and Clari are an additional, important source, written by eyewitnesses. They provide first-hand evidence of the morale of the army, its sense of mission and the problems which it faced. Henri de Valenciennes provides a similar, first-hand account of the start of the reign of Henry of Hainaut as Latin Emperor. Close study of these texts helps to explain the victory of the westerners. They are even more important as historical sources than as examples of early French prose.     

The importance of Old French chronicles as historical sources of the Fourth Crusade and the early Latin Empire of Constantinople

Michael Angold has shown that the collapse of Greek resistance to the crusading army has not yet been fully explained by historians (Journal of Medieval History, 25, 3 (1999) 257–78). The chronicles of Villehardouin and Clari are an additional, important source, written by eyewitnesses. They provide first-hand evidence of the morale of the army, its sense of mission and the problems which it faced. Henri de Valenciennes provides a similar, first-hand account of the start of the reign of Henry of Hainaut as Latin Emperor. Close study of these texts helps to explain the victory of the westerners. They are even more important as historical sources than as examples of early French prose.     

黎庶昌东瀛访书史料二则

在清末中日书籍交流中,黎庶昌、杨守敬辑刻的《古逸丛书》,无疑是最为引人瞩目的盛事,时至百年后的今天,还为学界所津津乐道,相关论文不绝如缕.随着研究的深入,发生在《古逸丛书》背后的许多轶事也逐渐撩开神秘的面纱,为人所知晓.     

论司马迁的文献批判思想

司马迁撰史,所涉及的史料十分广博.对经传异说和百家杂语,他考信于"六艺",或引为史实,或引为补"六艺"之缺.司马迁引录"六艺"经文、异传和杂语撰史,考信的标准则不为"六艺".他撰写的历史,把经文、异传和杂语所述史实融为一体,在时间和空间上定位,从而建构了在经传和诸子书中均未出现的历史内容.这一历史的建构,不是依靠经文,而是依靠司马迁自己对包括经文在内的文献的考信,以及对文献的综合、判断和推理而完成的.司马迁对文献的批判,表现出鲜明的自我解释、自我证明和自我授权的历史批判思维.这一历史批判思维,贯穿于《史记》全书之中,是中国古典史学独立于经学时所表现出的最重要特点.     

The Nanjing Massacre as recorded in American sources

ABSTRACT

During the Nanjing Massacre, American figures who remained in Nanjing, or who took an interest in Nanjing’s plight despite not being present in the city, produced copious reports, observations, records, and analyses with respect to the events that unfolded, forming highly unique third-party sources on the history of the Nanjing Massacre, and disseminated them across China, Europe, and the United States. The American sources recorded the facts of the massacres, rape, looting, arson, narcotics trafficking, implementation of a “comfort women” system, and other atrocities committed by the Japanese Army, and revealed the actions taken by Japan to conceal its war crimes; their evidentiary value was demonstrated during the war crimes trials in Tokyo and Nanjing. The documents were produced during the course of the Americans’ efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Chinese soldiers and civilians, but at the same time, they also reflect these figures’ consideration for American interests in China.     

《契丹国志·太祖述律皇后传》史源疏证

《契丹国志》卷13《后妃传·太祖述律皇后传》全文共1003字,考其史料来源,基本上都是出自于《资治通鉴》,具有较高的史料价值。     

《新安名族志》的版本及其史料价值

徽州是一个宗族结构传统严密且沿续相当长久的地方.清人赵吉士在《寄园寄所寄》中曾经这样描述道:"新安各姓聚族而居,绝无一杂姓搀入者,其风最为近古.出入齿让,姓各有宗祠统之;岁时伏腊,一姓村中千丁皆集,祭用文公《家礼》,彬彬合度.     

Decadence as historical myth and cultural theory

This article traces the early history of the concept of European decadence with special emphasis on its manifestations in French literary production in the period between 1860 and 1900. It argues that decadence was not a historical reality, but a cultural myth, that gave expression to a new, specifically urban experience of modernity first thematized in Baudelaire's poetry and prose work. It further claims that this concept continues to have important contemporary relevance in the form of debates about the “second modernity” and the new “cosmopolitanism.”     

A global–historical sociology of power: on Mann's concluding volumes to The sources of social power

Michael Mann's long‐anticipated volumes, The sources of social power, volume 3: global empires and revolution, 1890—1945 and The sources of social power, volume 4: globalizations, 1945—2011 complete Mann's career‐spanning project. Compared to previous volumes in the series, these works are much more global in scope. They address topics such as global wars, empires, social citizenship across the industrialized world, economic recessions and climate change. In this way they rectify omissions in Mann's previous work, even while continuing to deploy Mann's previous IEMP (ideological, economic, social, political) model of power. However, three shortcomings remain: first, the books do not adequately deploy the concept of society as power networks; second, they do not offer a conceptualization of global systems or dynamics beyond the sum total of actions by individual states or actors; and third, they retain the standpoint of power in their analyses. Despite these shortcomings, these volumes offer a masterful global history of power over the past century and a half and make long‐lasting contributions to the historical sociology of power.     

Social status in the Merovingian and Viking periods in Norway from archaeological and historical sources

Generally, the social structure (stratification of the society) in the Merovingian and Viking periods in Norway has been studied by historians using mainly historical and linguistic material. However, prehistoric burials are supposed to reflect the social status of the deceased, and in the present study social status in the Merovingian and Viking periods in western, central and eastern Norway has been examined through 4629 grave finds recorded in the museums’ list—3796 were defined as men's grave finds and 833 as women's. On the basis of the composition of the grave material both the men's and women's graves could be divided into three groups: a large lower group with plain grave material, a small upper group with the richest finds, and an intermediate group. This grouping was supported by studies of the professionally excavated graves from 1956–1978 and indicated three distinctive social groups of free men and women. The grouping of the men's graves on the basis of weapon composition showed only a fair association with the weapon requirements and the social status indicated by the provincial laws from the early Middle Ages. However, studies of 177 precisely dated weapon graves demonstrated a closer association between the requirements of the laws and the weapon composition of the 10th century graves than of those from the 8th and 9th centuries. Accordingly, the grave finds from the Merovingian and Viking periods as well as the historical sources from the early Middle Ages reflect a society with marked differences in social status, the grave finds from the 10th century showing the best correspondence to the provincial laws.     

唐代笔记对国史的利用

唐代笔记的材料来源,大体有二,一是作者的所见所闻,一是已有的文字材料.所见,为作者亲身经历与目睹.所闻,为得于他人谈论.文字材料,有各类著述,其中包含他人笔记,也包含唐代国史.关于唐代笔记利用本朝国史的情况,历来罕有论述.     

The search for historical experience

In the first part of my paper I will try to reconstruct a series of attempts at dialogue between history and the social sciences made by historians connected with the “Annales” (Marc Bloch, Ernest Labrousse, Giovanni Levi, Bernard Lepetit). What these attempts have in common is the idea that in history, as in the natural sciences, it is to some extent possible to carry out forms of experimentation on the sources, and that the inclusion of history among the human sciences, and even the scientific future of the discipline itself, ultimately depend on the adoption of this method. In the second part I will discuss the relationship that links historical experimentation with lived experience, and I will conclude by discussing the possible meaning of the idea of experimenting with the sources of history.