A Dark Age Peter Principle: Beowulf's incompetence threshold

Many readers, recognizing the incompatibility of heroism with the duties of kingship, have argued that Beowulf tells a story of colossal failure. Drawing on anthropological theory, I propose that the protagonist is more Big-Man than king and that his heroism, far from a socially dysfunctional flaw, is in fact the leash by which society yanks him back from establishing himself as king. Beowulf thus speaks to an aristocracy disinclined to submit to royalty. The poem shines a light on Anglo-Saxons' aversion to despotic rule: to protect its own decentralized political structure, society against the state foredooms King Beowulf to death.     

Dark Age Traffic on the Bristol Channel, UK: A Hypothesis

Exotic pottery from the eastern Mediterranean and southern Gaul in the late 5th to 7th centuries is recognized as the characteristic find from Dark Age sites in Ireland and western Britain. But there is no consensus on the mechanisms by which they arrived. Interpretations range from diplomatic gifts through souvenirs to commerce. This attempt to resolve the issue is based on sites around the Bristol Channel. The quantities of pottery and numbers of sites are used to generate a rough estimate of the number of ships carrying the pottery to the area. It is argued that the estimated volume represents commercial trade.
© 2007 The Author     

Pioneers in Getting Rich

The reform and opening program, which has been going on in China ever since late 1978, paved the way for the poor in Tibet to escape from their poverty. The implementation of the western region development strategy now ushers in a new stage of development in Tibet. Cashing in on this opportunity, many in Xigaze have amassed enormous wealth.     

迈锡尼文明、“黑暗时代”与希腊城邦的兴起

关于早期希腊国家的兴起,主流观点认为,迈锡尼文明衰亡后经历了一个黑暗时期,之后城邦于公元前8世纪中期遽然兴起,两者之间存在着明显的中断。这一观点为古典学界普遍接受,成为诸多研究的出发点。本文意在重新审视这一说法,提出西方学者之所以强调两者之间的中断,是因为西方社会的价值观念起了作用。城邦文明历来被看成是现代西方文明的源头,因此它必须同被认为带有专制王权色彩的迈锡尼文明区分开来。然而这样的解释忽略了迈锡尼文明和希腊城邦文明之间的诸多联系,而且考古学证据表明所谓"黑暗时代"亦非通常认为的那般黑暗,希腊人群体的活动在一定程度上得以延续。还有,荷马史诗所反映的历史面貌更可能是公元前8世纪以前而非此后的情形。由此本文认为,更为合理的解释是把城邦兴起看成是迈锡尼王国解体之后希腊社会渐次演化的结果,而非所谓革命性变革的结果。荷马史诗所描绘的情形很可能是迈锡尼文明和城邦文明之间的中间环节。     

The influence of climatic change on the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the Greek Dark Ages

Between the 13th and 11th centuries BCE, most Greek Bronze Age Palatial centers were destroyed and/or abandoned. The following centuries were typified by low population levels. Data from oxygen-isotope speleothems, stable carbon isotopes, alkenone-derived sea surface temperatures, and changes in warm-species dinocysts and formanifera in the Mediterranean indicate that the Early Iron Age was more arid than the preceding Bronze Age. A sharp increase in Northern Hemisphere temperatures preceded the collapse of Palatial centers, a sharp decrease occurred during their abandonment. Mediterranean Sea surface temperatures cooled rapidly during the Late Bronze Age, limiting freshwater flux into the atmosphere and thus reducing precipitation over land. These climatic changes could have affected Palatial centers that were dependent upon high levels of agricultural productivity. Declines in agricultural production would have made higher-density populations in Palatial centers unsustainable. The ‘Greek Dark Ages’ that followed occurred during prolonged arid conditions that lasted until the Roman Warm Period.     

四川大邑华山村昆虫拍摄记 暗夜的守望——精灵物语

正大多数昆虫喜欢在夜间活动。所以,我们总是安静地"潜伏"着,与它们相约、相守、相望,它们总是无私地展示着多姿多彩、精莹剔透的美丽身躯,来回报我们的辛苦付出。我们将精灵的美丽定格,来与大家分享,让人们认识更多的昆虫,了解它们,喜欢它们,尊重它们,共同努力去维护一个美好的不仅是属于我们的生态星球。雨夜,滴答之声还是那么急促,静静地坐在电脑前,思绪又飞到了华山村。我的那些生命还在绽放的暗夜精灵们,你们还好吗?2015年的夏天,我和成都昆虫拍     

危地马拉的黑暗与光明

<正>"跟我走,就在前面。"一位危地马拉城的陌生大姐,为了给我指路,已经带我行走了很长一段路。十几分钟前,我拿着地图找这位大姐问路,不会英语的她用手势比划了一下,看我满脸迷茫后,果断拉着我开始去找我想要到的地方,我清楚地记得她原来要去的方向和带我去的方向是相反的。一路上她用西班牙语和手势与我交流,时不时发出爽朗的笑声。我一下子感受到了那种旅行中久违的温暖和快乐。这和我进入到危地马拉时的糟糕情绪完全不一样。或许,这就是危     

危地马拉的黑暗与光明

正"跟我走,就在前面。"一位危地马拉城的陌生大姐,为了给我指路,已经带我行走了很长一段路。十几分钟前,我拿着地图找这位大姐问路,不会英语的她用手势比划了一下,看我满脸迷茫后,果断拉着我开始去找我想要到的地方,我清楚地记得她原来要去的方向和带我去的方向是相反的。一路上她用西班牙语和手势与我交流,时不时发出爽朗的笑声。我一下子感受到了那种旅行中久违的温暖和快乐。这和我进入到危地马拉时的糟糕情绪完全不一样。或许,这就是危     

Pioneers of Affective Neuroscience and Early Concepts of the Emotional Brain

Views on the representation of emotion in the brain, as formulated about a century ago, are described, with a focus on the Vienna physiologist and psychologist Sigmund Exner, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, and the French physician Israel Waynbaum. All three can be characterized as forerunners in the field of “affective neuroscience”. By the turn of the century, they had developed a neural network theory of emotion which included a stage of pre-cortical processing. In spite of their otherwise very diverse theoretical backgrounds, their concepts of parallel processing routes were highly similar. It is interesting to note that their ideas were on line with present-day views on the neural substrates and physiological characteristics of emotional processing, although none of the three scientists could rely on the refined anatomical knowledge available nowadays.     

关于但丁"文艺复兴先驱"的三次大辩论及其政治意义

本文围绕着但丁"文艺复兴先驱"问题的三次大辩论,揭示其文艺复兴运动性质的转变:以复兴古典文化为宗旨的早期文艺复兴运动是如何转变成为以建立自由公民共和国为目标的政治运动的.这三次大辩论,不仅反映出早期人文主义者们思想的矛盾,也透露出他们思想的发展和日渐成熟的信息.辩论者用来评价但丁是否符合先驱的几个标准(古典学权威、新文化的开拓者、优秀的共和国公民、共和国的保卫者),分别代表了不同时期人文主义者们的政治态度.但丁最终被奉为文艺复兴运动先驱这件事,因而具有非常重要的政治意义.尤为重要的是,文艺复兴运动的宗旨是在但丁"文艺复兴先驱"的大辩论中确立的,这也说明了从研究古籍的文化运动向以建立自由公民共和国为目标的政治运动的转变是具有其内在深厚政治传统的,不尽是外敌入侵佛罗伦萨所造成的自然结果.     

《土族红领巾》:闪耀土乡二十载

你知道青海省第一家少先队队报诞生在哪里吗?出乎很多人的意料,它不是诞生在办学条件优越的城市学校,而是由一所大山里的学校——互助土族自治县东山乡什巴小学创办的。如今,这份名叫《土族红领巾》的队报已走过了2D年的风雨,成为土族少年展示自我的舞台,沟通外界的桥梁。