Galen's ideas on neurological function

Galen was the leading physician of the Roman empire during the last half of the second century. Unlike some of his predecessors, Galen concluded that the brain controlled cognition and willed action. The initial evidence for this doctrine was that the brain was the site of termination of all of the five senses: touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. Galen presumed that the information from these five senses was organized by a part of the brain that generated a concept of an object common to all senses; this part of the brain he considered to be the area of common sense. Galen thought that he could differentiate sensory from motor nerves (not nerve fibers) by palpation. Sensory nerves were soft because they needed to be impressed with the essence of the object seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted. Motor nerve fibers were very hard because they needed to carry the force of the will from the brain to the muscles. Strong willed people had especially firm motor nerve fibers; hence, the modern term that a person with great bravery has 'nerves of steel'. Galen considered that common sense, cognition, and memory were functions of the brain. Personality and emotion were not generated by the brain, but rather by the body as a whole (or perhaps by the heart and liver). Galen's studies of respiration and of the recurrent laryngeal nerve solidified the knowledge that the brain, not the chest, was the site of the rational power that guides human behavior. This doctrine has continued from Galen's time to the present.     

方东树著述考略

方东树乃桐城派大师姚鼐弟子,为"姚门四杰"之一,一生著述甚多。今据方氏弟子郑福照《方仪卫先生年谱》和方氏本人的著作,以及其它相关文献,将方氏著述依年代先后略考其卷数、版本、馆藏、出处等情况。     

重读甲申--写在八旗入关360周年之际(下)

甲申年(1644年)八旗人关,从而影响了中国历史发展近三百年之久。八旗人关给中国社会带来了一系列变化,首先八旗在清初多种势力角斗中控制了局势,实现了统一。其次八旗成为维护国家统一的基本力量。第三八旗人关打破了中原传统的“华夷之辨”思想定势。第四八旗成为多民族友好相处的典型。第五八旗中涌现出众多人才,为社会进步做出了贡献．第六八旗对其他民族化采取尊重态度,使各民族化得以传承。当然八旗制度也存在弊病,这是清代中叶以后八旗衰落的主要原因。     

回响的驼铃(上篇)

文章上篇以大量材料阐述了丝绸之路历史上作为新疆大门的哈密、巴里坤古城形成的过程、地理位置、所发挥过的重要作用及以后逐渐冷落的原因。     

中国早期釉上彩之研究(下篇)

元代磁州窑继续烧造红绿彩瓷,日本大和化馆藏红绿彩仙姑图罐,其器物底部横向凸台,丰肩收腹的特点,为元代典型特征。该器彩画粗犷,制品与金代的相比显得粗糙。入明以后随着磁州窑的衰落,红绿彩也就逐渐消声匿迹了。     

Selected writings on Philosophy,Religion and Politics

Benedetto Croce was the author of the most important and original theory of history in the 20th century. His theory was that of ‘absolute historicism’, and this necessarily entailed an acute critique of inherited ideas about the Enlightenment. This article studies both Croce's theoretical analysis of Enlightenment and his historical analysis of the Neapolitan Enlightenment. Croce's interest in the Enlightenment had political as well as philosophical roots. All over Europe in the 1920s and 1930s historical and theoretical research was occurring into in the Age of Enlightenment. The broad goal of such research was to bring forth a new concept of reason, which would have purchase in the contemporary debate about rationalism and irrationalism. This debate, which flourished in the era of totalitarian regimes, raised a series of further questions: What was culture? What was the task of culture in the fight against political irrationalism? What was the relationship between culture and the growth of public opinion? With respect to the latter relationship an important role was played by intellectuals, as evinced by the works of Benda, Max Weber and Croce himself. The genealogy of the modern intelligentsia led again to Enlightenment. In the third part of the article Croce's position on this issue is discussed in the light of his historical researches on Enlightenment by reference to his correspondence with two young historians, Delio Cantimori and Franco Venturi.     

DRIVE TO NORTHERN TIBET(II)

Simply for Touching this Piece of Pure Land Mayu Hot Spring is the third we have passed on our way. It is located in Mayu Township 4,539 meters above sea level. Only one mouth of spring is left on this piece of large land, spouting ou with a strong sulfurous smell and at high temperature. Gongzha said that he used to herd there in his childhood. At that time there were many springs spouting all over the place. Bogar is a residential area of Mayu Township, known as Bogar Gyiaro on the map…     

驼道悠悠

本文记述了作者和日本学者为了学术研究,访问我国内蒙古锡林郭勒草原的过程。全文分上下两篇,上篇介绍了他们赴苏尼特草原考察、访问德王故居和去草原古刹贝子庙了解班禅诵经传法的情况。     

长江流域早期玉文化初论(上)

在进入人们生活领域的众多物质形态中．大概没有哪一种能象玉那样深刻地影响过中国人的精神世界。专家们认为“东西方最早的基本差异即新石器时代发达玉器化之有无”。迄二十世纪．金玉两分别为西方和东方人类物质化最高的代表。     

张家山汉简《二年律令·贼律》补释

江陵张家山汉简原注过于简略。本文对其中的《二年律令·贼律》作了补充注释,部分标点符号也作了调整。