A Technical Note on the ‘Gloucester Candlestick’

Abstract

The Association is pleased to acknowledge the generous support of Manx National Heritage towards this publication.

The excavation of the only Cistercian abbey firmly established on the Isle of Man produced evidence for an east range of only three rooms, apparently dated to a single constructional period. After the Dissolution this range was gradually robbed and then the area was used as a farm-yard, receiving rubbish deposited from the neighbouring mansion. It was partly excavated in 1914 and turned into an aviary and later into a rose garden. The rere-dorter was not found nor was there any evidence of the main drain adjoining this range.     

Some Late Ming Western Technical Terms and Their Implications for Cultural Transformation: “Brain,” “Geometry,” “Globe,” and “Cathay”

The cluster of technical terms that the Jesuit Matteo Ricci and his Chinese partners Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao cotranslated and introduced into Chinese in the late Ming dynasty was of significance for Chinas cultural transformation. For instance, “brain” replaced “heart” as a specific term referring to the organ of consciousness and memory. The classical Chinese interrogative numeral jihe was used to represent the core mathematical term “geometry”. Diqiu, meaning “the globe of the earth” in English, was minted to amend the traditional hemispherical dome cosmology. The identification of “Cathay” with China clarified the ambiguity in the Western geographical concept of the Far East, which had existed since the Middle Ages. Translated from Wuhan University Journal (Humanity Sciences), No. 6, 2003