Iranian Zoroastrians in Canada: Balancing Religious and Cultural Identities

Canada, now the number-one destination for Iranian migrants, is home to one of the world's most dynamic Zoroastrian communities, in which Iranians are increasingly represented and are playing ever more visible roles in maintaining and transforming the tradition. While exile has in some ways reunited Iranian and Parsi (South Asian) Zoroastrians after more than 1,000 years of separation, cultural and in some cases religious differences mean that they continue largely to live in separate spheres even while sharing their places of worship. Iranian Zoroastrians in Canada participate in some social settings as Iranians, in others as Zoroastrians, and in still others as Canadians, but to a large extent they remain a community unto themselves separate from these other three. Even so, their generally progressive interpretations of Zoroastrianism are having an influence on Parsi communities worldwide as well as on Zoroastrians in Iran, and being often recognized as “original Iranians” they are playing important roles in promoting awareness of Iranian culture within the broader community.     

Reform Transplanted: Parsi Agents of Change amongst Zoroastrians in Nineteenth-Century Iran

In the mid-nineteenth century, Parsis reestablished ties with Zoroastrians in Iran that had languished due to decades-long internal unrest in Iran. In 1854 reformists in India established the Society for the Amelioration of Conditions in Iran and sent a representative to Iran—Maneckji Hataria. Hataria was charged with eliminating the onerous non-Muslim tax owed by the Zoroastrians (the jaziyeh). Hataria also organized the Iranian Zoroastrian community, and funded a variety of community projects. He also brought Parsi reformist ideas to Iran, and attempted to reshape Iranian religious practice and belief along Parsi lines. This article explores the effects of Parsi reformist ideas on Iran, and Hataria's own writings concerning Zoroastrianism and its relationship to Iranian national identity.     

Decolonisation and mysticism in William Butler Yeats's The Celtic Twilight and The Secret Rose

Yeats's responsibilities as one of Ireland's most prominent artists commenced with his aspiration to make Ireland a nation. His writings incorporate the three phases of development that Frantz Fanon posited for all new nations. Although Fanon described his three phases of decolonisation well after The Celtic Twilight and The Secret Rose were compiled, Fanon's framework elucidates Yeats's writings. Yeats's use of mystical elements embodies Fanon's idea of the colonial binary, the negritude binary, and transnational consciousness. Yeats discovered the answers to decolonisation in mysticism. His insights about folklore when coupled with imagination brought about many mystical revelations that linked Ireland to mysticism of global dimensions. Yeats's insights moved Ireland beyond binaries and solely nationalistic thinking to encourage Ireland to develop a transnational consciousness, transcending postcolonial binaries to achieve nationhood.     

佛像服饰中的"僧祇支"与"偏衫"问题

本文依据律典及相关古今文献,对沙门服饰中僧祇支与偏衫的由来、形制及二者间的演变关系予以考证,同时阐述了僧祇支及偏衫在汉地佛教造像中的应用.     

湘西苗族童帽艺术

童帽是多姿多彩的湘西苗族服饰中一朵绚丽的小花。多年来,由于工作的关系,我有幸接触到了为数不少的湘西苗族童帽,深为其生动多变的造型,鲜艳明丽的色彩．丰富多样的装饰手法及深刻的民俗文化内涵所打动。顶顶童帽反映出湘西苗族妇女的审美情趣和民族意识。透过一顶顶的童帽,我们更可以感受到她们那浓浓的舔犊深情。     

On the impossibility of invariant repetition: ritual,tradition and creativity among Sri Lankan ritual specialists

This article sets out to explore the strategic creativity that underlies supposedly invariant ritual performance. The ethnographic focus is on a group of Sri Lankan ritual specialists and the way they present the past in terms of mythical, historical and genealogical relationships that give power and legitimacy to their performances of healing rituals in the present. The analysis brings together local notions of “tradition” with ideas of performance and embodiment. The conclusion takes up the idea that, far from being the dead weight of tradition, invariance is a performative illusion of considerable ingenuity and persuasive power. Indeed, it is a fundamental means whereby the authority and power of ritual is maximized in performance.     

从蒋介石日记看抗战后期的中英美关系

本文以蒋介石日记的相关叙述为中心,试图比较抗战后期英美对华政策的差异及国民政府对英美外交政策的差异。这一时期,尽管中国与英美成为共同作战的盟国,但亲疏关系不同。中英关系在这一时期并未有多大改善,相反,双方在一些重大问题上的分歧陆续凸显出来。与英国相比,美国的形象相对良好。中国期望借助美国,对英国有所制约。尽管中美在战后目标上有较大重叠,但英美关系毕竟是美国最重要的双边关系,美国在中英冲突中对中国的支持相当有限。     

刍议唐乾陵六十一蕃臣像中的新罗人

本文在认真研读相关文献与文物考古资料的基础上,就唐乾陵朱雀门前东侧最南列最后一人的族属和身份作了较为细致的考察和论述,认为该石像应系唐高宗与武则天时期与唐王朝关系密切的新罗人形象,并极可能是新罗文武王金法敏。     

论抗战初期英美民众援华制日运动

1937年7月中国抗日战争全面爆发后,在英美两国国内引起了强烈反响,特别是在两国民众中掀起了援助中国抗战的热潮,形式多样,各具特点,并得到社会许多方面的支持。随着日本侵华的加剧,英美民众援华制日运动不断加强。英美民众对中国全面抗战的积极反应,极大地鼓舞了中国人民,也为英美东亚政策向积极方面转化铺垫了社会民众基础。本文拟就这一问题进行探讨,以求教学界同行。     

元末明初朝鲜半岛的女真族与明、朝鲜的关系

元末明初高丽及李朝乘元末国势衰微,明廷势力尚未深入女真地区之机,向朝鲜半岛东北部和鸭绿江中上游地区积极拓展领土,对世居此地的女真人强行驱逐,逼迫归附。明朝势力进入元故地后,对当地女真人实行了有效管理,进而与朝鲜关于女真归属问题,发生尖锐的矛盾纠纷。     

Cults and Christianity among the Enga and Ipili

In this article, I examine the continuities between early-contact cult activities and present day Christianity among the western Enga and eastern Ipili of highlands Papua New Guinea. Christians today see the cults as early attempts to ‘open the road’ for the coming of whites and missionization. Cult leaders are currently understood as prophets who had received messages from God and were sent out to herald the coming new era of social change. The ritual killing of a young man in the 1940s by cult leaders is conceptualized as the local version of the crucifixion of Jesus. The data herein illustrate the creative means by which Ipili and Enga in this region have indigenized Christianity and located their own regional histories and practices in the broader scope of world history.     

无法和谐的奏鸣曲——论同盟会、湖北集团和江浙集团之间政治关系的演变

辛亥革命期间,同盟会、湖北集团、江浙集团三方之间政治关系非常复杂。同盟会对两大集团的态度和策略是根据既定政治目标和局势变化而定的,两大集团对同盟会的态度和相互间关系是根据各自利益而定的。尽管大家都表示"革命",但是由于各自政治利益不同,三方之间弹奏的奏鸣曲无法和谐,辛亥革命只有失败。     

Man among the primates

R. E. Passingham. The Human Primate. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1982. 390 pp. $14.95 cloth; $7.50 paper.     

20世纪中日俄(苏)三国关系史分期问题试论

历史研究需要进行科学分期,由于所研究的对象不同,因而分期的标准也不尽相同。20世纪中日俄(苏)三国关系史可分为7个时期。1900-1917年为两强凌-弱时期;1917-1931年为三国关系初次变化时期;1931-1945年为战争笼罩三国时期;1945-1949年为三国关系特殊时期;1949-1960年为三国关系再次变化时期;1960-1972年为敌友关系相互转变时期;1972-1991年为三国关系终趋正常时期。