Symeon the Sanctified and the re-foundation of Xenophon

Abstract

The re-foundation of the Athonite monastery of Xenophon at the end of the eleventh century provides an interesting case study of the activities of a 'second founder'. The activities of Symeon the Sanctified demonstrate how a high-ranking, ex-imperial official re-established the status and possessions of Xenophon by using the wealth, legal expertise and social connections at his disposal. Making use of a detailed study of documents from the archive of Xenophon, the article suggests solutions to the puzzling chronology of Symeon's activities on the holy mountain and discusses the causes of his conflict with the Athonite authorities and subsequent re-instatement.     

满江红·梦归故里

夜梦连连,归故里,雨带松针。高云内,峨峰烟翠,固锁春心。雪岭痛舍冬寒意,湍流豪启腊月冰。看此间,俏眉岂无情?握别恨。车辕催,泪无影;椽下语,堪真诚。桦林衬明月,风笛声声。但笑狂生无能事,偏随南燕俱飘零。愿来日,还赋太白诗,醉怀中。满江红·梦归故里@云天     

梦回赤列山下

赤列山是土族敬仰的神山,是土族子孙的摇篮。———题记石峡平湖南门峡俗称南天门,在古燕麦川口。两山对峙,势若游龙。传说二郎杨戬云游西海,曾驻足于此,放鞍辔处即今马鞍山。南天门上遗存哮天犬拽铁索而过带出的山豁,下为妖魔洞。土乡民众借此天然坝址修建水库,湖光山色添作土乡新景。一鉴倒映南天门,腾蛟起凤自天成。乘槎似可凌霄汉,渔樵闲话二郎神。威远鼓楼土乡首府威远镇,古称诺木斗,意为森林之区。宋代改为牧马营。明天启四年(公元1624年)始建钟鼓楼。楼为三层,画栋雕梁;飞檐翘楚,铁马叮当,蔚为壮观。威远古楼堪称奇,铁马行空驾虹霓。…     

在云端 与梦飞行

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High-Modernist Dreams and Nightmares

Book reviewed:
David C. Engerman. Modernization from the Other Shore: American Intellectuals and the Romance of Russian Development . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003. vi + 399 pp. Essay on sources, notes, index. $49.95 (cloth).
Nils Gilman. Mandarins of the Future: Modernization Theory in Cold War America . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. xi + 329 pp. Essay on sources, notes, index. $48.00 (cloth).     

The Role of Dreams in Guru Chos dbang's Autobiography: Notes on Dreams in Two Volumes of Guru Chos dbang's Writings

According to the relevant historical documents,Guru Chos dbang is a controversial figure.He is considered one of the five prominent gTer-ston (treasure discoverers) in several chronicles of Nyingma tradition,however,Bu ston Rin chen grub claims in his comments on mantra practice in Tibet that Guru Chos dbang offered perverted teachings and fabricated false treasures.This is a topic of extreme interesting to many researchers,and there are several of works of English scholarship including Janet Gyatso's work on Guru Chos dbang's autobiography analyzing its narrative methods.There is still more remaining to figure out.     

梦想变现实甘霖沁土乡

在互助土族自治县东山乡连大村,近70岁的一字不识的土族妇女任秀章,却能指着井盖上的八个字,有板有眼地读“大地之爱,母亲水窖”。当问及“母亲水窖”是否真正给她带来实惠时,这位善良的土族妇女差点儿“急”了,她风风火火地拉着我们的手,指着厨房锅灶上方的盛水器说:“你看,现在有了‘母亲水窖’,只要水龙头一拧,自来水就到锅里,还能多养几头猪,种上点蔬菜,发展庭院经济,你说方便不方便。”互助是我省一个农业大县,然而由于自然条件的限制,一辈辈山区人面朝黄土背朝天,在干枯得近乎龟裂的土地上刨食吃,日子过得艰难而苦涩。2001年9月初,在…     

Dreams and Conversions: A Comparative Analysis of Catholic and Buddhist Dreams in Ming and Qing China. Part Two

A database of holy dreams, assembled from Jesuit reports of the 17th century, forms the basis for qualitative and quantitative analyses, the results of which are compared with a second database of holy dreams drawn from Buddhist sources of the 17th and 18th centuries. The comparative analysis of religious images, doctrines, and the social history of dreams allows for some tentative observations on the psychology of Christian conversion and the sociology of Christian community formation in late Ming and early Qing China.     

Dreams and Conversions: A Comparative Analysis of Catholic and Buddhist Dreams in Ming and Qing China: Part I

Since the Church fathers, oneirology and dream revelations were regarded with considerable suspicion among theologians and ecclesiastical authorities, though dreams remained a powerful and pervasive feature of religious expression at a popular level. Among converts in Ming-Qing China, where lay initiatives were necessarily important given the paucity of European priests, holy dreams were crucial in the formation and consolidation of a powerful religious subculture. The following is a version of the keynote address delivered at the Fourth Biennial Meeting of the Religious History Society, in July 2004 in Newcastle, Australia.     

Asphalt Dreams: Road Construction and Environmental Citizenship in Peru

Peru today is one of the main staging grounds for a continent‐wide integration effort. Launched in 2000, the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA) calls for an enormous expansion of the continent's transport and energy networks and an effort to increase the region's economic competitiveness. Among its most controversial projects is the Interoceanic Highway linking western Brazil with the Pacific coast of Peru. The highway has attracted fierce criticism from NGOs who point to major environmental impacts, an inadequate mitigation process, and a lack of transparency in funding flows and decision making. In an effort to voice their concerns, these groups engage the idea of ‘environmental governance’ to increase public participation in the development process and promote ecological sustainability. This alternative framework in turn opens up space for ‘environmental citizenship’. This article takes a closer look at how Peruvian NGOs employ this idea and suggests that while the group's advocacy of governance has had success, the building of environmental citizenship will require a move beyond urban Peruvian NGOs as technical experts.