King Bhumibol: The Symbolic “Father of Water Resources Management” and Hydraulic Development Discourse in Thailand

The present Thai monarch’s reputation in matters hydrological is an integral element of the mythology and symbolism that have characterised his reign. Royalists have carefully constructed the king as a semi-deified “Father of Thai Water Management”, “Royal Rainmaker”, wise inventor of hydraulic technology and planner of “royal initiatives” over a period of six decades. Yet, despite the links that are often drawn between water resources control, spiritual cosmology and political governance surrounding pre-modern Southeast Asian rulers, there has been surprisingly little critical scholarship undertaken on this contemporary aspect of kingship and state-making in Thailand. This paper examines the evolving discourse surrounding the monarchy and hydraulic development as a response to a perceived neglect regarding the central role of water in cementing the king’s power and legitimacy. It argues that King Bhumibol’s apparent hegemony in the national water resources governance paradigm has been an essential element underpinning the longevity and authority of his reign, partly facilitated through the workings of a network of allied strategic interests. Drawing from a range of sources, this paper makes a cautious start in addressing the subject and attempts to open up a space for further critical reflection and discussion regarding the significance of water resources control to Thailand’s royal statecraft.     

珍秦斋藏秦铜器铭文选释

澳门萧春源珍秦斋藏秦有铭青铜器有簋、鼎、盘、盉、(?)、壶、权及多件兵器。其铭文涉及秦的政治、军事、历史、文化,极为重要。本文选取其中10件铜器铭文进行考释,认为:十四年口平匽氏戟作于秦惠文王后元十四年(前311年),器主即四川青川县出土木牍所见的“内史匽”,时任上郡守;二十一年相邦冉戈作于昭襄王二十一年(前286年);三十年诏事戈时代有昭襄王三十年(前277年)及始皇三十年(前217年)两种可能性,而以前者的可能性为大;三十二年相邦冉戈作于昭襄王三十二年(前275年),该戈内上套一件鸟柲冒(帽),应是赵惠文王二十三年(前276年)赵国器物,秦人缴获后继续使用,西安市文物保护考古研究所藏同铭乌柲冒原称鸠杖首,不确;元年上郡假守暨戈作于庄襄王元年(前249年),暨即与白起同时之秦名将王龁;口年相邦吕不韦戈作于秦王政元年至六年间;三件“少府”弋铭文, 则讨论秦宫庭机构少府的职能;咸阳壶铭文讨论了秦的度量衡制度、器物命名及编号习惯。     

“夜郎王印”刍论

夜郎王印与滇王印同是西汉＂郡县与封国并行＂制度的产物,但对西汉王朝而言,两枚王印颁赐的政治考虑是有区别的。在夜郎问题研究中,夜郎王印的重要性,在于它是还原夜郎古国历史必不可少的条件,有助于判定古夜郎的中心区域、夜郎国首府、传承世系、历代夜郎统治者的墓地位置等,在开发利用文化资源热潮中,＂夜郎＂成为一块炙手可热的文化品牌,出现了民间屡屡发现夜郎王印的现象。要判定某些民间发现的夜郎王印的真伪,首先必须对汉代赐边方国印授的形制、质地、印文格式等有所分析。夜郎与滇同于西汉武帝时获赐王印,因而,滇王印应是夜郎王印的很好参照。破解夜郎王印之谜的途径,是以严谨的学风、科学的精神、持之以恒的态度去寻求答案。     

平顶山市西高皇鱼塘捞出的一批应国铜器

2000年9月,河南省平顶山市新华区西高皇一鱼塘内打捞出一批青铜器,共有5种12件,即鼎5件、盨4件、盘1件、匜1件、车辖1件。其中1件铜鼎和2件铜上铸有铭文,应为西周中晚期应侯见工墓被盗之物。     

珍秦斋藏王二十三年秦戈考

澳门萧春源珍秦斋藏青铜戈一件,戈援细长上翘,中长胡三穿,内上有刻铭2行14字。铭“王二十三年”指秦昭襄王二十三年(前284年);“家丞”为魏冉封邑陶之丞,也是器物的监造者。本文据此戈及十四年、二十年相邦冉戈、二十六年丞相戈等相关秦兵器讨论魏冉五任相邦的情况,昭襄王时期秦戈形制及战国晚期秦的工官制度。     

梁惠王"后元"年数考

梁惠王改元为“后元”是他政治生涯中的大事。“后元”之年的确定对于根据古本《纪年》来订正战国后期纪年是一重要的标尺。由于文献记载与后人引《纪年》之说的差异,所以在“后元”年数的确定期上尚有歧异之处,我们通过对史料的辨析可以看出,梁惠王“后元”应是从他在位的第三十六年开始的。梁惠王“后元”一共十七年,其年代是公元前334年至公元前318年。     

好太王碑一千五百九十年祭

好太王碑是高句丽第十九代王广开土境平安好太王的墓碑。414年立于国内城（今吉林省集安市）东郊,至2004年11月正好建立五千五百九十年。过去曾对其保护与研究进行过总结。十年来（1994-2004）,好太王碑的保护与研究出现了一些新交化,中国学者出版了几部著作,发表了一批论文,特别是吉林省考古研究所方起东研究员推出的新释文,中国社会科学院徐建新研究员对于北京地区好太王碑拓本的发现研究,是这一时期好太王碑研究的重要成果。     

《四库全书》乾隆谕旨平议（续）

本文认为《四库全书总目·卷首》乾隆二十五道谕旨是编纂《四库全书》的指导思想和总纲。因此,对这二十五道谕旨进行一番剖析,可知其编纂《四库全书》的基本目的是始终不脱离其宣杨封建思想、文化,维护封建统治这一宗旨,并因此而使许多典籍惨遭厄运。同时又在客观上使中国文化典籍得到了保存和流传。中肯地评价二十五道谕旨,能了解其某些文化政策和书籍编纂思想,有助于对其思想研究的进一步深入。     

Rebuffing Royals? Afrikaners and the Royal Visit to South Africa in 1947

This article traces the responses of Afrikaners to the symbolism and political purposes of the 1947 royal visit to Southern Africa, the first post-war royal tour and the first visit of a reigning sovereign to the Union of South Africa. Taking place in the aftermath of a war that had caused bitter political divisions within Afrikaner ranks and stimulated radical populist nationalism, a royal tour intended to express the crown's gratitude for South Africa's participation in that war was bound to be contentious. Drawing on press accounts, biographies, autobiographies and archival sources, this article argues that the layered reactions of Afrikaners demonstrate that, even on the eve of the National Party's electoral victory on a republican and apartheid platform, attitudes towards monarchy and the British connection were more fluid and ambiguous than either contemporary propaganda or recent accounts have allowed. The diverse meanings attributed to this iconic royal tour reveal a process of intense contestation and reflection about South Africa's place in an empire that was in the throes of post-war redefinition and transformation, and confirm recent characterisations of the 1940s as one of manifold possibilities such that outcomes, like the electoral victory of the National Party in the following year, was far from predetermined.     

The “Metal Army” of Alexander in the War against the Indian King Porus in Three Persian Alexander Books (Tenth‒Fourteenth Centuries)

The article focuses on a very particular episode of the eastern Alexander legend, i.e. the building of an extraordinary “metal army” employed by Alexander in his war against the Indian King Porus, which is present in at least three Persian accounts written between the tenth and fourteenth centuries CE: the “Book of Kings” (Shāh-nāmeh) by Ferdowsi, the “Book of Dārāb” (Dārāb-nāmeh), attributed to Tarsusi, and an “Alexander-book” (Eskandar-nāmeh) in prose copied by ?Abd al-Kāfi ibn Abu al-Barakāt. Compared to the most remote source, the text of Pseudo-Callisthenes, and to the closest ones (the Armenian version of the fifth century, the Syriac text of the sixth?seventh centuries, and the Hebrew version of the tenth?eleventh centuries), it is argued that the Persian authors have not passively received the inherited materials; on the contrary, they have been able to liven up the scene of Alexander’s battle against the Indian King Porus by bringing onto the battlefield a fiery and phantasmagorical army of metal, giving us one of the more amazing episodes in the eastern legend of the great Macedonian.