流散欧美的良渚古玉

20世纪初,中国古物大量流散欧美,价格高、易携带的古玉尤为大宗。笔者于1979年-1980年曾旅行探访20余所博物馆,在各馆库房仔细研究玉器。到1990年代,再多次前往重要的馆藏从事专题研究。"良渚玉器上的刻画符号"就是当时我密切关注的专题之一。在本篇中,笔者除回顾百余年流散欧美的良渚古玉收藏及出版情况,介绍四件圆周有刻符的良渚玉璧外,也略论约16至20世纪仿赝良渚古玉的特征。     

Democratisation and the British Empire

ABSTRACT

This article responds to the statistically established finding in democratisation studies that British rule seems to have been good for the survival of democracy in its former empire, and that the longer a nation spent under British rule, the likelier it is to have sustained democracy since independence. This is a finding which puzzles political scientists because they think of democracy and empire as opposites. The article considers the uses made of democratic innovation by the British and the responses anti-colonial nationalists made to the offer to ‘lead them to democracy’. It places democracy and empire in a different, more complex relationship. It also considers the contribution of anti-colonial protest to the working of democracy.