Challenging the grammar of difference: Benoy Kumar Sarkar,global mobility and anti-imperialism around the First World War

The new imperial history has advanced our understanding of empires in many ways: it enhanced a networked interpretation of empires, brought space back into the discussion, and suggested a fresh reading of imperial careers to comprehend early forms of global inter-dependencies. This article discusses selected aspects of the life and work of Benoy Kumar Sarkar (1887–1949), a Bengali social scientist and political activist, to illustrate that anti-imperial biographies were simultaneously rooted in local as well as transnational spaces. They thus connected national struggles with globe-spanning processes. Biographies like this are underacknowledged in their meaning for how empires functioned and failed, and in their potential for understanding transnational actors. Sarkar’s efforts to challenge the legitimacy of the British Empire were the result of his life in a transnational social field, which was equally shaped by his extensive experience abroad and his continuous rootedness in local Bengali affairs. Sarkar’s anti-imperialism was enhanced by the mobility structures of the British Empire and resulted in new constellations of imperial, cosmopolitan, local and regional orientations and attachments. In this view, anti-imperialism was less the result of local struggles but of life practices reaching beyond the borders of the empire and a high awareness of acting in a global context that located its protagonists in numerous social and spatial contexts.     

Written Differently: A Survey of Commonwealth Constitutional History in the Age of Decolonisation

ABSTRACT

This article provides a survey and definition of the field of Commonwealth constitutional history since 1918, especially during and after global decolonisation. It asks what is Commonwealth constitutional history and how it differs from its English and Imperial counterparts. The article puts forward a working definition of Commonwealth constitutional history and introduces key and diverse writers who illustrate the range and potential of this history. The article provides an historiography and survey of constitutional history in the Pre-Commonwealth and Post-war Commonwealth periods while also assessing the opportunities of Post-British Commonwealth constitutional history. The objective of this article is to show how Commonwealth constitutional history can contribute to the historical study of state power and to see its worth to other disciplines and fields of history. Commonwealth constitutional history is a necessity to examine the politics, power and consequences of the British empire during the long age of decolonisation.     

唐代诏敕的用典艺术简

唐代诏敕即唐朝皇帝的圣旨。宣谕天子之命、教化臣民的政治功用性。以及草诏者高超的文章技巧,赋予了唐代诏敕高雅华丽的主体风貌,纯熟的用典艺术是它突出的文学特征之一。用典美化了唐代诏敕的文章形式：使其语辞华丽,对仗严整,切合声律;使其援古证今,言之有据;使其减少了冗词赘句,以微言传达出深意。对唐代诏敕用典艺术的考察,是一项有意义的文学研究活动。     

Continuity and transformation: the institutions of the Beijing government, 1912–1928

The period of the Beijing government of Republican China (1912–1928) occurred after the 1911 Revolution that toppled the imperial system and before the rule of the Nanjing Nationalist government. For modern China, it was an era of frequent trial and error in implementing political systems, as well as a significant phase of institutional transition following the New Policy reforms of the late Qing. Many twists and turns during this period of historical evolution stemmed from problems of the late Qing political reform. The three major issues occurring during the 1912–1928 era, namely the legitimacy of the government, the relationship between its legislative and executive branches, and the relationship between the central government and the provinces, were all dominated by the profound influence of traditional Chinese political and cultural frameworks. All of this made the 1912–1928 era more complicated than the late Qing period, increased the difference between one stage of institutional change and another, and accelerated the change in political systems while also broadening the choices available. Therefore, we should not only focus on the complex contention among all parties, but also acquire a deeper understanding of the limits imposed upon institutional renovation by tradition and circumstances through examination of the institutional adaptations behind the chaotic partisan politics.     

有关宋人笔记中唐五代科学史料的几个问题

宋人笔记中许多有关唐五代的科举史料,这些史料是如何采择而来的？有什么特点？有什么价值？笔者从文献学角度进行了研究,认为这些史料主要来源于唐五代人旧籍和“父史师友相与谈说”,金石碑刻等;其特点是兼有辨证考据,考镜源流,借古喻今;具有纠正史之误,补正史之阙等价值。     

宋都开封城内的东部与西部

宋都开封分为数厢,每厢各有特点。位于内城东部的二厢,作为商业中心首先繁荣起来,而西部尤其是面向西华门一厢的编户人口极少,主要是因为此处驻扎有许多禁军军营。由于在开封城内东部商业建筑物居多,而西部的禁军军营所占面积比例最大,故造成开封城内东部和西部城市景观上的巨大差异。     

黑水靺鞨史论

黑水靺鞨为靺鞨族七大部之一,南北朝至隋唐时期居于今黑龙江中下游地区,分成十六个部落。自隋初至唐开元年间,是靺鞨民族发展史上分化、瓦解比较激烈的时期。比较而言,在靺鞨诸部中黑水靺鞨的力量比较强大。同粟末靺鞨一样,黑水与中央王朝的交往也十分密切。研究黑水靺鞨,有助于我们全面认识靺鞨民族的发展演变史;同时,亦是东北民族史研究领域里的一个重要课题。     

光绪大婚全纪录：《大婚典礼红档》

在清宫里,最喜庆热闹、最复杂隆重、最奢侈浪费的活动即是皇帝的大婚典礼,但不是每位皇帝都有幸在紫禁城里举办婚礼,只有幼年登极的顺治、康熙、同治、光绪四位皇帝,真正举行了大婚礼迎娶皇后。本文依据中国第一历史档案馆所藏《大婚典礼红档》,简要介绍光绪帝大婚典礼的全过程。     

明代山西藩府的人口增长与数量统计

山西地区不仅是明朝初年分封宗室相对集中的区域,而且人口增长速度惊人,最迟到嘉靖、隆庆年间,山西藩府已发展成为明朝境内数量最为庞大的宗室人口集团之一。作为寄生性的特权集团,明朝藩府人口的估算须区分为狭义与广义两种,《玉牒》所记的宗室人口数量应该视为户数,而不是口数。时至明末,狭义的山西藩府人口数已超过20万。     

本望文字达,今因文字穷——唐代落第诗中落第举子的经济生活

唐代落第诗作为研究落第士人的重要资料,史学界一直利用不足。本文旨在挖掘落第诗在经济史方面的史料价值,通过与其他文献对比,客观评价唐朝落第举子的经济状况。