‘Caught’ between foreign cultural and development policies: perspectives of German Studies and German as a foreign language in Africa

The promotion of the German language abroad and of German Studies plays a central role in German Foreign Cultural Policy. With regard to Sub-Saharan Africa, otherwise a peripheral region for foreign policy, German as foreign language is firmly established as second language after English. Learners especially in Francophone West and Central Africa have increased over the past decade. Numerous funding programmes and actions are supported by German nongovernmental organizations at college/university levels. But bilateral cooperation between German and African academic institutions are challenged both by negative perceptions of the ‘Global South’ among Western colleagues and by an infrastructure adverse to research and to career development in most African countries. Additionally, North/South relations are traditionally seen in terms of (under-)development by German institutions, effecting cooperation. The paper develops a differentiated picture of African Studies in Africa, and outlines benefits that can be attained through collaboration ‘at eye-level’.     

The two starting points of World War II: a reexamination from a global perspective

Although the factual chronology of World War II is not in dispute, how to best make sense of these facts and how to objectively evaluate that history have always been limited by political circumstances and personal biases. Viewing WWII seven decades later, we need to move away from Eurocentrism and to stop seeing the war from the prism of a European war or Pacific war. The entire history of WWII, from beginning to end, including its several phases characterized by fermentation, outbreak, climax, and conclusion, is extremely complex. This paper argues that the war has two origins or starting points because it resulted from disparate prewar conditions in Europe and Asia. Viewed from this perspective, the strategic importance of the China Theater in WWII and the enormous sacrifices and contributions the Chinese people made to the victory over Fascism and for world peace ought to be given due credit.     

生命的畸形博弈:清代命案中的顶凶现象新考

与历代诸多代人受刑的案件相比,清代命案中的顶凶案件有其自身的特点。顶凶案发生的原因和情节错综复杂,成为一种危害深重的畸形社会现象。发生时间表现为乾隆以降,数量逐渐增多;发生区域以福建、广东地区的械斗顶凶案件最为典型;立法过程表现为例文与司法的相互调适并趋向宽纵。从一手史料出发,对顶凶案件背后的生成机制和司法实践进行探寻和考证,可以在一定程度上揭示清代社会民众的政治生态、文化心理和价值取向,透视出官方与民间的互动实态。     

The Treaty of Peace with Japan and the Korean truce negotiations

The outbreak of the Korean War caused the U.S.A. to become determined in excluding the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from the Treaty of Peace with Japan, the signing of which is hoped to be hastened by winning the Korean War. Before the signing of the treaty, the U.S.A. intentionally delayed the Korean truce negotiations in order to prevent the PRC from attending the San Francisco Peace Conference. After the signing, the U.S.A. preferred an immediate cessation of hostilities in Korea, whereas the Soviet Union and the PRC, bogged down in the Far East by the terms of the treaty, were determined to take a hard-line stance, hoping that the U.S.A. would become tied down and drained on the Korean battlefield. Thus, there was a subtle relationship between the treaty and the negotiations in the context of the Cold War. Translated by Chen Dan from Shixue Jikan 史学集刊 (Collected Papers of History Studies) 2006, (1): 66–75     

民居中的奇迹——福建的土楼

土楼是福建西南部以永定为中心的客家人的民居。这种民居非常特殊,有方形、园形。多为四层,中间为庭院。居民多属同族、同宗、同姓。它是北方因战乱而南迁的移民带来的。在东汉以后。北方战乱,大姓士绅多聚居建成坞壁,作为保护自己。客家人南迁到福建西南,在少数民族与荒野之中,也采取这种形式建筑以适应防守需要。永居的土楼在当地环境亦有发展,特别是园形土楼,形成独特形式。由于客家人聚族迁移此地,土楼既适应其特殊环境,而且也进一步促进了客家人以耕读为中心的强大内聚力的文化的发展。因此,土楼既是客家文化的一种外在景观,又是其文化内涵的外在条件。     

浙北土墩墓遥感考古研究

环太湖地区包括浙北地区是我国长江流域重要的古文化遗存分布区,仅浙北地区的土墩墓就有上万个。近四年来的遥感考古工作,已获得不少关于土墩墓的影象特征和土墩墓分布规律等的研究成果。航空遥感照片上的土墩墓的影象大小、色调、灰度、形态等是土墩墓解译的基本依据;同时影象所在的地貌部位,海拔高度是土墩墓解译的重要参考依据。浙北土墩墓主要集中在长兴和安吉两县,湖州市郊的西部也有较多分布,而德清和余杭土墩墓较少。浙北土墩墓的分布类型有山脊型、山麓型和平原高地型;浙北土墩墓就形态而言,有卵圆形、圆形;面积也有大中小之分,大者底径可达50余米,小者仅3-5米;另外就土墩墓的组合而言,有串珠型、集群型和离散型。土墩墓集中分布在海拔50-200米的丘陵缓坡上,海拔略高的平原岗地上也有较多分布,这种分布特征与古地理环境是有联系的,从一个侧面反映了古地理环境特征。     

试论龙山文化时代的人殉和人祭

龙山文化时期是中国从原始社会向阶级社会过渡的重要时代,生产力的飞跃发展带来了社会制度、生产关系的深刻变化。本文通过对龙山文化时代的人殉人祭遗存的考察,以探讨龙山文化时代的社会性质。     

试论元朝宗教状况与道释画之嬗变

在元代短短几十年中,道教经历了一个大盛大衰的过程,中土本有的佛教也为藏传佛教所压制,中国画在这一时期则体现出比以往更多的文人气质。本文叙述了元代的宗教状况与宗教政策的关系,以及道释画在这一背景下所呈现出的不同面貌。     

河南南阳市一中新校址汉墓发掘简报

20 0 1年 2月～ 10月 ,南阳市文物考古研究所在市一中新校址发掘古墓葬 4 4 7座 ,出土了大量随葬器物。其中在M 3 6中出土两件泥质灰陶虎座钫壶 ,为古代陶塑艺术佳作 ,系豫西南地区首次发现。