Political Culture in the Holy Roman Empire

This article reviews six essay collections and one monographon late medieval and early modern political culture in the HolyRoman Empire. Following a general survey of historiographicaltrends and a discussion of the specific contributions of theworks under review (covering topics from international relations,state formation and the role of language to representative assembliesand the exercise of power in towns and villages), it attemptsa preliminary sketch of the basic parameters of pre-modern politics.Prominent insights include shifts in the balance between oral,ritual and written communication, the significance of informalbonds and the negotiated quality of developments at all levelsof government. The conclusion assesses the potential of the‘new’ political history and calls for renewed effortsto link discourses, representations and perceptions to the norms,structures and socio-economic conditions with which they interacted.     

Predicament and responses: Discussions of history education in early modern China

ABSTRACT

Since the early modern era, following the abolishment of the imperial civil service exam and the rise of modern schools, the subject of history was included in education at all levels, from primary to tertiary. However, in comparison with traditional society, the degree of attention devoted to historical knowledge has in fact declined rather than improved. In the 1920s, many contemporaries vocally criticized and pondered the low level of historical knowledge among primary and secondary school students, and occasionally voiced dissatisfaction with history education at the university level as well. Critics primarily focused their discussions on the insufficient attention for history classes, imperfect standards formulated for history classes, poor history teaching materials, and lack of qualified, specialized teachers, forming a universal consensus among contemporaries on the failure of history education. However, the widespread opprobrium attached to history education was closely tied to two facts: first, the historians of early modern China had as yet failed to compile a general history of China acceptable to the majority, greatly disappointing many educators; second, historical resources failed to exercise the mobilizing effect on early modern Chinese society that contemporaries had hoped for, and history thus often became the scapegoat paying the price for practical setbacks and failures in the political arena.     

Reading back from Experimental Painting

ABSTRACT

My book, Experimental Painting (1970), was the product of a decade of coming to terms with the history of modern art and with contemporary manifestations of the avantgarde. While at Cambridge from 1960 to 1967, I published art criticism, initially in locally published magazines, and then went on to review art exhibitions both nationally and internationally. This led to being co-editor of Form, which produced further opportunities. The term ‘experimental’ that I adopted in 1970 was intended to suggest the paradigm of scientific discovery which suited some, if not all, of the artists I studied. This article considers concepts directly imported from contemporary scientific enquiry that seemed relevant to me at the time, notably those from experimental psychology, psychoanalysis and structural linguistics. I relate them to the character of intellectual life at Cambridge in a period which saw much debate about the relationship between Sciences and Humanities as ‘Two Cultures’.     

Policing paternity: historicising masculinity and sexuality in early-modern France

In early-modern working communities, masculinity for young lower-rank men was embedded in particular performances and practices of licit intimacy. This essay analyses the specific expectations and parameters for men as well as women through which communities acknowledged and validated expressions of youth sexuality while marking and policing boundaries beyond which youthful courtship could become threatening to household and neighbourhood stability. Young men and women were the focus of these efforts just as they themselves participated in the assessment of appropriate behaviour. These issues suggest an on-going negotiation and contestation about what was appropriate for single men and women in terms of intimacy, and a clear sense that a violation of the community norms carried consequences for men as well as women.     

近代中美畜牧兽医科技交流与合作探析

近代以来,农科留美学生引进了美国先进的畜牧兽医科技,促进了我国的畜牧兽医科技近代化进程。中美两国畜牧科技的交流与合作,表现在引进了优良畜禽品种并对国内的畜禽品种进行改良;引进并发展了近代家畜繁殖技术和畜禽饲养管理技术;从发展畜牧业的角度对草原和草地进行调查研究,对牧草进行栽培、选育、贮藏试验,从而揭开了中国近代牧草科技发展的序幕。中美两国兽医科技的交流与合作,则主要侧重于西兽医技术的引进与发展,其主要内容包括动物检疫事业的创建及发展、畜禽传染病的防治与研究等。     

近代苏南渔民贫困原因探究

随着苏南社会近代化进程的加快,苏南渔民生活水平却并未有任何提高,甚至比封建社会时期还要贫困。造成这种状况的原因有很多,其中,渔民渔业权的丧失,封建势力的盘剥,外来势力的掠夺和进行水产品倾销以及市场失灵等是主要原因。探究近代苏南渔民贫困的社会根源,对于如何改善弱势群体的民生或有一些启发。     

近代广州医院时空分布研究

广州近代医院,历经百余年的发展,呈现为初生、迅速、衰落和恢复四个发展阶段,形成以老城为核心区向周围墨渍式递减、五大优势地段呈面状、城外西关和东关呈点散状的选址空间格局。不同类型医院的生长、选址亦具有清晰的时空界线。这种时空分布特征是多种机制因素综合作用的结果。近代医院的生长和配置,使广州居民医疗生态大为改观,但总量供应不足、空间配置不合理等缺陷亦非常明显。     

Dating the Domestic Ceramics and Pipe Smoking Related Artifacts from Casselden Place, Melbourne, Australia

This paper compares the dates of manufacture obtained for the domestic ceramic and pipe smoking related artifact assemblages from Casselden Place, Melbourne. It has previously been argued that ceramic items, because of their potentially long use-lives, may be deposited many years after their date of manufacture and purchase. This is in contrast to pipe smoking related items, which tend to have very short use-lives. However, the results presented here demonstrate that there is no significant evidence for a time lag between the date of manufacture of the ceramic items and their incorporation into the archaeological record at Casselden Place.