Special Days of Worship and National Religion in the Australian Colonies, 1790–c. 1914

Throughout the period between 1790 and 1914 the governments of the Australian colonies asked their populations to suspend work and amusements and join in collective acts of prayer. Australia’s special days of prayer have much historical significance and deserve more scholarly attention. They had an enduring popularity, and they were rare moments when a multi-faith and multi-ethnic community joined together to worship for a common cause. This article builds on recent work on state prayers in Britain by considering what the colonial tradition of special worship can tell us about community attachments in nineteenth-century Australia. ‘Fast days’ and ‘days of thanksgiving’ had both an imperial and a regional character. A small number of the Australian days were for imperial events (notably wars and royal occasions) that were observed on an empire-wide scale. The great majority, such as the numerous days of fasting and humiliation that were called during periods of drought, were for regional happenings and were appointed by colonial authorities. The article argues that the different types of prayer day map on to the various ways that contemporaries envisaged ‘Greater Britain’ and the ‘British world’. Prayer days for royal events helped the empire’s inhabitants to regard themselves as imperial Britons. Meanwhile, days appointed locally by colonial governments point to the strength of regional attachments. Colonists developed a sense that providence treated them differently from British communities elsewhere, and this sense of ‘national providence’ could underpin a sense of colonial difference—even a colonial nationalism. Days of prayer suggested that Greater Britain was a composite of separate communities and nationalities, but the regional feelings they encouraged could still sit comfortably with attachments to an imperial community defined by commonalities of race, religion and interest.     

殷墟龟腹甲新缀三则

本文新缀龟腹甲三则,并分别作了说明与考释。内容涉及商代农业、田猎、祭祀、丧葬等诸多方面,其中第二则缀合,更为历组卜辞时代提前说提供了强有力的支持。     

原始农耕信仰与祖先英雄崇拜的现代展演——湖南新晃侗族傩戏“咚咚推”调查

有"中国戏剧的活化石"之称的傩戏"咚咚推"保存了侗族先民遗留下来的多种傩戏剧目,向世人展现了侗族人民各种繁复有序和神秘有趣的习俗,是侗族先民原始农耕信仰的现代展演;"咚咚推"以盘古大王和飞山大王为傩神,除了在表演时对傩神举行各种请、迎、会、送的舞祭仪式外,演出的剧目也表现了作为移民后代的天井寨人为增强家族凝聚力而保持的祖先英雄崇拜。"咚咚推"作为天井寨人独有的一种戏剧形式,为研究南方民族在迁徙过程中的文化传承与文化交融提供了极为难得而生动的活动文本。     

清代及民国时期西藏地方的丹达神崇拜

本对丹达神崇拜的产生、发展、衰落过程作了考述。认为丹达神源于清乾隆十八年入藏的云南参军彭元辰殉职于丹达山。后这一崇拜为清朝倡导,遂向拉萨、成都及康藏交通线传播;至辛亥革命位于拉萨和成都的丹达神庙才逐渐废弃,而边坝的神庙香火一直持续到20世纪30年代中期。     

河西的水神崇拜意识

河西走廊自古土地肥沃、水草丰美 ,极具农牧之利。但由于气候等原因 ,干旱长期威胁着人的生存和农牧业的发展。人们渴盼水的滋润 ,把希望深深地寄托予水神。从河西人民许多讴歌水的作品以及一系列与水有关的河西地名 ,我们能够体味出河西人相当浓厚的水神崇拜意识     

A New Find of a European Pond Tortoise,Emys orbicularis (L.) from The Netherlands: Osteology and Taphonomy

A recent find of a European pond tortoise is presented in relation to former finds of Pleistocene and Holocene age from the Netherlands. The new find, with a ¹⁴C date of 5400±70 years BP, allows for a detailed study of the carapace, plastron and skeletal elements contained within the complete shell.     

Music in worship and recreation at Little Gidding in the time of the Ferrars

This paper investigates the use of music in worship and recreation at Little Gidding in the first half of the Seventeenth Century. The major focus is the relatively short period from the establishment of the Ferrar family in the Manor House at Little Gidding in 1626 until the death of Nicholas Ferrar in December 1637. Worship encompasses both the formal services in the churches at Little Gidding and Steeple Gidding, and the informal devotions of the Ferrar family in the Manor House. Recreation is conceived broadly, to embrace both the proceedings of the Little Academy and the “night watches”. In each case, religion and piety are central to the activities. The study begins by investigating the Ferrars’ musical education and competence; it then moves on to music in worship, followed by music in recreation. A section on the organs at Little Gidding and their possible fate is followed by conclusions.     

Feeding the Mountains: Sacred Landscapes,Mountain Worship,and Sacrifice in the Maya and Inca Worlds

Three texts reviewed here address the linkages between religion and mountainous landscapes in the Maya and Inca realms. Bassie-Sweet provides a thorough analysis of the Maya mythologies of creation and situates its players and concepts within the real world. Besom thoughtfully tackles the place of mountains and child sacrifice within the Andes with a focus on the late prehispanic Inca. Reinhard and Constanza offer a detailed and richly illustrated case study of state-sponsored child sacrifice on a mountaintop in the south of the Inca Empire. Taken together, these somewhat disparate books produce several fascinating parallels in the sacred geographies of mountains and the offerings made to them.     

试论中国史前玉器寓意性功能的演变

在中国古玉发展的历程中,史前是一个极为重要的时期,正是从这一时期开始了几千年来中国古玉与人们思想意识相结合的历史,也就是在中国玉器发展史上从自然美过渡到寓意美的阶段.从目前的考古资料来看,史前古玉在同一时期有其发展的统一性,以及不同时期上发展的连续性.也就是说,在同一时期,虽然非理性的表达方式各有不同,玉器里所积淀的社会观念和意识即理性的内容却是基本一致的.据此,史前玉器寓意性功能的发展可以分为三个阶段：史前玉器寓意性功能发展的滥觞期、玉神灵崇拜寓意性功能阶段、玉“神人”崇拜寓意美阶段.     

红山文化"坛、庙、冢"与中国古代宗庙、陵寝的起源

牛河梁“坛、庙、冢”遗址是 5 0 0 0年前出现的一处具有原始王陵和祭祖庙性质的崇祖中心。它的出现表明当时在一个相当广阔的地域范围内 ,建立于公共意志之上的统一宗教神权和族权已经产生。当时的社会统治者所以不惜耗费巨大的人力、物力支出来营建如此规模的礼仪中心 ,其目的无非是借助传统的崇祖习俗 ,通过祭祀近祖和“怀远尊先”等种种形式 ,把原始的氏族、部落心理升华为统一的、新的社会意识 ,从而达到团结部民 ,稳定社会的目的。所以 ,崇祖的实质 ,乃在于尊崇现实社会的当权者 ,这种人物 ,就是后世的王。