On Skin and Bone: Samoan Coconut Oil in Indigenous Practice

ABSTRACT

International promotional material on coconut oil commonly references its centuries of use as a beauty and health aid by Pacific Islanders. However, this gesture towards Indigenous Pacific use of coconut oil is rarely accompanied by substantive information. This paper explores the topical application of coconut oil in three Indigenous Samoan practices: fofō, or massage by taulāsea and other forms of customary healers or medical attendants; samaga, the anointing with coconut oil of the newly inked pe‘a or malu to mark the completion of these customary tattoos; and liutofaga, the ritual ‘washing’ of the bones of a deceased relative with coconut oil prior to reinterment. This paper argues that there are interrelated practical, medicinal, and spiritual dimensions to Samoan uses of coconut oil, and that these are usefully understood through reference to Samoan conceptions of sociospatial relationship, or vā.     

Reinhold Niebuhr and Richard John Neuhaus on Religion and Democracy in the United States

Abstract

Richard John Neuhaus, like Reinhold Niebuhr before him, understood the vital civic role that religion plays in democratic society. As pastors and public intellectuals, both men were committed to public or civil forms of religion that, at their best, could inform, inspire, or chasten American political thought and action. There are crucial differences, nevertheless–between Niebhur’s and Neuhaus’s historical contexts, theological outlooks, political positions, and attitudes toward the American project–that help to explain their distinctive legacies and different receptions within the academy. However much Neuhaus admired Niebuhr, these differences suggest why Neuhaus was not the Reinhold Niebuhr of his day.     

敦煌写卷《诸杂推五姓阴阳等宅图经》之"五姓"校议

本文对敦煌写卷《诸杂推五姓阴阳等宅图经》中涉及“五姓”分类的两个写卷,即P．2615a、P．2632v中出现的“五姓”作了校勘;并在茅甘和陈于柱先生录文的基础上,对部分有疑义的姓氏作了考释。     

Who Owns the Victorians?

In contrast to Peter K. Andersson, Steinbach argues that there is a great deal of scholarly work on working-class Victorians and that the works of Norbert Elias and Michel Foucault are not particularly influential. She argues, first, that ‘middle class’ and ‘respectability’ are terms more useful to Victorian Studies than Andersson’s ‘bourgeoisie’ and ‘civilized’; second, that interdisciplinarity is too difficult to achieve and maintain, both on the individual and the institutional levels. She concludes by proposing that Victorian Studies instead commit to a multidisciplinary model.     

美国华人争取公立教育平权第一案:泰普诉赫尔利案之背景、过程与意义

论文梳理了美国华人争取教育平权第一案——泰普诉赫尔利案的产生背景、审理过程、后续发展及影响。虽然泰普胜诉后,受到旧金山教育行政当局的极力阻挠,仍未能进入白人公立学校,但泰普案改变了华人消极维权的刻板印象,激励华人教育平权斗争的策略向法律诉讼转变,敦促美国设立第一所持久性的华人公立小学,提高了旧金山华人儿童的入学率。泰普案的发生距今已逾百年,在这百余年间,美国华人群体的公共形象经历了巨大转变,他们对教育公平的追求和探索从未停歇,华人为争取平权所做出的努力不应被忽视。     

Über die Aufhänge- und Anzeigevorrichtung der ägyptischen Waage der Pharaonenzeit

A number of different and partly contradictory interpretations about the suspension and the indicator system of the ancient Egyptian balance has been given so far. In this article previous explanations of these devices are presented and critically considered; at the same time the balance of the Egyptians is included in the complete evolution of this instrument. Based on original Egyptian colour drawings on papyrus taken from the Book of the Death and considering weighing techniques, it is stated that all interpretations given so far are not capable of providing a satisfactory explanation of the function of these devices. The interpretation given already in 1888 by Sir Flinders Petrie comes closest to the real function of the indicator system: According to his assumption the device consisted of a solid pointer attached to the beam, in relation to which a plumbline was observed after the oscillations had stopped. This interpretation, however, has to be varied or to be complemented by taking into consideration the special drawing technique of the ancient Egyptians: Processes were drawn in a reproduction technique which consisted in the simultaneous combination of a top view and a side view. A new hypotheses about the function of the suspension and the indicator system of the ancient Egyptian balance is presented, which has the advantage of agreeing completely with the Egyptian drawing technique and which, in addition, ensures optimum precision of the weighing procedure.