武王伐纣与上古天文学

恩格斯曾指出,天文学是人类最早发生的科学。中国也不例外。本文要讲的是中国天文学的最早的精确史料—《国语·周语》的一段文字。它足以证明,周武王的史官们已经具备基本的科学素养,其知识体系足够称为科学。为了帮助不熟悉中国古天文的读者、特别是海外出生的年轻人理解本文,先要讲一点有关的基础知识:阴阳合历规则和岁差原理。现在全世界华人仍以夏历与公历并用,春节是夏历的元旦。夏历不是夏代的历法。考古学的夏代是龙山文化或二里头文化,还没有文字。夏历是东周初期晋人之作,晋为夏墟,故称“夏历”。夏历与中原其他古历的共同点是阴…     

藏族英雄史诗《格萨尔王传》

藏族是一个具有悠久历史和古老文明的民族，青藏高原是藏族人生于斯、长于斯的故土。千百年来，藏族人民创造了风格独特的高原文化，并世代传承，推陈出新。其中为广大人民群众所创造、发展和光大的民间文化，是历史悠久、丰富灿烂的民族文化中最可宝贵的部分。在藏族民间文化的宝库中，珍藏着一颗足以与世界文化精品相媲美的瑰宝，这就是藏族人民集体智慧的结晶——长篇英雄史诗《格萨尔王传》。     

“夜郎王印”还是“道教法印”:贵州镇宁铜印的考辨

一枚普通的青铜印章,经各种媒体几年来的宣传而引起社会的广泛关注。围绕贵州镇宁"夜郎王印"的话题,引发的一场文化品牌的争夺,并继续上演着大剧,甚至有对簿公堂的倾向。它究竟是一枚什么印,本文将详细加以分析,以求还原真实的历史。     

大禹神话与孙悟空形象

吴承恩有《禹鼎志序》云：余幼年即好奇闻，在童子社学时．每偷市野言稗史．惧为父师呵夺，私求隐处读之。比长好益甚，闻益奇。适于既壮．旁求曲致，几贮满胸中央。尝爱唐人如牛奇章．段柯古辈所著传记，     

福建土楼之王:华安二宜楼

福建土楼，在很多人的印象中是客家人发明的一种独一无二的建筑模式，殊不知在闽南人居住的传统区域，如漳州的漳浦、华安、云霄、漳平等县境内，也都可见到这类由泥土版筑成的夯土建筑。其中，有“土楼之王”美誉的华安二宜楼便是闽南土楼中极具代表性的一幢，     

Dressing for Succession in Norman Italy: The Mantle of King Roger II

The subject of this article is the mantle of the kings of Sicily, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Made in Palermo in the 1130s, it is often known as the mantle of Roger II. Following his coronation in 1130, King Roger II saw the need to ensure the succession of his sons. As part of his strategy to consolidate dynastic succession, Roger invested his sons with important titles in the mainland regions of the kingdom. This article has two parts: the first discusses the materials used to make the mantle, the journeys they took to reach Sicily and the diplomatic and commercial relationships necessary to acquire them. The second part argues that the mantle may have been made for the investiture ceremonies of the king’s sons and examines how the materials and their exoticism shaped the ceremonial meaning of the garment.     

商汤在郑州筑城建都的原因追踪

郑州商城自1955年发现至今已50多年了。经过半个世纪的考古发掘证明,郑州商城建筑规模之宏大、规划布局之严整、文化内涵之丰富,堪称同时期世界文明都城之最。诚如李民先生所说:"郑州商城不仅在郑州的发展史上具有里程碑意义,即使在中国古代史乃至世界历史的城市发展史上也具有重要意义。"(李民:《略论郑州商代前期都城的历史地位》,《郑州商都3600年学术论文集》,中州古籍出版社,2004年版)     

闽王故里与固始临泉王氏

闽王王审知，唐代光州固始县人，唐末天下乱，王审知与史王潮、王审带领万众，于光启元年（885年）入闽，其中五千人为固始县籍民。     

Penance or pornography? The Exile of King Roderick in Pedro de Corral's Crónica sarracina

Spain's earliest historical novel, the Crónica sarracina (c.1430) by Pedro de Corral, marks an important moment in the history of the reception of the legend of Roderick, the eighth-century Visigothic king whose passion for La Cava was blamed for the Muslim invasion of Spain in 711. Corral reformulated the old story, adding a significant new element, Roderick's penitential exile, in a compelling version which inspired many later European re-creations of the legend. This discussion of the innovative presentation of La Cava and of the nature of Roderick's penance, during which he is tempted by a she-devil and finally succumbs to a snake which devours his genitals, will unravel the ambiguities of what purports to be a Christian morality tale, destabilised by a punishment whose expression verges on the pornographic. The essay will also examine the extent to which fiction and fantasy override history in order to explore issues of cultural and historical relevance to fifteenth-century Spain.     

Ways of Seeing: The First Medieval Islamic and Christian Depictions of Roderick,Last Visigothic King of Spain

In the early eighth-century palace of Qu.(s)ayr ‘Amra in Syria, an image survives of Roderick, last Visigothic king of Spain, whose passionate love affair with the beautiful La Cava precipitated the Muslim invasion of his country in 711. Startlingly, this Umayyad painting predates the earliest written historical source narrating the invasion, the Cronica mozarabe of 754, and of Hispanic origin, which recounts the barest details of the Muslim conquest. The written account was later developed by medieval Christian and Arabic historians who had opposing views of this momentous event, creating a legend of extraordinary power and longevity, which has evolved in many different artistic forms from the Middle Ages to the present day. This essay assesses current scholarly opinion regarding the interpretation of this Arabic visual image of the Visigothic king and considers its implications in relation to the development of the legend of Roderick and La Cava in written form during the medieval period.     

Going Against the Grain in an Urban Arizona High School: Secondary Preservice Teachers Emerging as Culturally Responsive Educators

This one year study examines the journey of two preservice urban high-school teachers in Arizona as they enact Culturally Responsive Teaching in a year-long student teaching residency. Factors that influenced their Culturally Responsive Teaching practices are discussed along themes that emerged from interviews and classroom observations. Recommendations for ways of integrating Culturally Responsive Teaching in teacher education programs are provided.