11/26/08

睡前讀圖之石濤畫傳

Jonathan Hay(喬迅)著《石濤:清初中國的繪畫與現代性》

英文原著見這裡;中文譯版見這裡
Quotes (TBC):

石濤:
-我之為我,自有我在。古之鬚眉,不能生在我之面目;古之肺腑,不能安入我之腹腸。

與八大的區別:
-前者的全部創作生涯都圍繞一個相對固定的身分(所有的別號都指向一個相當明確的皇室遺族),而漂泊四海的石濤,不僅頻繁變更風格,而且用過大滌子、清湘道人、苦瓜和尚這些別號,讓人感覺他總是在若干種身分之間轉換:和尚?道人?遺民?皇族?

現代性:
-竹西歌吹古揚州,石濤由釋入道後定居在這個城市。於是大量援引了梅爾清老師的

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从third degree这个词查到了共济会,寒。。

Third degree
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Etymology

The third degree is a widely used colloqualism for an intensive, possibly brutal, interrogation. This usage is derived from the Freemasons, an extremely popular fraternal organization from the eighteenth through the early twentieth century. Masonic lodges have three degrees of membership; the first is called Entered Apprentice, the second Fellowcraft, and the third is Master Mason. thr granting of the Third Degree involves an extended interrrogation carried out as a scripted play in which the role of the inductee is physically challenging and, to an inductee with a lively imagination, possibly frightening, although no physical harm is inflicted. This interrogation was, by exaggeration, the source of the name of the police interrogation technique. That is referred to in an 1900 edition of Everybody's Magazine: "From time to time a prisoner... claims to have had the Third Degree administered to him."

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11/24/08

弹羽管键琴的假人,及多愁善感的十八世纪

今天在一堂课和一个讲座上分别听到关于一个弹琴女子的故事,她出生在十八世纪瑞士一个以制表著称的村庄:



虽然音乐现在听起来不怎么入耳,但请注意她的神态,目光和脸随着手的动作而转动,一曲奏完,还会微微地颌首叹息。

对音乐的表现,每个时代都有其特定的规范。十八世纪的欧洲上流社会,音乐家都多愁善感。C.P.E. Bach说,只有那些像一块木头一样呆坐在乐器前家伙,才会不明白没有手势和动作,怎么能演奏出好音乐。在所谓的十九世纪浪漫主义到来之前,其实sentimentality已经大行其道,和理性主义一起,影响了我们如今“civil society"的概念。从某种意义上说,是否可以部分地回答“为何西方古典音乐是今天这个样子”的问题呢。

没有力气仔细说了,今天要早点睡觉。以后天天都这样就好了。

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Eisenstadt on Bureaucracy

听爸爸的话重新开。自己心里也知道,对别人的意见过于敏感,根源于对自己文字表达的不自信。好在有众人多担待,容许我一点点从头学起,我再闭门造车,未免太矫情了。

周末选读了S.N.Eisenstadt的The Political Systems of Empires。很久没看过这么sociological的书了,架构清晰,推论严整,比如说“在何种社会条件下,官僚系统会倾向于发展自己的独立性,从而和统治者产生冲突”,然后就列出一二三四五条。再比如“古代帝国的官僚体系都有哪几个类型”,也列出一二三四五种,然后古代中国宋以前的属于种类二,晚期的"decadent stages"属于种类三⋯⋯总之就是随便翻到一页,都可以作成很漂亮的bullet points,但未免言语无味。

阎步克老师翻译了这本书,挺想看看他在前言里怎么说。于我而言的收获,至少是获得了一种考虑问题的思路:把官僚系统放在统治者和社会群体之间。统治者必须通过官僚系统来从社会群体中征收资源,因此官僚系统必须同时为统治者和各个社会阶层提供特定的服务。当官僚系统获得了自身的独立性,就开始了对资源的内耗,也就是腐败问题。但在艾氏看来,这几乎是不可避免的。

从学术理路看,此书对韦伯的“traditional-charismatic-legal/rational"模型做了重要的回应,把这些不能轻易归类为任何一种类型的庞大帝国拿出来,分析其中的社会结构如何变迁。就清帝国的case来说,他已经引证了很多五六十年代的汉学文献,但这些文献我们今天几乎都没有看过了。总的说来,他所描述的帝国从统治者紧密控制地方资源到逐渐权力分散化、官僚集团失控的晚清,大体上还被现在的学者承认。但现在,历史社会学的鼎盛时代已经过去,恐怕没有人会好好写这样的书了吧。

我想把官僚体系机器里的一个个铆钉还原成人,会生老病死的人。从病假这样一种制度的变迁入手,看看作为一个地方官员生活在那个历史时空,究竟是何种滋味。

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11/21/08

11-22

这个星期正式入冬。好像已经嚷嚷了好几次,这次绝对是来真的了。两个星期之后飞飞来看我的时候,我们都会穿上羽绒服,戴上能遮住耳朵的帽子,去Finale吃甜点,或者在没有风的晴天,抱着一杯热咖啡,在结了薄冰的查尔斯河岸边散步。如果天气不好,我们就去传说中的木兰或者久久台菜。我好想念各种卤味,还有关东煮的味道。。

三个星期之后,就是系里的年终party。再过几天,就要回家了。一切都猝不及防地到来。

历史总是重复上演。第一次是悲剧,第二次是笑剧。好在不会再有第三次了,能说的该说的话,早就说完了。现在反而非常轻松。

未名重开。居然开始慢慢回忆起来当时如何隔几分钟就去刷收藏的版面,如何选择性地只看classicalmusic & drama有没有新文章,如何寻找在线好友。这些动作和心思,原来根本没有淡忘过。

11/18/08

爸爸的博客

小小地廣告一下:)

Google reader

會用了!!!

其實一點不難。。感謝所有先知先覺的同學們⋯⋯

不過,誰能告訴我為甚麼yculblog的地址無法添加feed?

冬日午後,和Vic在一個也叫燕京的飯館吃飯。某人一邊批評不好吃,一邊吃得很香。我要了一份炒河粉,吃一半就飽了,留下一半帶回家,明天加上新鮮蔬菜,又不用發愁覓食了。

然後有陽光從廚房照進來,隔牆的樹上僅剩的幾片紅葉特別耀眼。房子的問題還是此起彼伏--洗手間的水龍頭又不怎麼出水了。我想這房子的管道網絡也許真的年久失修,暖氣一開始運轉,地板下就傳來管道們的淺吟低唱,還有偶發性震顫和蒸氣噴發⋯⋯

奇怪的是也並不太在意。一幢不怎麼靈光的老房子,住一個不怎麼靠譜的我。於我於它,都得相互將就些。每天晚上關燈睡下,聽著它快活地哼哼,倒好像是友善的催眠曲呢。

今天戴著寧子送我的毛茸茸耳罩去學校,在燕京圖書館碰見E老師,看見我戴著兩團白白的毛球,先愣了一下,然後破顏大笑。一屋子的人也都忍不住笑了。燕京永遠是這樣親親熱熱像個後院,不像Widener高高在上的樣子,最近又新加欄杆,連左右的高臺都爬不上去了,還有啥意思。

我真喜歡嚴肅的E老師開懷大笑的樣子。還有K老師新近理過髮,忽然變得乖乖的樣子。自己的一大堆問題,都可以暫時放到一邊。

貼新房客的mv,最近上學路上總是想起它。我見過一場海嘯,沒摸過你的羽毛。

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11/16/08

Complaint

I'm so tired
I can't sleep.

Totally freaked out by ppl living next door.  They just kept talking even after I knocked at the door and asked them to be quiet.

And it's already 3am.

And I came back to my bed and imagined myself shouting at them, throwing stuff at them, or totally disappearing from this place.

Finally they did become quiet.  But I still can't sleep.  I was staring at the ceiling, wondering whether someone has stolen my dreams.

I want my good dreams back.  I want to wake up in California.  I'm trying too hard to sleep well.

I'm so tired
I can't sleep.

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11/11/08

很厚颜地贴明天的presentation稿,关于类书

清史课的。今天中午抱着电脑,凑着暖气和一杯茶写的。这几天看了一点点类书,有好多感慨,回头再补。。

The history of the genre leishu 類書 can be tracked back to the compilation of Huanglan 皇覽 under the first ruler of Wei 魏 during the Three Kingdoms period in 220CE. The term leishu, however, was only fixed in the New Book of Tang 新唐書, completed circa 1060CE, in which the category of leishu was placed at the beginning of the “monograph on arts and literature” Yiwenzhi 藝文志.

Given the fact that leishu occupied almost 10% of the content in Siku 四庫, the genre provides extraordinarily rich material for researchers then and now. Hu Daojing defined leishu as comprehensive compilation of all branches of knowledge about human society and natural world, but this differs from the modern idea of "encyclopedia" (Baikequanshu百科全書) in that entries in leishu were quotes and excerpts from primary material instead of a separately-composed essay. In a sense, leishu could be understood as a hybrid of encyclopedia essays and compiled information.

The broad scale of Leishu creates difficulty for bibliographers in deciding the place of this genre in the tree of knowledge. Since texts from all the traditional divisions of writing (Jing 經/Shi 史/, zi 子/ji 集 i.e., Classics/ Histories/ Philosophers/ Belles-lettres) could all be found within the pages of a Leishu, where should Leishu go? The Siku compilers were aware of this problem, but nonetheless followed convention and kept Leishu in the Zi category.

When using a particular leishu, it is important to note its origin, its intended readership, and its scope of content. Aside from the imperially funded leishu projects, there is also a considerable body of leishu titles compiled by individual literati and printing houses. Official leishu such as Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成 signified the imperial court's support of scholarly endeavor and its authority over knowledge production, while at the same time providing useful guidance for officials in composing memorials and reports.

The wide circulation of practical leishu in all literate social strata, however, merits closer attention. Researchers have noted that the booming market for phonology leishu in the early Tang was closely related to the widespread practice of poetry-writing at the time, and that leishu also figured prominently in helping aspiring civil service exam-takers to prepare. In the Ming and Qing, vernacular leishu titles were sold, bought, and re-issued by printing houses. They offered popular guidance in coping with everyday life.

Bibliography:

Hu Daojing, Zhongguo gudai de leishu. Beijing Shi : Zhonghua shu ju, 2005.
Tang Guangrong, Tang dai lei shu yu wen xue. Chengdu Shi : Ba Shu shu she, 2008.
Liu Tianzhen, Ming dai tong su lei shu yan jiu. Jinan : Qi Lu shu she, 2006.

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11/9/08

11-09

写点什么呢。

科学通史课在告别了牛顿之后,用一个星期讲完了Linnaeus和Buffon的十八世纪,然后就直接跳到了达尔文的十九世纪。颇为不过瘾。我知道老师们是想宁可花多点时间把自己熟悉的东西讲透,宁缺毋滥,好吧,本来就应该自己多看书。翻了Dorinda Outram综述启蒙运动的小册子,收获是另一列书单。这个系列还是不错的,如果想从头了解一个领域(尤其是最近几十年学术走向)的话。

与林奈自命为“第二个亚当”的救世情怀相比,我更喜欢Buffon的Histoire Naturelle。插图可爱平实,文字有世俗理性的智慧,尽量不动用上帝来解释问题。林奈声称自己的分类系统揭示了上帝造物的意图,Buffon则认为一切分类系统基本上都不可能完全正确,仅仅是图方便,更重要的是区分物种,而不是建立复杂的hierarchy。

说到十八世纪,The Great Cat Massacre非常非常好,强烈推荐阅读。然而Robert Darnton所描述的一切都只将我带到1789年的前夜,戛然而止。非常希望能有整块时间来把启蒙运动这一块切割、拼缀、糅合、吃掉。。

秋意渐深,连续几天小雨,却一点不冷。晚上沿着红砖铺就的步道回家,街上人声渐息,细雨湿衣,每一棵树下,都落了厚厚一层树叶。旧货店门口终夜亮着一盏灯,照在墙边藤蔓和一把锈驳的椅子上,那时光温润而美好。

每个星期都在周三晚上精疲力尽地结束,然后周四周五就想可以干点杂事,周末就觉得理所当然应该休息,换来周一至少可以抖擞地去买一杯早晨的咖啡。从上个星期日送走HB,到今天,漫长得好像过了一年。他在的时候,做了比之前一个月都多的饭。又变成一个人以后,看着一冰箱的菜怎么都吃不完。

有时候还是会疑心自己的交往方式有问题。为什么话还是这么少,每次party还是离开得最早,在会议场合也不知道要如何social。昨天在听完整场报告之后,对着免费午餐逡巡许久,终于还是怕在圆桌坐下没有话说,跑回家自己煮面条了。非常的怯懦。

不要担心。我只是想反省一下。

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