The songs of the Royal Zh?u (“Zh?u Nán” ??) and of the Royal Shào (“Shào Nán” ??) have formed a conceptual unit since at least the late Spring and Autumn period (771–453 BC). With this book Meyer and Schwartz provide a first complete reading of their earliest, Warring States (453–221 BC), iteration as witnessed by the ?nhu? University manuscripts. As a thought experiment, the au…
The Huayuanzhuang East oracle bone inscriptions, first discovered in 1991 and completely published in six folio volumes in 2003, are a synchronically compact and unified late Shang (ca. 1250-1045 BC) corpus of several thousand individual divination accounts inscribed on hundreds of still intact turtle shells and cattle scapulae. Produced under the patronage of a prince of the royal f…
On March 1, 1954, the United States detonated its most power ful thermo-nuclear weapon, code- named “ Castle Bravo,” at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Situated to the southeast of Bikini, the populations of Rongelap Atoll, including people residing on Ailingnae and Utrik Atolls, watched in confusion as the sun seemed to rise in the west. On Utrik, Rijen Michael, eigh teen years ol…
In early 2012, when I visited Theodore (Ted) Schwartz at his home in Del Mar, California, he had recently finished digitising audio recordings of interviews he had conducted with Manus people in Papua New Guinea (PNG) from 1953 through 1995; the annotated catalogue went on for many pages.1 Ted gave me an audio tour and we listened to Paliau, his supporters, an…
Astonishingly exotic and utterly compelling, Vietnam is a country of breathtaking natural beauty with a unique heritage, where travel quickly becomes addictive. Eat, drink and shop til you drop in beautiful, ancient Hoi An; kite surf in Mui Ne; or visit the impressive pagodas and royal tombs of Hue; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Vietnam and begin your journey no…
Ascend to the realm of the gods, Angkor Wat. Descend into hell at Tuol Sleng Prison. With a history both inspiring and depressing, Cambodia delivers an intoxicating present. Stand under the glimmering spires of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, trek the lush rainforest of the Koh Kong Conservation Corridor, or explore the floating village of Kompong Luong; all with your trusted travel companio…
Today, images of fetuses and pregnant bodies are ubiquitous. We encoun-ter them everywhere—from ultrasound pictures of expected babies in family albums to childbirth scenes in reality television shows or on social media platforms. Images of fetal bodies are also frequently seen in antiabortion campaigns. The capacity of fetal photographs and ultrasound images …
In this Very Short Introduction, Vanessa Schwartz argues that modern France, as both a world stage and a global crossroads, is an essential actor in the development of contemporary culture. Indeed, French is the only language other than English spoken on five continents, and more people still visit France than anywhere else in the world. French fashion continues to dominate haute couture and, a…
Professionals working with cultural heritage preservation have had to respond to difficult challenges in the last few decades, mainly brought about by globalisation, armed conflicts, natural disasters and the use of heritage as an ultimate resource to redress injustices of the past. The topics and experiences discussed in this book demonstrate that conservators may …
The demographic make-up of populations at the time of disaster determines whois impacted and the extent of impacts on residents and others. Improving technolo-gies, improved warning systems, investments in disaster mitigating infrastructureand improving community preparedness and response in the face of disasters areexamples of attempts to reduce disaster impacts. While a range of studies havel…