Showing posts with label Archaeology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Archaeology. Show all posts
8/5/14
Experiencing the Ullambana and some reflections on religion 盂蘭盆簡記
"TThere is no need for you to understand religion, there is only the need to believe in religion."
「你不需要理解宗教，只需要信仰宗教。」
"Ullambana, rather than giving a Durkheinist collective effervescence, is based on human beings' most noble and honest feeling, that is, love to family members. Love that can cross time, space, and the line between life and death."
「盂蘭盆儀式傳達的，並非涂爾幹式的集體意志，而是人類最純粹高貴的情感：人倫親情的舐犢濡慕，足以戰勝死生契闊。」
2/26/14
The First Agrarian States: The Late Neolithic Multispecies Resettlement Camp
The First Agrarian States: The Late Neolithic Multispecies Resettlement Camp
By James Scott
( I never read directly his works, so it may not be a valid reflection.)
As the flyer summary implied, this was a lecture about the significance of Neolithic Evolution, in which the speaker focused on the impact of using fire, plant and animal domestication, and the subsequent effects such as centralization and emergence of states. The use of fire had transformed human subsistence in the first place (mmm, because I came into the lecture room from this part). It enabled early human beings to enlarge the range of food choices. Although I am not sure how it connects to the next part, together with plant domestication, e.g., rice and millet, the use of fire contributed to the centralization of human population and a sedentary life style in which this evolution could not be reversed and continued to develop toward "elaboration" and complexity.
By James Scott
( I never read directly his works, so it may not be a valid reflection.)
As the flyer summary implied, this was a lecture about the significance of Neolithic Evolution, in which the speaker focused on the impact of using fire, plant and animal domestication, and the subsequent effects such as centralization and emergence of states. The use of fire had transformed human subsistence in the first place (mmm, because I came into the lecture room from this part). It enabled early human beings to enlarge the range of food choices. Although I am not sure how it connects to the next part, together with plant domestication, e.g., rice and millet, the use of fire contributed to the centralization of human population and a sedentary life style in which this evolution could not be reversed and continued to develop toward "elaboration" and complexity.
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