On the Identity of Shang Di and the Origin of the Concept of a Celestial Mandate (TIAN MING)

Early China ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 1-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Allan

This article reexamines the hypotheses of Guo Moruo and H.G. Creel that Shang Di was the high god of the Shang and Tian, that of the Zhou. It proposes that Shang Di was originally the spirit of the pole star. As such, it was the one celestial body which was higher than the ten suns, with whom the Shang ancestors were identified. Tian was not a high god, but quite literally, the sky. The sky was the location of the Shang Di and the other ancestral spirits, so it came to serve as a euphemism for Shang Di or, more broadly, for Shang Di and all the celestial phenomena and spirits who were under his aegis. The primary distinction between the Shang and Zhou was not that Shang Di was particular to the Shang, but that the Shang rulers identified themselves with the ten suns. Shang Di, as the pole star, was acknowledged by both Shang and Zhou as the highest of the spirits. Tian, as the sky, was understood primarily as the celestial bodies that inhabit it. As in later time, the sky was a spiritual force associated with patterns of time, which were revealed in the movements of the celestial bodies. Thus, the originaltian ming(“celestial mandate” or “mandate of heaven”) was, quite literally, an astronomical sign, a “command” seen in the sky during the reign of Wen, whose son Wu founded the Zhou Dynasty.

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Weinberger ◽  
H. Hartl

For a quarter of a century we have been engaged in a systematic examination of high-quality photographic (optical) sky surveys in the search for new celestial bodies of various kinds. It took about 5000 hours to cover the whole northern celestial hemisphere and half of the southern one. In total, about 12000 new objects were discovered. From the very beginning of our programme we also searched for objects (or groupings of them) of rather peculiar morphology. The motivation was to detect objects revealing exceptional physical processes, on the one hand, but also to discover constructions possibly created by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs), on the other hand. A number of very peculiar objects were indeed found (these were mostly studied in detail later), but none of these appeared likely to be the product of alien masterminds. We may conclude that at least within about 10000–20000 light-years around the Solar system no highly advanced ETCs intend to reveal themselves through such objects.


2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J.J.M. Bakker

AbstractThis article examines the authenticity of an anonymous question on local motion ( Utrum omne quod movetur ab alio moveatur ab eo distincto) extant in manuscript Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, 4229. This quaestio discusses the motion of three types of mobile objects, namely celestial bodies, heavy and light bodies, and projectiles. A comparison of this anonymous text with three questions from the Sentences commentary of Giraldus Odonis (Sent. II, d. 14, qq. 4, 7 and 8) shows that this Franciscan theologian is very likely to be the author of the anonymous question found in the Madrid manuscript, even if the precise relation between Giraldus's questions, on the one hand, and the anonymous question De motu, on the other, remains uncertain. An edition of the anonymous question is given in an appendix.


2005 ◽  
Vol 09 (01) ◽  
pp. 3-43
Author(s):  
Gennadij Kurtik ◽  
Alexander Militarev

The contribution is a new version of the paper "From Mesopotamia to Greece: to the Origin of Semitic and Greek Star Names" once written by a Sumerologist (L.Bobrova) and etymologist (A. Militarev), and recently revised, updated and corrected in most part by a historian of the Mesopotamian astronomy (G. Kurtik). The present paper analyzes Sumerian and Akkadian (Babylonian) names of 34 celestial bodies, and their equivalents in other Semitic languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Syrian Aramaic, and Ge`ez, or ancient Ethiopian) and in Greek and Latin. Its main goal is to demonstrate the importance of Sumerian and Babylonian celestial body names as a source of corresponding terms in other cultures, up to the conventional inventory of modern astronomy, and to reveal four strategies by which other cultures drew ideas for name-giving from the treasury of Mesopotamia's lexicon of celestial bodies. Whereas one of these strategies -- echoing, or full translation, of a Sumero-Akkadian term -- is axiomatic, the other three -- shift of meaning or interpretation of a Sumero-Akkadian term; lexical, or "material" borrowing; and, especially, folk etymology, or misinterpretation -- are understudied and practically unnoticed. The authors do not focus on such complicated matters as a historical background of Mesopotamian influence, direct or indirect, on Greek culture; a direction and routes of inter-borrowing between different speaking areas other than Akkadian and their contacts with the Greek world; a chronology of all kinds of cultural contacts and influences; probable connections between the early pre-Islamic Arabic and Babylonian traditions; or the problem of identification of Mesopotamian constellation and stars. However, the data presented may give a certain impulse to further investigation of these matters, while feasible etymologies and relations established between names can even throw some light upon debatable identification cases.


1807 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 260-266 ◽  

The late discovery of an additional body belonging to the solar system, by Dr. Olbers, having been communicated to me the 20th of April, an event of such consequence engaged my immediate attention. In the evening of the same day I tried to discover its situation by the information I had obtained of its motion; but the brightness of the moon, which was near the full, and at no great distance from the object for which I looked, would not permit a star of even the 5th magnitude to be seen, and it was not till the 24th that a tolerable view could be obtained of that space of the heavens in which our new wanderer was pursuing its hitherto unknown path. As soon as I found that small stars might be perceived, I made several delineations of certain telescopic constellations, the first of which was as represented in figure 1, and I fixed upon the star A, as most likely, from its expected situation and brightness, to be the one I was looking for. The stars in this figure, as well as in all the other delineations I had made, were carefully examined with several magnifying powers, that in case any one of them should hereafter appear to have been the lately discovered object, I might not lose the opportunity of an early acquaintance with its condition. An observation of the star marked A, in particular, was made with a very distinct magnifying power of 460, and says, that it had nothing in its appearance that differed from what we see in other stars of the same size; indeed Dr. Olbers, by mentioning in the communication which I received, that with such magnifying powers as he could use it was not to be distinguished from a fixed star, had already prepared me to expect the newly discovered heavenly body to be a valuable addition to our increasing catalogue of asteroids.


1831 ◽  
Vol 121 ◽  
pp. 231-282

The method pursued by Clairaut in the solution of this important problem of Physical Astronomy, consists in the integration of the differential equations furnished by the principles of dynamics, upon the hypothesis that in the gravitation of the celestial bodies the force varies inversely as the square of the distance, and in which the true longitude of the moon is the independent variable ; the time is thus obtained in terms of the true longitude, and by the reversion of series the longitude is afterwards obtained in terms of the time, which is necessary for the purpose of forming astronomical tables. But while on the one hand this method possesses the advantage, that the disturbing func­tion can be developed with somewhat greater facility in terms of the true lon­gitude of the moon than in terms of the mean longitude, yet on the other hand, the differential equations in which the true longitude is the independent variable are far more complicated than those in which the time is the inde­pendent variable. The latter equations are used in the planetary theory ; so that the method of Clairaut has the additional inconvenience, that while the lunar theory is a particular case of the problem of the three bodies, one system of equations is used in this case, and another in the case of the planets. The method of Clairaut has been adopted, however, by Mayer, by Laplace, and by M. Damoiseau. The last-mentioned author has arranged his results with remarkable clearness, so that any part of his processes may be easily verified by any one who does not shrink from this gigantic undertaking; and the immense labour which this method requires, when all sensible quantities are retained, may be seen in his invaluable memoir. Mr. Brice Bronwin has recently communicated to the Society a lunar theory, in which the same method is adopted.


1975 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 395-407
Author(s):  
S. Henriksen

The first question to be answered, in seeking coordinate systems for geodynamics, is: what is geodynamics? The answer is, of course, that geodynamics is that part of geophysics which is concerned with movements of the Earth, as opposed to geostatics which is the physics of the stationary Earth. But as far as we know, there is no stationary Earth – epur sic monere. So geodynamics is actually coextensive with geophysics, and coordinate systems suitable for the one should be suitable for the other. At the present time, there are not many coordinate systems, if any, that can be identified with a static Earth. Certainly the only coordinate of aeronomic (atmospheric) interest is the height, and this is usually either as geodynamic height or as pressure. In oceanology, the most important coordinate is depth, and this, like heights in the atmosphere, is expressed as metric depth from mean sea level, as geodynamic depth, or as pressure. Only for the earth do we find “static” systems in use, ana even here there is real question as to whether the systems are dynamic or static. So it would seem that our answer to the question, of what kind, of coordinate systems are we seeking, must be that we are looking for the same systems as are used in geophysics, and these systems are dynamic in nature already – that is, their definition involvestime.


Author(s):  
Stefan Krause ◽  
Markus Appel

Abstract. Two experiments examined the influence of stories on recipients’ self-perceptions. Extending prior theory and research, our focus was on assimilation effects (i.e., changes in self-perception in line with a protagonist’s traits) as well as on contrast effects (i.e., changes in self-perception in contrast to a protagonist’s traits). In Experiment 1 ( N = 113), implicit and explicit conscientiousness were assessed after participants read a story about either a diligent or a negligent student. Moderation analyses showed that highly transported participants and participants with lower counterarguing scores assimilate the depicted traits of a story protagonist, as indicated by explicit, self-reported conscientiousness ratings. Participants, who were more critical toward a story (i.e., higher counterarguing) and with a lower degree of transportation, showed contrast effects. In Experiment 2 ( N = 103), we manipulated transportation and counterarguing, but we could not identify an effect on participants’ self-ascribed level of conscientiousness. A mini meta-analysis across both experiments revealed significant positive overall associations between transportation and counterarguing on the one hand and story-consistent self-reported conscientiousness on the other hand.


2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (03) ◽  
pp. 107-117
Author(s):  
R. G. Meyer ◽  
W. Herr ◽  
A. Helisch ◽  
P. Bartenstein ◽  
I. Buchmann

SummaryThe prognosis of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has improved considerably by introduction of aggressive consolidation chemotherapy and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Nevertheless, only 20-30% of patients with AML achieve long-term diseasefree survival after SCT. The most common cause of treatment failure is relapse. Additionally, mortality rates are significantly increased by therapy-related causes such as toxicity of chemotherapy and complications of SCT. Including radioimmunotherapies in the treatment of AML and myelodyplastic syndrome (MDS) allows for the achievement of a pronounced antileukaemic effect for the reduction of relapse rates on the one hand. On the other hand, no increase of acute toxicity and later complications should be induced. These effects are important for the primary reduction of tumour cells as well as for the myeloablative conditioning before SCT.This paper provides a systematic and critical review of the currently used radionuclides and immunoconjugates for the treatment of AML and MDS and summarizes the literature on primary tumour cell reductive radioimmunotherapies on the one hand and conditioning radioimmunotherapies before SCT on the other hand.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (188) ◽  
pp. 487-494
Author(s):  
Daniel Mullis

In recent years, political and social conditions have changed dramatically. Many analyses help to capture these dynamics. However, they produce political pessimism: on the one hand there is the image of regression and on the other, a direct link is made between socio-economic decline and the rise of the far-right. To counter these aspects, this article argues that current political events are to be understood less as ‘regression’ but rather as a moment of movement and the return of deep political struggles. Referring to Jacques Ranciere’s political thought, the current conditions can be captured as the ‘end of post-democracy’. This approach changes the perspective on current social dynamics in a productive way. It allows for an emphasis on movement and the recognition of the windows of opportunity for emancipatory struggles.


1996 ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Mykhailo Babiy

Political ideological pluralism, religious diversity are characteristic features of modern Ukrainian society. On the one hand, multiculturalism, socio-political, religious differentiation of the latter appear as important characteristics of its democracy, as a practical expression of freedom, on the other - as a factor that led to the deconsocialization of society, gave rise to "nodal points" of tension, confrontational processes, in particular, in political and religious spheres.


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