Identification of 13th-14th Century Chinese Handmade Paper Fibers Collected in Yuan Dynasty Paper Currencies

The earliest paper currencies in existence in China were handcrafted during the Yuan dynasty.These currencies were scientifically excavated from different ruins or tombs,whereas scientific analyses of the papers are rare.This study used optical and scanning electron microscopy to examine the fibers collected in Yuan dynasty paper currencies in conjunction with the Herzberg staining method.Despite differences in circulation period,paper fibers in both Zhi Yuan Tong Xing Bao Chao(two Guan)and Zhong Tong Yuan Bao Jiao Chao(one Guan and 500 Wen,issued in Zhi Zheng period)were identified as similar papermaking materials,bast fibers of mulberry bark.The results indicate that mulberry bark,a durable papermaking material used since ancient times,was mainly utilized as a raw material in these Yuan dynasty paper currency.This fiber identification work solved the critical problem of papermaking material in the Yuan dynasty paper currency and provided important information for conserving these precious cultural relics.

Study on the Kind and Character of Mongol Hats in Yuan Dynasty

In the thirteenth century the Mongols created a vast, transcontinental empire that intensified cultural, art, craftwork, garment and commercial contact throughout Eurasia. Hats were so indispensable parts of formal Mongol dress that were seen as a symbol of Mongol traditional garment. Roughly Mongolian men＇s headgear can be divided into two groups, which are Li and Mao. In addition, Mongolian women＇s Gu-gu-gwan, a kind of bonnet, was the head-dress for the empress, concubines of the emperor, and wife of high ranking ministers. This study, based on the analysis of image resources and existing evidence, discusses the hats of Yuan period in the context of its group, origin, decoration and cultural influences.

Reconstructing provincial cropland area in eastern China during the early Yuan Dynasty(AD1271–1294)

Reconstructing historical land use and land cover change(LUCC) at the regional scale is an important component of global environmental change studies and of improving global historical land use datasets. By analyzing data in historical documents, including military-oriented cropland(hereafter M-cropland) area, the number of households engaged in M-cropland(hereafter M-household) reclamation, cropland area, and the number of households, we propose a conversion relationship between M-cropland area and cropland area reclaimed by each household. A provincial cropland area estimation method for the Yuan Dynasty is described and used to reconstruct the provincial cropland area for AD1290. Major findings are as follows.(1) Both the M-cropland and cropland areas of each household were high in the north and low in the south during the Yuan Dynasty, which resulted from different natural conditions and planting practices. Based on this observation, the government-allocated M-cropland reclamation area to each household was based on the cropland area reclaimed by each household.(2) The conversion relationship between M-cropland and cropland areas per household showed conversion coefficients of 1.23 and 0.65 for the south and north, respectively.(3) The cropland area in the entire study area in AD1290 was 535.4×106 mu(Chinese area unit, 1 mu=666.7 m^2), 57.8% in the north and 42.2% in the south. The fractional cropland areas for the entire study area, north, and south were 6.8%, 6.6%, and 7.1%, respectively and the per capita cropland areas for the whole study area, north, and south were 6.7, 15.6, and 4.1 mu, respectively.(4) Cropland was mainly distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River(including the Fuli area), Huaihe River Basin(including Henan Province), and middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River(including Jiangzhe, Jiangxi, and Huguang provinces).

Build for the Living： Stone Buildings of the Yuan Dynasty

It is easy to fred an association between stone architecture and the afterlife in pre-modern China, given that most architecture of brick and stone was used only for mortuary monuments. People in pre-modern China may have believed that timber architecture was for the deceased. The fact that stone timber architecture further buttresses for the living while stone architecture was architecture often was designed to imitate the dominance of timber, both structurally and aesthetically, in the architectural history of pre-modern China. This article focuses on several stone buildings that were built during the Yuan dynasty （1271-1368） for daily religious activities and were rare exceptions to the normative association of stone architecture with the afterlife. Through the study of the structure, decorative motifs and history of these stone buildings, I determine whether they were built to reflect the tradition of imitation timber architecture or were an exception to the dominance of timber architecture. I investigate how these stone buildings should be contextualized in the history of Yuan as well as the history of Chinese architecture.

Linji Master Zhongfeng Mingben of Yuan Dynasty and Illusory-Abiding Sect in Japan

Despite the hostility between China and Japan in Yuan Dynasty China,there were plenty of monastic exchanges between the two countries.History witnessed a peak era of Buddhist cultural exchanges between the two countries during Yuan Dynasty.Among the Chinese masters,Zhongfeng Mingben(中峰明本,Japanese:Chuho Myohon)of Linji(Rinzai)Chan School(临济宗)was said to be the most influential Chinese monk who supported the development of Buddhism in Japan.This study surveys the history of Master Mingben’s connection with Japanese Chan monks,his Dharma-receiving disciples and the Illusory-Abiding(Huanzhu幻住)Sect founded by them.It also discusses the state of Buddhist cultural exchanges between China and Japan during Yuan Dynasty and the impact of Chinese Chan on Buddhism in Japan.

Wet-dry changes in the borderland of Shaanxi,Gansu and Ningxia from 1208 to 1369 based on historical records

More than 240 items of historical records containing climatic information were retrieved from official historical books, local chronicles, annals and regional meteorological disaster yearbooks. By using moisture index and flood/drought （F/D） index obtained from the above information, the historical climate change, namely wet-dry conditions in borderland of Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region （BSGN, mainly included Ningxialu, Hezhoulu, Gongchanglu, Fengyuanlu and Yan＇anlu in the Yuan Dynasty） was studied. The results showed that the climate of the region was generally dry and the ratio between drought and flood disasters was 85/38 during the period of 1208-1369. According to the frequencies of drought-flood disasters, the whole period could be divided into three phases. （1） 1208-1240： drought dominated the phase with occasional flood disasters. （2） 1240-1320： long-time drought disasters and extreme drought events happened frequently. （3） 1320-1369： drought disasters were less severe when flood and drought disasters happened alternately. Besides, the reconstructed wet-dry change curve revealed obvious transition and periodicity in the MongoI-Yuan Period. The transitions occurred in 1230 and 1325. The wet-dry change revealed 10- and 23-year quasi-periods which were consistent with solar cycles, indicating that solar activity had affected the wet-dry conditions of the study region in the Mongol-Yuan Period. The reconstructed results were consistent with two other study results reconstructed from natural evidences, and were similar to another study results from historical documents. All the above results showed that the climate in BSGN was characterized by long-time dry condition with frequent severe drought disasters during 1258 to 1308. Thus, these aspects of climatic change, might have profound impacts on local vegetation and socio-economic system.

The Splendor of Verdure: Tea and the East Asian World of the Song and Yuan Dynasties

Tea has played an important role throughout the entire East Asian world.During the Song and Yuan dynasties,due to differences in the target consumers and acceptance of tea,Chinese and Japanese tea cultures began to take different paths.The close relationship between tea and Goryeo politics propelled the flourishing development of Goryeo tea culture on the Korean Peninsula.The colorful landscape of tea culture during the Yuan dynasty illustrates the transformation of traditional Chinese tea culture from the Song to the Yuan,with an upper-class break and a lower-class continuation.During the Song and Yuan dynasties,there were great changes in the order of the East Asian world,where tea was not merely a beverage but carried historical changes and served as a spiritual symbol in the East Asian cultural world,reflecting historical transformations.

A Preliminary Study of Mongol Costumes in the Ming Dynasty

The Yuan dynasty was the first great unified empire founded by an ethnic minority in Chinese history. A great number of ancient sources have proven that under the Yuan, the Mongols＇ distinctive costumes, expressive of their nomadic identity, exerted an influence upon Chinese fashions of the time. Even after the collapse of the Yuan, Mongol dress did not disappear but became even more popular in various forms throughout the following Ming dynasty. On the basis of examination of a large number of historical written materials, this paper makes an in-depth study of the various styles and uses of Mongol-style clothing in the Ming dynasty. It provides a panoramic survey in an attempt to outline the use and evolution of Mongol styles in the Ming and to examine some representative case studies in detail. Thus, besides discussing traditional issues in the history of clothing, such as the use, design changes and abandonment of Mongol clothing in the Ming dynasty, it initiates a series of studies from a sociological perspective, offering a preliminary study of the groups who wore Mongol-style clothing in the Ming dynasty, including their occupations, their reasons for using these costumes, and how this mode of dress influenced the social psychology of the period. It also attempts, via clothing, to discuss the changes in transitional Chinese society arising from the movement of nomadic ethnic groups in northern China to the hinterland （another question to be addressed）.

菏泽古船保护修复

一、序言2010年9月17日,在菏泽国贸中心建筑工地发现一艘元代古船(图一),这是山东省首次发现的保存最为完整的元代古船。对于研究元代木船形制及制作工艺、菏泽地区漕运史、河运交通及蒙元时期黄泛区之地形地貌等均有重要意义;古船所携文物类型丰富,器形精美,对研究元代瓷器尤其是青花的起源与上层社会文化生活和社会习俗等情况具有非常重要的考古价值。

甘肃境内的元代墓葬

随着全国各地元代纪年墓葬的不断发现,近年来元代墓葬的研究,受到关注。成果集中在墓葬的年代、形制、随葬品的特点等方面。甘肃境内也不断发现元代墓葬。但以往的发现因纪年墓的缺乏,一些元代墓葬的年代被定得过早,有些甚至定到宋代。笔者近三年因主持中央高校业务基本费重点项目“甘肃境内宋金元墓的调查与研究”,现已完成了甘肃省大部分市县地区宋金元代墓葬的调查,其中对元代墓葬,收获了新材料,也产生了新认识。