James A. Benn

@jamesabenn.bsky.social

1.7K followers 2.4K following 740 posts

Medieval Chinese Religions. McMaster Uni. Burning for the Buddha (Hawai'i 2007) pback 2016; Tea in China (Hawai'i, 2015), Chinese trans. 2019. Canadian, obvs.

Videos

Political science 34%

Sociology 34%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by James A. Benn

Prof. Dr. Michael Hö (Sinologist) 何彌夏 🇹🇼🇪🇺🇭🇰 @medievalchina.bsky.social · 11h

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit priest who in the 16th century led a Christian mission to China. Ricci travelled extensively and came into contact with senior officials of the Ming Dynasty administration.

bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Matteo Ricci and the Ming Dynasty

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Matteo Ricci's 16th-century travels in Ming China.

bbc.co.uk

Reposted by James A. Benn

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 22h

State H-1B Visa Pauses Are ‘Reckless,’ Faculty Warn

Restrictions on how universities recruit and retain foreign employees threaten academic freedom and institutional autonomy, advocates say. State officials say they want to preserve jobs for Americans and root out abuse... https://bit.ly/4qMPw7d

Environmental portraits of Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Texas governor Greg Abbott.

Reposted by Andrés Guadamuz, Jason A. Heppler, James A. Benn

David Amador @djlink.bsky.social · 1d

recorded a Windows 95 full disk defrag to soothe your timeline.

Reposted by James A. Benn

MIA: Chinese, South and Southeast Asian Art (Bot) @miachsouthasia.bsky.social · 1d

'You' wine vessel https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1157/

Wine Can, so-called 'YOU', inscribed. The decor is limited to the neck and corresponding lid belts, and to the handle bow. The first is divided into four parts by the rings of the handle and two free animals' heads. The lid with a ring-shaped knob, is divided into two parts by toothlike projections corresponding to the handle-rings of the body. The two belts are filled with antithetical deer, reminiscent of the Northern Nomad animal style, in rounded relief on a bare ground. The handle carries three t'ao-t'ieh like figures in narrow thread relief between three lozenges in high, angular relief. The handle terminates in rams heads. Patina silvery-greeen wih patches of red. This vessel is one of two that belonged to the Imperial Colllection. The inscription is the same on both the known vessels. See Karlgren, number 15 (50.46.94a,b) for comment.
Bronze Age vessels were highly valued as antiquities by Chinese rulers and scholar-officials throughout history. In fact, this is one of a pair of inscribed vessels first published in the Xiqing Gujian, the 18th-century imperial catalogue of bronzes belonging to the Qianlong dynasty emperor (r. 1736–95). The deer shown in the decorative bands on the neck and lid are unusual, but their inclusion here is explained in the thirty-six-character inscription cast within the vessel: In the first month of the day dingchou, the king went to Lu where he correctly performed the liao sacrifice. The king ordered Shi Tao to present the Prince of Mo with three deer. The Prince of Mo in order to extoll the king’s grace made this precious vessel.

Reposted by James A. Benn

XingWu🐉ChineseFolklore @xingwu.bsky.social · 1d

The Jian'gu (建鼓), once heard in imperial rites, thundered through ancestral halls with its solemn, hourglass voice. Played with twin mallets on one side, it called forth reverence and order. This Qing Dynasty example glows with gold lacquer, its body wrapped in
1/2

Reposted by James A. Benn

Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 1d

The first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts, was founded #OnThisDay in AD 1624.
European colonists brought their traditions with them to the Caribbean and, in some cases, they survived there despite dying out in Europe.

(£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

Cist graves on Saba: funerary traditions in the colonial Caribbean

Stone cist graves dating to the Bronze Age through to the late medieval period are well attested across Western Europe. In the Americas, such cist graves are found only on the island of Saba in the Dutch Caribbean. First starting in the colonial period, this funerary practice continues on Saba to the present day, representing a cultural continuity with rural seventeenth-century populations—probably settlers from the British Isles. This article discusses the recent excavation of several cist burials on Saba, their structural forms and their relevance for understanding cultural continuity in the Caribbean of the historical period.

doi.org

Reposted by James A. Benn

MIA: Chinese, South and Southeast Asian Art (Bot) @miachsouthasia.bsky.social · 2d

Chen Wu, The Perfected Warrior https://collections.artsmia.org/art/28973/

aubergine and green Fahua type glazes
During the Northern Sung dynasty (960-1126), the god Hsuan-wu (Dark Warrior) was transformed into Chen-wu, the perfected warrior. Chen-wu was associated with a powerful group of Taoist celestial marshals known as the Four Saints. These gods were perceived as spirit-guardians of the Taoist faith. Small ceramic sculptures such as this were typically used in domestic settings.

Reposted by Judith Herrin, James A. Benn

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 2d

Today is Charlemagne’s death day in 814 CE. In his honor, I give you the best depiction of professors writing in their offices while attempting not to socially interact with each other on any level. It’s from the Aachen Gospels. 📕

View
Aachen Gospel Book: The Four Evangelists (folio 14v)
Creator
Unknown
Creator role
Illuminator
Date
795-810
Current location
Europe, Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, Aachen, Domschatz, repository

Reposted by James A. Benn

Canadian History Ehx @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social · 2d

On this day in 1916, Manitoba granted women the right to vote in provincial elections. It was the first province to give women the right to vote. Asian women did not get the vote until 1948, while Indigenous women were given the vote in 1952.

A black-and-white photograph of a group of women standing outdoors in front of a stone building with an arched doorway. The women are dressed in early 20th-century clothing, including long coats, dresses, and wide-brimmed hats. Several women are holding flags on poles, and one woman near the center is holding a small booklet or pamphlet. The group is arranged in a loose line, facing the camera, with expressions ranging from neutral to smiling. The stone architecture fills the background.

Reposted by James A. Benn

Maura Elizabeth Cunningham @mauracunningham.bsky.social · 2d

"What China's Thinking," an interesting new long-form interview column from the @chinabooksreview.com team, launches with Yi Liu talking to Chengdu-based blogger and bookstore owner Zhang Feng.

Zhang Feng on China's New Media | China Books Review

The prolific social media blogger explains how censorship works in the era of WeChat, and talks us through a changing media landscape, in our new column on the biggest ideas out of China.

chinabooksreview.com

Reposted by James A. Benn

Kris Inwood @kris-inwood.bsky.social · 2d

Important new survey of why women tend to be more religious than men & how religion affects gender norms & attitudes, education, work, fertility, health, legal institutions & discrimination from Sascha O. Becker, Jeanet Sinding Bentzen & Chun Chee Kok in the Journal of Demographic Economics.

Sascha O. Becker @essobecker.bsky.social · 2d

Our survey on Gender and Religion is now published 🎉

doi.org/10.1017/dem....

See 🧵 below.

Thanks to the wonderful @jeanetbentzen.bsky.social and @chuncheekokecon.bsky.social 🙏

Reposted by Kris Inwood, James A. Benn

Sascha O. Becker @essobecker.bsky.social · 2d

Our survey on Gender and Religion is now published 🎉

doi.org/10.1017/dem....

See 🧵 below.

Thanks to the wonderful @jeanetbentzen.bsky.social and @chuncheekokecon.bsky.social 🙏

Reposted by James A. Benn

Prof. Dr. Michael Hö (Sinologist) 何彌夏 🇹🇼🇪🇺🇭🇰 @medievalchina.bsky.social · 2d

#OTD 1726 in #ChineseHistory: completion of Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from Antiquity to the Present #古今圖書集成, largest '#encyclopaedia' of premodern #China in 10,000 chap. printed in moveable type. #knowledgehistory #bookhistory

Reposted by James A. Benn

The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 2d

An “auto”-biographical film in the most literal sense, this 1943 US propaganda short is told from the Jeep’s own point of view — a strange and revealing piece of wartime self-mythmaking: publicdomainreview.org/collection/a...

Reposted by James A. Benn

Kate Teltscher @kateteltscher.bsky.social · 3d

The London Mayor's Office recently announced a scheme to reintroduce storks to London.
From 1890 storks formed one of the attractions of Kew Gardens:'their quaint appearance and philosophical habits make them rather in keeping with a botanical garden' (Journal of the Kew Guild, 1902).

1918 poster by Fred Taylor of storks at Kew Gardens, produced by the Underground Railways, for distribution to troops overseas.

Reposted by James A. Benn

RN ship losses @rnshiplosses.bsky.social · 3d

27 Jan 1813 // 12-gun brig HMS Daring was run ashore and burnt by her crew in the Îles de Los off Guinea. While preparing to take on water that morning, the Daring had sighted three vessels under Portuguese colours and, thinking that they were slavers, set a course to intercept and board. [1/2]

Reposted by James A. Benn

Ancient Egyptian Prayer Bot @egyptianprayerbot.bsky.social · 3d

I have embraced the sycamore, the sycamore has sheltered me. (BDQ)

Reposted by James A. Benn

Prof. Dr. Michael Hö (Sinologist) 何彌夏 🇹🇼🇪🇺🇭🇰 @medievalchina.bsky.social · 3d

#DOTD: Yue Fei 岳飛 (1103–1142), irredentist general of the Southern Song 南宋 (1127–1279) and national hero of #China.

Reposted by James A. Benn

Columbia University Press @columbiaup.bsky.social · 3d

Listen to an interview with Madhuri Deshmukh, author of THE UNRAVELING HEART, on the Indian Religions Podcast from New Books Network. buff.ly/lyAJm2Y @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social #religion

Indian Religions Podcast - The Unraveling Heart

In this interview we discuss The Unraveling Heart: Women's Oral Poetics and Literary Vernacularization in Marathi (Columbia UP, 2025). Women’s songs of the grind mill are among the oldest oral…

buff.ly

Reposted by James A. Benn

Ian Geordie Clark @ian-geordie-clark.bsky.social · 3d

Sad news of the passing of the legendary Sly Dunbar.

He’s left us an amazing body of work. RIP Sly..
#SlyDunbar #reggae #MusicSky
Great article about him here;
mikedolbear.com/groovers-and...

Reposted by James A. Benn

Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures @sainsbury-institute.org · 3d

If you want to hear more from our January Third Thursday Lecture speaker Professor @olegb.bsky.social, he's a guest on the latest episode of The East Angle podcast, run by Dr Ra Mason and Dr Sherzod Muminov from @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social @politicsuea.bsky.social! youtu.be/29YY-7mQvls?...

Samurai, Castles, and the Making of Modern Japan - A Conversation with Professor Oleg Benesch

YouTube video by The East Angle

youtu.be

Reposted by James A. Benn

OSSTF/FEESO @osstf.bsky.social · 3d

ON universities are the lowest funded in Canada per student, at 55% of the nat'l average. Yrs of tuition freezes & cuts have led to $1.3B in projected deficits, 600 suspended programs & 8,000 lost jobs. These are choices by the gov't. Fund post-secondary education NOW!
globalnews.ca/news/1162335...

Ontario colleges, universities ask Ford government for billions in new funding | Globalnews.ca

Groups representing both colleges and universities asked for significantly more funding, saying tuition fee freezes and international student caps have left them with few options.

globalnews.ca

Reposted by James A. Benn

De Gruyter Brill Asian Studies @dgb-asianstudies.bsky.social · 3d

A new issue of the Indo-Iranian Journal (IIJ) is out now!

Find out more: brill.com/view/journal...

@degruyterbrill.bsky.social

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 4d

France announced today it’s phasing out Teams, Zoom, etc. to be replaced with a French/European solution called Visio. The data is hosted on Outscale. Transcripts and subtitles are also handled by French providers. The target is set on 2027 for government agencies.

Reposted by James A. Benn

Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 4d

NEW Central to the origins of rice agriculture, paddy fields underpinned the formation of complex societies in East Asia.
Stratigraphy reveals the evolution of the earliest paddy fields, showing how agricultural societies in eastern China developed.

(£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

Three trench sections, annotated based on stratigraphic layers separated by period/culture.

Reposted by James A. Benn

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 4d

I wanted to note that I made a list of all ancient comets from Med antiquity (500 BCE-400 CE) for class a number of years ago. Here is my excel sheet, based on Ramsay, Descriptive Catalogue of Greco-Roman Comets from 500 B.C. to A.D. 400. Syllecta Classica, 17. 2006.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Date

Ramsey No. Geographic Associations,Event Sources

Type
481? BCE Sept-Dec.

1 Battle of Salamis (Sept. 480)
Salamis: Plin. NH 2.90 ; Xerxes' Invasion: Lydus, De Mensibus 4.116
Comet
467? BCE

2 Acgospotami- falling meterorite
Diogenes Laertius 2.11; IG XII.5 444.1.72-73; Eusebius, Chron. P.110 (ed. Helm); Aristotle, Mete. 1.7
344b.31-34; Seneca, Natural Questions 7.5.3; Plin. NH. 2.149; Plutarch, Life of Lysander 12.6
Comet
430 BCE
la App.
Plague at Athens, Earthquakes
Manilius, Astronomica, 1.880-1886
Object
426 BCE Jan.-Feb.

3 Recurrence of Plague at Athens,
Earthquakes
[Hippocrates]. Epidemics 4.21; Aristotle Mete. 1.6 343b4-6; Manilius, Astron. 1.880-886
Comet
394 BCE
2a App
Battle of Cnidus
Plin. NH. 2.96

372 BCE Jan./Feb.?

Buris and Helike (Gulf of
4 Corinth) Destroyed, Battle of Leuctra (July? 371)
Helike and Buris: Ephorus, Histories fr. 212 (Seneca, NQ 7.16.2); Aristotle, Mete. 1.6 343b1-4, 18-25, 1.7 344b34-345al; Seneca, NQ 7.5.4; Callisthenes, Hellenica fr. 21; Paus. 7.24.8; Battle of Leuctra: Diodorus Siculus 15.50.1-3; Cic. Div. 2.54.
Comet
350/349 BCE
За Арр.
Warfare in Greece, Philip II
Plin. NH. 2.96-97
Chasma (aurora borcalis?)
346? BCE
5

Plin. NH. 2.90
Comet
344 BCE

Torch of Timoleon / Voyage to
the island of Corcyra to Metapontum
6 Sicily between Lonian Gulf, from Diodorus Siculus 16.66.1, 3; Plutarch, Life of Timoleon, 8.5-6.
Possible Comet
341/0 BCE

7 Storm at Corinth
Aristotle, Mete. 1.7 345a2-5
Comet
303/2 BCE

& Expedition of Lysimachus to Asia IG XII.5.444 (taken with): IG XI.S 444.1.130= FGrH 239 B 25.
Comet
216 BCE

9 Battle of Cannac
Silius Italicus, Punica 8.636-7.
Possible Comet
204 BCE Aug.-Sept.

Second Punic War (later
10 associated with win at the Battle Livy, AUC, 29.14.3;
of Zama)

Comet
203 BCE
11
Second Punic War (observed in Anagnia)
Livy, AUC, 30.2.11
Possible Comet
176 BCE

12 Death of Consul (seen at
Tusculum)
Livy, AUC, 41.16.6
Possible Comet
174 BCE
4a App.
Plague, Observed in the district of Livy, AUC, 41.21.…

Reposted by James A. Benn

Canadian History Ehx @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social · 4d

On this day in 2017, Barbara Howard died.
Born in Vancouver in 1920, she was the first Black woman to represent Canada at an international athletic competition. She won a silver and bronze at the 1938 British Empire Games. She is a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

A black-and-white portrait photo of a young woman with short, dark hair pulled back, smiling warmly at the camera. She is wearing a sleeveless light-colored athletic tank top with "EHS" embroidered in a shield-shaped patch on the chest. The background is plain and light, typical of a vintage yearbook or school sports photo style.

Reposted by James A. Benn

City of Hamilton @cityofhamilton.bsky.social · 4d

#HamOntSnow Update: All City of Hamilton administrative offices and facilities are open today (Monday, January 26).

All curbside collection (garbage, green bin, bulk & recycling) is cancelled today. Collection will happen one day later this week. Please bring waste in and set out by 7 am tomorrow.

Home page | City of Hamilton

www.hamilton.ca

Reposted by James A. Benn

Worn On This Day @wornonthisday.bsky.social · 4d

Worn #onthisday in 1924 by Henrietta Akers at her church #wedding to L. Gordon Campbell in London. Claire of Connaught Place made the beaded white satin bodice and gown, worn "with a train of net and old family lace," a veil, and an orange-blossom wreath, per the @telegraph.co.uk. #OTD 📷 V&A Museum

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