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Cosmetic sticks at Xiaohe Cemetery in early Bronze Age Xinjiang, China
A leather bag and cosmetic sticks have been excavated from Xiaohe Cemetery. CHINA DAILY
China Daily 29 January 2016
It is said that the average modern woman consumes more than 3 kilograms of lipstick in her lifetime.
Some might find all that wax, oils and emollients a bit hard to digest, but the prehistoric inhabitants of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region made their women's cosmetics sticks out of something a little more edible around 3,500 to 4,000 years ago.
According to the latest archaeological research published on Thursday night in Scientific Reports, an online, open access journal from the publishers of Nature, the red cosmetic sticks buried with women in Xiaohe Cemetery (1980-1450 BC) were made from cow hearts.
"In previous excavations, a number of bronze ware items and other inorganic relics were found. But these cosmetic tools, being made of organic matter, are very rare because they are much more difficult to preserve," said Yang Yimin, a professor from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences under the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an author of the newly published research.
The red cosmetic sticks, around 6.5 cm in length and 0.9 cm in diameter, were found in leather bags buried alongside the mummified corpses of several females. Scientists inferred from the find that the sticks were not only used to paint faces, but also to color relics that have been excavated from Xiaohe Cemetery.
Samples taken from the cosmetic sticks were submitted to a synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography test-a type of X-ray technology-that found they were made from cow hearts covered in pigment by analyzing their interior structure and constituent proteins.
"The color red usually serves as a symbol for the worship of blood, and the heart is one of the most important organs in cattle, as the center of blood circulation. This indicates the cosmetic sticks were used to paint human faces red and were significant, possibly sacred, objects used as part of the Xiaohe people's religious behavior," Yang said.
Xiaohe Cemetery is a Bronze Age site that features more than 160 tombs located in the east of Xinjiang's Tarim Basin. It was first discovered in the 1930s by a team of Swedish archaeologists, but was not excavated until 2002.
"In recent years, a number of significant discoveries have been made in Xiaohe Cemetery, which will open a new window on our understanding of this region's inhabitants, their prehistoric lives and early communication with both Eastern and Western cultures," said Li Wenying, a researcher of Xinjiang Institute of Relics and Archaeology in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang.
Earlier research found that the Xiaohe people had blond or flaxen hair and eyelashes, which indicates that gene mixing between East and West started at least 4,000 years ago.
The newly reported cosmetic sticks are one of the clues that point to women playing a central religious role and enjoying a high social status
For the full article "
Characterization of cosmetic sticks at Xiaohe Cemetery in early Bronze Age Xinjiang, China
in Nature, click HERE
研究发现古人3500年前用牛心做化妆棒(双语)
Thousands of years before the glitz and glamour of modern fashion, ancient residents in today's Xinjiang were already taking cosmetics to heart.
在现代时尚的辉煌和魅力还没有出现的数千年前,今天新疆地区的古代居民们就已经开始使用化妆品了。
Chinese scientists have discovered two "cosmetic sticks" unearthed from Xiaohe Cemetery in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region that were made from the hearts of cattle, the first time such organs have been found to serve as cosmetic tools.
位于中国西北部新疆维吾尔自治区的小河墓地出土了两个"化妆棒",中国科学家们分析发现原材是牛心。这是人类首次了解到将牛心作为化妆品原料。
Dating back about 3,600 years ago, the irregularly-shaped red "sticks" were found in leather bags laid beside female mummies. according to an article published in the journal Scientific Reports.
据发表在《科学报告》期刊上的文章,这些不规则形状的"化妆棒"要追溯到3600年前,它们是在女性干尸旁边的一个皮质小包里发现的。
A team led by Yang Yimin with the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences employed proteomics analysis and found the objects' proteins were derived from bovine hearts. Using SR micro CT and Raman spectrum, they found a layer of hematite powders, which served as red pigment, on the dehydrated hearts.
杨益民和他的中科院研究团队采用蛋白质组学分析发现这些化妆棒是用牛心制成的,使用SR显微CT和拉曼光谱分析,发现干燥的牛心表面覆盖有作为红色颜料的赤铁矿粉末。
"The red paint found on faces of the female mummies leads us to presume the tools were, first of all, used in make-up," Yang told Xinhua on Thursday, while not ruling out the possibility of the hearts being used to paint other objects.
星期四,杨益民对新华社记者说,"从女干尸面部仍然清晰的红色线条可以推测,这些化妆棒首先是用于化妆。"同时,也不排除牛心化妆棒被用来绘制其它东西的可能性。
Heart muscles contain fat and collagen, which can serve as a natural adhesives to attach the pigments to paint. Yang also believed the use of cattle heart might carry religious connotations.
心肌中脂肪和胶原蛋白的含量,让它成为了绘制时粘连颜料的天然粘合剂。杨益民还认为,人们使用牛心化妆棒可能带有宗教内涵。
Red paints were commonly found inside Xiaohe tombs, from red lines on the mummies' foreheads to painting on the huge pillars worshipping fertility in front of each coffin. That the sticks were mostly buried beside female mummies implied that women played a special role in the religious ritual of painting in red, researchers said.
在小河墓地中多处发现了红色图案,从女干尸额头的红色线条,到每个棺材前崇拜生育能力的巨大柱子。研究人员说,由于这种化妆棒通常作为女性的陪葬品,因而可推测当时的女性在绘制红色图案的宗教仪式中扮演着重要的角色。
The study has provided clues to understanding the role of cattle in the Xiaohe Culture, which existed about 4,000 years ago, and the history of early cosmetics, according to Yang.
杨益民表示,该研究对我们理解4000多年前的小河文化中"牛"的角色,以及早期化妆品的历史,提供了线索。
The Xiaohe Cemetery, located in the Taklamakan Desert, is best known for its many mummies in ship-shaped coffins. Archaeologists say the dry and hot environment helped preserve a large number of organic relics.
小河墓地位于塔克拉玛干沙漠,因其出土的许多在船形棺木中干尸而闻名。考古学家称,那里极其干旱炎热的条件对大量的有机遗迹的保存起了很大作用。
The site has seen a number of amazing discoveries, including a skull with a hole indicating brain surgery and China's oldest adhesive made from cattle gelatine, found on a ritual staff and also identified by Yang's team.
该区域已经有了大量令人惊奇的发现,包括有孔的头骨,意味着曾做过头部手术;和在一根法杖上发现的由牛明胶制成的中国最早的胶粘剂,它也是杨益民的团队发现的。
Dunhuang frescoes reveal how ancient Chinese celebrate Lantern Festival
People's Daily Online 23 February 2016
The Dunhuang Research Academy released some ancient documents and frescos on Monday, which feature the celebration of the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The Lantern Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar calendar, marking the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration. On that day, ancient Chinese people will light thousands of colorful lights. This year's Lantern Festival falls on Feb. 22. (CNS Photo)
Wooden phalluses found at lost burial site in Xinjiang desert
'Sex toys' or religious relics? Wooden phalluses found at lost burial site in Xinjiang desert point to quirks of ancient Chinese society
Team finds evidence at Xiaohe Tomb complex that 'blood worship' may also have been a signature of this ancient socio-religious culture in Northwest China
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 02 February, 2016, 1:52pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 02 February, 2016, 2:50pm
Stephen Chen
chen.binglin@scmp.com
Kharkarin Rock near the Erdene Zuu Monastery in Mongolia. Archaeologists believe that large phallus-shaped sculptures like this played an important role in ancient rituals, while smaller pieces may have been used as dildos. Credit: Handout
Wooden carvings of male genitals found in the hands of female mummies discovered in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region were part of an ancient ritual, not sex toys, according to a new study by Chinese scientists.
The phallic carvings measured as small as 4 centimetres in length and were discovered in graves at the Xiaohe Tomb complex in Lop Nur, Xinjiang in the grip of 4,000-year old female mummies.
They were smaller than expected and mostly painted red to highlight their sacred status - hinting at their use in certain religious rituals.
They were found by a research team led by Yang Yimin, a professor of archaeological science at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
The Xiaohe ("small river") Tomb complex was discovered in Lop Nur, a dried-up salt lake and township of the same name in Northwest China's Xinjiang province. The site is located between two deserts - the Taklamakan and Kumtag. Photo: Handout
The findings have been published in a paper in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, run by the San Francisco-based Public Library of Science.
Phallicism, also known as male organ worship, was a common ritual in many ancient cultures, with archaeologists often encountering relics representing sexual organs in tombs and other excavation sites.
In this case, the sexualised relics and sculptures could be separated into two categories: phalluses that played a role in tribal or social rituals, and olisboi - a classical word for dildos - that served an erotic function. In the majority of cases, their category is decided primarily by their size.
The content of a typical tomb for a woman at Xiaohe cemetery: (a) shows a front view of a female mummy with her funerary objects, including a leather bag on the right side of her waist (purple box), wooden replica genitalia on the left (yellow box) and a wooden comb under her buttocks; (b) shows red lines painted on the forehead of a mummy; (c) leather bag; (d) wooden replica genitalia. Credit: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
The tomb complex ranks as one of the largest and oldest burial sites in the world for mummies. The bronze-age burial site dates back to 1980BC, houses around 330 tombs, and contains more than 30 well-preserved mummies.
It was officially discovered by Swedish explorer Folke Bergman in the early 1930s with the aid of a local hunter who had stumbled upon the site some two decades earlier. The site was then obscured for decades by desert storms that shifted the sands of the surrounding desert.
A satellite picture of the basin of the former sea of Lop Nur, where the burial site is located. Photo: Wikipedia
In 2003, government-sponsored archaeologists in Xinjiang rediscovered it. They found that half of the tombs had been looted and the others undisturbed, with shrivelled corpses of both men and women well-preserved in boat-shaped coffins wrapped in cattle hides.
The archaeologists were shocked to find replica wooden genitalia in the left hand of almost every female at the tomb complex, suggesting an extreme form of phallic worship in this primitive Chinese society.
The females also carried leather bags attached to the right side of their waists, which included cosmetic "sticks" made from bovine hearts, according to studies conducted by Yang's team.
Xiaohe cemetery ranks as one of the largest and oldest burial sites for mummies in the world. It dates back to 1980BC and houses over 300 tombs. The site was discovered by European explorers in the Xinjiang desert in 1930s but its location was later obscured and lost as the landscape shifted due to desert storms. Government-sponsored archaeologists rediscovered it just over a decade ago. Credit: Handout
Chemical analysis of the paint on the sticks showed them to be hematite powders - hematite is a blood red-coloured iron ore - that matched other daubings on the faces, personal items and even phallic artefacts of the mummies.
"So using cattle hearts as tools to paint red marks on the human face, as well as on objects such as vertical wooden pillars and wooden phalluses … was a sacred and significant religious form of behaviour for the Xiaohe people," the team wrote in the paper.
"The colour red was usually considered a symbol of worship," they wrote.
"Using [the] heart as a painting tool may indicate that 'blood worship' was a signature of this socio-religious culture."
Huang Shouyu, a historian based in Changsha, in central China's Hunan province, agreed that the replica wooden genitals at the tomb complex were likely used for religious purposes.
But Huang, who has authored several books on sexual worship in ancient Chinese cultures, said that as the relics were uncommonly small for this purpose, they could have served another role - as pleasure-giving dildos.
"They may have served as both sacred items and sex toys," he said.
"It probably would have made little difference to our ancestors."
Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th - 19th Centuries)
The Pearl in its Midst
NOELLE-KARIMI Christine
Verlag: VÖAW
Format: 2014, 374 Seiten,
Genealogical Tables, 5 Karten,
29,7x21 cm, broschiert
Die Stadt Herat und ihre Einbettung in die historische Provinz Khurasan in Ost-Iran stehen im Zentrum dieses Buches, das den Wandel regionaler Strukturen und ihrer Wahrnehmung im Übergang von der frühen Neuzeit zur Moderne zum Gegenstand hat. Anhand persischer Primärquellen wird die Wechselwirkung zwischen politischem Geschehen, kulturellem Gedächtnis und Raumvorstellungen nachgezeichnet. Zu Beginn des Betrachtungszeitraums fungiert Herat als die Hauptstadt des Timuridenreichs, und die Region wird unter den Vorzeichen politischer und spiritueller Zentralität wie auch wirtschaftlicher Blüte thematisiert. Die folgenden Jahrhunderte bis zur Eingliederung Herats in das heutige Afghanistan sind von einem graduellen Verlust dieser Vorrangstellung geprägt. Entsprechend verlagert sich das Gewicht der Quellen von verwaltungstechnischer und landschaftsmalerischer Detailfreude zu größeren strategischen und ökologischen Zusammenhängen, die die gesamte Provinz Khurasan betreffen. Mit den Grenzziehungen und der Aufteilung der Region zwischen Iran, Afghanistan und Transkaspien im späten 19. Jahrhundert werden ehemals elastische Territorialvorstellungen durch hierarchische und zentralistische Staatsentwürfe ersetzt. Die Analyse der Inwertsetzung Khurasans durch politische und literarische Akteure über einen langen Zeitraum verdeutlicht die Tragweite dieser Veränderung und eröffnet neue Perspektiven für die Erforschung regionaler Macht- und Raumgefüge.
A different view on Venus figurines
World famous ancient Siberian Venus figurines 'are NOT Venuses after all'
The Siberian Times 18 February 2016
By Olga Gertcyk
None are naked: instead, they're far more interesting…
Close microscopic inspection reveals them as being far from idealised female forms. Picture: Hermitage Museum
New groundbreaking research shows that a celebrated collection of prehistoric Venus figurines are - in fact - a fashion show of ordinary people of all ages from some 20,000 years ago.
Close microscopic inspection reveals them as being far from idealised female forms. Rather, many are male, and others are children, the new research shows.
It's true that in the past some of the woolly mammoth tusk carvings were known to be clothed. Notably, these were called alluringly Venus in Furs figurines. They were dressed for protection from the Siberian winter, and are possibly the oldest known images anywhere in the world of sewn fur clothing. Yet even deep in Soviet times, the figurines were hailed for their feminine features, and seen as the idealised female form.
We saw the different types of hats, hairstyles, shoes and accessories, which were depicted with thin lines. Picture: Hermitage Museum
Here, for example, are the words of eminent Siberian archeologist and historian Academician Alexey Okladnikov in 1957, on his first 'meeting' with one of the stunning examples of Palaeolithic art from the Buret excavations in this collection.
Carved of mammoth tusk, these female forms - as he supposed - rested in the 'moist and warm soil' soaked by a recent night thunderstorm. Seemingly enchanted and using language veering from the strictly scientific into the lyrical, he hailed this figurine as 'not a dead piece of an alien and long-vanished world, but something thrilling, soulful and full of life'.
Entranced by the ancient vision, he lauded her 'narrow, Mongolian slanted eyes, similar to those of a cat, looking at us, the people of the twentieth century, mysteriously and even somewhat ironically'.
Famous Mal'ta and Buret are located in about 25 kilometres from each other, close to Lake Baikal. Pictures: Google Maps, Jokersy/Panoramio
In rich poetic vein, he continued: 'Her face, carved so unexpectedly gentle and tender, had a barely noticeable smile. The feeling of vitality and mystery coming from this fragment of mammoth tusk was getting even deeper because the statuette radiated the warmth of a living creature.
'It wasn't yellow or brown, like dozens of ancient sculptures from mammoth tusks that lie behind the museum glass window. It was pink and almost warm, like a live human body. This is exactly how a piece of a fossil ivory looks, soaked with the millennial Earth's juices.' But now deeper study using modern technology has been conducted by Dr Lyudmila Lbova and trace analysis specialist Dr Pavel Volkov.
'In the collection of Malta figurines, the overalls are more typical for small sculptures (those of 2-4 cm in height), depicting children.' Picture: Lyudmila Lbova
And a striking new light has been cast on the Mal'ta and Buret figurines - found from the 1920s to the 1950s by the Angara River close to Lake Baikal in modern-day Irkutsk region. Notably, the research disputes the widely-held believe that some of the figures are nude.
'There were many attempts to understand the idea of these figurines, and their symbolism,' she said. 'And there were many interpretations. We decided to pay more attention to some material things, to study the surface, to understand how these figurines were made.
'Modern equipment allows a lot of opportunities to undertake such a study. Totally there are 39 or 40 known figurines found both on Mal'ta and Buret: we have (so far) studied 29 of them, using microscopes and macro shooting.'
Academician Alexey Okladnikov (right) with Academician Anatoly Derevyanko (left) in archaeological expedition. Figurines from Mal'ta and Buret. Pictures: Science First Hand, Hermitage Museum
She explained: 'We worked with sculptures from the collections of the State Hermitage Museum (St Petersburg). First, we found out how these figurines were made and checked our conclusions with experiments. Some of the figurines are just work pieces, to the finished works.'
In other words, they are prototypes and 'this allowed us to reconstruct all the steps in their creation.
'Yet the most unexpected result was that we saw traces on the surface of the figurines that were not spotted earlier, as they are not visible to the naked eye, due to the ravages of time. These traces showed more details of clothes than we had seen previously: bracelets, hats, shoes, bags and even back packs.'
Dr Lyudmila Lbova: 'We decided to pay more attention to some material things, to study the surface, to understand how these figurines were made.' Picture: Vera Salnitskaya
Unfolding before their eyes were images of people as they were 20,000 years ago.
'This approach allowed us to reveal many interesting new details and review some ideas about these sculptures,' she said. 'Previously, there had been different approaches to the classification of these figurines, but the basic was a division into 'dressed' and 'naked'.
'Our research showed that all of them are more or less 'dressed'. We saw the different types of hats, hairstyles, shoes and accessories, which were depicted with thin lines. The ancient masters used different techniques to highlight the different materials - fur, leather, and decorations.
Not naked: thin lines are to show the clothing edges. Pictures: Lyudmila Lbova
'In the realistic elements of clothing and hats are obviously seen the details of traditional outerwear of Nordic peoples. The most 'popular' outerwear on the figurines are fur overalls' - similar to 'kerkery as worn by Koryak children and women in the extreme east of Siberia.
'In the collection of Malta figurines, the overalls are more typical for small sculptures (those of 2-4 cm in height), depicting children. Besides, all the figures dressed in overalls have a disproportionately large head.
Mikhail Gerasimov [the archaeologist who found the first figurines] on the excavations at Mal'ta in 1958. Pictures: Kunstkamera Museum
'Such proportions we see in children under 5 years old, dressed in overalls with high hoods. In other words, these sculptures show small childfren in clothes typical for them and in the right proportions. I think that Mikhail Gerasimov [the archaeologist who found the first figurines] was right describing these figurines as a 'kindergarten'.
'On other sculptures, we can see overalls made of guts, probably from fish or seals, which women wore in summer along with short parkas. We see similar ones in the culture of the indigenous people who live in the Russian north-east, like the Koryaks and Itilmens.'
The most common are these fur 'helmets' that cover the head, neck, ears, cheeks and chin. Pictures: Lyudmila Lbova
The detail spotted on these figurines is intriguing.
'Most interesting are the hats and hairstyles. There are fur 'helmets'' - [meaning a hat that covers the head and shoulders] - 'hats and hoods. The most common are these fur 'helmets' that cover the head, neck, ears, cheeks and chin. In one case there was a high roll under the chin like a fur scarf, or a closed collar of fur.
'Another type is the helmet, which gently falls on the back and shoulders' - as might a modern firefighter's hat.' In all cases the depictions are clear between the headdresses and the hairstyles.
On the figurines 'we can also see the bags and in one case a traditional back pack with two straps. 'The figurine is probably showing a teenager. It has not so much detail, and it is not clear if this is male or female, yet the proportions of bodies show that this is definitely a teenager.
'When I just saw this back pack I was so excited - to discover these realistic details from so long ago.'
'We can also see the bags and in one case a traditional back pack with two straps. The figurine is probably showing a teenager.' Pictures: Lyudmila Lbova
Her analysis also shows that small holes on the figurine - earlier seen as indicating they were worn as pendants - likely have another purpose. 'I can only suggest that they could be firmly attached to clothing, so they did not move. The other idea is that they could be attached to a cradle with leather laces, in keeping with a known tradition among Siberian indigenous groups.
'All the figurines were found within the living facilities of ancient settlements, some of them even in ritual places in the home: they were covered with mammoth scapula bone or sprinkled with ocher.'
So why did the ancient people make these figurines? 'There is no clear answer as to the purpose,' she said. 'There can be a lot of allegations, but no one gives irrefragable answer.
'What we can say for sure is that these realistic details of clothes, accessories, hairstyle clearly show that ancient masters made the figurines of some real people, maybe their relatives. I strongly doubt that these were the images of abstract goddesses or spirits' in the sense often used to understand so-called Venus depictions.
Sophisticated lines are to show the the different materials of which the clothes made. Picture: Lyudmila Lbova, Hermitage Museum
'Besides not all of the figurines show women: there are also children, teenagers both male and female. Of course, after getting some answers, we now have a lot of new questions.
'For now we can only fantasise why ancient people made these figurines, how exactly they uses them. Still, we do know now that the figurines hide a lot of tiny details which has already changed our view on their theme and their function.'
Dr Lyudmila Lbova is a researcher and Dr Pavel Volkov is a leading researcher both at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, part of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The research was conducted by the Laboratory 'Interdisciplinary Study of Primitive Art of Eurasia', which is a joint project of Novosibirsk State University's Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography and University of Bordeaux. The Laboratory is based in Novosibirsk State University.
Dunhuang murals feature monkeys 1,400 years ago
China Daily Europe 8 February 2016
Dunhuang Research Academy has released a series of photos of grotto paintings that depict monkeys to mark the Spring Festival, China's Lunar New Year.
According to China's lunar calendar, 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. The academy is an institution responsible for conservation, management and research at the Mogao Grottoes (a World Cultural Heritage site at Dunhuang), the Yulin Grottoes (a nationally protected key cultural heritage site at Guazhou), and the Western Thousand-Buddha Grottoes at Dunhuang.
The institution said some wall paintings featuring monkeys had a history of 1,400 years. [Photo's provided by Dunhuang Research Academy]
Reward offered for decoding ancient Indian gold coins
Central China's Hunan province is offering a reward to anyone who can decode the inscription on the back of six ancient Indian gold coins, which are believed to have a history of over seven hundred years.[Photo/Xinhua
China Daily (Europe) 17 February 2016
Hunan province in central China is offering a reward to anyone who can decode the inscription on the back of six ancient gold coins.
The Cultural Relics Bureau of Jinshi city has offered 10,000 yuan ($1,500) to anyone who can explain the mystery of the coins, housed in the city's museum.
The coins are believed to have been manufactured during the Delhi Sultanate period, sometime in the middle of China's Yuan Dynasty (1271-1358), said the bureau director Peng Jia .
In the 1960s, a small white glazed pot containing six gold foreign coins was discovered at a farm. Each coin is as big as China's one yuan coin currently in circulation.
Since they were sent to the museum in the 1980s, archaeologists have been puzzled. The coins are classified as first-level national cultural relics.
The inscription on the front, in a rare type of Arabic, is the name of a King, said Peng, "but the information on the back is difficult to decode. I have consulted Chinese and foreign experts, but to no avail. I hope the answer will be revealed one day."
If you are interested what these coins say, go the the blog of Victor Mair Language Log
The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian's Legacy
STEPHEN DURRANT, WAI-YEE LI, MICHAEL NYLAN, AND HANS VAN ESS
paperback not available
$40.00S HARDCOVER (9780295995441)
SUBJECT LISTING: Asian Studies / China; History
BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: 190 pp., 7 charts, 1 table, 6 x 9 in.
Sima Qian (first century BCE), the author of Record of the Historian(Shiji), is China's earliest and best-known historian, and his "Letter to Ren An" is the most famous letter in Chinese history. In the letter, Sima Qian explains his decision to finish his life's work, the first comprehensive history of China, instead of honorably committing suicide following his castration for "deceiving the emperor." In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, some scholars have queried the authenticity of the letter. Is it a genuine piece of writing by Sima Qian or an early work of literary impersonation?�The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian's Legacy provides a full translation of the letter and uses different methods to explore issues in textual history. It also shows how ideas about friendship, loyalty, factionalism, and authorship encoded in the letter have far-reaching implications for the study of China.
STEPHEN DURRANT is professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Oregon; WAI-YEE LI is professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University; MICHAEL NYLAN is professor of history at University of California, Berkeley; and HANS VAN ESS is professor of sinology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen.
"Very intellectually engaging and makes a real contribution to the fields of Chinese history and literature. The authors have done a wonderful job summarizing the important Chinese scholarship to craft a concise collection of essays."
-Mark Csikszentmihalyi, author of Readings in Han Chinese Thought
"The 'Letter' comes alive in this joint endeavor. This rich volume sheds much new light on early Chinese manuscript and epistolary culture, Han dynasty political ideology and social ethics, traditional Chinese views of authorship, and, last but not least, our understanding of Sima Qian as a seminal writer, thinker, and historian."
-Yiqun Zhou, author of Festivals, Feasts, and Gender Relations in Ancient China and Greece
"A fascinating, in-depth exploration of Sima Qian's 'Letter to Ren An' and the first monograph to give this most celebrated letter of the Chinese tradition the attention it deserves. If the 'Letter' is the lens through which Shiji has been read for two millennia, the four original contributions collected here direct our attention to this lens itself. Scrutinizing it with regard to authenticity, authorship, friendship, and dissent, they illuminate these aspects on a much broader scale."
-Antje Richter, author of Letters and Epistolary Culture in Early Medieval China
A Siberian "Tutanchamon"- Wonderful new discoveries in Tuva in South Siberia
FOCUS ON TUVA: Stunning treasures - and macabre slaughter - in Siberia's Valley of the Kings
The Siberia Times by Olga Gertcyk 11 February 2016
Pictured: the gleaming riches no-one was meant to see belonging to an ancient nomad potentate, and his queen...or was she his concubine?
In all, some 9,300 decorative gold pieces were found here, not including the 'uncountable golden beads'. Picture: Vera Salnitskaya
The royal tomb known as Arzhan 2 in the modern-day Republic of Tuva - to many, the most mysterious region in all Russia - is some 2,600 years old but its valuables match any trove from any era anywhere in the world.
Here inside a mound 80 metres wide was buried a warrior tsar with a sway that plainly reached over a vast territory of mountains and steppes, and whose magnificent possessions indicated close contacts with other civilisations.
Forget the notion of barbaric Siberian nomadic tribes in this epoch: well, don't quite forget. These ancient warriors used the skulls of their vanquished foes as drinking cups, according to no less an authority than Greek historian Herodotus.
And this queen or concubine was almost certainly sacrificed to that she could be buried beside the dead ruler. And yet, as the pictures show, their exceptional artwork predates the influence of the Greeks, and displays a high degree of sophistication.
Unknown warrior was found literally covered in gold alongside with his woman. Pictures: Konstantin Chugunov, Anatoli Nagler and Hermann Parzinger; Vera Salnitskaya
The unknown monarch - a Siberian Tutankhamun - was entombed in this ancient necropolis with 14 horses, a defining symbol of wealth in these Scythian times; each animal was from a different herd.
Alongside him lay the woman in his life, his queen or, as is suspected, his favourite concubine, but in any event a woman held in great esteem who was ethnically distinct from this monarch's retinue also buried alongside him which included 33 others, including five children. She was in all likelihood not alone in being sacrificed to accompany him to the afterlife...
The most breathtaking aspect of this Tuvan find are the contents of the burial chamber of this royal couple - pictured here - located by archeologists some two or three metres beneath the surface.
In all, some 9,300 decorative gold pieces were found here, not including the 'uncountable golden beads'. Put in another way, there was more than 20 kilograms of gold, including earrings, pendants and beads, adorning the bodies of the royal couple all made in what is known as Animal Art style.
The ancient ruler was buried with a heavy necklace made of pure gold and gold quiver with fish scale decoration. Pictures: Vera Salnitskaya
Ancient robbers had sought to raid vast burial mound, just as they had successfully looted the neighbouring Arzhan 1 site, which was perhaps 150 years older. It could be that specially built 'decoy' graves threw these ancient looters' off the scent.
Here in Arzhan 2, thieves had left a trail which archeologists unearthed but fortunately the raiders gave up shortly before reaching these treasures, which are made from iron, turquoise, amber and wood as well as gold.
So valuable are they that it is rumoured these wondrous objects - now held mainly in local capital Kyzyl but also in St Petersburg - cannot be exhibited abroad because of the cost of insurance.
The find has been described by Dr Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the Hermitage Museum as 'an encyclopedia of Scythian Animal Art because you have all the animals which roamed the region, such as panther, lions, camels, deer...' It includes 'many great works of art - figures of animals, necklaces, pins with animals carved into a golden surface', he told The New York Times.
'This is the original Scythian style, from the Altai region, which eventually came to the Black Sea region and finally in contact with ancient Greece. And it resembles almost an Art Nouveau style.'
The reconstruction of the costumes made by the experts from Hermitage Museum. Picture: Hermitage Museum
Covered with two layers of larch logs, the royal burial chamber was carefully constructed like a blockhouse and stood inside a second, outer burial chamber of the same construction.
The four walls were presumably adorned by some kind of curtain. Long wooden sticks were found along the walls, which could have been used like curtain rails. The curtains themselves, as well as any other textile remains, were not preserved. On a carefully made boarded wooden floor - likely softened by felt - were the bodies of this sovereign and his companion.
The skulls had dislocated from the bodies because they had probably been placed on a kind of pillow, now decayed. The ancient ruler was buried with a heavy necklace made of pure gold and decorated all over with the carvings of animals.
His outer clothes, probably a kind of kaftan, had been decorated with thousands of small panther figures, each 2-to-3 centimetres in length, attached in vertical rows, also forming motifs such as wings on his back.
A gold pectoral in Animal Style decoration, golden earring with turquoise and a miniature gold cup. Picture: Vera Salnitskaya
On his boots, maybe originally of felt or leather, thousands of mini-beads - in diameter only about 1 millimetre - had been stitched; on the upper part they ended in golden turndowns. Alongside and under the skull were gold plaques with animal-shaped inlays: four winged horses and one deer originally attached to the headgear.
The total weight of his jewellery - including minute glass beads on his trousers - was 2 kilograms. The man's weaponry consisted of an iron dagger, poorly preserved, on his right hip. This was connected to the belt by a strap, and both had been decorated with numerous golden adornments.
Beside the dagger was a miniature gold cup. On the left side of the deceased was a gold quiver with fish scale decoration. The wooden arrow shafts were painted in black and red. His arrow heads were made of iron, but also showed the remains of golden encrustation. The golden adornment on the belt - used for carrying his quiver into the afterlife - was extremely rich.
Below the quiver lay the wooden bow itself, studded with pieces of golden decoration. Between the quiver and the north-eastern wall of the burial chamber were two picks, one of iron with golden encrustation. To the left of the man's head lay a bronze mirror.
His outer clothes, probably a kind of kaftan, had been decorated with thousands of small panther figures, each 2-to-3 centimetres in length. Pictures: Vera Salnitskaya
A second, slightly larger bronze mirror was located to the left of the woman's head, a little bigger and with a gold handle. Below the woman's head were three gold plaques in the shape of animals - two horses and a mystical winged creature - associated with the woman's headdress.
Beside her head was a pair of gold pins, decorated with carvings in Animal Art style. The decoration of the woman's dress corresponded to the man's kaftan: thousands of golden panthers form different motifs, again, notably, wings on her back. Around her breasts, archeologists found golden earrings and many small beads of gold, amber, garnet, malachite and other precious materials.
Near her feet were thousands of mini-beads made of gold, which must have been fixed onto felt or leather boots which had been inlaid with golden ribbons and granulation.
On her right hip hung an iron knife, poorly preserved but with numerous excellent gold belt adornments. Her wrists were adorned with gold bracelets. Here, too, lay two bronze kettles, seen as exceptionally valuable for these times.
In the western corner of the burial chamber were three large amber beads, a wooden cup with a golden handle, a gold comb with wooden teeth, and a heap of various seeds. Within the heap of seeds was a gold pectoral in Animal Style decoration and a small bronze cup, still inside a small leather bag.
'It's hard to imagine that these fine pieces were made by nomads living in tents.' Pictures: Vera Salnitskaya
In other burials, which surrounded the prominent couple, bronze knives, an axe-type weapon, known as a Raven's beak, arrowheads, bronze mirrors, belts, and much jewellery - beads made of glass, stone, amber, and golden earrings - were found. So too were fragments of cloth - felt, fur, and fabric.
Here too were discovered bridle sets made of bronze, mane ornaments and tail decorations cut from gold sheet.
What can we discern of the personal stories behind these ancient royals and their entourage found in Uyuk hollow, northern Tuva, and excavated by a joint Russian-German team between 2001 and 2004?
Professor Konstantin Chugunov, highly respected senior researcher at the world famous Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, who headed the project, said DNA analysis of the group indicated those buried here were from the Iranian ethno-linguistic group.
According to the analysis of strontium isotopes in the bones, all those buried were locals except for one person - the 'queen', and it gives reason to think about dynastic marriage,' he said.
Weapon: an iron dagger and iron arrowheads with golden encrustation. Pictures: Vera Salnitskaya
Totally 35 people - 16 men, 13 women, five children along with bones which cannot be identified by gender, were buried here, as were 14 horses.
The 'king' was between 40 and 50 years old and analysis of his remains revealed that he died of prostate cancer. 'This is the earliest documentation of the disease,' said Michael Schultz, a paleopathologist at the University of Gottingen. It is believed that in the last years of his life, this potentate could not have walked.
His female partner, accorded pride of place alongside him, was around 30 years old. Who was she?
We don't know if the woman was a queen or a concubine,' said Professor Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, and a joint leader of the excavations, 'but since their ornaments were similar, both must have had high status.'
No cause of death can be detected for her, leading to a theory that she could have been poisoned or strangled, to be buried beside her liege, and to travel with him into the next world: willingly or not, she was a human sacrifice, according to this version.
'Maybe she was poisoned,' said Chugunov, 'or maybe she chose to die to be with her husband.' We may never know how she died, by natural causes around the same time as her master or in more sinister fashion, but others in the tsar's entourage certainly had gruesome demises.
Early Scythians were people who knew good artwork when they saw it, and used contacts to obtain, or commission, jewellery and decorations. Pictures: Vera Salnitskaya
The scene archeologists uncovered here appears to match with remarkable accuracy a description by Herodotus of the macabre Scythian burial rite.
'Based on accompanying burials, we also found evidence of phenomena described by Herodotus when the living would follow the deceased,' Parzinger has explained. 'Herodotus wrote that when a military leader died, his close circle - wife (or concubine), bodyguards, advisers, servants - were killed. As they were the property of the leader, they had to follow him to the tomb. And we identified particular evidence of their murder.'
Herodotus, who lived later, from 484 BC to 425 BC, wrote: 'The body of the king is laid in the grave, stretched upon a mattress. Spears are fixed in the ground on either side of the corpse and beams stretched above it to form a roof.
'In the open space around the body of the king they bury one of his concubines, first killing her by strangling, and also his cup-bearer, his cook, his groom, his lackey, his messenger, some of his horses... and some golden cups, for they use neither silver nor brass.'
It is believed that when the king died, he was mummified and his body travelled for 40 days across all his lands. And all expressed their sorrow. Then at some sacred place a burial mound was constructed and his entire entourage were slaughtered and buried there.
Cups: wooden cup with a golden handle and small golden cup. Pictures: Vera Salnitskaya
Herodotus did not describe how the ruler's entourage were killed. While the queen or concubine shows no sign of a violent death - the assumption is that she was poisoned - one woman's skull in Arzhan 2 was pierced four times with a war pick.
A man's skull still retains the splinters from a wooden club used to kill him. In some cases archaeologists see evidence of blows to the head with kind of poleaxe: in other case, they suppose strangulation or poison.
Separately, on these human remains was found evidence of 'battlefield surgery' conducted on these warriors during earlier conflicts. Next to the burial mound, to the north, was found a separate burial where 'chipped' human and horse bones were mixed.
A 'guess' is that this fits another Herodotus description of the burial mound being guarded by dead horses pulling wagons with their wheels removed on which were placed dead horsemen.
The Greek historian described 50 young men, who were set around the mound. Those, who made the burial, went away and the mound remained. The corpses of the horses and riders were pecked by birds, eaten by animals, and all this decayed.
Decorations on the akinak - or short sword - show similarities to patterns used in Eastern Zhou (Eastern China). Pictures: Vera Salnitskaya
More can be understood about these nomads from the riches lying beside this noble couple, although these ancient people left no written records, and hardly any sign of settlements that - some archeologists suspect - must have existed.
A royal burial such as this gives the 'quintessence of information' because the achievements of the culture at the time were laid to rest with the dead king, it has been said. As Parzinger has said: 'It's hard to imagine that these fine pieces were made by nomads living in tents.' Chugunov concurs: 'In Arzhan 2, the gold jewellery was clearly not made by nomadic artists.'
They fought and pillaged but as Dr Anatoil Nagler, from the German Archeological Institute, told National Geographic: 'The people were excellent craftsmen. This puts the Scythian quality of life in a new light. It rejects the stereotype that Scythians were just wild horsemen and warriors, migrating and destroying other people. They had a high level of cultural development.'
Or so it seemed at the time when the discoveries were first made. Now it is seen as more likely that these early Scythians were people who knew good artwork when they saw it, and used contacts to obtain, or commission, jewellery and decorations that matched their needs and tastes. Not that anyone was meant to see these treasures encased in the burial tomb.
The gleaming riches no-one was meant to see. Pictures: Vera Salnitskaya
Some probably originated on the territory of what is now present-day China; others owe their origins to the Near East, with more seemingly made by Scythians in non-nomadic settlements. Some treasures came from a distance of between 4,000 and 5,000 kilometres from this burial mound, yet at this point there were no contacts with the Ancient Greeks.
Even so, the treasures suggest the lost civilisation of Scythians were culturally more advanced that was once supposed. The experts surmise that it was Scythian craftsmen who cast the daggers, arrowheads, and gold plaques found at this site.
Decorations on the akinak - or short sword - show similarities to patterns used in Eastern Zhou (Eastern China) at around the same period. Bronze jars found in Inner Mongolia are compatible to a small bowl with horizontal a loop-like handle from the main burial in Arzhan 2.
The same applies to methods used in embroidery and the manufacture of earrings, the latter resembling a technique used close to the Aral Sea, some 3,600 km distant. Remains of fruit and seeds of plants found at Arzhan 2 had also come from far afield.
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Norman Fowler
Ministerial Career
1938: Born in Chelmsford, Essex.
1943-49: Kings Road infants and primary school. Played in goal and a few years later a young boy called Geoff Hurst played for the same team.
1949-56: King Edward VI grammar school. Colours in football, cricket and hockey. Deputy Head Boy.
1956-58: National Service – 2nd Lieutenant in Essex Regiment. Stationed in Dortmund. Other National Service officers included Christopher Tugendhat (later a European Commissioner) and Neil MacFarlane (later Minister of Sport).
1958-61: Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Attends at the same time as so-called Cambridge 'Mafia' of future Tory politicians such as Leon Brittan, Ken Clarke, John Gummer, Michael Howard and many more. Chairman of Conservative Association and hosted two-thousand strong meeting for serving Prime Minister Harold MacMillan. Watching from the press benches were Peter Cook and David Frost.
1961: Joined The Times as a trainee. William Haley was the editor and at the time there were advertisements on the front page and no bylines for journalists. "We were all special correspondents."
1966: Home Affairs Correspondent at The Times specialising in the Home Office where he covered in turn Roy Jenkins ("The best Home Secretary since the War") and Jim Callaghan. Claims to be the first specialist correspondent on Fleet Street to cover the Home Office.
1967: Covered Middle-East War from Beirut, Syria and Jordan. Entered by a fishing boat from Famagusta, Cyprus with the team from Paris Match and was initially given a one-hour visa. Claims to be the only Home Affairs Correspondent covering the Middle-East War.
1968: Selected as Conservative Candidate for Nottingham South.
1970: Won the seat from Labour by almost 4,000 votes but then at the opening of Parliament heard Ted Heath say that the delayed boundary review was to be implemented with the result that his seat disappeared.
1972: Selected for Sutton Coldfield, 40 miles to the west in the West Midlands and returned there in both elections of 1974. He remained Member of Parliament for Sutton Coldfield for 27 years, until 2001.
1979-81: Minister of Transport (later Secretary of State) at Department of Transport
1981-87: Secretary of State at Department of Health & Social Security
1987-90: Secretary of State at Department of Employment
1990: Resignation from the cabinet
1992-94: Chairman of the Conservative Party
1997-98: Shadow Environment, Transport & the Regions Secretary
1998-99: Shadow Home Secretary
2001: Retired from the House of Commons. Appointed Baron Fowler, of Sutton Coldfield in the County of West Midlands.
2005: Chairman of the House of Lords select committee on the renewal of the BBC's Royal Charter; 2006 first chairman of the Lords' select committee on Communications; 2011 chairman of the House of Lords Select Committee on HIV/AIDS.
2016: Elected Lord Speaker of the House of Lords.
Chairing virtual sessions during the 'lockdown'
Business and Voluntary Sector
Norman has been deeply involved in industry, having been on the board of directors of several companies. He was non-executive chairman of the Midland Independent Newspapers (publishers of the Birmingham Post) 1991-98 and then of the Yorkshire Post group; non-executive chairman of Aggregate Industries plc (now part of Holcim Ltd) 2000-06; chairman of the National House Building Council 1992-98; and Numark 1998-2006. He was a non-executive director of NFC plc 1990-97; Holcim 2006-10; and of ABTA, the travel business.
Among his voluntary roles, he was a director of the International Aids Vaccine Initiative in New York and has continuing links with the Terrence Higgins Trust and the National Aids Trust. He is President of the British HIV Association which represents clinicians.
He is a member of the National Union of Journalists.
In May 1979 Norman Fowler married Fiona Poole, who worked as a Library Clerk in the House of Commons Research Department. They have two daughters, Kate and Isobel, who were born amidst the red boxes. He also has a stepson, Oliver, and four grandchildren, Iris, Lola, Esmé and Thomas. He lives in London and the Isle of Wight.
Norman Fowler, Powered by WordPress.com.

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Friday 21 December, 2018 – The Indoor Cycling Group (ICG®) has partnered with Fitness Fiesta for a second consecutive year, to deliver interactive group cycling classes at events across the UK.
Fitness Fiesta brings together anyone with an interest in fitness to showcase the latest trends and innovations in group exercise; a training method that continues to grow in popularity and was recently named in second place in the American College of Sports Medicine's Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2019.
First launched in 2000, Fitness Fiesta events now attract over 10,000 instructors and enthusiasts every year, with partners that include founders of the INSANITY® workout, Beachbody, and global group training provider, Les Mills.
The partnership with ICG will continue with the first event of 2019 being held in February at Beaumont House in Windsor, where more than 350 spaces will be available in multiple classes delivered across the three days.
Attendees will use the award-winning IC7 indoor cycle, that incorporates ICG's pioneering design and functionality with the latest in training technology. Class participants will also train using ICG's Coach by Color® system, a self-powered console that delivers real-time, colour-coded biofeedback to accurately coach the user's effort for effective, customised results.
ICG remains the world's largest organisation specialising in the design, manufacture and programming of indoor cycling equipment and, in 2016, was acquired by Life Fitness' parent company Brunswick Corporation, joining Hammer Strength, Cybex and SCIFIT as part of Life Fitness' global brand portfolio.
Commenting on today's announcement of the continued partnership, Andy Lucas, Director of Fitness Fiesta, said: "Following overwhelming positive feedback about the ICG experiences provided at Fitness Fiesta during 2018, we're delighted to continue the relationship throughout 2019. The ICG offering is so diverse and unique that I can honestly say that indoor cycling as never been as popular at Fitness Fiesta.


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Punjab police officers suspended after teenager claims they raped her at gunpoint
By Manjeet Sehgal
Five police constables allegedly stalked, raped and terrorised a 17-year-old schoolgirl to the extent that she tried to commit suicide.
The police have arrested four of the accused constables but the fifth one remains unidentified.
Akshay, Sunil, Himmat and Jagtar have been suspended.
Chandigarh police escort the main accused in the gang-rape case
They were beaten up by local residents outside a government hospital where they were taken for a medical examination on Friday.
"We have registered a gang-rape, and threatening the victim case against the accused policemen. They have been arrested," said Inspector General of Police RK Upadhyay.
The medical examination of the victim has confirmed rape.
The victim narrated a horrifying tale of repeated gang-rape at gunpoint.
In October this year, the victim dialed 100 for police help when a property dispute involving her family turned violent.
Constable Akshay, who was posted in police control room, visiting her house and asked for her mobile number.
A month later, the victim saw Akshay standing outside her school.
One day he allegedly accosted her outside her school and tried to molest her.
The girl resisted and in the struggle the mirror of Akshay's motorbike came off.
He allegedly threatened the girl that she had damaged a police vehicle and a case will be registered against her.
One day, it was claimed, he took her to a room near her school and allegedly raped her.
Later, Sunil, Himmat, Jagtar and another constable joined Akshay and allegedly took turns to rape her.
It was claimed the five men made it a habit to stalk the victim and force her into the PCR van at will. "I was drugged and raped at gunpoint," the victim said.
Sources said the Chandigarh police initially tried to hush up the case and even ridiculed the family of the victim for approaching them with their complaint.
A formal complaint was registered only after the intervention of a former MP and other leaders.


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JW Marriott Is Coming to Tokyo in 2025
by Daniel McCarthy / May 09, 2022
Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Shutterstock.com
Marriott this week announced that it has plans in place to debut its JW Marriott brand in Tokyo, Japan in 2025.
The new property, which is being developed as part of an agreement with East Japan Railway Company, is slated to sit in the heart of the city between the Shinagawa and Tamachi train stations.
The hotel will occupy floors 22 to 30 of the Station Complex Building in the new Takanawa Gateway Urban Development project, a new development by the East Japan Railway Company. The project, which includes residences, a convention and conference center, and more, is just a 15-minute drive from Tokyo Haneda Airport.
The plan is for the property to offer 200 guest rooms and suites and a mix of dining options including a 24-hour option. It will also include a 25-meter indoor swimming pool, a separate fitness center, and a Spa by JW.
Currently, JW Marriott only has one other property in Japan, a hotel in Nara, a city more than 300 miles west of Tokyo. The brand has a number of other properties in Asia, including 9 in India; more than 20 in Mainland China and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan; 4 in Thailand; 2 in South Korea; and single properties in Malaysia, the Maldives, and Singapore.
The brand also most recently opened its first property in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
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Report: New W Hotel Is Coming to Universal Orlando
A new 22-story, 400-room W Hotel is planned for the area next to Epic Universe, the resort's new theme park.
Sanctuary Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic Reopens
The resort was shut following the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in September 2022.
Accor Introduces New Brand Called Handwritten Collection
The Handwritten Collection includes unique, independent hotels.
What's New In Aruba for 2023
Aruba is heading into 2023 with robust tourism plans including new hotel openings and renovations.


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Slash, Hammett + Morello Salute Eddie Van Halen at Rock Hall
See what they had to say.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Set to Re-Open
The re-opening comes with new health policies.
Judas Priest's Richie Faulkner: Rock Hall Exclusion a Total Joke
The guitarist answers fan comments on the band's Rock Hall exclusion.
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To become eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an artist must wait 25 years from the release of their first record. These artists are eligible in 2016.
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Watch HBO's Trailer for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Broadcast
On May 30, HBO subscribers will be able to tune into the network's broadcast of this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Artists Who Should Be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
As another group marches into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, let's pause for a moment to recognize the many artists who've yet to be recognized.
Nick DeRiso
Chubby Checker Wants To Be Inducted Into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
The singer of 'The Twist' and many other hits says he deserves to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2012 Induction Ceremony Delivers Thrills
The inductions of Guns N' Roses, Donovan, and the Faces were hardly the only highlights from what was a memorable evening of celebration at the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. ZZ Top, John Mellencamp and several other big stars also made a big impact with their …
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Guns N' Roses Alumni Reunite to Perform at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Three-fifths of the original Guns N' Roses, and two other latter-day alumni, joined forces for a blistering three song set at the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony tonight (April 14).
Crowd Boos Axl Rose at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
In an open letter last week, Axl Rose made himself perfectly clear: he didn't feel "wanted or respected" by his former Guns N' Roses bandmates, so not only would he skip the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he didn't want to be inducted at all.
A couple names you may recognize sa…
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Guns N' Roses Members Thank Fans During Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction
After a tumultuous few weeks that saw both Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin bail from attending Guns N' Roses induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the band members who showed up to accept the honors — Slash, Steven Adler, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan — did so with styl…
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As Ronnie Wood noted, the lead vocalists for the legendary bands slated for induction at the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony were "dropping like flies" in the days leading up to the event. However the rest of the musicians, including Wood's former…
Paranoid Man Hides In Airport For 3 Months
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Washington University in St. Louis has been an integral part of the St. Louis community since the university's founding in 1853.
The Danforth Campus, surrounded by suburbs and facing Forest Park, is seven miles west of the Mississippi riverfront and the Arch. In between, at the eastern end of the park, are the Washington University School of Medicine and the affiliated hospitals and clinics of the Washington University Medical Center.
Our students and faculty take advantage of the metropolitan area in many ways — from recreation and cultural offerings and fine dining, to internships and clinical experiences, to volunteering their time to a variety of worthy causes.
Consistently ranked among the nation's most affordable and best places to live and raise a family, the St. Louis region offers many opportunities to watch or participate in a wide range of sports, recreational activities and cultural events.
If you would like additional information about living in St. Louis, please feel free to visit our office. We offer print copies of the information on this website as well as additional resources.


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Home » Politics » Nicola Sturgeon told Scots will 'recoil' at plans for 'wild card referendum'
Nicola Sturgeon told Scots will 'recoil' at plans for 'wild card referendum'
IndyRef2: No support for second referendum says Scottish MP
Conservative MP David Mundell has claimed Scottish voters would "recoil" at the prospect of the SNP holding a wild card referendum. SNP Tommy Sheppard has added that it is the democratic right of Scotland to hold a second vote with or without the support from Westminster. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Mundell said: "As far as I'm aware there isn't support for having a wild card referendum.
"I don't think there is much polling on it because people haven't contemplated that the Scottish government would propose going ahead with a referendum without having a legal basis for it.
"I think most people whether or not they support independence would recoil at the prospect of having a wild card referendum."
He added: "I think most people in Scotland whether they support independence or not would be alarmed to hear that there was now talk of a wild card referendum that didn't have a legal basis.
"When we did have the referendum in 2014 that was one of the key elements that it was legal, fair, and decisive.
"To have a wild card referendum I think is wholly irresponsible and could only lead to further division and disruption."
Mr Sheppard told LBC earlier this month that his party plans to go ahead with a referendum as he issued an ultimatum to Boris Johnson.
He said: "It doesn't really matter if you think circumstances have changed fundamentally or enough.
"It doesn't matter if you think enough time has passed.
Iain Dale quizzes Alex Salmond on Scottish independence
"The thing that top trumps all of that is what do the people in Scotland actually think and what have they voted for.
"They have just voted to have another say on this matter and they elected to Scottish Parliament on that basis. I think that mandate should be respected.
"I think the best thing for the Conservative Government is to work with the Scottish Government to organise that referendum in the way it was done in 2014.
"I hope they will do that but if they don't, there will be a referendum.
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"We have a mandate to deliver on a referendum and if democracy means anything then that has to happen and then it will be for the UK Government to decide whether it respects that or not."
The SNP won its fourth consecutive term in power at Holyrood in May's Scottish elections, and Ms Sturgeon insisted that that victory "represents an unarguable mandate to implement the manifesto we put before the country".
This included plans for another independence ballot, with Ms Sturgeon telling supporters the time to make a decision on Scotland's future was "approaching".
While the Prime Minister has so far rejected all calls for another vote, Ms Sturgeon said hoped the two governments could reach an agreement, as happened in 2014, "to allow the democratic wishes of the people of Scotland to be heard and respected".
Oil ministry mulls reinstating subsidised LPG prices
Labour think tank warns things to look out for in looming Tory conference 'A distraction!'
02/10/2021 Politics Comments Off on Nicola Sturgeon told Scots will 'recoil' at plans for 'wild card referendum'


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Ketch Taylor
#7 Attackman - Nebraska
Hometown: Carlsbad, CA
High School: La Costa Canyon
Eligibility: Junior
2015 Nebraska 7 30 9 12 0 0 0 - 0
02/22/2015 Regis W 10-9 2 0 1 0 0
02/28/2015 Dordt College W 22-3 5 2 1 0 0
03/01/2015 Kansas State W 23-5 3 0 1 0 0
03/06/2015 MSU-Mankato W 11-8 4 1 1 0 0
03/08/2015 Oklahoma L 12-13 2 1 1 0 0
03/14/2015 Missouri W 8-7 1 1 0 0 0
03/14/2015 Arkansas W 14-4 1 1 0 0 0
04/04/2015 @ Kansas W 19-8 2 0 2 0 0
04/11/2015 @ Texas A&M L 8-15 1 0 0 0 0
04/12/2015 @ North Texas W 6-4 0 0 0 0 0
04/17/2015 Iowa State W 13-5 3 2 3 0 0
04/19/2015 Iowa L 4-11 4 0 0 0 0
05/01/2015 @ Miami (Ohio) L 5-8 2 1 2 0 0


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We want to host the first national high school microfinance summit led by students for students.
The National High School Microfinance Initiative is fundraising to host our inaugural student-run summit. During this event, high school students from throughout the United States will discuss microfinance with their peers, compete in a microfinance case competition, and learn more about microfinance through interactive activities. Students will also have the opportunity to hear from experts in the field.
The conference will be held on Sunday, October 4th at the Explorer's Club in New York City. We expect over 100 people to attend the event, including students representing 8 high school microfinance organizations, parents, and members of the New York microfinance community. Free ticketing and more information about scheduling are available on our Eventbrite page.
Our organization aims to bring together like-minded high school students interested in microfinance. Microfinance is a system of providing small loans or micro-loans to people in developing communities. This process has been demonstrated to be a powerful instrument in alleviating poverty and empowering women. The World Bank estimates that microfinance organizations (MFI's) have reached approximately 130 million clients over the past 15 years due to their rapid growth.
The National High School Microfinance Initiative aims to form a coalition of student microfinance leaders committed to alleviating both domestic and foreign hardship through microfinance. As the next generation of leaders, high schoolers have the opportunity to focus the efforts of the global community towards fighting poverty.
This will be the first student-driven conference directly focused on bringing high school students together to discuss both the theory and practice of microfinance.
As organizers, we have already established detailed plans including the date, time, and location of our event, in addition to scheduling specific activities including keynote speeches from Dr. Shawn Humphrey, founder of the Month of Microfinance, Two Dollar Challenge, and La Ceiba Microfinance and Professor Jonathan Morduch of New York University, two renowned microfinance experts. We have confirmed the venue of our conference - the Explorer's Club in New York City. Several student organizations have already committed to attending, including clubs from the St. John's School in Houston, Greenhill School in Dallas, Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, Trinity School in New York City, and the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut.
We believe that every person who attends the conference will be impacted in a meaningful way. Our aim is to further develop individual knowledge of microfinance and provide a forum for student microfinance leaders to share ideas for raising awareness and educating their peers in their school communities.
We are Student Board members of the National High School Microfinance Initiative (NSHMI), a think tank for high school students interested in microfinance. Founded in 2014 by students from St. John's School, the Trinity School, Riverdale Country School, and the Hotchkiss School, NHSMI has expanded to include over 200 students from 10 clubs in New York, Connecticut, Texas, Florida, California, Colorado, and Hawaii. The NHSMI has an Advisory Board, composed of microfinance experts and college students involved in microfinance, which provides support and guidance to the Student Board. In the past year, members of NHSMI have directed two microfinance documentaries, helped three schools start microfinance clubs, partnered with the Month of Microfinance to promote microfinance discussions in April, shared ideas through the NHSMI blog, and asked Nobel-winner Muhammad Yunus about youth involvement in microfinance. We hope this summit will further catalyze the discussion of microfinance among high school students. Thank you for your support!
This allows us to cover the expenses for essential technology and food costs.
This enables us to run a microfinance contest in which the winning team would be awarded $250 to enhance microfinance activities within their school community.


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Following a successful bid, you will receive an account statement, showing the hammer price per lot, plus the premium (25% of the hammer price), and eventually the resale tax, if applicable, at a hammer price of € 2.000 or more, only for original art and if the author died less than 70 years ago.
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Q: When do we see particles to be in a superposition of energy states? I have two doubts:
Exactly when does this happen?
and
If we are in a superposition of states (lets say E1 and E2) and the particle absorbs a photon, what will happen? If E3-E1 = hf, will it go to E3?
Thanks!

A:
When do we see particles to be in a superposition of energy states?

From the fundamentals of quantum mechanics for "seeing" , i.e. measuring an energy, the result will be one unique energy eigen value "to every observable there corresponds an operator which acting on the state function will return an eigenvalue". So for an individual particle the answer is "never". For an ensemble of particles one could have some at an E1 level and some at the E2 level  and photons with energy E1 could kick out an electron when scattering off an E1 level particle and the E2 from the E2 level particle. Otherwise the photon will go through without interacting. ( transparency ).
One can infer that a single particle is in a superposition of energy levels if one measures a variable that does not commute with energy, by construction of quantum mechanical states. We trust the mathematics because there has not been a falsification of quantum mechanical predictions to date.
Ensembles of particles can be prepared and are prepared in a superposition of states that allow accurate measurements  of energy levels, by using photon beams of two frequencies. Here is an example.

A: To see the particle in the superposition of state(say state 1 and state 2), you need to prepare many identical systems; the collection of many identical systems is called an ensemble. Then you need to measure the energy of each system, you will find sometimes you will get E1 and sometimes you will get E2, thus you can confirm yourself that the particle is indeed in the superposition of E1 and E2.
About what happens we you let a photon to interact with the particle, I think the photon will first to make the particle to collapse to one of its eigenstate(this process actually is a measurement). If the particle collapse to E2, nothing happens afterwards; else, it will jump to E3.

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Note: Separate PDQ summaries on Esophageal Cancer Screening, Esophageal Cancer Treatment, and Levels of Evidence for Cancer Screening and Prevention Studies are also available.
Smoking and drinking alcohol may account for roughly 90% of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cases in Western countries like the United States. Gastroesophageal reflux/Barrett esophagus is associated with an increased risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Other factors that may explain the increased risk of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus include obesity  and the use of medications such as anticholinergics that can predispose to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) by relaxing the lower esophageal sphincter.
Based on solid evidence, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol increases the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Smoking and drinking alcohol may account for roughly 90% of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas in Western countries like the United States.
Magnitude of Effect: Increased risk, moderate magnitude.
Study Design: Evidence from population-based case-control and cohort studies.
Magnitude of Effect: Large positive benefit.
Based on fair evidence, epidemiologic studies have found that aspirin or NSAID use is associated with decreased risk of developing or dying from esophageal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.47–0.71).
Magnitude of Effect: Small positive.
Based on solid evidence, harms of NSAID use include upper gastrointestinal bleeding and serious cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction, heart failure, hemorrhagic stroke, and renal impairment.
Based on fair evidence, an association exists between GERD and adenocarcinoma, particularly if the GERD is long-standing and symptoms are severe.[6,7] In a case-control study from Sweden, the OR for patients with recurrent reflux symptoms was 7.7, while the OR for patients with long-standing and severe symptoms was 43.5 (95% CI, 18.3–103.5). A meta-analysis of 1,128 individuals with esophageal adenocarcinoma from five case-control studies reported statistically significant increases in risk with recurrent heartburn (OR, 4.6; 95% CI, 3.3–6.6), regurgitation (OR, 4.6; 95% CI, 3.4–6.1), or both (OR, 4.8; 95% CI, 3.4–6.8). Daily heartburn and regurgitation was associated with an eightfold increase in risk (OR, 8.0; 95% CI, 4.5–14.0).
Magnitude of Effect: Unknown magnitude.
Magnitude of Effect: Increased risk; small magnitude.
A randomized controlled trial has found that radiofrequency ablation of Barrett esophagus with severe dysplasia may lead to eradication of both dysplasia and intestinal metaplasia and a reduced risk of disease progression.
Magnitude of Effect: Impact on cancer mortality not known.
Based on solid evidence, harms of radiofrequency ablation include esophageal stricture and requirement for dilatation and upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage but at low rates. It is possible that overdiagnosis and overtreatment of Barrett esophagus, particularly without severe dysplasia, could lead to a substantial number of harms.
Magnitude of Effect: The low rates of esophageal stricture and requirement for dilatation and upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage may be an understatement of the risks if this practice is widely adopted by less-experienced physicians.
External Validity: Patients representative of a subset of people with dysplasia, particularly severe dysplasia; physicians may not be representative of practicing physicians because this is a new technology and requires specialized knowledge.
Two histological types account for most malignant esophageal neoplasms: adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The epidemiology of these types varies markedly. In the 1960s, squamous cell carcinomas comprised over 90% of all esophageal tumors. The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinomas has risen markedly for the past 2 decades; it is now more prevalent than squamous cell carcinomas in the United States and Western Europe, with most tumors located in the distal esophagus.
In 2019, it is estimated that 17,650 Americans will be diagnosed with esophageal cancer and 16,080 will die of this malignancy. Of the new cases, it is estimated that 13,750 will occur in men and 3,900 will occur in women. Incidence rates generally increase with age in all racial/ethnic groups. In black men, however, the incidence rate for those aged 55 to 69 years is close to that of whites aged 70 years and older. In black women, aged 55 to 69 years, the incidence rate is slightly higher than that of white women aged 70 years and older.
Although the overall incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus is declining, this histologic type remains six times more likely to occur in black males than in white males. In contrast, the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus rapidly increased from the 1970s to the mid-1990s.
Male gender is an important predictor of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. The attributable risk is low enough in women that, although the risk from gender is not modifiable, other risk factors necessarily have limited impact.
In the United States, squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus is strongly associated with tobacco and alcohol abuse. The relative risk associated with tobacco use is 2.4, and the population attributable risk is 54.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.0–76.2).[6,7] Retrospective cohort studies adjusted for tobacco use have shown a twofold to sevenfold increase in risk of esophageal cancer in alcoholics compared with rates for the general population. Case-control studies have also suggested a significantly increased risk of cancer of the esophagus associated with alcohol abuse.
In a multicenter, population-based, case-control study of 221 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 695 controls, ever-smoking, alcohol consumption, and low fruit and vegetable consumption accounted for 56.9% (95% CI, 36.6%–75.1%), 72.4% (95% CI, 53.3%–85.8%), and 28.7% (95% CI, 11.1%–56.5%) of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas, respectively, with a combined population attributable risk of 89.4% (95% CI, 79.1%–95.0%).
In China, where the overall prevalence of esophageal carcinoma is much higher than in the United States, esophageal cancer is associated with deficiencies of nutrients, such as retinol, riboflavin, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbate and zinc, and with exposure to specific carcinogens (e.g., N-nitroso compounds).
A prospective, placebo-controlled, esophagus chemoprevention study randomly assigned 610 high-risk Chinese patients. Patients were aged 35 to 64 years and received either placebo or combined low-dose retinol (15 mg or 50,000 IU) plus riboflavin (200 mg) and zinc gluconate (50 mg) for 13.5 months. Standard histological evaluations (including two endoscopic biopsies) were conducted for 93% of all entered patients. Micronuclei from esophageal cells were obtained before therapy began and after the 13.5 months of treatment. Serum levels of vitamin A, beta-carotene, riboflavin, and zinc were obtained at 0, 2, and 13.5 months.
The second report of this study presented micronuclei frequency results. A statistically significant reduction in the mean percentage of micronucleated esophageal cells occurred in the active-treatment group compared with the placebo group. The pattern of cell proliferation, another potential intermediate endpoint marker, also improved.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between aspirin and NSAID use and esophageal cancer identified two cohort and seven case-control studies published between 1980 and 2001. Pooled results showed a protective association between aspirin/NSAID use and esophageal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 0.57; 95% CI, 0.47–0.71). The association with aspirin use was statistically significant (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.38–0.66); the association with NSAIDs was borderline significant (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.54–1.0). Aspirin/NSAID use was associated with lower risk of both adenocarcinoma (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.51–0.87) and squamous cell carcinoma (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.43–0.78).
The most important epidemiological difference between squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma is the strong association between GERD and adenocarcinoma. The results of a population-based case-controlled study suggest that symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux is a risk factor for adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. The frequency, severity, and duration of reflux symptoms were positively associated with increased risk of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. In a case-control study from Sweden, the OR was 7.7 for patients with recurrent reflux symptoms, while the OR for patients with long-standing and severe symptoms was 43.5 (95% CI, 18.3–103.5). A meta-analysis of 1,128 individuals with esophageal adenocarcinoma from five case-control studies reported statistically significant increases in risk with recurrent heartburn (OR, 4.6; 95% CI, 3.3–6.6), regurgitation (OR, 4.6; 95% CI, 3.4–6.1), or both (OR, 4.8; 95% CI, 3.4–6.8). Daily heartburn and regurgitation was associated with an eightfold increase in risk (OR, 8.0; 95% CI, 4.5–14.0). The probable mechanism is that long-standing GERD is associated with the development of Barrett esophagus, a condition in which an abnormal intestinal-type epithelium replaces the stratified squamous epithelium that normally lines the distal esophagus; Barrett esophagus is considered a precursor of esophageal adenocarcinoma. The intestinal-type epithelium of Barrett esophagus has a characteristic endoscopic appearance that differs from squamous epithelium. Dysplasia in Barrett epithelium represents a neoplastic alteration of the columnar epithelium that may progress to invasive adenocarcinoma.
A population-based cohort study in Sweden shows that patients with Barrett esophagus develop adenocarcinoma of the esophagus at about 1.2 cases per 1,000 person-years of follow-up monitoring, which is about 11.3 times higher than in the general population. Thus, while the relative risk may be elevated, the absolute risk is still not high. Furthermore, over half of the cases of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus are not associated with GERD symptoms.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between aspirin and NSAID use and esophageal cancer identified two cohort and seven case-control studies published between 1980 and 2001. Pooled results show a protective association between aspirin/NSAID use and esophageal cancer (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.47–0.71). The association with aspirin use was statistically significant (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.38–0.66); the association with NSAIDs was borderline significant (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.54–1.0). Aspirin/NSAID use was associated with lower risk of both adenocarcinoma (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.51–0.87) and squamous cell carcinoma (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.43–0.78).
A randomized controlled trial  assessed whether radiofrequency ablation (vs. sham ablation) could eradicate dysplastic Barrett esophagus and decrease the rate of neoplastic progression in patients with Barrett esophagus and dysplasia. Among patients with low-grade dysplasia, eradication of dysplasia occurred in 90.5% of the treatment group compared with 22.7% in the control group; in the high-grade dysplasia group, rates were 81.0% in the treatment group compared with 19.0% in the control group. Additionally, 77.4% of patients in the ablation group had complete eradication of intestinal metaplasia, compared with 2.3% in the control group. Patients in the ablation group had less disease progression, and although cancer was not a primary outcome because expected numbers were small, there were fewer cancers in the ablation group (1.2% vs. 9.3%; P = .045). The complication rate was relatively low; among 84 treated patients, there was one upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage and five strictures that were easily treated.
This study suggests that the treatment of patients with Barrett esophagus and dysplasia may ablate Barrett esophagus and prevent disease progression, but the study provides only weak evidence about whether treatment reduces the outcome of esophageal cancer (because it was not designed to answer that question). Evidence from the study suggests that ablation does not simply coagulate and hide dangerous cells under the surface of the esophagus (those cells could later evolve to cancer). A question entirely separate from this study is whether patients should be screened for Barrett esophagus (this study focused on treatment of patients with Barrett who had been identified as having dysplasia). Furthermore, the study does not discuss the net benefits and harms of an overall program of screening (e.g., of screening patients with GERD or certain GERD symptoms) and the surveillance of patients with Barrett esophagus. The potential for overdiagnosis and overtreatment may be considerable if physicians used results of this study to treat patients with Barrett esophagus and no dysplasia.
This PDQ cancer information summary for health professionals provides comprehensive, peer-reviewed, evidence-based information about esophageal cancer prevention. It is intended as a resource to inform and assist clinicians who care for cancer patients. It does not provide formal guidelines or recommendations for making health care decisions.


text:
Episcopal Congregation Embraces Orthodox Faith
A new Orthodox Christian church is forming in north Oklahoma City.
Mark Wallace, a former Charismatic Episcopal priest, is leading his former congregants through becoming an Orthodox Christian congregation. Wallace and many members of his former Holy Trinity Charismatic Episcopal Church are taking classes and attending services at St. Elijah Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, 15000 N May.
"I have no doubt in my mind that Orthodoxy has something to offer in American life. It's the best kept secret," he said.
Wallace said his journey toward Orthodox Christianity began last year when he became troubled by events within the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, a denomination formed in 1992 that now claims close to 1,000 churches in 20 countries.
Wallace, a graduate of Oral Roberts University, said he started Holy Trinity in 1996 as a Charismatic Episcopal Church. He said he disagreed with the denomination's bishop over doctrinal matters.
Wallace, 53, said in December 2006 he contacted St. Elijah's pastor, the Rev. Constantine Nasr as he began exploring the possibility of becoming a part of the Orthodox Christian community.
Nasr, 62, said he was happy to help Wallace and his congregation learn more about Orthodox Christianity. Nor was he surprised at Wallace's interest.
"Since the rise of TV evangelism and the collapse of TV evangelism, since all the liberalism in some of the denominations, the Church is shattered," he said.
"People want consistency. They want tradition. They want the sacraments. Through the Internet they have discovered the Mother Church and for many reasons are deciding to come back home to the ancient faith."
Wallace said he was drawn to the Orthodox Christian Church because of its stability regarding doctrine, liturgy and church government.
"It's my conviction that the Orthodox Church is the church that Jesus started. There's no re-inventing the wheel, which is what I was doing with the other church. We were always changing," he said.
Initially, Wallace called a meeting to discuss his thoughts about becoming a part of the Orthodox Christian faith community. The Holy Trinity congregation met Sunday evenings at Our Lord's Community Church. He said his idea was met with some healthy skepticism by some members of his congregation, and he expected that. In the end, about 52 of the church's 65 members decided to follow Wallace on the journey to Orthodox Christianity. They began taking classes at St. Elijah to learn the holy traditions and sacraments of the Orthodox Church.
The congregation's last service under the Charismatic Episcopal umbrella was in late March.
RELATED Katherine's Journey Home
Nasr attended that service and said he was moved when Wallace gave up his Charismatic Episcopal priest vestments to signify that he was no longer a clergyman.
"He took off his vestments and collar piece by piece," Nasr said.
"We were all crying because this is like death to this community."
Nasr said Wallace is a layman in the Orthodox church, but he continues with his congregation as a shepherd or leader. Wallace is enrolled in St. Stephen's House of Studies independent study courses and hopes to be ordained as a deacon and a priest in the Orthodox Christian Church. Nasr said Wallace's route to the Orthodox clergy will not take as long as it normally would because he is already seminary trained.
Nasr said he hopes to see the congregation, which is to be called St. Andrew's Orthodox Christian Church, confirmed in the Orthodox Christian Church by Christmas. Wallace said former members of Holy Trinity participate in St. Elijah's matins service, a morning prayer service. Nasr said after their confirmation they will be be able to receive communion in the Orthodox church.
"That will be a Christmas gift," he said.
Wallace said he feels that he has found what many are seeking.
"One of the greatest problems we see is the rootlessness of Christians. They leave one church and go to another. They keep looking for something, and I think they are looking for their spiritual roots," he said.
"Everything they try has something good, but I would say the Orthodox Church provides a full expression of the Christian faith."
RELATED My Search For The Truth: Part 2
Filed Under: Parish Conversions Tagged With: 2007, Anglican, Bible, Charismatic Episcopal Church, convert, Fr. Mark Wallace, Jesus, parish conversion
Athanasia says
Many years to them all! Teary eyed as I read about Fr. Wallace removing his Episcopal vestments. Very powerful image. God bless them.
Stephen D. Montgomery says
Oral Roberts University counts as Seminary ?
Fr. John says
It was an allowance for his pastoral experience and years of service. Economia – bending the rules for the pastoral benefit of souls.
arvopeart says
What joy to read of you and your congregants who chose to take this journey to the root of Traditional Christianity–Orthodoxy! It will always be worth every step.
Mary Jaxheimer says
Today is St. Andrews Namday! I was so joyous reading this….I am a cradle Greek Orthodox. It brought tears to my eyes and heart when I read or hear people finding Orthodoxy!
Mat God Grant You Many Years!
Mark Wallace says
Stephen D. Montgomery: Actually, Oral Roberts University does have a seminary. However, I graduated with a B.A. in Theological & Historical Studies from the University. I think Fr. Nasr might have forgotten to include (in his interview with the newspaper reporter) the fact that I attended the St. Michael's Seminary of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. The Economia of the Church allowed me to complete the three year program of The St. Stephen's House of Studies from the Archdiocese of the Antiochian Orthodox Church after I was ordained.


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Pulwama gunfight: Jammu and Kashmir Police statement
By Press Desk on November 10, 2018
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday issued a statement after two militants were killed in a gunfight with government forces in Pulwama district of South Kashmir.
In the interest of the readers, the statement is reproduced verbatim:
"Police and security forces in the wee hours today launched a cordon and search operation in Tikken area of District Pulwama based on credible inputs about the presence of militants in the area.
As the search operation was going on, hiding militants fired on the search party. The fire was retaliated leading to an encounter.
In the ensuing encounter, two militants were killed and the bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. Their identities are being ascertained.
Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter.Police has registered a case and initiated investigation in the instant matter.
Citizens are once again requested not to venture inside the encounter zone since such an area can prove dangerous due to stray explosive materials. People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosives materials if any."