A big part of why 星期 spread in the 20th century as the official term was probably to mask the religious origins of 禮拜.

It‘s first attested in the first half of the 17th century in a Spanish-Chinese dictionary compiled by Dominkcan missionaries and Hokkien collaborators in the Philippines. 禮拜 is the day of worship, and that structures the 7-day cycle. /

Source for the pic in the first image:

www.xuetengedu.com/zidian/bi_90...

(PDF) The 22 Frimaire of Yuan Shikai PDF | On Mar 31, 2021, Egas Moniz Bandeira published The 22 Frimaire of Yuan Shikai | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

I once wrote a paper about that institution. I've learned more about it in the meanwhile, so one day I might revisit the topic:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Bì 弼 is quite a cute character, innit? The word means 'to assist' - Chinese history aficionados might now it because it appeared in the name of the Privy Council instated at the very end of the Daqing Empire, the 'Court for Assisting with Virtue' (Bideyuan 弼德院) /

In the earlier meaning as Qixi, 期 was ‘to meet,’ referring to the time when Zhinü 織女 and Niulang 牛郎 (both stars 星）met.

The term xingqi 星期 ('star period') has been used to mean '7-day week' in Chinese since the 1890s. Before that, it was used as a poetical term for the Qixi 七夕 festival (plus, it also came to mean 'wedding day'). The locus classicus is Wang Bo's 王勃 (650-676) Qixi fu 七夕賦:

‘Last, not least’ used to be more common than ‘last, but not least’ in German - going back to Shakespeare’s King Lear. Since the 1970s, the but-less form has declined: I guess read ppl less Shakespeare and more contemporary English…

Thank you! Yes, will say hi to them! And hope you drop by Sendai again soon!

I'm excited to share that I have started a new position as Associate Professor at Tohoku University.

They are historical, but I think most are close enough in shape that they would be recognisable in context. 繖 has limited contemporary use as a plant name, and 人 over 十 is still used as a shorthand in Japan

傘 ('umbrella, parasol') is a fun pictograph. Among the many variants, there are some 'boring' phono-semantic compounds (繖、 𢄻、 𧝠), and a whole slew of funky ways to write the pictograph 😄

Cartoon about the Russian Constitution of 1906: "When a crab sheds his shell (Absolutism) he retires into hiding ... as soon as he has grown a new one he returns."

Shot of the early modern open book on a grey book pillow on a wooden table. Inside you see printed text on the verso page and an engraving within an engraved border on the facing recto page

Engraved title page of the book. Designer/Engraver: The title page bears the monogram of Pieter Huys (active 1550–1581), a noted Flemish designer and engraver. Imagery: The design is highly architectural, featuring large, elaborate columns framing the text. In the background, it depicts a Renaissance palazzo or building, which serves as a metaphor for the book’s title, Monuments evoking human salvation. Symbolism: The engraving shows people walking in a foreground square, suggesting the reader is on a balcony or podium overlooking the scene, inviting them to enter the "architectural" structure of the book's theological meditations. Text: At the head of the title is the inscription: "Regi seculor immortali s.".

Early modern book in an elaborate French fanfare binding, featuring dark leather boards decorated with intricate gilt tooling, interlacing strapwork, floral ornaments, and small gold dots.

A new gem in our collection: a remarkable 1571 copy of Plantin’s Humanae salutis monumenta. Because text, borders and plates were printed separately, no two copies are alike. This one is beautifully bound in an exceptional French fanfare binding.

#earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜

Cartoon about the Russian Constitution of 1906: "When a crab sheds his shell (Absolutism) he retires into hiding ... as soon as he has grown a new one he returns."

'Turkey today: A barely breathing sick man country'. Chinese reproduction of a Western cartoon on the Ottoman Empire, 1920. From Rudolf Wagner's essay on 'China "asleep" and "awakening" '

The most common Chinese term for Chinatown is ‘Tang people street,’ 唐人街 hong3ngin3gai4/tong4jan4gaai1, but there is another interesting term: 華埠 va3feu5/waa4fau6 (‘Chinese city’), which can still be seen in various places.

I love the Chinese translation of ‘government’ in Victoria China Town’s ‘Government Street’: 加富門 Gaa1fu3mun4/Ga1fu1mon3, WEALTH INCREASING GATE (or maybe even CANADA WEALTH PORTE?). The phono-semantic match also has a lovely Yue/Canto flavour to it 😁😁

Yeay, excited that my chapter on the afterlives of the Greek War of Independence in Asia has been published 🤩

From Empire to Federation in Eurasia: Ideas and Practices of Diversity Management | Request PDF Request PDF | From Empire to Federation in Eurasia: Ideas and Practices of Diversity Management | Bringing together nine chapters penned by experts in different area studies, From Empire to Federation...

See:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Delighted that the third volume of our trilogy with Ivan Sablin exploring the origins of modern forms of government has seen the light of the world: From Empire to Federation in Eurasia
Ideas and Practices of Diversity Management. Editing this trilogy was great fun! 😁

Just discovered the newly launched ANTE website on global legal history--looking forward to learning lots here!

友達の本は一次資料をめっちゃ使ってます

The terrible colleague at UNIL using my name has published a new paper again.👀 I don’t particularly enjoy reading it, nor do I think that it will interest anyone. All errors are solely her responsibility, not mine.

www.academia.edu/164750402/Th...

glorisunglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/u...

📖 New book chapter "A kingdom 'one and indivisible'. A (non-)history of political decentralization in Thailand" by DIJ's David M. Malitz www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...
In: From Empire to Federation in Eurasia @routledgebooks.bsky.social, eds. Ivan Sablin & @egasmb.bsky.social

Barhebraeus in the 13th century on Uyghur script being adapted for Mongolian:

祝逐家馬新年快樂，馬年大吉！😁

When the Daqing Empire fell 114 years and 1 day ago, the Emperor's abdication edict was carried through the streets of Beijing in a sedan chair, informing the population of the end of the dynasty

I am one of the few, who likes Teresa Teng mainly because her early musical work until ~1973.

But still loving 月亮代表我的心.

And as we are on the topics of covers. Other way around.

bsky.app/profile/mult...

Just today I learned that Teresa Teng 鄧麗君's iconic song "The moon represents my heart" (yueliang daibiao wo di xin 月亮代表我的心) was covered, among others, by Nana Mouskouri (2008) and Bon Jovi (2015). Nana Mouskouri's Mandarin pronunciation, in particular, is impressively good!