Readers Dis/Oriented in Historical Writings: Footnotes in the BIHP

Once upon a winter's night, my colleagues and I sat in a banquet with visiting scholars from abroad. As the international issue of work-stress entered the conversation, insomnia and its cures quickly became the focus of discussion. Other than much-disputed sleeping pills, various remedies were proposed, ranging from acupuncture, herbal teas, and foot massage to prayers. In the midst of all the good advice, one of our colleagues proclaimed that whenever he suffered from sleeplessness he would read from the Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, our most-revered Shiyusuo jikan. Albeit a familiar voice, for a moment his words seemed to have come from above, ''all it takes is several lines,'' he said, with a grin on his face.