This paper is a case study describing the local lineages of the Jiang 江 village, She 歙 xian during the Ming and Qing periods. The points are following below. The Jiang lineages gained the advantage in this district socially and economically, and the people believed that the lineage's destiny was under the influence of geomancy, feng-shui 風水. From this point of view, the Jiang lineages and others tried to conserve the environment of the mountainous region against the move by the foreign settlers to develop minerals and commercial agriculture, on a backdrop of opposition arising due to continuing stratification among the lineage members. The festival organization called she-hui 社会, shen-hui 神会, si-nui 祀会, etc. was founded on a sublineage basis, including slaves, zhong-po 庄僕, in the Jiang village and Qing-yuan 慶源 village Wu-yuan 〓源. But the sublineages were not equal one another and the qualification to participate in the festival was limited according to social and economical differences. It's well known that the areas were the hometowns of Hui-Chou (Hsin-an) merchants. Segments of the Jiang lineages extended their business activities to the cities in Jiangnan, especially Yang-zhou 揚州, which was famous as a salt merchant center. But local lineages were not formed in Yang-zhou, rather the merchant segments based their relationships on the original lineages. This presented a precarious position for outside merchants. The connection with the hometown was a sort of insurance against the natural features of the region which would protect them and their descendants.

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There was a remarkable difference between tai-jian's 台諫 character before and after the reform of government organization in the Yuan-feng 元豊 era. During the first half of the northern Song, tai-jian as the Ears and Eyes of the Emperor 耳目官, hotly debated governmental politics with the Grand Councilors 宰相, but after about this reform tai-jian became, as it were, the Grand Councilors' own man and was used to drive out their political opponents. This article deals with the Avenues of Criticism (Ji-shi-zhoug 給事中, Zhoug-shu she-reu 中書舎人, and tai-jian) in the Yuan-you 元祐 era, to make clear the transformation of the political structure in the Song Dynasty. The first chapter analyzes the character of politics in the Yuan-you era. In this era, a grand empress dowager, Xuan-ren 宣仁, held court from behind a screen and attended to state affairs (垂簾聴政) in the place of Zhe-zong 哲宗, bringing about the following political system. (1)Documentary administration was centered around the Inner Court (内朝). Zai-zhi 宰執 and tai-jiau had access to Xuan-ren, who got the right to speak out on political matters. (2)A system for criticizing governmental politics was established ; Ji-shi-zhong and Zhong-shu she-ren sealed and sent back a proclamation (封駁) for reconsideration, and tai-jian argued against affaires (弾奏), if they considered the politics improper. (3)The Avenues of Criticism, which were to check on the Grand Councilors' authority, had a tendency to conspire with the Grand Councilors. The next chapter analyzes politics in the Yuan-you era, the clue to the rise and fall of the Liu-zhi 劉摯 group. This group, which was mainly composed of the Avenues of Criticism's officials and established a system similar to institution (2)above, conducted the Jiu-fa-dang's 旧法党 politics. After they left this post, Xin-fa-dang's 新法党 people returned to the central government and made full use of institution (2)to impeach them. After this, the activity of the Avenues of Criticism fell under control of the Grand Councilors, and the function of criticizing governmental policies gradually weakened. This was one of the factors leading to a time when the Grand Councilors in the southern Song Dynasty exercised arbitrary power.

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One of the controversial points about the so called "Glorious Revolution" has been whether or not it was a mere coup d'etat within the English court. In order to answer this question, the author examines politics and religion in Dundee, a Scottish royal burgh, and its environs. As a result of this research, the author concludes the following in terms of constitutional change in Scotland. After 1690, the local presbytery, attended by high ranking laymen, raised its authority to the same level as that of the town council. This enabled the presbytery to play its proper role as the crucial church court of the presbyterian church by exerting authority in the locality. This fact is important in the sense that the very existence of an active presbytery of this kind differs clearly from the exclusively clerical low-profile and passive episcopalian presbytery, which was part of the system supporting the ideology of 'sacred majestie'. In other words, it can be said that the "Revolution of 1688-90" established by law a presbyterian church which had a coherent voice and own decision-making functions, having a broad social base closely associated with the local society. The "Revolution", therefore, in Scotland was more than a court revolution. The town of Dundee was ripe for rebellion, infuriated with 'ane arbitrary and Despotik way' of King James in his interference with burgh affairs. The "Revolution" swept away the old council appointed by James and the influence of the former provost, Viscount Dundee, and then expelled the two episcopalian ministers in the town and after intense activity secured two presbyterian ministers to replace them. This shows that 1)each of the church denominations, episcopalian and the presbyterian, stood on their respective interpretation of the relationships between God, King and people, the former being connected with absolute kingship and the latter tied to the "Revolution", and 2)they were confronting each other in too irreconcilable a manner to make their co-existence possible. From 1690 to 1715, confrontation between the two parties in Scotland was more severe than their equivalent in England and resulted in repeated rebellions. This was mainly because there had been, on one hand, a strong presbyterian tradition in the South-West and in the towns, the implication of which was quite radical in seeing the King as only the servant of God, while on the other hand, Scotland had firm-minded Jacobite episcopalians who were faithful to the Stuart hereditary line and its divine authority. No easy compromise was possible. When and where the "Revolution" won the day, a Shift in allegiance took place; that is, from venerating the sacred person of the king himself to respecting the regime or the "Revolution" principle itself. In fact, rediscovery of the Protestant principles of the nation was significant, especially in international politics, when Louis XIV of France was overwhelming the Continent, repealing in 1685 the 1598 Edict of Nantes. These constitutional and ideological changes were significant, and in retrospect, led to a watershed of history.

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