The Changing Style of the Plains Indians 美國歷史—平原印第安人生活方式的轉變 第一批歐洲人抵達北美洲的廣大平原時，發現了農業導向的原住民文化。印第安人每天的例行工作，圍繞著賴以生存的穀物耕作打轉，包括玉米、豆子、南瓜。大約一年一次，部落大舉出動獵殺北美野牛，以補充蔬菜為主的飲食，同時可以獲得牛皮、牛筋、牛骨以及其他原料。打獵占用他們的時間不多。 一五九八年，西班牙人在新墨西哥移民開墾以後，印第安人才首度得到馬匹。到了一八零零年，馬匹的使用已經傳遍了大平原上所有的印第安部落。馬匹帶來了機動性，結果不同的原住民族群全部聚集到平原上來，以獲得獵捕大群野牛帶來的豐富資源。馬匹引進之後一百年內，平原上的印第安人口增加為三倍，估計有十五萬人 。印第安人建立了新的生活方式，靠著追逐野牛群為生。因此原先賴以活命的農業大多遭到荒廢，平原上的原住民變成了游牧獵人; 種植的獲利就是比不上打獵。 The History of the United States - The Change of the Life Style of Indians living in plain areas When the first Europeans arrived in the vast plains of North America, they found agricultural-oriented Aboriginal cultures. The daily routines of the Indians centered on the subsistence cultivation of crops, including corn, beans and squash. About once a year, the tribes went on a major bison hunt in to supplement their vegetables diet, as well as to access some cowhides, tendons, cattle and other raw materials. Hunting took them little time. In 1598, after the Spaniards settled in New Mexico, Indians obtained horses at the first time. By 1880, the use of horses had spread throughout all the Indian tribes. Horses brought mobility, as a result, different groups of aboriginals all gathered to the plains, in order to obtain the resources by hunting the great bison herds. Within a hundred years of the introduction of the horses, the Indian population on the plains had tripled to an estimated to 150,000. Indians established a lifestyle, relying on chasing bison for their living. So the original survival ways of the agriculture were mostly abandoned, the aboriginals in the plains become to be nomadic hunters; gardening simply was not as profitable as hunting.

Introduction of art 美術史研究主要關切的議題有兩個。第一個議題包括：（１）找出特色藝術品的作者（也就是鑑定作者）。（２）為藝術作品辨明真偽，決定藝術品的作者是否真的是一般認定的那位藝術家。（３）決定研究中的藝術作品到底是在文化發展的哪一個街段，或是藝術家創作生涯中哪一個時期的創作。（４）檢視在歷史過往中，藝術家對後繼藝術家的影響力。（５）收集藝術家的傳記資料，以及特定藝術作品流傳和易主過程的相關文件與出處證明。 美術史研究所關切的第二個議題是：從整體的角度、廣泛的歷史觀出發，去瞭解藝術傳統在風格和形式上的發展過程，主要包括列舉和分析過去各種不同的藝術風格、時期、運動和流派。美術史同時也包括了肖像研究，分析視覺藝術中的符號、主旨、題材，尤其是基督教美術中宗教符號的意旨。 美術史的學術成就大部份依賴直覺判斷，以及學者在做出正確歸類評論的敏銳度；還必須對藝術家的生活和創作當時的歷史背景有大量相關知識，另外還要能夠心領神會，了解個別藝術家的理念、經驗和洞察力。 There are two main topics of interest in the study of art history. The first topic includes: (1) Identify the author of the featured artwork (it means identify the author). (2) To identify the authenticity of works of art, to determine whether the real author of the works of art is generally recognized as the artist. (3) Decide the works of art in the study is in which stage of the culture development, or is in which period of the artist's career life. (4) Examine in the historical past, the artist's influence on the follow-up artists. (5) To collect the artist's biographical information, as well as the relevant documents and proof of the source showing up the process of how the specific art works be handed down and handed change. The second topic to the concern of the research of the Fine Arts History is to examine the development of artistic traditions in terms of style and form from a holistic perspective and a broad historical perspective. This mainly includes enumerating and analyzing the various artistic styles, period, Movement and genre. The Fine Art History also includes portraits research to analyze the symbols, themes, and subject matters, especially the religious symbols of Christian art. The academic achievement of art history relies mostly on intuitive judgment and on the acumen of scholars in making correct categorical comments; it is also necessary to have a great deal of relevant knowledge of the artist's life and the historical background of his creation, and to be able to understand the personae, to understand the individual artist's ideas, experience and insight.