Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mu-Chou Poo

For modern people, ghost stories are no more than thrilling entertainment. For those living in antiquity, ghosts were far more serious beings, as they could affect the life and death of people and cause endless fear and anxiety. How did ancient societies imagine what ghosts looked like, what they could do, and how people could deal with them? From the vantage point of modernity, what can we learn about an obscure, but no less important aspect of an ancient culture? In this volume, Mu-chou Poo explores the ghosts of ancient China, the ideas that they nurtured, and their role in its culture. His study provides fascinating insights into the interaction between the idea of ghosts and religious activities, literary imagination, and social life devoted to them. Comparing Chinese ghosts with those of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, Poo also offers a wider perspective on the role of ghosts in human history.

2011 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Gassmann

AbstractThinkers in the Zhànguó period of Chinese history debated intensely whether men were by nature “good” or “bad”. This debate has for many years been an important focus of sinological interest, but usually these properties were not attributed to men, but rather to so-called “human nature” (xìng 性) – thus, in effect, mirroring well-known (and problematic) “European” positions and discussions. The aim of this paper is, on the one hand, to redirect attention to the original Zhànguó positions and to explore the reasons for their variance by offering novel and close historical readings of relevant passages, and on the other, to propose a viable historical reconstruction of the common anthropological assumptions underlying these positions by blending it with the traces of a dominant cognitive image present in the texts. This calls for a systematic rethinking of the role of hearts (in the plural), desires, and behavioural patterns in their interplay and as elements of a concept of the psychological build of human beings current in early China.


2019 ◽  
pp. 67-76
Author(s):  
Irina B. Keidun ◽  

In each and every culture death is regarded as the most important event during the course of a person’s lifetime. The living were obliged to strictly follow the rules, governing the funeral and mourning rites in order to safeguard the passage of the deceased into the “other” world. On top of that, abiding regulations helped to neutralize the danger that appeared during the transit period and was a result of an interaction between life and death, it also helped society to restore its balance and to make sure it can peacefully continue its existence.Confucian culture too placed a big emphasis on the matters regarding the burial of the deceased and the following mourning after them. The “Li ji” canonical treatise, composed in the I century BC, contains a lot of various instructions regarding the mourning rites. These regulations, analyzed in the paradigm of concept of the rite of passage by A. van Gennep, allow to conclude that the mourning rite of ancient China does in general breaks down into the same stages as the other ceremonies of passage.


Author(s):  
Olga Brusina

The article is devoted to the role of Islam in culture and social life of the Turkmen of southern Russia. The study is based on the author's field materials collected in 2007–2015 in the Stavropol and Astrakhan Regions. The ethnic group of the Russian Turkmen was formed in the XVII–XIX centuries and currently counts about 17,000 people. The Turkmen are Sunni Muslims, most of their customs and rituals are associated with Muslim prayers and symbolism. At the same time, the Turkmen are not among the zealous Muslims, in their spiritual culture there are folk customs and beliefs that are very superficially associated with Islam. In the Soviet period, the Russian Turkmen maintained their religion, secretly carried out Islamic rites and rules, despite the anti-religious state policy. Currently, the religiousness of the Turkmen varies greatly, but almost all families hold major religious ceremonies. Mosques play the role of community centers, social life in the Turkmen settlements is closely intertwined with religious life, and the mullahs are local leaders and take part in self-government bodies. Propaganda of fundamentalist Islam has not bypassed the Turkmen, as many regions of the North Caucasus. A peculiar situation has developed: young people have become involved in religion much more than old honored people, educated in the Soviet ideals. Residents of the Turkmen settlements and imams of mosques are trying to resist the spread of fundamentalist ideas. The situation is particularly difficult in the Stavropol Territory; so the regional administration is trying to control any cultural and religious activities on the ground, sometimes suspecting “Wahhabi sentiments” among quite loyal citizens, such as the Turkmen. It is important that the Turkmen are almost the only people of this region who, traditionally practicing Islam, retain complete loyalty to the Russian population and the Russian state


2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 408-435
Author(s):  
Lorena Gazzotti

This essay questions the rise of border humanitarianism in the North-Eastern Moroccan borderlands. The increasing presence of humanitarian organizations in contexts marked by border violence has raised the attention of a number of critical migration scholars. Observers, however, have failed to problematize the presence of humanitarian activities, traditionally connected to emergency contexts, in sites integrated in the “routinary” regulation of mobility. Building on 8 months of fieldwork conducted in 2016 and 2017, the article addresses this gap, taking the working of border humanitarianism as a vantage point to reflect on the relation of borders to the exception, on the role of violence in border maintenance and, ultimately, on the politics of life and death at the frontier. Drawing on the work of Salter and Vaughan Williams on exceptionalism and biopolitics at the border, the article makes two points. First, I argue that the ordinary functioning of the Spanish–Moroccan border is founded on the bestialization and devaluation of Black lives, often to the point of death. Second, I contend that the integration of the “exception” in border normalcy activates, challenges, and endlessly reproduces the need for emergency interventions. In this dystopian framework, humanitarianism becomes a tool for the ordinary maintenance of migrants’ degraded life, transformed by the border into a less-than-citizen, less-than-human form of existence.


ALQALAM ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Zaki Ghufron

Islamic Boarding school is an islamic education institution which has an identical tradition in indonesian muslim societuy. This institution has emerged long before the colonialism era in Indonesia. In its long history since years to pursue the concept of modernism, islamic boarding school, sometimes ,has also been perceived negatively because of transnasionalism ideology which is adopted in recent years. In that case, this paper aimed to describe the existence of islamic boarding school in indonesian social life. By argumenting and comparing some previous studies in this case to gain an accurate result. Moreover, this paper is intended to answer some western perception about islamic boarding school in Indonesia, and finally emphasize the role of islamic boarding school as a government partner and its function in creating democracy.  Keyword: Islamic Boarding School, Tradition, Modernization.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-612
Author(s):  
L.F. Nikulin ◽  
V.V. Velikorossov ◽  
S.A. Filin ◽  
A.B. Lanchakov

Subject. The article discusses how management transforms as artificial intelligence gets more important in governance, production and social life. Objectives. We identify and substantiate trends in management transformation as artificial intelligence evolves and gets more important in governance, production and social life. The article also provides our suggestions for management and training of managers dealing with artificial intelligence. Methods. The study employs methods of logic research, analysis and synthesis through the systems and creative approach, methodology of technological waves. Results. We analyzed the scope of management as is and found that threats and global challenges escalate due to the advent of artificial intelligence. We provide the rationale for recognizing the strategic culture as the self-organizing system of business process integration. We suggest and substantiate the concept of soft power with reference to strategic culture, which should be raised, inter alia, through the scientific school of conflict studies. We give our recommendations on how management and training of managers should be improved in dealing with artificial intelligence as it evolves. The novelty hereof is that we trace trends in management transformation as the role of artificial intelligence evolves and growth in governance, production and social life. Conclusions and Relevance. Generic solutions are not very effective for the Russian management practice during the transition to the sixth and seventh waves of innovation. Any programming product represents artificial intelligence, which simulates a personality very well, though unable to substitute a manager in motivating, governing and interacting with people.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Yusnawarni Yusnawarni

To commemorate the 21st century, a new learning model was designed in 2013 curriculum, in which there is a shift from teachers give knowledge to students become student must actively seek out knowledge from a variety of learning resources. In this case, the teacher acts as facilitators. Thus, language is a very central role, because the language should be in front of all other subjects. Curriculum 2013 imposed a thematic integrated learning which is no longer based subjects. Various subjects for primary schools (such as: Religion, Civics, Indonesian, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and so on) are integrated intoone book. The subject matter is not presented in textbook, but it presented in book thematics lesson, the themes are about nature, social life and culture. In this new curriculum, learning process is implemented by applying a scientific approach (observing, questioning, experimenting, associating, and networking) that includes three aspects such as attitudes, knowledge, and skills. So, how is the role of Indonesian in an integrated thematic learning by applying scientific approaches in primary schools in 2013 curriculum? By appying the method, the object of this paper is to gain preview about the role of Indonesian in 2013 curriculum that uses integrated thematic learning by scientific approach in primary schools.AbstrakUntuk menyongsong abad ke-21, model pembelajaran baru dirancang dalam Kurikulum 2013, yang di dalamnya terdapat pergeseran dari siswa diberi tahu menjadi siswa harus aktif mencari tahu ilmu pengetahuan dari berbagai sumber belajar. Dalam hal ini, guru berperan sebagai fasilitator. Dengan demikian, peran bahasa menjadi sangat sentral, karena bahasa harus berada di depan semua mata pelajaran lain. Kurikulum 2013 memberlakukan pembelajaran tematik terpadu yang tidak lagi berbasis mata pelajaran. Berbagai mata pelajaran untuk sekolah dasar (seperti: Agama, PPKN, Bahasa Indonesia, Matematika, IPA, IPS, dan sebagainya) diintegrasi menjadi satu buku. Materi pelajaran tidak disajikan dalam buku mata pelajaran, tetapi dalam buku tema pelajaran, baik tema alam, sosial, maupun budaya. Proses pembelajaran dalam kurikulum baru ini diimplementasikan melalui pendekatan saintifik (mengamati, menanya, menalar, mencoba, dan mengomunikasikan) yang mencakup tiga aspek, yaitu sikap, pengetahuan, dan keterampilan. Lalu, bagaimana peran bahasa Indonesia dalam pembelajaran tematik terpadu melalui pendekatan saintifik di sekolah dasar pada Kurikulum 2013 ini? Melaluimetode deskriptif, yang menjadi tujuan penulisan ini adalah mendapatkan gambaran mengenai peran bahasa Indonesia dalam Kurikulum 2013 yang menggunakan pembelajaran tematik terpadu melalui pendekatan saintifik di sekolah dasar.


Author(s):  
Е. N. Polyakov ◽  
M. I. Korzh

The article presents a comparative analysis of fortification art monuments in such East countries from Ancient Egypt to medieval China. An attempt is made to identify the main stages of the fortification development from a stand-alone fortress (citadel, fort) to the most complex systems of urban and border fortifications, including moats, walls and gates, battle towers. It is shown that the nature of these architectural structures is determined by the status of the city or settlement, its natural landscape, building structures and materials, the development of military and engineering art. The materials from poliorceticon (Greek: poliorketikon, poliorketika), illustrate the main types of siege machines and mechanisms. The advantages and disadvantages of boundary shafts and long walls (limes). The most striking examples are the defensive systems of Assyria, New Babylon, Judea and Ancient China.


Author(s):  
Анатолий Мигунов ◽  
Anatoliy Migunov ◽  
Елена Лисанюк ◽  
Elena Lisanyuk

To overcome the crisis in the sphere of argumentation studies, the project proposes a logical-cognitive concept of argumentation which is a compound formalized theory that includes formalisms for modeling argumentation of different types, a relevant conceptual framework and a methodology for the use of scientific research in the practice. Three types of argumentation are defined: theoretical (two types) and practical. Theoretical argumentation is a critical discussion of the agents’ knowledge and opinions about facts aimed to substantiate a certain view or to change it – i.e. persuasion. Practical argumentation is a critical discussion of opinions about actions which includes, in addition to the statements about knowledge and opinions, statements of a non-descriptive nature about the agents’ values and intentions to adhere to a certain line of behavior. The study of argumentation needs to focus on the large structures that reflect specifics of the criticism and defense of the positions of the parties. An atom unit of such study is the argument as a statement of reason, while its molecular elements are the argumentative structure of a dispute (frame), a multitude of arguments that express the parties’ positions, a multitude of the agents’ knowledge and opinions that act as the bases for the formation of positions, lines of behavior, etc. Within the framework of this trend, both indefeasible (deductive) and defeasible argumentations can be studied. The argumentation effectiveness can be assessed based on the procedural semantics and using analogues of such logical notions as consistency and completeness. Modern approaches to the argumentation, including those claiming the compound status, can be classified using two methods: based on the substantive and practical criteria. Importance of the research outcomes amounts to the theoretical and methodological role of the new conception of argumentation and the general “umbrella” term argumentation that allows systematizing the manifold research and educational approaches and concepts in this field and is associated with communicative nature of modern social life where efficiency and social success rely on argumentative and narrative competences.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn M. Callahan

ABSTRACT In this paper, I offer personal insights based on my experiences (thus far) in an evolving academic accounting career model. While I value all aspects of an academic career responsibilities (teaching, research, and service), this narrative focuses primarily on the role of accounting scholarship and, broadly, the impact of diversity on the same. I offer these perspectives and personal experiences from the unique vantage point as an African American woman, focused first on contributing to top-tired accounting scholarship, and more recently on roles as an administrator of an accounting department and business college. While my academic journey is unique by objective measures (often dubbed “trailblazing” by others), I offer suggestions that may be useful to any academic who is dedicated to success in our field. Given the evolving accounting model and challenges ahead, my overriding goal remains to encourage junior accounting colleagues to persevere, as an accounting academic career is richly rewarding.


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