Buddhist Geography and Regionalism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Bryson
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
East Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
East Asian ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Sacred Sites ◽  
The West ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
New Models ◽  
History Of

Since its birth in India about 2,500 years ago, Buddhism has spread throughout the globe. As Buddhism reached new areas, its followers developed their own regional identities and understandings of Buddhist geography. South Asia, and specifically the sites associated with the historical Buddha’s life, remained a conceptual center for many Buddhists, but the near disappearance of Buddhism from the subcontinent in the 13th century allowed Buddhists in other regions to overcome their “borderland complexes” and identify sacred Buddhist sites in their own lands. This involved both the metaphorical transfer of sacred sites from South Asia to new places and the creation of new sacred sites, such as reliquaries for the remains of local saints and mountains seen as the abodes of buddhas or bodhisattvas. By the 19th and 20th centuries, colonial encounters introduced Buddhism to the West and created categories of national Buddhisms, which led to new visions of Buddhist geography and regionalism. In addition to national Buddhisms, regional distinctions commonly applied to the Buddhist world include the mapping of Theravāda in Southeast Asia, Mahāyāna in East Asia, and Vajrayāna in the Himalayas, or the mapping of Northern Buddhism as Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna in East Asia and the Himalayas, and Southern Buddhism as Theravāda in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. These models have some salience, but the history of Buddhist geography and regionalism reveals that the locations and interactions of different Buddhist traditions are more complex. New models for Buddhist regionalism have moved away from static, bounded spaces to foreground processes of interaction, such as network analyses of trade and transmission routes or areas such as “Maritime Asia” or the “East Asian Mediterranean.”

Asia and the West as Partners Before “Empire” and After

1969 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holden Furber
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Special Interest ◽  
South Asians ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
The West ◽  
New Era ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
History Of ◽  
Asian History

A large number of us who are here today in 1969 remember the early beginnings of our organization. I remember particularly a small gathering of one of our earlier incarnations in John Fairbank's livingroom discussing our problems, when we were so small that Wilma Fairbank could send out the postcard notices of meetings without any secretarial help. We are now old enough to have acquired traditions, one of which is the rotation of the presidency from China to South East Asia to Japan to South Asia and then round again. By a fortunate chance the turn of South Asia falls this year on the centenary of the birth of the greatest of South Asians of modern times. Another of our traditions is that the president should deliver an address on a topic close to his own special interest—in my case the history of modern India. I am, however, going to deviate somewhat from that practice this afternoon. In closing, I shall make some suggestions which I hope all of us will keep in mind in this new era of Asian history which is now upon us.

Buddhist Statecraft

Buddhism ◽  
2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
South Central ◽  
Wheel Turning ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Buddha

In the modern day, the connection between Buddhism and statecraft is readily seen in the Theravada monarchies of Southeast Asia; however, in premodern times, Buddhist kings and Buddhist methods of statecraft were commonplace across South, Central, and East Asia as well. This link between Buddhism and political leadership is rooted in two powerful legends that came out of the early tradition and which have been invoked across all of Asia. The first is that of the birth and life story of the historical Buddha, Śākyamuni, who was himself a prince of a small kingdom and destined to be either a “Wheel-Turning King” (cakravartin) and universal monarch or an “Enlightened One” (buddha). Though his father preferred that he extend his birthright by becoming a universal monarch, he went on to renounce palace life, go in search of awakening, and become a buddha. Nonetheless, the mythic connection between the Buddha (otherworldly power) and the Wheel-Turning King (worldly power) remains an essential aspect of a buddha’s identity. The second legend is that of Mauryan Emperor Aśoka (r. 262–238 bce); uniting the Indian subcontinent through violent means, Aśoka is believed by the tradition to have converted to Buddhism and then become the religion’s most generous and powerful benefactor who ruled according to Buddhist law, or dharma. Across the entirety of Asia, connections between Buddhism and statecraft have taken on regionally specific forms. There is a long history of rulers in South and Southeast Asia who have sponsored Theravada Buddhism as the state religion and have sanctified their rules and their reigns through close relations with the monastic community. In the Tibetan context of the practice of Vajrayāna Buddhism, rulers themselves became identified as bodhisattvas in a system reminiscent of the divine right of kings in Europe. In East Asia, there was a Chinese-style bureaucratic governance that looked to the Buddha as an otherworldly figurehead while translating long-standing Chinese imperial systems into something that we might call “Confucian with a Buddhist inflection.” As Chinese modalities of statecraft were adopted and adapted by other polities in the East Asian cultural sphere—notably, Korea and Japan, but also Vietnam—this Chinese form of imperial Buddhism became a mainstay of East Asian life throughout the entire premodern period. Therefore, we can see various different manifestations of Buddhist statecraft in theory and practice across Asia and throughout history up until the present.

A new species of the montane lacewing genus Rapisma McLachlan (Neuroptera, Ithonidae) from northwestern Yunnan, China

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4763 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-443
Author(s):  
XINGYUE LIU
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
East Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
The Family ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Northwestern Yunnan

The genus Rapisma McLachlan, 1866 (montane lacewings) is a rare and little known group of the family Ithonidae (Insecta: Neuroptera). There have been 21 described species of Rapisma, and all of them are distributed from East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Here I report a new species of Rapisma from northwestern Yunnan, China, namely Rapisma weixiense sp. nov. The new species belongs to a group of Rapisma species with very short antennae. 

Picturing Commerce in and from the East Asian Maritime Circuits, 1550-1800

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
East Asia ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
American Colonies ◽  
East And Southeast Asia ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
The Look ◽  
Visual Cultures

Combining strikingly new scholarship by art historians, historians, and ethnomusicologists, this interdisciplinary volume illuminates trade ties within East Asia, and from East Asia outwards, in the years 1550 to 1800. While not encyclopedic, the selected topics greatly advance our sense of this trade picture. Throughout the book, multi-part trade structures are excavated; the presence of European powers within the Asian trade nexus features as part of this narrative. Visual goods are highlighted, including lacquerwares, paintings, prints, musical instruments, textiles, ivory sculptures, unfired ceramic portrait figurines, and Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian ceramic vessels. These essays underscore the significance of Asian industries producing multiples, and the rhetorical charge of these goods, shifting in meaning as they move. Everyday commodities are treated as well; for example, the trans-Pacific trade in contraband mercury, used in silver refinement, is spelled out in detail. Building reverberations between merchant networks, trade goods, and the look of the objects themselves, this richly-illustrated book brings to light the Asian trade engine powering the early modern visual cultures of East and Southeast Asia, the American colonies, and Europe.

Between East Asia and Southeast Asia: Nanyang Studies, Chinese Migration, and National Jinan University, 1927–1940 (在東亞與東南亞之間：南洋研究、華人移民、與國立暨南大學,1927–1940)

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-56
Author(s):  
Leander Seah (謝枝嶙)
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Port Cities ◽  
Ethnic Chinese ◽  
Chinese Migrants ◽  
History Of ◽  
Chinese Migration ◽  
Chinese Intellectuals ◽  
Trading Networks

Global port cities have played important roles in the migration of ethnic Chinese worldwide. This article argues that the scholarship on Chinese migration between port cities in East Asia and Southeast Asia has overemphasized business and trading networks. It suggests instead that other topics should be examined since Chinese migration has been complex and multi-faceted. This article does so through analyzing the history of Nanyang studies, a Chinese-language scholarly field that is renowned among Chinese intellectuals in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Nanyang studies began with the establishment of the Nanyang Cultural Affairs Bureau at Jinan University, the first school in China for Chinese migrants, because the Bureau was the first systematic attempt by China-based scholars to study the Nanyang (Southeast Asia). This article analyzes the history of Nanyang studies from the Bureau’s founding in 1927 to 1940, when the center for Nanyang studies shifted to Singapore in the Nanyang. 全球港口城市和全球華人移民已有密切關係。本文認為，關於東亞和東南亞的港口城市之間華人移民的學術著作過度注重商業貿易網絡。它建議由於華人移民是複雜的，多方面的，所以其他議題也有重要性。因此，本文將通過南洋研究的歷史而分析華人移民。南洋研究在東亞和東南亞是個著名的學術領域。它的起源於南洋文化教育事業部之暨南大學的創辦。這是因為暨南是中國第一所華僑華人學府，而南洋文化教育事業部是中國學者第一個正式研究南洋(東南亞)的機構。本文將分析南洋研究的歷史，從成立於1927年到1940年轉移到南洋之中的新加坡為止。 (This article is in English).

scholarly journals Multi-model study of HTAP II on sulphur and nitrogen deposition

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiani Tan ◽  
Joshua S. Fu ◽  
Frank Dentener ◽  
Jian Sun ◽  
Louisa Emmons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
East Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Wet Deposition ◽  
Task Force ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
S Deposition

Abstract. This study uses multi-model ensemble results of 11 models from the 2nd phase of Task Force Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (HTAP II) to calculate the global sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) deposition in 2010. Modelled wet deposition is evaluated with observation networks in North America, Europe and Asia. The modelled results agree well with observations, with 76–83 % of stations having predicted within ±50 % of observations. The results underestimate SO42−, NO3− and NH4+ wet depositions in some European and East Asian stations, but overestimate NO3− wet deposition in Eastern United States. Inter-comparison with previous projects (PhotoComp, ACCMIP and HTAP I) shows HTPA II has considerably improved the estimation of deposition at European and East Asian stations. Modelled dry deposition is generally higher than the “inferential” data calculated by observed concentration and modelled velocity in North America, but the inferential data has high uncertainty, too. The global S deposition is 84 Tg(S) in 2010, with 49 % of the deposits on continental regions and 51 % on ocean (19 % on coastal). The global N deposition consists of 59 Tg(N) oxidized nitrogen (NOy) deposition and 64 Tg(N) reduced nitrogen (NHx) deposition in 2010. 65 % of N is deposited on the continental regions and 35 % is on ocean (15 % on coastal). The estimated outflow of pollution from land to ocean is about 4 Tg(S) for S deposition and 18 Tg(N) for N deposition. Compared our results to the results in 2001 from HTAP I, we find that the global distributions of S and N depositions have changed considerably during the last 10 years. The global S deposition decreases 2 Tg(S) (3 %) from 2001 to 2010, with significant decreases in Europe (5 Tg(S) and 55 %), North America (3 Tg(S) and 29 %) and Russia (2 Tg(S) and 26 %), and increases in South Asia (2 Tg(S) and 42 %) and the Middle East (1 Tg(S) and 44% ). The global N deposition increases by 7 Tg(N) (6 %), mainly contributed by South Asia (5 Tg(N) and 39 %), East Asia (4 Tg(N) and 21 %) and Southeast Asia (2 Tg(N) and 21 %). The NHx deposition is increased with no control policy on NH3 emission in North America. On the other hand, NOy deposition starts to dominate in East Asia (especially China) due to boosted NOx emission in recent years.

scholarly journals Higher Education Regionalization in East Asia

2017 ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Edward W. Choi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
East Asia ◽  
East Asian ◽  
History Of

While regional actors in the East Asian higher education sphere share a history of collaboration, they implement regionalization schemes largely based on different needs, goals, timetables, and customs. This piece presents a summary of key regionalization efforts and intitial indications for a path forward.

Total Factor Productivity Growth in East Asia: Implications for the Future

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-il Kim
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Total Factor Productivity ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Factor Productivity ◽  
Tfp Growth ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Developed Countries ◽  
Future Growth

The total factor productivity (TFP) growth controversy and the recent economic crisis raise many questions about the future growth of East Asia. Our analysis of historical experiences shows that low TFP growth in the East Asian newly industrialized economies (NIEs) is a natural pattern of growth at the initial phase of industrialization. Empirical evidence shows that East Asian NIEs in recent decades have been proceeding toward an efficiency-based growth as developed countries did some time ago. The history of Latin America, however, indicates that the reform of old-fashioned institutions is needed if East Asia is to follow the path of the developed countries.

English in Asia, Asian Englishes, and the issue of proficiency

English Today ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kingsley Bolton
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
East Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Outer Circle ◽  
Asian Region ◽  
The World ◽  
Basic Issue

ABSTRACTThe contemporary visibility and importance of English throughout the Asian region coupled with the emergence and development of distinct varieties of Asian Englishes have played an important part in the global story of English in recent years. Across Asia, the numbers of people having at least a functional command of the language have grown exponentially over the last four decades, and current changes in the sociolinguistic realities of the region are often so rapid that it is difficult for academic commentators to keep pace. One basic issue in the telling of this story is the question of what it is we mean by the term ‘Asia’, itself a word of contested etymology, whose geographical reference has ranged in application from the Middle East to Central Asia, and from the Indian sub-continent to Japan and Korea. In this article, my discussion will focus on the countries of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, as it is in these regions that we find not only the greatest concentration of ‘outer-circle’ English-using societies but also a number of the most populous English-learning and English-knowing nations in the world.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document