The Impact of Ancient Chinese on Baihua Language

This article analyzes the influence of the ancient classical literary language - the Wenyan communication language on the Baihua language. Lexical and grammatical differences are discussed on both fronts of a language. Since the Wenyan language is represented by monosyllabic units, several meanings of a hieroglyph have the property of changing its semantic meaning according to the position of the hieroglyph in the sentence or sentence. It is extremely important to pay attention to this aspect in reading and interpreting ancient texts. The Baihua language, on the other hand, is represented by polysyllabic units, which are much more convenient than the Wenyan language in expressing the semantic meaning of a word. However, the Wenyan language played an important role in the formation of the Baihua language, and to this day some elements of the Wenyan language are also reflected in the Putonghua.

Differential word expression analyses highlight plague dynamics during the second pandemic

Research on the second plague pandemic that swept over Europe from the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries mainly relies on the exegesis of contemporary texts and is prone to interpretive bias. By leveraging certain bioinformatic tools routinely used in biology, we developed a quantitative lexicography of 32 texts describing two major plague outbreaks, using contemporary plague-unrelated texts as negative controls. Nested, network and category analyses of a 207-word pan-lexicome, comprising overrepresented terms in plague-related texts, indicated that ‘buboes' and ‘carbuncles' are words that were significantly associated with the plague and signalled an ectoparasite-borne plague. Moreover, plague-related words were associated with the terms ‘merchandise’, ‘movable’, ‘tatters', ‘bed’ and ‘clothes'. Analysing ancient texts using the method reported in this paper can certify plague-related historical records and indicate the particularities of each plague outbreak, which can inform on the potential sources for the causative Yersinia pestis .

REFLEKSI NILAI ADAB DAN HUBUNGAN HORIZONTAL DALAM NASKAH BABAD AWAK SALIRA

ABSTRACT The value of moral affects the horizontal relationship that exists between humans. This is recorded in the ancient texts of the Islamic period as evidence of the influence of Islamic teachings that entered the archipelago. The disclosure of this moral value is an effort to "share" the heritage of the ancestors, as well as a reflection on the current conditions that are quite relevant. The Babad Awak Salira (BAS) manuscript, one of the written heritages in Tatar Sunda, contains very strong moral values. The problems revealed in this paper, namely; (1) the values ​​of moral contained in the text of the BAS manuscript; and (2) the effect of moral reflection in the horizontal relationship. This paper aims to reveal the values ​​of moral and their influence on horizontal relationships. This research is a literature research, descriptive analysis. Due to the fact that the object is an ancient text, a philological approach is used to study the BAS text. Seeing this, the relevance of the existence of values ​​in the ancient texts (which are time apart) is so eternal in didactic wraps. The existence of content values ​​can also be seen as a piece of advice and a "treasure" of inheritance in a written tradition in Tatar Sunda, in general in the archipelago. Disclosure of the value of the content of ancient manuscripts, can be seen as an effort to understand and "bridge" the times, considering that the medium of script is no longer conventional at this time. Keywords: Manuscript, Text BAS, Moral values, Moral reflection. Nilai adab berpengaruh terhadap hubungan horizontal yang terjalin antarmanusia. Hal ini tercatat dalam naskah kuna periode Islam sebagai bukti pengaruh ajaran Islam yang masuk ke Nusantara. Pengungkapan nilai adab ini sebagai upaya “membagikan” warisan nenek moyang, juga sebagai refleksi atas kondisi zaman saat ini yang cukup relevan. Naskah Babad Awak Salira (BAS), salah satu warisan tulis yang ada di Tatar Sunda, mengandung nilai-nilai adab yang kuat. Masalah yang diungkap dalam tulisan ini, yaitu; (1) nilai adab yang ada di dalam teks naskah BAS; dan (2) pengaruh refleksi adab dalam hubungan horizontal. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk mengungkap nilai-nilai adab dan pengaruhnya terhadap hubungan horizontal. Kajian berjenis studi pustaka, bersifat deskriptif analisis. Sehubungan bahwa objek adalah naskah kuna, digunakan pendekatan filologis untuk mengkaji naskah BAS. Melihat hal itu, relevansi keberadaan nilai dalam naskah kuna (yang berjarak zaman) begitu kekal dalam balutan didaktis. Keberadaan nilai kandungan juga dapat dipandang sebagai sebuah petuah dan “harta” warisan dalam sebuah tradisi tulis di Tatar Sunda, secara umum di Nusantara. Pengungkapan nilai kandungan naskah kuna dapat dilihat sebagai upaya memahamkan dan “menjembatani” zaman, mengingat medium aksara sudah tidak konven­sional lagi saat ini. Kata kunci: Naskah kuna, Teks BAS, Nilai Adab, Refleksi Adab.

POSTMODERN POETICS OF M. ATWOOD’S NOVEL “PENELOPIADА”

Margaret Atwood is one of the most famous modern English-language writers. She has won numerous literary awards, including the Booker Prize twice. Her novel “Penelopiada” (2005) did not attract the attention of researchers. Therefore, the purpose of this article is a detailed analysis of the main features of the poetics of the novel as a model of postmodern prose. The source of inspiration for the writer were the ancient myths and heroic poems “Iliada” and “Odyssey” by Homer. In ancient texts, Penelope is a minor heroine. She was the wife of Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, who fought for ten years under the walls of Troy, and then travelled for another ten years. And all this time his wife has been waiting for him, so Penelope is a symbol of marital fidelity and patience. Canadian author Margaret Atwood rethinks this image. Without disturbing the plot of the ancient epic, she psychologically motivates the actions of Penelope, shows the image of a lonely strong woman who is trying to survive in a cruel male world. This text reflects the feminist views of the author. The article focuses on aspects of intertextuality, allusions, and creative dialogue with prototexts. The figurative structure of the novel, the semantic overemphasis of the images of Odysseus, Penelope and Elena, who fled to Troy, are analysed. The events of the Trojan War are considered from the point of view of a woman who was not directly affected by the hostilities, but whose life changed radically. Genre-compositional features of the novel are revealed. The originality of the narrative in the novel is clarified: the story is told on behalf of Penelope, which adds psychological credibility to the image. The article also notes the techniques of irony, parody, which represent the text as a model of postmodernism.

Sacred Water Pools of Hindu Sacredscapes in North India

The basic metaphysical frame of life in ancient India, that of sacred water (paviṭra jala) and the notion that “Water itself is life” (jala hī jivan hai), can be illustrated with case studies of two cities. Settled continuously since 1000 BCE, the cities of Varanasi and Ayodhya have been eulogized as the salvific holy-heritage cities in India known for their ritualscapes associated with sacred waters and pools. According to the ancient treatises and tales, there were fifty-four sacred tanks (kunds) and wells (kūpas) in each of these cities, and they became important sites for purification rituals, pilgrimage, healing and festive celebration by devout Hindus. After providing descriptions of the sacred water pools, this essay in part explores traditions associated with a water-pool sacred to the Sun god in both the cities. More broadly, using ancient texts, present participatory surveys, and ethnological narration, the essay considers the long-lived sacrality of water pools in these holy cities and current development strategies involving them.

The Image of the Ancient Jewish Ruler and Autocratic Power During the Formation of Statehood (Based on the Materials of the Hebrew Bible)

The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the ancient texts of the Hebrew Bible largely anticipated the political and legal achievements of the last centuries. The Tanakh, additions and commentaries to it determine the direction of modern international humanitarian law, ways of forming state administration, lay the foundations of a system of checks and balances, a system of separation of powers, contain the foundations of the contractual theory of the origin of the state by concluding an agreement between the people and the king. The purpose of this study is to analyze the ancient texts of the Hebrew Bible and update the obtained data in modern political and managerial relations. Some texts of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), authoritative commentaries on them and the results of research by domestic and foreign scientists were used as materials for the study. The research methods were comparison, analysis of documents, and the system method. The conducted research concluded that doubts about the historicity and practical reliability of the texts of the Hebrew Bible are not able to affect the indisputable value of the material contained in it. Even if the events described have never taken place in history, the views expressed in the Bible themselves should be recognized as far ahead of their time and of value for modern political science. The Hebrew Bible defines the representative of the autocratic power (the king) as the first among equals. This applies to rights, duties, and responsibilities. It is this postulate that should be embedded in the modern political and managerial system, in which there is always a manager and performers. And only continuous work (primarily on oneself), self-improvement, as the Hebrew Bible bequeathed, should become the criterion for selecting a leader, and not any preferences.

Analysis of the Worldwide Distribution of the ‘Man or Animal in the Moon’ Motifs

For millennia, people have seen a man, an animal, or an object as they look at the moon. The motif of the ‘frog/toad in the Moon’ was recorded in writing in the Book of Changes (I Ching) over 2400 years ago. The ‘man in the Moon’ theme is found in old Norse literature in the Younger Edda. In Mesoamerica, the story of the ‘rabbit in the Moon’ is pre-Columbian. This study analyses the different versions by combining areal studies as well as structural and statistical analyses with information from ancient texts and archaeological artefacts. In particular, I compare the geographic distribution of the main motifs to the 2,278 motifs in Yuri Berezkin’s database. In this context, I report on the observed similarities between the geographic distribution of the ‘man or animal in the Moon’ motifs and the two of the most widespread earth creation myths.

On The Origin of the Milky Way by Peter Paul Rubens: Astronomy, Astrology and Mythology in Early Modern Europe*

Painted in the final decade of his life, Rubens’s autograph work The Origin of the Milky Way defies interpretation. The artist was a contemporary of Galileo though attempts to evidence a meeting have so far failed. He had already painted a series of night skies and had many recent books on astronomy/astrology, as well as ancient texts, in his library. This is a painting full of plausible stellar bodies none of which quite fits into a recognised constellation. Nor does the image accurately accord with any mythological narrative. So, is the Milky Way here simply a pretext to depict Juno as Queen of the heavens? I propose that Rubens was a learned eclectic for whom Aristotelian views of the cosmos could meld both with contemporary earth-centred arguments about a providential universe and with new Copernican theories. Uniting his interest in pictorial space with newfound possibilities for understanding the cosmos, Rubens draws on the ancient Roman concept of sparsio, or abundance, with which he would have been familiar through his friendship with Hugo Grotius. Executed a few years after the fifty-three-year-old artist had married his fecund second wife, then aged sixteen, The Origin of the Milky Way constitutes a witty and profound meditation on female generosity within a framework of universal laws.

Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible

In this book, Yitzhaq Feder presents a novel and compelling account of pollution in ancient Israel, from its emergence as an embodied concept, rooted in physiological experience, to its expression as a pervasive metaphor in social-moral discourse. Feder aims to bring the biblical and ancient Near Eastern evidence into a sustained conversation with anthropological and psychological research through comparison with notions of contagion in other ancient and modern cultural contexts. Showing how numerous interpretive difficulties are the result of imposing modern concepts on the ancient texts, he guides readers through wide-ranging parallels to biblical attitudes in ancient Near Eastern, ethnographic, and modern cultures. Feder demonstrates how contemporary evolutionary and psychological research can be applied to ancient textual evidence. He also suggests a path of synthesis that can move beyond the polarized positions which currently characterize modern academic and popular debates bearing on the roles of biology and culture in shaping human behavior.