Russian Tsar as Cakravartin

Based on Russian archival documents and hitherto poorly known primary sources, Nikolay Tsyrempilov’s paper is a study of the Buryat Buddhist perception and interpretation of the Russian emperors’ enthronement ceremonies. Buryat Buddhist hierarchs were among the many Central Asian elites invited to the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II in 1896. The paper argues that the Buddhists did not simply share their Orthodox counterparts’ understanding of the ceremony, but also gave new meaning to it within the frames of their own religious worldview and Buddhist conceptions of kingship. In this understanding, Moscow and St. Petersburg became Pure Lands made holy thanks to the presence of an enlightened deity, the Tsar.

The Hopping Dead. Zombies in the Chinese Culture

The article examines the image of zombies in Chinese culture, the traditional perception of their appearance and internal characteristics. A wide scope of written sources served as the basis of the study: inscriptions on oracle bones, ancient fortune-telling calendars, historical treatises, chronicles and commentaries on chronicles, essays on geography and medicine, fiction of old and modern China, as well as entries and comments from the Chinese blogosphere. The authors examine how the idea of evil spirits (with a body or bodiless ones) first appeared in the religious worldview of the ancient Chinese, and trace its origin to the doctrine of existence of multiple souls in one person. The article also details the formation of the pictorial image of Chinese zombies: animated corpses covered with hair or dressed as government officials, with their arms extended forward, hopping on straight legs unable to bend their knees. As for the functional characteristics of zombies, the authors discuss not only their well-known features (e.g., cannibalism), but also their deep inner connection with water and drought. In conclusion, the authors explore the evolution of zombies in modern urban legends and demonstrate the continuity of traditional demonology that develops into modern narrative. Apart from that, the article contains a number of analogies and comparisons of the Chinese image of zombies with other nations’ mythological tradition.

Antropological Concept in Mystical Poetry of Parvin Etesami

The essay reflects on the creativity of Parvin Etesami (1907 – 1941), a distinguished Persian poet, little known abroad. We highlight anthropological teaching based on the religious worldview as one of the aspects of her mystical poetry. Created in the era when Persian literature and its classical tradition were breaking, Parvin’s poems affirm loyalty to the mystical tradition and the ways of self-creation of an individual laid down in it. The article shows that the Muslim science of behavior guides a person striving for wisdom and determines their path. The preaching of morality in Parvin’s poems, coupled with her mystical enlightenment, attempts to return her contemporaries to the classical world of their tradition. This research investigates the concept of man and is based on the only collection of 60 poems published in Russian (Journey of Tears, 1984), as well as on the new poetic translations. Two of the poems translated by M. Yahyapour and M. L. Reysner are introduced to the readers for the first time. The paper describes different facets of personality and fate, found in poetic self-reflection, the most significant of which is Parvin’s Auto-Epitaph. The values corresponding to Parvin’s spiritual personality are revealed: purity of soul, strictness, restraint, intellectualism, moral seriousness. Following the Sufi teachings about men, Parvin criticizes deviations from the true path —such as susceptibility to passions and pride. The poet considers them the destroyers and believes that they occur because of the evil forces distorting the human soul. The poet proposes a way out for the soul captured by the world — the knowledge of the Truth and the appeal to the experience of the righteous. The essay demonstrates that in Parvin’s poetry, fidelity to a thousand-year-old spiritual tradition and individual creativity appear as an organic unity. In the era that leads a person of the West and the East away from the spiritual roots of culture, the poet becomes a gnostic and a mystic in his individual creative life and, abandoning modern trends, consciously takes the path of mystical enlightenment and brings to her readers the wisdom found on these paths.

Medieval religious intellectual culture in the works of V.S. Soloviev

The article discusses the views of V.S. Solovyov on the medieval religious worldview. The main problem for historical and historical and philosophical thought at the end of the 19th century was the question of the degree of influence of Christian ideology on the perception of man in the Middle Ages. And since it was V.S. Soloviev who expressed doubts about the absolute significance of the Christian doctrine for the consciousness of medieval Western Europe, Byzantium and Russia, then his constructions are especially interesting. The author proceeds from the assumption that all his reflections can be characterized as Christian utopianism, however, it is presented in the space of liberal teachings of Russia in the second half of the 19th century. Attention is focused on the aspiration of V.S. Solovyov to solve problems through the completeness and purity of the ideal of Christianity. Therefore, the world-historical process itself appears as a condition for the functioning of this ideal. The key point for the Russian philosopher is the conviction that in the Middle Ages pagan elements persist and affect the consciousness of people under the guise of the Christian faith. And this leads to the antinomy of the order of life and the spirit of the Middle Ages. It is this moment that serves as the subject of this article.

THE ROLE OF FATE IN TRAGEDY: A CASE STUDY OF ROTIMI’S THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME

The traditional pagan view of human tragedy which existed several centuries back in the ancient Greek religious myths was transposed not only to Western Europe but also to the African context in the literary representation of reality in tragedy. Common religious metaphysics across cultures occasionally occasion common conception of human tragedy across generations of human history, but such cosmological cross-cultural convergence does not take for granted their dynamic perspectives on the role of fate in human tragedy. To be sure, the audiences of each time, view and appreciate tragedy within their unique geo-political and cultural milieu. In this sense, Erich Auerbach’s new historicist reading and post-modern montage of texts and commentaries validly confirms humanity’s representation of reality from their religious and traditional customary dispensations across space and time. Coming into the world in the West African Nigerian Yoruba metaphysical universe, the tragic personage holds his fate in his own hands. The gods and supernatural beings in the invisible realms claim foreknowledge of the fate which the tragic hero brings into the world, yet do not influence the fate-holder in the winding trail of life to the fulfillment of tragic fate. The gods in the mythico-religious worldview of the Yoruba natives permit the fulfilment of prehistoric fate based on the fate-holder’s individuality, as dictated by his carnal nature. This paper therefore posits that tragedy occurs as a product of the constant working of fate in the tragic hero which fulfills itself in a tragic conflict through the hero’s free-will, according to the prophecy of the gods in Ola Rotimi’s The gods are not to blame. This is more so in the Aristotelian concept of catharsis in tragedy due to the interplay between prehistoric fate and historic fate, the latter being the product of the former. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0876/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Symbolism of decorative design of ancient Chinese bronzes

Статья является продолжением семиотического анализа декоративно - орнаментальных элементов, украшающих древнекитайские предметы искусства. Личина Тао-те (Tao-tie (饕餮) и входящие в ее состав фигуры дракона Куй до сих пор не имеет научного определения, так как ни в одном письменном источнике нет упоминания об изображенном иконостилистическом персонаже. Исследование опирается на анализ пиктографических изображений (иероглифических надписей) на бронзовых сосудах эпохи Шан, раскрывающих семантику некоторых специально подчеркнутых деталей узора. В результате исследования объясняется значение изображенных элементов: символа гуй (возвращение) и знака «уха» (эр) , подтверждающих принадлежность образа Тао-те к описанию божественного первопредка и способствующих в осмыслении религиозного мировоззрения государств Ся (2017 -1765 г. до н.э.), Шан-Инь (1554 - 1046 г. до н.э.) и Западное Чжоу (1045 - 770 г. до н.э.). The paper is a continuation of the semiotic analysis of ornamental elements decorating ancient Chinese art objects. The mask of Tao-tie (饕餮), including the figures of the dragon Kui making it up, still has no scientific definition, since there is no mention of the depicted, iconostylistic character in any written source. The study is based on the analysis of pictographic images (hieroglyphic inscriptions) on bronze vessels of the Shang Era, revealing the semantics of some specially emphasized details of the pattern. As a result of the study, the significance of the depicted elements is explained: the hui symbol (return) and the "ear" sign (er), confirming the belonging of the image of Tao-tie to the description of the divine primacy and contributing to the understanding of the religious worldview of the dynasties of Xia (2017 -1765 BC), Shang-Yin (1554 - 1046 BC) and Western Zhou (1045 - 770 BC).

The Virtuous Teachings of Abu Nasir al-Farabi

The article, defining the weight of Al-Farabi's works in the XXI century, outlines its origins, the importance of philosophical, political, socio-ethical concepts in modern society. First, it examines the viability of Al-Farabi's ideology of government. Secondly, scientific works reveal the significance of the theory of goodness, happiness, education and upbringing in modern society, demonstrate the scientific guidelines of the path to the continuous aspiration of a person for perfection, to the relentless dream of finding happiness. Thirdly, the formation and development of humanistic values in the philosophy of Al-Farabi is analyzed from the standpoint of philosophical discourse. The scholar's view that a focus on justice and morality is essential to building a great society is studied as a good path stemming from humanity's desire to evolve and achieve happiness. The Islamic context of a humane city is revealed. The article explains the well-being of a virtuous society, the completeness of relationships in the context of the Muslim religious worldview. The importance of the problem of the heart in building a good society is emphasized,ideological continuity and harmony with Abai are demonstrated. It is said that the heart can be an object of deep contemplation, anticipation of events, awareness of their nature, understanding of their causes and wisdom. It is noted that the concept of the heart in the work of Al-Farabi is an independent subject of research, which will be further considered in continuity with religious texts.

“Red Funeral”. New Funeral Rites in Early Soviet Russia

The article analyzes the emergence of the so-called red funeral ritual in the 1920s in Soviet Russia as an important component of political everyday life. The first part of the article examines the funeral rituals of representatives of the Bolshevik elite. The second part attempts to characterize the transformation of funeral rites among the “common” population. The analysis undertaken clearly shows the undoubted political and public nature of funeral rituals in early Soviet Russia. Initially, Soviet funeral rituals were powerfully influenced by radical utilitarianism and total nihilistic denial of the religious worldview, intensified by the excesses of the World War, Revolution and Civil War. Nevertheless, nihilism and utilitarianism, the highest expression of which was the idea of cremation, were quickly pushed out by a new funeral ritual, the key elements of which were demonstration and “theatrical ritual” with its music, processions, pretentious speeches and fireworks, in many respects borrowed from military funerals. The main role in the emergence of the red funeral ritual was played by the cult of fallen heroes, which in turn was a guarantee of political immortality of the Bolshevik leaders. As a result, the red funeral became an important element of the alternative Bolshevik culture. The concept of Vladimir Buldakov, who characterized revolutionary funeral rituals as “neo-pagan”, is at least controversial. The attempt to make funerals of the Bolshevik elites a model for mass funerals collided with conservative rituals, especially in the countryside. With regard to the 1920s, at best, we can talk about the emergence of a kind of “the effect of dual faith", a specific symbiosis of red and religious funeral rites. Thus, in the 1920s, the process of a new Soviet ritualism development was far from complete, including the Soviet party and state elites, as evidenced by the fluctuations between party asceticism with its utilitarian attitude to ashes and splendid funerals of leaders.

Non-traditional religious organizations in the modern society of the Republic of Korea

The article is devoted to the situation with the activities of different sectarian organizations in the Republic of Korea. There is a huge amount of information in our world that is not always possible to be objectively analyzed. It helps some sectarian organizations to promote their principles and ideas. This is especially true for the Republic of Korea, where the religious worldview is one of the most important components of the national mentality. Freedom of religion is highly valued in the country, sectarian ideas have the right to spread, and sects are practically not regulated by the state. According to rough estimates of Korean sociologists, today there are about 300 non-traditional religious sects in the Republic of Korea. These organizations disseminate their sectarian propaganda through music, books, marches, leaflets, active recruitment and the Internet.

What’s Love Got to Do with It? Religion and the Multiple Logic Tensions of Social Enterprise

This paper develops a model that advances our understanding of how social enterprises respond to the complexity of a constellation of multiple, often competing goals, referred to here as institutional logics. Introducing a religious logic to the recognised social welfare and commercial logics of social enterprise, this model builds on a religious worldview foundation and incorporates religion-inspired altruistic love and non-transactional giving as its scaffolding. A comparative case study of faith-based, faith-inspired and secular organisations located in Southeast Asia demonstrates the origin and applicability of the model. Findings highlight that religion serves as an overarching logic, or “metalogic”, and frame of reference. Faith-based social enterprises use this religious logic to redefine perceived paradoxical tensions between the social welfare and commercial objectives they embody. Study results advance knowledge on organisational responses to multiple logic prescriptions, underscores the influence of religion, altruistic love and giving on organisational behaviour and contributes to the scarce literature on faith-based social enterprises.