Abstract In Chinese art and literature the representation of landscapes is frequently encountered. Over centuries, artists and poets have devised complex grammars that govern their depiction of the natural world. This paper will explore these grammars with respect to works by Xie Ling-yun, China's premier early landscape poet and Fan K'uan, one of the greatest of all Chinese landscape painters. Two respective works of this poet and painter will be discussed in order to demonstrate two singularly different approaches to the idea of the artistic representation of landscape.
Abstract In "Kokoro", Natsume Soseki is clearly concerned with the theme of loneliness and isolation. He examines one man's alienation and loneliness in the modern world. For the protagonist of "Kokoro", the only means of escape from loneliness is death. This is a very powerful theme in that Soseki explores the frustration and tragedy of humans not being able to find love, or the fulfilment of one's meaning in the world.
Abstract In Silla and Koryo women exercised a degree of political power that they did not possess again between 1392 and 1945. The sources and manifestations of this political power are identified. Subsequently, women's precipitous decline and exclusion after 1392 is briefly examined and causes are sought in the Silla and Koryo period. It will be demonstrated that women exercised considerably more influence in the earlier period than they did subsequent to 1392.
Abstract In this paper, the films of Chinese-American directors John Woo and Ang Lee are considered in relation to Chinese and Americanized film genres. Here, Woo's "Face/Off" (1997) and Lee's "Sense and Sensibility" (1995) are examined for elements of Chinese culture and influence. This paper suggests that each director represent a different aspect of Chinese film, but that Woo's attention to the genre of action films compares most particularly with the martial arts genre made famous in Chinese film industries.
Abstract Historical perspectives are compared with contemporary views of Chinese culture and society in Mainland China. An emphasis in this essay is placed on Communism in China and how Confucian philosophy is adapted in different contexts of Chinese cultural authority.
Highlights the efforts and objectives of the Philippines with regard to its involvement in APEC, in light of its historical, cultural, economic, political, and security antecedents.
3,900 words (approx. 15.6 pages), 8 sources, 2002, $ 142.95
Abstract Since 1992, under the directorship of President Fidel Ramos, the Philippines has embarked upon a productive economic path by implementing a series of economic reforms collectively known as the 'Philippines 2000' program, under which the country's APEC efforts have fallen. However, while the unprecedented growth of the Filipino economy unmistakably expounds the great success of these efforts, it cannot be ignored that the country fails to enjoy a stable economic or political foundation and the economy remains in a transitory period of extremely volatile growth.
Abstract Joy Kogawa's novel, "Obasan", deals with a very painful chapter in Canadian-Japanese history. But more than that, it reveals very much about Japanese tradition and culture through the eyes of one woman. Kogawa's portrayal of a people's plight through this novel demonstrates her understanding of this historical reality. Her narrative is profound and enables the reader to not only experience the Japanese Canadian's reality during the Second World War, but to also see how tradition lives on throughout the ages.
Abstract Shamanism continues as the 'animist' religion of Korea and has influenced other religions to have arrived in the region. Shamanism continues as an everyday presence in Korean culture and, in turn, has drawn from other religions. It offers an interesting example of religious syncretism and the continuing presence of the past in a very modern and progressive Korean present.
Abstract Summary: This paper is on Chinese acupuncture. Chinese medicine in general and acupuncture in particular are based on assumptions not found in western medicine. In the West, medicine considers cause and effect, as with a virus leading to disease. Chinese acupuncture is based on forces of yin and yang.
Discusses the position of the author of "Discovering History in China" that American historians need to take a more China-centered approach to studying Chinese history.
1,400 words (approx. 5.6 pages), 1 source, 2002, $ 53.95
Abstract The author of this book emphasizes that a China-centered history is necessary to get a better and more accurate portrayal of Chinese history. Indeed, in his perspective, this will counter-act the ethnocentric approach taken by American historians on the subject. One of the main theses of the book is that a China-centered approach is needed to counter-balance the American distortion of Chinese history.
Abstract The central question in Indian economic history is why a nation that has achieved so much remains, despite its early promise, a secondary economic power in the world today? This paper addresses this question in a tripartite fashion.
Abstract The experience of Korean women through the 20th century is discussed in the light of the women's movement elsewhere. It is explained how often very current ideas reached Korea shortly after their appearance in the West, so as to encourage early attention to women's issues and female education in Korea.
Abstract The first, and perhaps most important, observation that can be made about the novel "The Journey to the West", attributed usually to Wu Cheng'en (c. 1500s), is that it is fun to read. Any discussion of the treatment of mythology in this novel must confront the fact of its irreverence for religion, be it Buddhism or Taoism. This essay will argue that it is this irreverence - personified in the very human character of Monkey (Monkey King/Great Sage) - that renders this comic novel a classic of Chinese literature. Monkey is a "human" character with human drives and flaws attempting to find a place for himself in a world of immortals and magic. The mythology of the comic novel is thus simply a "backdrop" for this theme of man struggling to find meaning in the world.
Abstract The foundation to the economic recovery has been the very high levels of economic development that Japan has achieved. In the Japanese occupational system, lifetime employment did offer incentive to work hard. This is a very important fact to keep in mind in order to determine the secrets of the success of post-war Japan.
Abstract The Koto is one of the most popular classical instruments in contemporary Japan. It is a thirteen-string zither commonly known as a floor harp. This paper explores the construction, history, tuning and playing of the Koto.
