JournalTOCs

Asian Culture and History
Number of Followers: 12

This is an Open Access Journal

Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 1916-9655 - ISSN (Online) 1916-9663
Published by CCSE

[43 journals]

Construction Analysis of “Srōš Bāǰ”: The Opening Part of the
Zoroastrian Prayer
- Abstract: The present study examines the structure of Srōš Bāǰ Avesta, which forms the first part of the Zoroastrian prayer, in order to determine its different parts and how to construct it. The Zoroastrian prayer was created by Zoroastrian religious leaders, and over time Zoroastrian religious leaders added things to it or subtracted things from it. In this research, it will be determined from which part of the Avesta each part of Srōš bāǰ was taken and which parts were made by Zoroastrian religious leaders and included in this Avesta. In this article, both Iranian Srōš Bāǰ and Indian Srōš Bāǰ will be examined and analyzed in order to determine the structure of each one from which part of the Avesta it is taken from. Based on the findings of this research, Indian Srōš Bāǰ has parts of Avesta that Iranian Srōš Bāǰ does not have. Also, Indian Srōš Bāǰ has two parts in Pārsī Gujarātī language and Iranian Srōš Bāǰ has a part in Persian language. The results obtained from this research show that Pārsīs of India read Srōš Bāǰ in a different way at the beginning of their prayers, and Pārsī religious leaders have added parts to it to complete Srōš Bāǰ.The author of this article is one of the Iranian Zoroastrians and is fully acquainted with the prayers of the Pārsīs of India and the Pārsī Gujarātī language.
  PubDate: Fri, 02 Jun 2023 22:29:07 +000
Preliminary Study on Geoarchaeology of the Batu Kalde Temple, Pangandaran,
West Java, Indonesia
- Abstract: The Batu Kalde Site is a ruin of Hindu Temple in Pangandaran, West Java, Indonesia. Despite it has been reported since 1915 and subsequently studied by several archaeological teams, a lot of aspects including geoarchaeology of this temple are still unrevealed. This preliminary study was an overview of general aspects of geoarchaeology of the temple. The result shows that the temple was constructed before the 14th century by a population of farmers and fishermen lived on the fertile coastal plain of Pangandaran in south coast of Java Island. The temple was constructed in a narrow coastal plain of a small island on a Quaternary marine sediment offshore of the present Pangandaran coast. The existing tombolo morphology of Penanjung has not been completely formed when the temple was being constructed. The temple was constructed using bedded sandstone of the Pamutuan Formation quarried from outcrops in the vicinity of the temple. This study shows that utilization of materials from local available resource might have been a model of temple construction within the classical period in the period of between the 7-14th century in West Java, Indonesia.
  PubDate: Mon, 15 May 2023 07:42:01 +000
Hierarchy and Relationship of Hamlets: The Case of Baduy Tribe, Indonesia
- Abstract: Baduy Tribe in Kanekes Village, Banten Province, Indonesia, is one of the ethnic communities that still actively follow the customary law. Baduy Tribe consists of two groups, namely Inner Baduy and Outer Baduy, with Inner Baduy people often said to be the more earnest practitioner. Their customary law is called pikukuh, which is the set of rules and guidelines derived from the animism belief of Sunda Wiwitan. In general, the core of pikukuh is to control the relationship between human and nature through strictly forbidding the Baduy to change the environment. The pikukuh is also used as the base of hierarchy between each zone within the village. It shows that there are three zones exist in Kanekes Village, which influence the hierarchy between the Inner Baduy and Outer Baduy hamlets. However, the two groups of hamlets are not separate entities. The relationship between Inner and Outer Baduy hamlets is connected through marriage, making the community sustained for a hundred years. Therefore, to preserve the vernacular architecture of Baduy Tribe, it is also necessary to understand the system within the community.
  PubDate: Thu, 04 May 2023 00:30:53 +000
Zeya Paper Reborn: Designing Modern Chinese Lamps Using Traditional Bamboo
Paper in Wenzhou, China
- Abstract: Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China and embodies centuries of wisdom. In the Zeya highlands, northwest of Wenzhou, handmade paper production became the pillar of the local economy during the last century. However, due to industrialization, the demand for traditional handmade paper has significantly decreased, and many papermaking workshops have had to shut down. Today, villagers mainly use Zeya bamboo paper for less noble purposes, such as draft paper. New applications for such culturally-rich material have to be envisioned. This manuscript discusses the Zeya Paper Reborn project, which is committed to showing the appeal of Zeya traditional paper through the design of modern Chinese lamps. The bamboo paper is combined with various materials, taking advantage of past and present aesthetics in an attempt to revitalize the local industry. A series of five lamps and an exhibition resulted from one year of study and practice. These design products are meaningful because they respect the regional tradition while adding a touch of modernity. The authors also discuss the project’s meaning, results, challenges, and limits. This essay will be of interest to design researchers and practitioners looking for novel approaches to preserve and promulgate Chinese intangible cultural heritage.
  PubDate: Thu, 27 Apr 2023 02:16:33 +000
Adaptive Reuse of Vernacular Architecture for Conservation in Indonesia:
Case Study of South Nias Village, Bawömataluo Conservation Project
- Abstract: Bawömataluo village, which is located in Nias Island, Indonesia, is among the most important National Cultural Properties. The village has the highest number of surviving traditional houses in one village in Indonesia (53% left – Fanitra Pedi A., 2017, p. 64). The architecture is considered to be the finest artistic masterpiece in Indonesia. The change of agriculture type in the 20th century and vast improvement of infrastructure in the 21st century cause poverty and bring difficulties in sustaining the cultural property. Villagers modify their houses by replacing some of the building materials with the ones that are more economical in price, but this contributes to the destruction of the original structure. Most Nias villagers still want to stay in their traditional houses. But, due to the maintenance funding problem and introduction to healthy houses in the 20th century, some materials were changed into industrial materials and some parts were damaged. There is an initiative to use traditional house/omo hada as a homestay program which allows villagers to have a close contact with local and international tourists and earn more income. This research observed 30 omo hada and took two samples for a deeper space understanding. This paper tries to investigate activities in the two samples of omo hada with and without homestay activities. The investigation finds out that tawolo (communal space that is located at the front of the house) is a frequently used space which occupies 40% area of the second floor and föröma (private space that is located at the back of the house) is the least used space with 60% area of the second floor which is suitable for adaptive reuse in omo hada.
  PubDate: Tue, 07 Mar 2023 01:13:23 +000
The Ethical Framework with COVID-19 and Challenges of Bangladesh
Government: A Critical Discussion
- Abstract: To control the spread of nCoV-2 (COVID-19), almost all countries are taking active non-therapeutic measures. COVID-19 has delivered to the fore the long-standing debates on ethics, public health ethics, and moral values. Human life is uncertain and threatened due to no medical invention generally to guard life against this dangerous virus by using social and community protection to be maintained as a safeguard. For affected individuals and fair dealings, ethics, ethical values, and morality are the sole force to dominate this case and are thought-about vital tools. Patients, their relatives, aid workers, policymakers, and the general public face ethical issues due to the pandemic. The foremost attentive ethical problems during this crisis area unit human rights, obligations for healthcare staff, and obligations of nations and intergovernmental organizations. Then, at that point, the test of moral qualities is a unit that has been addressed: the morals of segregation and social separation, the obligation of care of teammates with patients, and admittance to treatment when assets are restricted. This article will clarify the ethical framework and ethical values of the main tools in non-pharmacological and non-vaccine-related situations of this disease. It will provide a basic ethical framework to guide decision-makers at all levels in the preparation and response to COVID-19, with much attention paid to allocating scarce resources. Data was gathered and reviewed from secondary documents, observation, and previous studies such as articles and journals. Bangladesh, one of the foremost inhabited territories in this world, has an extreme challenge to implement mitigation measures for this extensive corruption and mismanagement problem. The findings of this study show that the various ethical aspects are the only power for managing COVID-19. An ethical framework that promotes trust-building and solidarity and guides decision-making can still be developed. This study will play a role in ethically combating this devastating COVID-19 pandemic and creating a model for the authority that will maintain ethical values in numerous segments of the department. This writing will also guide, by the notion of position, notions of trust, ethical behavior, and sensible decision-making and apply these ethical concerns to the present situations for the pandemic, and provide individuals ways to attach and facilitate every other.
  PubDate: Tue, 21 Feb 2023 01:20:36 +000
Isaiah’s Structure from Random Forest Regression Analysis
- Abstract: This is the first paper to analyze the tripartite linguistic structure of Isaiah using Random Forest Regression, a supervised machine learning statistical approach. By predicting the occurrences of ‘judgment’ and ‘hope’ verses, we examine the threefold structure of Isaiah (section 1--chapters 1-39; section 2--chapters 40-55; and section 3--chapters 56-66) for differences in expression within and between each section. We find more inter-sectional homogeneity between sections 1 and 2 than between sections 1 and 3 or between sections 2 and 3, with respect to both judgment and hope word structures. Moreover, analysis of the judgment-vs-hope word structure indicate that section 3 heterogeneity differs significantly from sections 1 and 2 homogeneity, reinforcing the hypothesis that there is indeed a post-exilic authorship of section 3 (Isaiah 56-66).
  PubDate: Fri, 17 Feb 2023 02:41:31 +000
Quantified Grapho-Phonemic Systematicity in Korean Hangeul
- Abstract: Hangeul, the Korean orthography is well known for its scientific design that emphasizes the link between sounds and letter shapes. However, it hasn’t been asked so far ‘how systematic’ it is. We quantify, for the first time, the grapho-phonemic systematicity of hangeul. We defined Korean phonemes as binary vectors according to articulatory features and then measured the pairwise phonemic distance between phonemes using multiple methods. We measured the pairwise visual distance between letter shapes by (a) stroke share rate, which reflects the original principles of hangeul’s creation, and (b) Hausdorff distance (Huttenlocher et al., 1993), which measures topological difference between images. We then tested the correlation between the phonological distances and the corresponding orthographical distances. Positive correlations clearly indicated that similar letters tend to have similar pronunciations in Korean hangeul. Stroke share rate maximizes hangeul’s grapho-phonemic systematicity. Hausdorff distance, an initial step in the detailed quantifying of visual distance, allows similar calculations to be carried out with any hangeul font and with any other orthography (Jee, Tamariz, & Shillcock, 2021; 2022a; 2022b). Consciously designed to be phonologically transparent, hangeul can be considered as the gold standard of grapho-phonemic systematicity. We discuss the implications of this systematicity.
  PubDate: Fri, 03 Feb 2023 13:20:30 +000
A Study of the Features of Confucianism: Secularization, Maximal Morality
and Minimal Enlightenment
- Abstract: China’s political, social and cultural environment has a whole system; it is mainly shaped by Confucian culture and the whole system determines the development direction of Confucianism too. According to the sociocultural perspective, we must confirm that the way of thinking and behavior of people have been shaped by their culture, it’s the same for China. This essay will explore the main aspects of Confucianism and analyses the influence that Confucianism bears upon Chinese people. The reason why this essay analyses these influences is its unprecedented and unchallenged effects for China’s cultural ecology.
  PubDate: Fri, 03 Feb 2023 13:09:51 +000
The Rise of Zhou and Qin Dynasties and the Change of the Position of the
Qian Diagram in the Eight Diagrams
- Abstract: Compared Wen Wang eight diagrams with Fuxi eight diagrams, the position of the Qian (heaven) hexagrams shifted from due south to northwest, which was closely related to the early geographical environment and climate change in the eastern part of the Eurasian continent. In the pre-Qin period, the migration and conflict of ethnic groups were mostly caused from the northwest region. The western Zhou dynasty and the Qin empire both rose from the northwest region of China and became the decisive force influencing the historical process of China. People summarize the history and refine historical events into eight diagrams. The thought of “heaven’s way in the northwest” is the main reason for the change of the position of the hexagrams.
  PubDate: Sun, 29 Jan 2023 14:16:34 +000
Tea as Nature, Tea as Power in Early Modern China: Tea and the Literati in
the Ming Dynasty
- Abstract: This paper explores the cultural meaning of tea drinking for the literati in the later part of the Ming dynasty (around 1500-1644), using the pair ideas of tea as representing a lifestyle close to nature, and tea as a powerful representation of tasteful life in the society. The dual meanings of tea reinforce each other for the Ming literati, giving them the means and outlets to bolster their self-expression and to distinguish their identity in the social-cultural context of limited career opportunities. I examine the role of tea in tea books, tea-themed paintings, and Ming literati’s engagement in tea clubs and other related activities. This paper contributes to dialogues at the intersections of nature, culture, and history by treating tea as a nature-culture object, highlighting that the pursuit of nature is itself a form of cultural power.
  PubDate: Mon, 16 Jan 2023 23:37:40 +000