Asian Studies

On Thurs., Dec. 8, many Buddhists around the world will celebrate Bodhi Day. This holy day marks the occasion on which Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment while sitting under a bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. From then on he was called the “Buddha” or the “Awakened One.” This was the culmination of his long search for a solution to human suffering and dissatisfaction. The “enlightenment” the Buddha experienced, according to Buddhism, was a true and clear understanding of things as they are and the way to permanent peace and a compassionate relationship with all living beings.

For Buddhists, the Buddha is not a god, but simply an exemplary human being. Buddhists honor on Bodhi Day the Buddha’s example and his teaching. The ways in which people honor the Buddha on this day varies - - meditation, fasting, the study of Buddhist texts, doing acts of service & charity, public celebrations, and special meals at home or in communities.

In the picture above, the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama  helps a monk at a Bodhi tree sapling plantation ceremony to mark the 2600th year of Sambodhiprapti (The Enlightenment of the Buddha) in New Delhi on November 30,2011. This picture is from the Huffington Post.

Tang Dynasty poetry WWW sources:

1) University of Virginia’s Home of 300 Tang Poems. Just as the title suggests, this website has English translations of 300 or so Tang Dynasty poems. Most of the English translations are taken from Witter Bynner, The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Anthology, New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1929.

2. The website entitled simply Chinese Poems is very useful because it often gives a literal translation along with a regular English translation.

3. The website 300 Selected Poems of the Tang Dynasty contains English translation done by Chiang Yee.

Also, note that once you select a poem you can look for other translations by searching for the author’s name and the poem title.

Important: Chinese names can have different English transliterations, e.g. Li Bo and Li Po are the same person, also Du Fu and Tu Fu are the same.

As well, the titles for poems in English translations can be different too.

Happy Diwali! Yesterday, the festival of Diwali began. For some good information about this festival, see this piece from the Washington Post - article. Here’s a quote from the article:

“A contraction from the Sanskrit word Deepavali, that literally means rows of earthen lamps, the day has varied religious significance for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. But the metaphysical import is the same across all traditions: let the lighting of the Diwali lamp illuminate and vanquish the dark forces–the vices–that abound in the recesses of the intellect. The light symbolizes the victory of knowledge over ignorance, and goodness over evil and awakens an an awareness of God in every life.”

Here’s a link to Lisa Miller’s “How to Raise a Global Kid” -

click here.

This weblog is the place that you will find information about Asian Studies class. Your assignments can be found here as well as basic information about the class (syllabus, web links, grading, etc.).

Given our study of Japanese art during the Edo period, you might want to take time to visit the new Princeton Art Museum exhibit:

It will be there from Feb. 8 – June 5. The exhibit website is here – link.

Click here for a virtual “tour” of Ancient Edo. This is from website of the National Association of Japan-America Societies (NAJAS).

Interesting article from the Washington Post on efforts by some to prevent the patenting of yoga techniques:

“Heard of Naked Yoga? Kosher Yoga? Yoga for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

More than 30 million Americans practice some sort of yoga in an ever-expanding industry generating an estimated $6 billion in the United States alone.

But in the birthplace of yoga, an Indian government agency is fighting what it calls “yoga theft” after several U.S. companies said they wanted to copyright or patent their versions. Yoga is a part of humanity’s shared knowledge, the agency says, and any business claiming the postures as its own is violating the very spirit of the ancient practice.”

See the rest of the story here.