[ { "id": 208757, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1979", "page_number": 214, "title": "RAS-1979", "content_text": "RELIGIOUS LIFE IN PRESENT-DAY TAIWAN \n\n187 \n\nThis may at first appear as a tautology: all religions are naturally human. However, in contrast again with the Judaeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, in which God is seen as the Absolutely Holy and Transcendent One, the Chinese worshippers in the folk-religion conceive of their deities and relate to them in very human or humanistic terms. This can be explained in many different ways. One aspect is the magico-religious treatment of the gods, just mentioned, but there are several other angles to look at this complex phenomenon. The Chinese deities are often man-made: created by the people, and sometimes in the past appointed by the imperial government. Many gods and goddesses are actually apotheosized historical figures of special reputation or virtue who after their death proved to possess spiritual powers to assist the suffering people. There exists even the conception that the whole Chinese pantheon (not including the Buddhas-bodhisattvas) is modelled after the imperial government: they present a mirror-image of this world with the emperor — the Jade Emperor at the top. Underneath him are the various boards or ministries, the provincial governors, district and city officials down to the lowest rank of neighborhood inspectors. The humble Tu-ti-kung or Earth-spirits are thus the lowliest rank in the divine hierarchy. Gods and goddesses can be promoted or fired just like humans; in cases of mismanagement or misconduct they are sent into exile or otherwise punished. Man's imagination sees this whole spiritual world as operating by virtue of rules and relationships characteristic of his own this-worldly society. Perhaps the most striking manner to illustrate the humanity of the Chinese religion is that it is so evidently utilitarian. The gods and goddesses are worshipped by the people mainly and perhaps exclusively to obtain divine assistance in various difficult or important circumstances. These may be of individual significance or may relate to social concerns: family and community. But most often the blessings requested belong to the sphere of this life: health and wealth, fertility and progeny, position, success in business, cures of diseases (often in the past: epidemics) and overall protection against evil forces, evil spirits who threaten to destroy human happiness. Concern with the after-life may also be a motivation of religion, but then life after death is seen as a continuation of life on earth. The deceased are imagined to have the same needs as in this world: food, shelter and clothing are their most important concerns. Therefore, the ancestor cult is utilitarianistic in two ways: if it is not intend-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1979.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209799, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1983", "page_number": 58, "title": "RAS-1983", "content_text": "36 \n\nto say to every aspect of human life. The Buddha has a teaching for worldly way (#M✯). \n\nE. Buddhism and Science \n\nThe question of the attitude of Hong Kong Buddhists towards science is too wide a topic to be discussed fully in this paper. However, a short sketch of the current trend is desirable for an understanding of the monk's mental framework. \n\nScience has come to the attention of the monks because its effect on modern life cannot be ignored and because it has captured the faith of almost everybody. Buddhism has been pushed to a defensive position when some of its beliefs and practices have been judged superstitious and 'unscientific.' It has tried very hard to rid itself of the tag 'superstition.' Four kinds of arguments have \n\nbeen put forward in recent discussions. \n\nThe first is a redefinition of Buddhism or a restoration of the Buddha's original teaching. This argument contends that all that can be called superstitious in Buddhism belongs to accretions and borrowings of rituals and beliefs of other religions and these have been tolerated in order to please the incorrigible tendencies of unsophisticated believers. These can be and should be done away with when the believer makes advances in his knowledge of the religion. The Buddha's teaching is a philosophical one and contains nothing contrary to science.20 \n\nThe second argument, a favourite one, is that Buddhist teaching anticipates discoveries in science and thus possesses a cosmology more compatible with modern scientific discoveries than the cosmologies of other religions. Many examples of anticipation have been offered. The following is only a sampling: 1. Buddhism affirms the existence of millions and billions of world systems. This anticipates and corresponds to the astronomical discoveries of innumerable galaxies and solar systems in the universe.21 \n\nThe Buddhist cosmology is thus superior to the Judaeo-Christian one which makes this world the centre of everything. 2. \n\n2. The Buddha saw 84,000 worms in a bowl of water. This anticipates the discovery of microbes after the invention of the microscope.22 3. The Buddha says that the world", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1983.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211523, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1988", "page_number": 240, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "216\n\nwelcomed Greeks as government servants, mercenaries and artisans. Among many mutual influences between the two cultures one of them was that the Eastern countries imitated Greek coinage and did so even before Alexander. For example, under the occupation of the Persians in Judaea, imitations of Attic coins were minted, adding on them the word “Yahud\" i.e. \"Jewish\". Our coin is a good instance of the use of Greek currency, either genuine or imitated.\n\nThere is evidence of relations between Greece and India, as early as the 10th century B.C., in the Epic of Ramayana, where we find the counterpart of the Greek Centaur, Kinnara of the Sanskrit, and in that of the Bharatas (Mahabaratas) in the similarity between Arjun and Karna and Achilles and Hector of the Illiad of Homer. In philosophy the cynicism of Diogenes of Sinope pervaded the system of the Pasupatas of India. And we find the name of the Indian hero Lakulisa borrowed from that of the Greek hero Heracles (semantically Laku means club; Lakulisa is the cognate of (H)erakle).\n\nThis present coin was found in Papua New Guinea. It must have been brought there by some one from Asia, i.e. India, Malay or other Asian countries. This, in fact, is not only possible but even probable because of the extent of the Greek connections with all these countries in ancient times.\n\nIt would be impossible to know who owned this bracelet with the coin. A probable owner would have been an Indonesian, as these neighbouring Malays used to organize frequent expeditions into New Guinea, looking for gold, paradise-bird feathers and slaves. In that case, we may be allowed to speculate that the coin could have been a significant symbol to the owner.\n\nThe Greek figure could have represented for him Iskandar i.e. Alexander the Great, the alleged ancestor of the Malay race. The word TAPA could have been taken for a Malay word denoting asceticism in the sense of body training, yoga, endurance, etc. On the other hand, the dolphin or porpoise, “lumba\" in Malay, is synonymous with, and a symbol of, play, competition, contest. So, if my speculation is correct, this object would have been a sportsman's token, an emblem of effort in sportsmanship, or ... a simple commercial ornament. In any event,\n\nPage 240\n\nPage 241", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212679, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1991", "page_number": 233, "title": "RAS-1991", "content_text": "BULLETIN\n\nSCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES\n\nPostal and African Studies\n\nEDITORIAL BOARD\n\nJC Wright, Chairman, S K M Allan, D L Appleyard, TH Barrett, G R Hawting, K Hayward, MJ Hutt, S Kaviraj, DO Morgan, A H Morton, N G Phillips\n\nThe Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies has been published for nearly 60 years, and is unique in its breadth of coverage. The Bulletin spans the cultures and civilizations of the Near and Middle East, South and Central Asia, the Far East, South-East Asia, and the continent of Africa, from the pre-biblical era to the present day.\n\nSince its foundation in 1917, the Bulletin has contributed scholarly articles on the history, religions, languages and literatures, art, and archaeology of these regions. In addition, over a third of each issue is devoted to reviews and book notices. These provide a reliable guide to new publications, and are used by academic institutions and libraries worldwide for book selection and acquisition.\n\n1995 ORDER FORM\n\nPlease enter my subscription to BULLETIN OF THE SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES | Volume 58 (3 issues): £62/US$114 Please note: £ sterling rates apply in UK and Europe, US$ rates elsewhere. Customers in the EC and in Canada are subject to their local sales tax\n\nName......\n\nAddress....\n\nCity/County...\n\nPostcode.\n\nPlease debit my Mastercard/ American Express / Diners / Visa\n\nCard Number:\n\nExp. date:\n\nFor further subscriptions information please contact:\n\nRecent & Forthcoming articles include:\n\nADH Bivar The Portraits and career of Mohammed Ali, son of Kazzem-Beg: Scottish missionaries and Russian orientalism\n\nOXFORD Journals Marketing (X95)\n\nJOURNALS\n\nOxford University Press\n\nWalton Street\n\nOxford OX2 6DP United Kingdom Fax: +44 0 1865 267773\n\nPei Huang The confidential memorial system of the Ch'ing dynasty reconsidered\n\nMehrdad Shokoohy and Natalie H Shokoohy Tughlugabad, the earliest surviving town of the Delhi sultanate.\n\nPaul Thieme On M Mayrhofer's Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen\n\nME Yapp Two great historians of the modern Middle East\n\nNicholas Sims-Williams Christian Sogdian texts from the Nachlass of Olaf Hansen\n\nMichael Brett The way of the nomad\n\nClive Holes Community, dialect and urbanization in the Arabic-speaking Middle East\n\nVassili Kryukov Symbols of power and communication in pre-Confucian China\n\nPadmanabh S Jaini Jaina monks from Mathura: literary evidence for their identification of Kusana sculptures\n\nColin F Baker Judaeo-Arabic material in the Cambridge Genizah Collections", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1991.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212703, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1992", "page_number": 12, "title": "RAS-1992", "content_text": "Chinese Painting & Caligraphy\n\nArmoured Cars in the Battle of Hong Kong\n\nTC Lại\n\nArren Leung\n\nInheritance and the Chinese Lineage\n\nHugh Baker\n\nFrom the Common Por\n\nJames Watson\n\nNo Environmental Myopia at Mai Po\n\nDick Irving &\n\nDavid Melville\n\nFeng Shut\n\nDavid Shru\n\nThe Woman as a Symbol in Judaeo-Christian\n\n& Hindu Buddhist Traditions\n\nCaroline Muar &\n\nRajeshwari Ghose\n\nGood lectures however can rarely be carried out unless there is a reasonable venue and the technical aspects are in place. Fortunately, as members will know we have an excellent relationship with the Urban Council which not only sponsors our talks, but provides us with a very well fitted out room, and I would like to record our sincere thanks for the council's unstinting co-operation.\n\nI would now like to turn to the second of our area of activities; the Journal and the Library. To produce an annual journal as we do is a very time-consuming business and throughout the history of the Society we have been particularly fortunate to have had a line of very distinguished editors, Professor Crammer-Byng, Professor James Lui, Dr. James Hayes, our immediate past president, Dr. David Faure, and one who has done it since 1982, Dr. Patrick Hase. We do owe a great deal to Patrick who assures me that the 1990 Journal will be out very shortly, (we are waiting for the final version of the 30th anniversary lecture given by Dr. Wang Gungwu) and the 1991 Journal will, it is hoped be out by the end of the year.\n\nLast year I reported to you that I hoped to be able to report more encouragingly on the move of the Library from its present location in the rather inaccessible Kowloon Central Library, to a special collection room in the reorganised City Hall Central Library. I am pleased to say that this is now likely to happen in the foreseeable future probably by the end of the year. This is something we have been working on for sometime and it is particularly gratifying that it is now becoming a reality: our thanks go to Mrs. Barbara Luk, Assistant Director Museums and\n\nX", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214975, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2000", "page_number": 71, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "27\n\nTungtang):\n\nPapa gave in, and Rosalie [Suyin] and Tiza [her younger sister] went to the Catholic Chinese school; every morning there was half an hour of Bible story, and in this version St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary were Chinese, born in Shantung province.\n\nRosalie asked: “How can this be? The Western School says born in Judea, and the family were all Jews.\"\n\n\"That's what they say, but we here believe it is in Shantung,” replied the Chinese lay-sister who taught Catechism.\n\nRosalie was not happy, and talked to the other children about it, and three days later Mother Superior sent for her after school and told her to stop asking questions.\n\n“You must understand, my child, that the others don't know any better. They are Chinese.'\n\nThe devastating atmosphere of her childhood years made Han Suyin write a bitter paragraph in Chapter 11 (The End and the Beginning), taken from volume five, Phoenix Harvest. In this episode, she describes the family's difficult life in pre-revolutionary China:\n\nTheir [Han Suyin's parents'] decades together were of sorrow and pain and insecurity, of war and running away and making do; and seeing their children despised for being Eurasians. Only I had the courage (or the foolishness) to scream against the general contempt for Eurasians, \"But we are the future.\"\n\nIn her early teens, Han Suyin had the courage to think of a sky-high virtually impossible dream for a female Eurasian in pre-revolutionary China, namely of becoming a medical doctor. In order to at least partially finance these very costly studies, she first had to learn typing and shorthand writing, and then got a secretarial job with P.U.M.C. (Peking Union Medical College). At P.U.M.C., this child of barely fourteen was immediately confronted with inequality in payment for equal accomplishment, depending on the employee's racial status, white, Eurasian in various different proportions, or simply Chinese. In Chapter", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 } ]