Chinese Source Research Articles

Shinsei and his Descendant

The names of six persons are mentioned as the authors of Heike-Monogatari (the story of the Taira clan), in Heike-kanmonroku (a book of oral traditions by blind men), and it is among others a noticeable fact that four persons of them are found to be Shinsei's sons. By this fact, it can be conjectured that Shinsei's posterity much concerned in the process of creation of Heike-monogatari.Apart from the problem of authors, we can never overlook an active roll played by Shinsei and his posterity in the fields of literature, performing arts and thought of the times from the Heian period down to the Kamakura period, exerting a great influence on the culture of the Middle Ages.Shinsei's name as a layman was Michinori FUJIWARA. He was born to the Confucian family and was a man of talent with extensive learning. Though he was held in high esteem by Sadaijin (the second Cabinet minis ter) Yorinaga FUJIWARA, he was not contented with his position, and after being promoted to the rank of Shonagon (the third councillor of State), renounced the world in the 3rd year of Koji. Even after his retirement into religion, he continued to wait on the retired Emperor Toba, and abused his authority, after the Hogen revolt (1156), serving close to the Emperor Goshirakawa.Therefore, he earned the dislike of Nobuyori FUJIWARA, Yoshimoto MINAMOTO and so forth, and on the run from Kyoto at the time of the Heiji revolt, he met his end. Honchoseiki (a voluminous book on history) and Hossoruirin (a voluminous book on law) are rated highly among his chief literary works. He was also an authority on Chinese classics and poems and owned a large library. He was famous for his thorough knowledge of performing arts, such as singing, dancing, instrumental music and the like.In Sonpibunmyaku (a big genealogical record), we can find out Shinsei's 15 sons and 5 daughters. Five of his sons were court nobles and 10 were Buddhist priests. The eldest son, Toshinori (1122-1167) was a famous writer, who published Kanjuhisho (a book on ancient practices and usages). The second son, Sadanori was a poet, who called himself Ben-no-nyudo after his retirement into religion, and his son, called Gedatsu-Shonin (saint) after becoming a priest, was living in Kasagi and was a writer excellent in preaching. The fourth son, Shigenori (1135-1187) was a man of refined taste, who loved cherry-blossoms very much and was, therefore, called Sakuramachi (the street of cherry-blossoms)-chunagon (the second councillor of state). He was a well-known poet and wrote Kara-monogatari (a narrative literature translated from a Chinese source) and gave it to the public. Most of his sons, like Joken (the chief priest of Daigoji-temple), were the priests of high virtue.One of Shinsei's daughters, Kogo-no-tsubone (a court lady) won the Emperor Takakura's favor. The fifth son, Naganori was also a poet, who was one of the attendants close to the ex-Emperor Goshirakawa. Joken (1124-?), one of the said ten priests, was a thoughtful wise man and enjoyed the confidence of the ex-Emperor Goshirakawa and Kiyomori TAIRA as well. He was said to be an excellent poet ranked next to Shigenori. Choken (1126-1203) was most famous for his skillful preaching and advocacy. His son, Seikaku succeeded his father and handed down Aguiryu (way) of advocacy to the Kamakura period. Other sons, too, were regarded as priests of high virtue of the day.

Mao or Muhammad: Islam in the People's Republic of China. By Clyde-Ahmad Winters. Hong Kong: Asian Research Service (Asian Studies Monograph Series), 1979. 75 pp. Preface, Appendix, General Bibliography, Bibliography on Islam in China. N.p. - Muslims in China: A Study in Cultural Confrontation. By Raphael Israeli. Atlantic Highlands, N.J: Humanities Press (Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies Monograph Series 29),

Mao or Muhammad: Islam in the People's Republic of China. By Clyde-Ahmad Winters. Hong Kong: Asian Research Service (Asian Studies Monograph Series), 1979. 75 pp. Preface, Appendix, General Bibliography, Bibliography on Islam in China. N.p. - Muslims in China: A Study in Cultural Confrontation. By Raphael Israeli. Atlantic Highlands, N.J: Humanities Press (Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies Monograph Series 29),

A Chinese Source Bearing on Marco Polo's Departure From China and a Persian Source on His Arrival in Persia

A Chinese Source Bearing on Marco Polo's Departure From China and a Persian Source on His Arrival in Persia

Chinese Statistics: The Impossible Dream

Chinese statistics are notorious. Even persons not involved with the study of China are usually aware of the problems associated with the quality and quantity of statistics emanating from Peking, while under normal circumstances persons who make a career out of watching China would only use figures published in a Chinese source or given by a Chinese official with some caveat or reservation. In this age of computers, however, the hunger for figures is so great that occasionally there is a tendency to become careless, grasp at the few figures that may be reported, and assign more validity to them than they merit. After all, one is apt to hear, the Chinese must know; they must have figures for their own use; considering their progress in other fields, surely they were able to establish a statistical system that would provide the necessary data. The contention here is that this is not the case, but that in fact, the Chinese themselves lack much of the statistical data we so desperately seek and that their traditional nonchalance toward accuracy in statistics persists among many of the people presently responsible for record-keeping. Those who anticipate that China's entry into the United Nations will be followed by a significant flow of statistical data are likely to be disappointed. Progress in establishing a viable statistical system has been sporadic and slow. To the Chinese leaders, however, this has not been the problem we expect it to be. Never having known the advantages (and, yes, the frustrations) of a good statistical base, they don't miss it nearly as much as do many of us who look at China from the outside.

The Coming of Islam to North Sumatra

Long before the time of Majapahit there had been small communities of Arab merchants living in South East Asia. Groeneveldt (1880, 14–5) quotes a Chinese source dated 674 A.D. as mentioning an Arab settlement which he believed was on the west coast of Sumatra. By 915 Arab traders had sailed across the Bay of Bengal and discovered a large trade market south of the Isthmus of Kra. But by 1300 Islam had begun to appear east of India as a proselytizing force. Its power was to bring about the downfall of Majapait two centuries later, and politically to change the face of South East Asia.

A Chinese Source for Maupassant

A Chinese Source for Maupassant

An Early Chinese Source on the Kaifeng Jewish Community

An Early Chinese Source on the Kaifeng Jewish Community

Invention for defense

The blue pigments on 112 fragments or small objects of Qing Dynasty Chinese, 95 of underglaze blue and white and 17 overglaze enamelled porcelains were analysed by LA-ICPMS. The underglaze blues on both blue and white and polychrome objects were created with a cobalt pigment that was rich in manganese with lesser nickel and zinc. This suite of accessory elements is generally considered to be characteristic of local, Chinese, sources of pigments. However, the blue enamels were very different. The cobalt pigment here has low levels of manganese and instead is rich in nickel, zinc, arsenic and bismuth. No Chinese source of cobalt with these characteristics is known, but they closely match the elements found in the contemporary cobalt source at Erzgebirge in Germany. Textual evidence has been interpreted to suggest that some enamel pigment technologies were transferred from Europe to China, but this is the first analytical evidence to be found that an enamel pigment itself was imported. It is possible that this pigment was imported in the form of cobalt coloured glass, or smalt, which might account for its use in enamels, but not in an underglaze, where the colour might be susceptible to running. Furthermore, the European cobalt would have given a purer shade of blue than the manganese-rich Chinese cobalt.

The Date of Buddhadāsa of Ceylon from a Chinese source

The Date of Buddhadāsa of Ceylon from a Chinese source