Traditional East Asian Research Articles

Envisioning the inner body during the Edo period in Japan: Inshoku yojo kagami (Rules of Dietary Life) and Boji yojo kagami (Rules of Sexual Life)

There are two ukiyoe, Japanese woodblock prints, that were produced around 1850 and give a good picture of the images of the insides of the human body that were widely accepted among the common people in the Edo period. The Inshoku yojo kagami (Rules of Dietary Life) shows a man drinking sake. The Boji yojo kagami (Rules of Sexual Life) shows a woman, apparently a courtesan. The purpose of the two ukiyoe was to educate viewers about the functions of the principal inner organs in the traditional East Asian concept of the body and to admonish them against excessive eating, drinking and sexual intercourse. The contrivance of the two ukiyoe lies in their fusion of two formats. One is the format of a see-through body displaying the internal organs. The other is that of explaining the functions of the various internal organs in the form of familiar scenes from the living space of cities and households. Miniature sketches can be seen in the prints of people at work, performing the tasks believed to be that of each organ. However, the scheme of the two ukiyoe was not an innovation of the author of the ukioye. Already in the kibyoshi (Yellow Cover booklets), the scheme of likening the interior of the body to a living space had been adopted. After entering the 18th century, Chinese medical knowledge and anatomical drawings became available. As sex manuals, Yellow Cover booklets, and ukiyoe publications, incorporated and disseminated the newly acquired medical knowledge and the medical concept of the body gradually became the common sense view among people in the street.

The Korean Economy in Transition: In Search for a New Model

Prior to the 1997 financial crisis, the Korean economy had based its growth policies on East Asia's economic catch-up model which was based mainly on the Japanese development experience. However, the events that lead to the 1997 crisis and the changes instituted in the Korean economy after the crisis have put to question whether the traditional East Asian growth model will continue to be viable. This paper examines two alternative models of development, namely the “Anglo-Saxon” and the “Continental European” models, and evaluates their relevance for Korea's future development challenges. Despite many common features these models share, they are also quite distinctive with regard to their treatment of the labor market system and the role of government. By focusing on the model's capacity to expand employment and to provide sustainable growth as the most important criteria, it is suggested that Korea should follow the “Anglo-Saxon model”, at least in the short- to medium-term. In comparing Korea's economy with other advanced economies when they were at the similar stage of development, it is found that Korea's growth potential lags behind that of countries such as Japan, Germany, Finland, and Ireland. The efficiency of Korea's investment is found to be only slightly better than Japan while it is inferior to all other advanced economies. Despite these challenges, Korea is apparently moving toward the “Continental European model”, with the Korean government increasing its own size and plans for further expenditures on social security and welfare. However, in order to ensure sustainable development with significant job creation, this paper argues that Korea should switch its direction and adopt the “Anglo-Saxon model” as soon as possible.

Aesthetic Practice and Spirituality: Chi in Traditional East Asian Brushwork

(2006). Aesthetic Practice and Spirituality: Chi in Traditional East Asian Brushwork. Art Education: Vol. 59, Looking Back, Around, and Forward, pp. 33-38.

Suction bullae as a complication of prolonged cupping

Conflict of interest: none declared. Cupping is an East Asian and Oriental tradition, still in use by many cultures.1 It is defined as therapeutic application of heated cups to the skin. Small cups, 1.5−2 inches (40–50 mm) in size, made of metal or glass, with a rolled rim, are used.2 In the classic method, alcohol‐soaked cotton in the cup is ignited and the cup immediately pressed tightly against the skin. As the alcohol is combusted and oxygen is consumed, a negative pressure (vacuum effect) is exerted, and the skin is drawn into the cup.1–4 The procedure usually lasts 5–20 min.3, 4 The procedure is not without side‐effects, and complications may sometimes arise. In this report, we present a case of cupping complicated with suction bullae. A 57‐year‐old diabetic woman, hospitalized for bronchopneumonia, was referred concerning a tender red patch on her lower back. She reported that cupping had been performed on the lower back 2 weeks previously in order to relieve back pain. However, the cup was held on her skin for over 40 min. She experienced intense pain soon after the procedure, and bullae and crusting had developed over the area within the succeeding week.

Guidelines for the care of East Asian paintings: Display, storage and handling

Summary Traditional East Asian paintings evolved over centuries into physically and aesthetically sophisticated objects. Made with delicate materials and time-honoured methods, East Asian scrolls, screens, and albums are complex, laminate mounting structures that are easily damaged by mishandling and unstable environmental conditions. In the East, customary practices for display, storage, and connoisseurship have been essential for long-term preservation. For East Asian paintings housed in the West, concerns have arisen about appropriate measures for care and maintenance in modern museum environments. Based on experience as a traditionally trained East Asian painting conservator and informed by Western preventive conservation practices, the author presents relevant traditional methods and modem innovations for the safe display, storage and handling of scrolls, screens and albums. Broken into three sections, the article introduces guidelines and practical suggestions to determine suitable environmental par...

From East Asian “Miracle” to Neo-liberal “Mediocrity”: The Effects of Liberalization and Financial Opening on the Post-crisis Korean Economy

In December 1997 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) offered Korea loans to help alleviate its financial crisis. These loans were accompanied by what the IMF called “extreme structural conditionality.” Korea was required to replace its traditional East Asian economic system with a neo-liberal model. We review economic performance in the neo-liberal era. Growth has slowed, poverty and inequality have risen, and investment spending has stagnated, while foreign ownership of Korean firms and banks has skyrocketed. We argue that foreign investment has not helped Korea. For example, by leading a shift from corporate to consumer lending, foreign control of Korea's financial markets has constrained capital accumulation and helped create an excessively indebted household sector, while making it harder for the government to adopt progressive economic policies. We conclude that the 8 year experiment with radical neo-liberal restructuring has turned out well for foreign capital and wealthy Koreans, but has been a failure for the majority of Korea's people.

Development of a Chinese Medicine Assessment Measure: An Interdisciplinary Approach Using the Delphi Method

The diagnostic framework and clinical reasoning process in Chinese medicine emphasizes the contextual and qualitative nature of a patient's illness. Chinese medicine assessment data may help interpret clinical outcomes. As part of a study aimed at assessing the validity and improving the inter-rater reliability of the Chinese diagnostic process, a structured assessment instrument was developed for use in clinical trials of acupuncture and other Chinese medical therapies. To foster collaboration and maximize resources and information, an interdisciplinary advisory team was assembled. Under the guidance of two group process facilitators, and in order to establish whether the assessment instrument was consistent with accepted Chinese medicine diagnostic categories (face validity) and included the full range of each concept's meaning (content validity), a panel of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) expert clinicians was convened and their responses were organized using the Delphi process, an iterative, anonymous, idea-generating and consensus-building process. An aggregate rating measure was obtained by taking the mean of mean ratings for each question across all 10 experts. Over three rounds, the overall rating increased from 7.4 (SD = 1.3) in Round 1 to 9.1 (SD = 0.5) in Round 3. The level of agreement among clinicians was measured by a decrease in SD. The final instrument TEAMSI-TCM (Traditional East Asian Medicine Structured Interview, TCM version) uses the pattern differentiation model characteristic of TCM. This modular, dynamic version was specifically designed to assess women, with a focus on gynecologic conditions; with modifications it can be adapted for use with other populations and conditions. TEAMSI-TCM is a prescriptive instrument that guides clinicians to use the proper indicators, combine them in a systematic manner, and generate conclusions. In conjunction with treatment manualization and training it may serve to increase inter-rater reliability and inter-trial reproducibility in Chinese medicine clinical trials. Testing of the validity and reliability of this instrument currently is underway.

The Culture of Play: Kabuki and the Production of Texts

Text as Art Japan is an interesting comparative point in the broader history of modes of reading and literary/artistic composition, and in understanding the role of performance in literary culture, although it has rarely been brought into the discourse on "oral traditions."2 One reason for this is that it has a relatively long tradition of literary production in both popular and elite genres. The creation and survival of literary texts in manuscript and in woodblock print (commercial woodblock printing from the early 1600s to the 1870s) is also considerable, and the many types of extant literary texts—illustrated scrolls, poetry sheets, manuscripts, woodblock printed book genres—have been treasured as precious objects. Court culture, from as early as the seventh century, demanded high literacy (including the skill of composing poetry) from those who participated in the aristocracy and government. Reading and literary composition (including in Chinese) has continually been a prized skill among the elite (courtiers, clergy, samurai, or merchants). As a consequence literacy rates have also been relatively high, particularly from the early modern Tokugawa period (1600-1868), and especially in the cities and towns. Along with this long history of the creation and preservation of literary texts as art objects, often with illustrations, we also see a culture that has consistently encouraged active participation in the arts, not only from the elites, but also at the popular level. [End Page 188] This tendency to cherish physical texts as art objects (perhaps bolstered by the strong East Asian tradition of the high status of calligraphy as art), however, has not meant a diminishment of the importance of oral performance in literature. Ironically, the opposite seems to have been the case. "Orality" has remained central in Japanese literary culture even at the most highly literate levels. This has usually meant participation in a group activity, a performance of some kind, in which the individual takes a turn at being the reader/interpreter (audience) and at being the creator (performer).3 As a consequence, performance has been a key element in the process of both literary composition and literary reception, whether in poetic, narrative, or theatrical genres. Performance has also been an important stimulant for the visual arts. The relationship between a performance (using the term in its broadest sense) and its physical representation is an essential aspect of literary cultures throughout the world. In this essay, I will make a case that performance in Japan has been a catalyst for the artistic production of physical objects, both visual and literary texts. Furthermore, I shall argue that it is more useful to consider such physical texts not simply as representations of performance. They, of course, may have been created directly in response to a performance (or in anticipation of a performance), but as physical objects they became something entirely distinct and of a different genre. Such objects (texts) existed on their own and usually served various functions, one of the most important of which was to stimulate new performances. Performance as Text Another fundamental premise of this essay is that a performance should also be viewed as a "text," one that has a physical existence in sound and movement, but which dissipates as it passes through time, continuing to exist only in the memory of the participants. Work on oral poetry4 has helped us to understand how an oral poem or story can be perceived as a text, and Haruo Shirane (1998) makes the point that most performances are repeated, thus creating forms that are held in the communal memory. These points may seem to be but truisms to readers of Oral Tradition. We need to [End Page 189] be continually reminded of it, nevertheless, because the physical object (text) sits in a privileged position within the modern academy (and the modern world of print) in relation to performance, which cannot...

Fusion of Horizons or Confusion of Horizons? Intercultural Dialogue and Its Risks

In 1998, the UN General Assembly designated the year 2001 as the UN Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations. It was an attempt to avert the purported clash of and to foster trust and cooperation among various nations to tackle some of the impending global and regional crises. To contribute to this UN-led movement, the author presented his ideas concerning how such a dialogue could or should take place on two occasions: at the UNU International Conference on Global Ethos and at the UNESCO International Conference on Dialogue Among Civilizations: Democracy and East Asian Traditions. In this article, he exposes the double-edged nature of global dialogue as well as the risks and dangers that must be avoided for a dialogue to become meaningful. KEYWORDS: dialogue of civilizations, global ethic, politics of recognition, human rights, nationalism. ********** What can we hope to achieve through a dialogue of civilizations? The answer or answers to this question would depend partly on how we formulate our collective goals. Is the goal of intercivilizational dialogue simply the prevention of a civilizational clash? Or does it go further in addressing other pressing global and regional problems? Do we need to create a global ethic to achieve such goals? It is my understanding that the UN-led efforts to initiate an intercivilizational dialogue stem from the awareness that many of the impending global and regional crises can be averted only through a worldwide collaboration of state and nonstate actors, and that such a collaboration could only be the outcome of mutual trust and respect fostered through a global dialogue. Needless to say, this is easier said than done. In this article, I outline some of the risks involved in certain attempts to link the issue of solving global problems with that of initiating an intercivilizational dialogue. However, by exposing the risks, I do not intend in any way to undervalue the importance of either the intercivilizational dialogue or the ongoing UN efforts toward realizing that end. In fact, I am a strong supporter of such a movement and have on one occasion--at the International Conference on Global Ethos organized by the United Nations University in October 2000--tried to contribute to this movement by proposing a methodology for conducting a global dialogue aimed at creating a global ethic. (1) Therefore, my intention behind this attempt to expose the risks and even the dangers of intercivilizational dialogue is not to discourage such a dialogue--which would be irresponsible--but rather to minimize the risks by articulating what they might be. With the above in mind, I should like to begin by seeking an intelligible response to the following questions. Do we really need a global ethic? Why not simply rely on the existing international mechanisms of conflict resolution and problem solving? Although many agree that it would not be easy to devise a viable alternative system of global governance, there seems to be a growing consensus even among conventional state actors that the existing states system is unsuited to dealing with many of the pressing global and regional problems and that it is unsustainable in the long run. To mention an obvious example, unlike some conventional national security issues, which may still in some sense be addressed effectively through a top-down chain of command, human security issues that deal with problems ranging from human rights violations to terrorism to environmental degradation can hardly be solved by a government fiat. For example, global warming cannot be solved without the voluntary cooperation of most of the global population. hence, even though many treaties, conventions, and protocols are produced and signed at the intergovernmental level, their effects will remain negligible if implementation and compliance, both of which require the cooperation of so many different actors, do not follow. Therefore, it makes sense to seek a global ethic, a shared moral consciousness that could motivate people to voluntary concerted action--an operative ideal as it were. …

CULTURAL DISSONANCE AMONG GENERATIONS: A SOLUTION‐FOCUSED APPROACH WITH EAST ASIAN ELDERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

In traditional East Asian cultures, high value is assigned to family harmony and filial piety coupled with the expectation that elders will be honored and obeyed. A lifetime of such expectations shapes how elders perceive their role and status in the family. Problems can arise when younger, less traditional, generations do not share these expectations. This article describes a solution-focused approach that facilitates the family in creating a beneficial harmony in situations of cultural dissonance. Family members are empowered to draw on personal strengths in which multiple worldviews and values of individual members are recognized, incorporated, and negotiated.

Quantitative analyses of biogeography and faunal evolution of middle to late Eocene mammals in East Asia

ABSTRACT The biogeography and faunal evolution of middle to late Eocene mammals throughout East Asia is assessed. Appearance Event Ordination was used to get a reliable temporal ordination of 92 Paleogene faunas from East Asia. Results from this analysis are generally consistent with the faunal sequence of traditional East Asian Land Mammal “Ages” (EALMAs). Exceptions are that the Arshantan Fauna fell within Irdinmanhan EALMA faunas, and three latest middle to late Eocene faunas from southern East Asia are misaligned due to high degrees of endemism. Comparison of 30 major middle/late Eocene mammalian faunas at the generic level, using Simpson's Faunal Resemblance Index and the ordinal composition of each fauna indicate that: (1) the differentiation in faunal similarity and composition between northern and southern East Asia started near the middle Eocene-late Eocene boundary; (2) this differentiation is reflected by the decline of perissodactyls and radiation of several artiodactyl clades in the later Eocene of southern East Asia; and (3) in southern East Asia, faunal endemism increased in the later Eocene. The latest middle to late Eocene faunas of the southern area do not fit within the EALMA system, which was primarily established with northern faunas, because of their endemism. Mammalian faunal changes actually seem to have begun much earlier in the southern region of East Asia than in the northern part, so the faunal changes toward the end of the Eocene in East Asia were not synchronous. Faunal changes during the Eocene-Oligocene transition in southern East Asia seem not to have been controlled by global climatic changes.

Beyond Honor and Shame: Performing Gender in the Mediterranean

Beyond Honor and Shame: Performing Gender in the Mediterranean Amanda Weidman George Washington University Tullia Magrini, ed., 2003. Music and Gender: Perspectives from the Mediterranean. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. In Veiled Sentiments, her now classic ethnography of the Bedouin Awlad 'Ali, Lila Abu-Lughod shows how a culturally sanctioned poetic form can enable critique of and maneuver within a society which defines morality in terms of adherence to the principles of and modesty. Awlad 'Ali recite ghinnawas, a form of traditional oral poetry characterized by the creative use of formulaic phrases and a set of common themes and metaphors, in the course of conversations; these ghinnawas often present a state of mind that is strikingly different from those conveyed in mundane conversation and public discourse. In a society where honor is associated with independence, autonomy, and stoic acceptance of hardship, and modesty or with masking one's sexuality and romantic attachments, ghinnawas present a world of sentiment, of attachment and vulnerability. In effect, they provide the Awlad 'Ali-both men and women-with a second culturally constituted and sanctioned discourse for expressing interpersonal experiences, one in which they are able to express sentiments that would otherwise violate the codes of and modesty. Thus, when the wife of a man from an important family runs away, he speaks in mundane conversation about finding who is to blame for ruining her; her flight is viewed as an insult to his lineage. Yet in private, he recites several ghinnawas that convey his grief and pain at this loss, and his desire to see his wife again: Cooking with the liquid of tears at a funeral done for the beloved... Her bad deeds were wrongs that hurt yet I won't repay them, still dear the beloved... (1986: 189). Through its examination of this poetic genre, Veiled Sentiments presents a co-gent elaboration and critique of the most pervasive paradigm of Mediterranean anthropology, what is often referred to as the honor/shame Indeed, honor and have become so canonical in the study of Mediterranean societies that it is hard to escape them. In the same way that hierarchy and caste became, in the 1950s and 60s, the primary lens through which many scientists studied South Asia, and filial piety and social face came to be seen as the driving forces of traditional East Asian cultures, honor and became the anthropological buzzwords for a cultural syndrome that was thought to characterize Mediterranean societies. The foundational publication in this regard came from a group of anthropologists associated with the Oxford school of anthropology, led by John Peristiany and Julian Pitt-Rivers. Honour and Shame: The Values of Mediterranean Society (1966), edited by Peristiany, argued that there exists a sex-linked, binary opposition in which is associated with men and shame with (quoted in Magrini 2003: 12). Throughout the anthropological literature on Mediterranean societies, men were portrayed as obsessed by maintaining and upholding the family name at all costs, while women were represented as silent, passive, and marginal figures who were secluded in their houses, modestly covered head to toe in order to exorcise the potential sensuality of their bodies, and removed from any outside activity or role (Magrini 2003: 13). This stereotype spread from anthropology to the popular press, so that honor/shame became a way of explaining the history of Mediterranean societies in terms of a cultural essence, an intractable and problematic syndrome. If in anthropological literature this powerful mode of representation served to deny individuals (and especially women) any sense of agency, in the journalistic press, it was used effectively to deny the existence of legitimate politics in these societies, to label them as premodern. …

Issues Surrounding Asian Students Hospitality Management in Australia

ABSTRACT Similar to many western nations, the education of international students by Australian universities has developed into a major industry. Since 1994, the number of international students studying for an Australian qualification has risen by 146% (IDP Education, 2001). The majority of these international students come from the traditional South East Asian countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia mainly to study Business and Economics programs. Growth in international student demand is forecast to continue to rise with countries such as China demonstrating significant growth (IDP Education, 2001). This paper attempts to present an analysis of the major issues surrounding the education of Asian students. While mention is made of the predictable problems that all international students face when studying in a foreign country, the focus of this paper concentrates on Asian students' learning approaches and styles and associated problems. This paper evaluates research conducted among all Asian students studying in Australia; however, the focus of this paper is those Asian students who are studying Hospitality and Tourism Management at undergraduate level. The paper identifies both positive and negative images of Asian students and highlights several misperceptions regarding Asian students that are commonly held by western academics. Finally, the paper presents an overview of what strategies might be adopted by western academics in order to make Asian students' experiences at western universities more enjoyable and successful.

The clinical evaluation of traditional East Asian systems of medicine

In this paper, the term ‘system of medicine’ servesas a conceptual framework for a range of treatmentmodalities that share a similar or related theoreticalorientation. For example both traditional Chinesemedicine and Western biomedicine can be seen assystems in this context. Some commentators on thepractice of Chinese medicine have criticized the ten-dency to label traditional Chinese medicine as a‘system’.

IR Studies East and West: Some Sociological Observations

Mainstream International Relations teaching and scholarship is often argued to be social scientific and therefore able to generate propositions about international life that have general (even universal) explanatory value. However, the methods and research questions of IR can in part be explained by the nature of the national academies in which they develop and by a range of national and regional sociological and political circumstances. Thus, following Ole Waever, the “American approach to the study of IR” and its predominance can be explained by reference to certain cultural and structural factors. Yet if the sociological underpinnings of teaching and researching in IR are inevitable and readily apparent, why is there no distinct ‘East Asian tradition’? Why is the East Asian IR community relatively weak? In fact, the relative weakness of indigenous national and regional East Asian IR approaches can be understood as an extension of national academic environments, historical circumstances, and national political traditions.

Demographic Change and Social Breakdown: The Role of Intelligence

It is proposed that populations and races with a high mean general intelligence are less likely to participate in violent crime than those with low mean general intelligence. The current study determined the correlation between racial composition and cognitive ability, as measured by Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, of college bound high school students of the fifty States and District of Columbia. Also, the relationship between percent racial composition and rate of violent crime was examined. An overall negative correlation was found between violent crime and intelligence. Furthermore, unique racial correlates between crime and intelligence were observed. There was a positive correlation between percentage of blacks and rate of crime and a negative correlation between percentage of blacks and SAT scores. In contrast, a positive correlation was observed between percentage of whites and SAT scores and a negative correlation between percentage of whites and crime. A negative correlation was observed between percentage of Asians and SAT scores and rate of crime. These findings suggest that intelligence and race underlie violent criminal behavior. Areas of the United States with a high concentration of blacks and almost devoid of whites tend to have high rates of violent crime. Asian immigrants from countries other than China and Japan appear to be decreasing the traditional East Asian dominance in scholarship. Socialization to an American culture that emphasizes individualism and materialism is having a negative effect on social behavior on all American racial groups, both immigrant and native.

韓国, 中国, 日本の挿肘木に関する研究 (その1) : 挿肘木の形態について

This study is about the comparison of the Sashihijiki which is found in traditional architecture in Far Eastern (i.e., Korea, China and Japan). Sashihijiki is one of components in traditional East Asian wooden bracket systems. Sashihijiki can be defined as a special element of the wooden bracket systems in association with particular eras and regions in Far East. However, from the historical and regional perspectives, comparative studies on Sashihijiki have hitherto been unsatisfactory. This study hence attempts to make clear the similarities and differences of Sashihijiki among three countries through mutual comparison.

Meeting of Minds: Intellectual and Religious Interaction in East Asian Traditions of Thought (review)

Meeting of Minds: Intellectual and Religious Interaction in East Asian Traditions of Thought (review)

The transmission and reception of Chinese medicine: language, the neglected key

In the development of Chinese medicine in the West, emphasis has been placed on immediately utilizable clinical information to the detriment of an accurate representation of East Asian practice and the tradition of experience in which it is based. The body of English-language literature that has developed does include genuine attempts to present the East Asian tradition accurately. Nevertheless, it also includes contributions by people who have little or no linguistic access to East Asian experience in the healing contained in East Asian-language sources and who have had only brief contact with East Asian clinicians. It further includes versions of Chinese medicine that are adapted to perceived Western needs, often without substantiation in either scientific terms or in the East Asian medical tradition. We have a body of literature that is not only composed at least in part by a narrow, often overly personalized view of Chinese medicine. But what is more, this body of literature is blighted by highly variable terminology that often hampers the accurate transmission of Chinese medical concepts to Westerners, and that is not sufficiently unified to ensure unequivocal communication. In short, the development of Chinese medicine in the West has suffered by failure to accord due importance to gaining direct access to the East Asian tradition, and at the core of every aspect of this problem is the failure to meet the challenges posed by language. This failure can only be fully remedied by encouraging students and practitioners to learn Chinese or other East Asian languages, by promoting translation of primary literature, and by nurturing a process of term standardization. The present paper outlines these proposals, and the four papers that follow it, whose titles are listed below, expound them in greater detail. The last two papers will appear in the next issue of the Journal as ‘Language, the Neglected Key. Part 2’:The Transmission of Chinese Medicine: Chop Suey or the Real Thing?, Translation of Chinese Medical Terms: Not Just a Matter of Words, Learning Chinese: Feasibility, Desirability, and Resistance, Chinese Medical Dictionaries: A Guarantee for Better Quality Literature.

Topical anti-inflammatory activity of some Asian medicinal plants used in dermatological disorders

The topical anti-inflammatory activity of extracts from Cassia angustifolia, Rheum palmatum, Coptis chinensis, Phellodendron amurense and Scutellaria baicalensis, plants used in traditional East Asian medicine against different skin disorders, was studied. Though in different degree, all the extracts significantly inhibited the edema induced by 12- O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), in both single or multiple application, oxazolone, and arachidonic acid (AA). None of the extracts inhibited in vitro the activity of phospholipase A 2 (PLA 2) from Naja naja.