Spiritual Symbols Research Articles

The Trình Tường house of the Bố Y People in Vietnam: A Study on Cultural Heritage and Traditional Architecture

The Trình Tường house (similer Earthen-Walled house), a distinctive architectural form of the Bố Y people in Vietnam, has embodied both cultural and spiritual values, reflecting their ethnic identity. However, modernization, climate change, and the development of tourism have placed immense pressure on the preservation of this traditional architecture. This paper aims to analyze the cultural and architectural values of the Trình Tường house in the modern context while proposing solutions for its preservation and promotion as a cultural heritage. The research was based on qualitative methods, including field observation, semi-structured interviews with Bố Y community members, and comparative analysis of traditional architecture from other ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia and worldwide. The findings revealed that the Trình Tường house was not only a physical structure but also a cultural and spiritual symbol, connecting people with nature and belief systems. However, pressures from modernization and climate change have compromised the sustainability of this architecture. The study contributes to cultural ecology theory and offers specific policy recommendations for preserving the Trình Tường house, ensuring the Bố Y people’s cultural identity, and paves the way for future research on traditional architectural conservation in the current context.

Research on the Marketization Development of Traditional Chinese Culture

Traditional culture usually has a long history and deep root, and it represents the spiritual symbols and cultural characteristics of a country or region. As China's economy continues to develop, the status and role of traditional culture in Chinese society has attracted much attention. The marketisation of Chinese traditional culture has also become an important issue in China today. This thesis aims to explore the current situation, real cases and challenges of the development of Chinese traditional culture in the process of marketisation. The challenges of the marketisation of traditional culture are explored through case studies on the development, inheritance and integration of traditional culture with modern business models under the conditions of market economy. It is found that the popularity of traditional cultural products in the market has gradually increased and the chain of cultural industry has become increasingly complete. At the same time, people of different generations have different degrees of acceptance of traditional cultural industries, and inheritance and development are facing dramatic collisions. This study concludes that Chinese traditional culture faces both opportunities and challenges in the process of market-oriented development. Chinese people should grasp the balance between inheritance and innovation, and use the power of the new era to promote the treasures left behind by their forefathers.

The Evolution of Indian Sculptural Traditions: Interweaving Art, Culture, and Contemporary Practices

Indian sculptural art has historically been intertwined with various artistic forms, such as music, dance, and painting, creating a distinct narrative that has shaped the country's cultural identity. Among these, religious idol-making holds a significant role in reflecting societal values, spiritual beliefs, and artistic expression. Over centuries, idol-making techniques have evolved while adhering to traditional aesthetic and religious principles. This paper explores the evolving traditions of Indian sculpture, with a particular focus on Rajasthani stone sculptures, and examines how modern Indian sculptors are adapting ancient practices to contemporary sensibilities. The research adopts a qualitative approach, employing historical analysis and interpretative methods. Archival materials, such as ancient texts and scholarly commentaries, are used to trace the continuity and transformation of traditional sculptural practices. Fieldwork conducted in Rajasthan, specifically in Jaipur and Alwar, documents the current state of traditional sculpture workshops. Interviews with contemporary sculptors provide insights into the adaptation of traditional techniques to modern artistic trends, while secondary literature on art history situates these changes within a broader cultural and religious context. Results indicate that religious idol-making continues to be a central form of artistic expression in Indian culture, with Rajasthani sculptors preserving traditional methods while incorporating modern materials and techniques. Proportions, aesthetic purity, and spiritual symbolism remain key components of traditional idol-making, influencing contemporary works. However, modern sculptors are expanding their themes to include social, political, and philosophical concepts, reflecting the changing socio-political landscape of India. In conclusion, Indian sculptural traditions have shown resilience and adaptability, balancing cultural heritage with modern innovation. This study highlights the evolving nature of Indian sculpture, particularly in Rajasthan, as artists continue to redefine their craft in response to contemporary cultural shifts.

Is God evolving? Totems in contemporary art

This article explores the evolution of totemic symbolism in contemporary visual art and its profound link with religious concepts, particularly the image of God. It examines how artists reinterpret sacred themes through totems, reflecting both historical religious traditions and modern societal transformations. Through a review of totemic representations from ancient to contemporary artworks, this study illuminates the evolving portrayal of divine figures – from traditional religious icons to more personalised spiritual symbols. This evolution not only signifies changes in artistic expression but also suggests a deepening societal understanding of divinity. The analysis highlights the totem’s role as a mediator between the human and the divine, offering insights into the spiritual connections that transcend conventional religious frameworks. This research not only enriches the discourse on the relationship between art and religion but also underscores the dynamic interaction between cultural heritage and contemporary artistic exploration.Contribution: This study enriches the field of art history and religious studies by tracing the transformative representation of totems in art from ancient symbolism to modern reinterpretations. It underscores the totem’s role as a dynamic symbol in contemporary visual culture, facilitating deeper spiritual connections and dialogues across various cultural and religious landscapes. The findings of this study provide a nuanced understanding of how contemporary art mediates complex theological concepts, thus offering new perspectives on the intersection of art, religion and spirituality.

INTERDISCIPLINARY OUTLOOKS ON SHILPASHASTRAS: INTEGRATING ART, AESTHETICS AND SPIRITUALITY

This paper aims to explore the multidimensional possibilities of Shilpashastras, an ancient Indian recognised tradition about various disciplines - Shilpashastras, the ancient Indian texts on art, architecture, aesthetics and craftsmanship, represent an insightful source of knowledge that has significantly formed the cultural and artistic backdrop of the ancient India. Among these, Sangramansutradhara, Manasollas, Aparajitpreccha, Kashyapshilpshastra, shilpratnakar, 'Manasara Shilpa Shastra'etc. As an inclusive guide, investigating into the elaborate details of architectural and sculptural components found in temples and other structures. It precisely outlines philosophies of design, spatial geometry, and construction techniques, providing a complete view of temple architecture. The 'Vastu Shastra' additional covers the discourse by focusing on the main beliefs of design, layout, and three-dimensional prearrangement, offering an insightful considerate of how spaces can be organized to harmonize with cosmic dynamisms. This concise study aims to lighten the elaborate links between artistic expression, aesthetic principles, and spiritual symbolism essential in ancient Indian texts. Themes to be addressed include historical perspectives on the development of Shilpashastras, philosophical insights into their aesthetic foundations, the spiritual significance of symbols and iconography, contemporary applications in art and design, and strategies for cultural heritage preservation. It seeks to expedite dialogue and collaboration among scholars, artists, practitioners, and enthusiasts, enriching our understanding of ancient Indian iconography, approach to reflect a all-inclusive understanding of the relationship between art, architecture, and spirituality in ancient India, providing invaluable insights into the symbolic language and visual culture of the time.

The Factors of Religious Architecture Influencing Students' Perception of Beauty and Art: Evidence from Hanoi, Vietnam

This study explores the impact of religious architecture on the aesthetic perceptions of elementary school students in Hanoi, Vietnam, focusing on students majoring in fine arts. Employing regression analysis, the research assesses the influence of six key dimensions: architectural design and details, cultural and historical context, spiritual symbolism, emotional impact, context and setting, and students' perceptions of beauty and art. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire developed from a thorough literature review and expert consultations and administered to a randomly selected sample during Vietnam's Lunar New Year in January 2024. The results revealed that each dimension significantly contributes to students' perceptions of beauty, with context and setting having the most pronounced effect. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed via Cronbach's alpha, indicating high internal consistency across all scales. The regression analysis validated the theoretical framework, establishing that religious buildings' architectural and contextual elements significantly shape students' aesthetic judgments. These findings underscore the importance of integrating architectural aesthetics into educational curricula, highlighting how environmental and cultural contexts influence educational outcomes in art and aesthetics. This research contributes to filling a significant gap in understanding the academic impact of cultural heritage, offering significant implications for educational practices and policies in culturally diverse settings.

美国实验戏剧的反叛起源与精神符号

In the 1950s and 1960s, American theater gradually diversified. Following the impact of the Absurdist theater on American realism and expressionism, American theater also moved from modern theater to exploration of postmodern theater. The experimental theater on Broadway and Broadway posed a challenge to traditional American theater. Experimental drama begins to weaken the story and script in terms of content, and instead invests a large amount of artistic creativity in formal expression. By weakening the script, it emphasizes the relationship between observation and performance, sensory perception, and spiritual state in the field, which distinguishes it from the traditional theatrical stage. This article will start from the cultural trends in the United States and explore the spiritual origins of American experimental drama’s rebellion against tradition; Taking representative figures and their works in American experimental drama as examples, analyze the specific characteristics and trends in content and form of American experimental drama, and understand the postmodern spiritual symbols conveyed in American experimental drama; Deeply understand the essence of the spirit of American experimental drama and the philosophical discussions conveyed by the concept of experimental drama.

Reading indigenous signs: The wisdom of nagari communities toward natural disaster in Pasaman Barat

This study examines local wisdom regarding natural disasters of communities in traditional villages (nagari) in Pasaman Barat, Indonesia, through indigenous signs of disaster and interpretations. We analyze these signs through indigenous history and knowledge and a three-way communications framework of disaster interpretation in Indonesia. We collected data by conducting in-depth interviews with eight traditional figures and distributing questionnaires to 94 local residents in Pasaman Barat impacted by the 2022 earthquake through descriptive analysis. Our findings revealed that communities in Pasaman Barat have traditionally preserved indigenous knowledge about natural disasters, including architectural practices, logical and spiritual symbols, and a wide range of social mores and taboos. The people of the area improvised some valuable skills, such as the use of sandi tiang (the baseboard of a stilt) and bamboo barricades. Rituals and taboos associated with disasters include the tolak bala (warding-off ritual) and the banda larangan (forbidden fish), and distinctive signs of disaster observed by the community including the sounds of jirek (sacred grave), the appearance of tiger and uyia-uyia (forest beetles), and rivers flowing downstream during rain. These customs, mostly shared with Minangkabau customs despite some differences, are influenced by religious tradition, especially Sufistic tradition. Communities in Pasaman Barat continue to teach their children about these traditions, even as they adapt to modern life. Despite a dearth of established, traditional knowledge in this area, this study contributes to the future of disaster mitigation management by emphasizing rational and practical considerations in the face of natural disasters.

Research on the Construction of the Integrated Resource Platform of Intellectual Media and Vocational Education

The Great Wall is the largest existing cultural heritage in China, the spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation, and has an irreplaceable important value and status in the history of Chinese civilization and the development of Chinese traditional culture. It is of great significance to further strengthen cultural confidence and fully demonstrate the enduring influence of fine traditional Chinese culture, the powerful appeal of revolutionary culture, and the strong vitality of advanced socialist culture.

Research on the Paths and Strategies for the Innovative Development of Traditional Lacquerware Art

Lacquer is not only a pure handicraft art, but also a traditional culture of a country and an aesthetic spiritual symbol. It is a historical and cultural treasure filled with the creative wisdom of our ancestors; it is also a traditional Chinese aesthetic concept that has gone through the changes of the times but still exists in people's hearts. Contemporary lacquer art creation, not only to the traditional technical methods and modern forms of artistic creation organically integrated, but also to the outstanding traditional Chinese culture inheritance and carry forward, and integrated with the spirit of the times, and continue to innovate, take the road of integration of nationalisation and modernisation through a wealth of creative materials and a wealth of forms of expression, combining the latest contemporary science and technology and the new way of promotion, in the new era of the Under various means of communication, the lacquer art is integrated with modern design, and the lacquer art is reintroduced into people's attention, so that the lacquer ware and the lacquer painting, lacquer plastic, lacquer installation and other different art forms can achieve diversified development, so that the lacquer art, which has been inherited for thousands of years, can be better inherited and innovative development of the excellent traditional culture. The research status of modern innovation and development mode of lacquer art has been preliminarily sorted out, so that the readers can better understand the research status of today's lacquer art and the development trend of modern innovation and development mode of lacquer art, and the existing innovation and development modes are briefly classified and analysed, so as to provide the readers with a quick and complete understanding of the pulse and mode of modern innovation and development mode of lacquer art, and to help readers understand the dilemma and feasible ways for the development of today's lacquer art in society. This will help readers to understand the dilemmas and feasible ways for the development of lacquer art in today's society. Most of these innovative development paths need to be explored and practised in depth by relevant practitioners, and deepened and updated in practice.

On the concept of the regional religious brand: The veneration and pilgrimage of Saint John Vladimir and new pathways for religious tourism

AbstractBuilding on the concept of regional branding, the paper seeks to pave new ground by delving into the novel concept of a ‘regional religious brand.’ As a new term in religious tourism, the ‘regional religious brand’ defines the function of distinguishing a spiritual value offered in a region as a concept and reality, containing a name, an iconography, a set of images, a pilgrimage, narratives, a slogan, visions, and symbols. After arguing that the territory of the former Archdiocese of Ohrid still qualifies as a region, we engage in one of the region's spiritual symbols, the veneration and pilgrimage of Saint John Vladimir and suggest a concrete pilgrimage route stemming from this regional religious brand.

The Culture and Spiritual Expression of Denim Garments in Different Industries

Jeans, as one of the most popular clothing in the world, have been actively appearing in the public eye, especially in the film industry and fashion industry. Jeans and other denim garments are no longer just a kind of clothing, they are more like a cultural or spiritual symbol. This article is dedicated to interpreting the culture and spiritual expression of denim garments in different industries. This paper uses the case analysis method and researches the fashion and movie industries. The research shows jeans and denim clothing symbolize the spirit of Western cowboys in the film industry. Movies rely on jeans to showcase the characters freedom, wildness, and bravery. In the fashion industry, jeans have always been a popular item, symbolizing fashions free and lazy side.

Fandom and Religion: Alienation of Opinion Leaders in the Fandom and Additions to Secondary Communication Theory

Taking the TFBOYS 10th anniversary event as a trigger, with the irrational polarizing behavior represented by the light board battle and the flag-raising parade, the fan community once again reached the climax of public opinion. Disregarding the idol's rightful owner, the fan community, led by opinion leaders, self-righteously and continuously impacted the social order, and the fandom formed an ideological system similar to that of a religion, and the mechanism of the traditional secondary communication theory in the fandom seemed to be alienated due to the usurpation of the discourse power by the opinion leaders. The purpose of this study is to further explore the similarity between the ideology and religious system of the current fandom in China, and to supplement the secondary communication theory and establish a new model based on the alienation phenomenon of opinion leaders overstepping the power of the main lord in the circle mechanism of the rice circle. Based on the questionnaire survey of fan groups, it can be verified that the ideology of the fandom is similar to the religious system and the opinion leaders do overstep the power of the main lord, but the main lord is not hollowed out. Based on this, supplemented with in-depth interviews, it can be further verified under what conditions the idol becomes a spiritual symbol or even loses the power of the subjective discourse.

Spatiotemporal dynamics and driving factors of vegetation coverage around linear cultural heritage: A case study of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal

Linear cultural heritage, which plays significant roles in safeguarding the world's cultural and maintaining global civilization, has obtained rising concerns in purpose of sustainability. However, in view of existing publications, most attention has been paid on its values of recreation, history and culture. Its ecological environment is still poorly understood. As the longest linear cultural heritage in the world and spiritual symbol of China, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (BHGC) was selected as the study area in this study. We focused on the vegetation coverage around the BHGC from 2000 to 2020 and aimed to practically investigate whether and why vegetation distributes imbalanced along the entire BHGC. The annual Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), derived from Landsat images, was used to indicate the spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation coverage. Based on ten natural and human interference factors, the geographic detector model was applied to analyze its driving mechanism. Results show that (1) vegetation coverage around the BHGC presented apparently spatial heterogeneity. Cities located at both ends of the BHGC showed lower vegetation coverage, whereas those in the middle were relatively higher. (2) Vegetation coverage in 23 cities around the BHGC was relatively stable over time, i.e., nearly 76.39% of the study area was measured unchanged trend. The slight degradation mainly occurred to the sub-urban and extra-urban areas. (3) The driving forces of human interferences on vegetation coverage dynamics around the BHGC surpassed natural factors from 2000 to 2020. Population density, GDP and cultural heritage density presented higher explanatory powers of vegetation growth compared to other seven factors. These findings provide a scientific basis for local governments to intervene in vegetation changes and ecological restoration through natural and human factors within the favorable scope.

The Meaning of Traditional Clothing of the Kajang People, Bulukumba Regency (Ethnographic Study of Communication)

The location of this research in Tanah Toa Village is located in Kajang Kabupaten District, Bulukumba, South Sulawesi which still preserves the traditional clothing of the Kajang tribe. The research method used is qualitative descriptive with ethnographic methods of communication. The number of informants was 9 people obtained by purposive sampling technique. The stages in data collection techniques in this study are the observation method, in-depth interview method, literature method, and documentation method. The results showed that the meaning contained in the traditional clothing of the Kajang tribe has three aspects. First, based on the meaning of traditional clothing, it is a sign of cultural identity attached to the image of the Amata ethnic community and a sign of human life side by side with nature. Similarly, traditional clothing, namely Passau, Black Shirt (Pokko Shirt), Tope' Lelleng (Black Sarong) is a sign of obedience, an attitude of the simplicity of life that is communicated (Nonverbal). Second, the color of the spiritual symbol of the black spiritual symbol is a manifestation of human life, the birth of a human being from the realm of darkness to the end of his life also returns to the realm of darkness or is interpreted as always remembering life and death. Third, the cultural symbol of Attalla’s Kamase-Mase which is realized in every aspect of life through the attributes of leveling clothing means simplicity, simplicity, and equality for everyone before the Creator (Turiek Akra'na).

RESTORATION OF TRADITIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROVINCIAL SLOBOZHANSKY SACRED ARCHITECTURE

In this way, the two living cosmos of the spiritual and sacred - ethnos and theos - are combined again, the times of the creation of elite (aristocratic-official) architectural and artistic culture - the baroque and classicist tradition - are combined with the continuous time-space of folk sacred culture. The meaningful series of complex and largely forgotten spiritual symbols, which, however, constitute the deep essence of the folk tradition, are reunited. It has been proven. that the first nationally conscious and effective searches for a new uniqueness and originality of national architecture and art originate precisely from the era of modernism and ethnically rooted folk-style (national-romantic) architecture genetically related to this trend. It has been proven that one of the Slobojan architects who successfully developed deep traditions of temple architecture in the modern era was the last Kharkiv diocesan architect (1907-1917) Volodymyr Mykolayovych Pokrovsky. Namagannya yaknaishvidshe to remember three-quarters of the delay in an hour of miserable panuvannya of the atheistic sovereign doctrine of the treasury of sacral architecture once again forced professional designers to turn around until the nadban of the past. After a long break and severe wrongful losses, the creative artists of susilla and mystetsky distillation in the gallery mastered the new and traditional plastic richness of modern church symbols. As in the largest places and creative processes, the processes are least painless, in the regional periphery there is a pardon and a little mor. And it’s not less than the fact that the most ruins appeared here in the past, ale th, the main rank, the one who traditional innovations at the most important gallery, the sacred everyday life was long overdue, stretching out life for many generations, pcs scientifically rapist prizupineno. Tim more importantly assess the whole depth of the living tradition of Slobozhan sacred architecture can be directly far away. Keywords: development, principles, foundations, sacred architecture, regional traditions.

Innovative design solutions for contemporary Tou-Kung based on topological optimisation

Tou-Kung, which is pronounced in Chinese and known as Bracket Set (Liang & Fairbank, A pictorial history of Chinese architecture, 1984), is a vital support component in the Chinese traditional wooden tectonic systems. It is located between the column and the beam and connects the eave and pillar, making the heavy roof extend out of the eaves longer. The development of Tou-Kung is entirely a microcosm of the development of ancient Chinese architecture; the aesthetic structure and Asian artistic temperament behind Tou-Kung make it gradually become the cultural and spiritual symbol of traditional Chinese architecture. In the contemporary era, inheriting and developing Tou-Kung has become an essential issue. Several architects have attempted to employ new materials and techniques to integrate the traditional Tou-Kung into modern architectural systems, such as the China Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo and Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum. This paper introduces the topological optimisation method bi-directional evolutionary structural optimisation (BESO) for form-finding. BESO method is one of the most popular topology optimisation methods widely employed in civil engineering and architecture. Through analyzing the development trend of Tou-Kung and mechanical structure, the authors integrate 2D and 3D optimisation methods and apply the hybrid methods to form-finding. Meanwhile, mortise and tenon joint used to create stable connections with components of Tou-Kung are retained. This research aims to design a new Tou-Kung corresponding to “structural performance-based aesthetics”. The workflow proposed in this paper is valuable for Architrave and other traditional building components.

Balancing Competing Agendas

Abstract This article investigates how the first Siberian archbishop, Kiprian, successfully dealt with uncooperative local royal officials and unruly laymen refusing to submit to his ecclesiastical jurisdiction upon his arrival in Tobol’sk in 1621. Far away from the Muscovite capital and his adopted home, Novgorod the Great, where he had served as archimandrite of the Varlaam Khutynskii Monastery, Kiprian gently balanced central Muscovite influences on the nascent Orthodox religious culture in Siberia with spiritual symbols and rituals that he imported from Novgorod. Simultaneously, he promoted the creation of local religious traditions that emphasized the independent status of Siberia vis-à-vis the Muscovite realm. The seamless merging of these three aspects – Muscovite, Novgorodian, and Siberian – assured the tsar’s continued support for the Siberian archbishop and bolstered Kiprian’s spiritual authority in Siberia.

The Splendor of Verdure: Tea and the East Asian World of the Song and Yuan Dynasties

Tea has played an important role throughout the entire East Asian world. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, due to differences in the target consumers and acceptance of tea, Chinese and Japanese tea cultures began to take different paths. The close relationship between tea and Goryeo politics propelled the flourishing development of Goryeo tea culture on the Korean Peninsula. The colorful landscape of tea culture during the Yuan dynasty illustrates the transformation of traditional Chinese tea culture from the Song to the Yuan, with an upper-class break and a lower-class continuation. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, there were great changes in the order of the East Asian world, where tea was not merely a beverage but carried historical changes and served as a spiritual symbol in the East Asian cultural world, reflecting historical transformations.

Pathway elucidation and microbial synthesis of proaporphine and bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloids from sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)

Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) has been utilized as a food, medicine, and spiritual symbol for nearly 3000 years. The medicinal properties of lotus are largely attributed to its unique profile of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs), which includes potential anti-cancer, anti-malarial and anti-arrhythmic compounds. BIA biosynthesis in sacred lotus differs markedly from that of opium poppy and other members of the Ranunculales, most notably in an abundance of BIAs possessing the (R)-stereochemical configuration and the absence of reticuline, a major branchpoint intermediate in most BIA producers. Owing to these unique metabolic features and the pharmacological potential of lotus, we set out to elucidate the BIA biosynthesis network in N. nucifera. Here we show that lotus CYP80G (NnCYP80G) and a superior ortholog from Peruvian nutmeg (Laurelia sempervirens; LsCYP80G) stereospecifically convert (R)-N-methylcoclaurine to the proaporphine alkaloid glaziovine, which is subsequently methylated to pronuciferine, the presumed precursor to nuciferine. While sacred lotus employs a dedicated (R)-route to aporphine alkaloids from (R)-norcoclaurine, we implemented an artificial stereochemical inversion approach to flip the stereochemistry of the core BIA pathway. Exploiting the unique substrate specificity of dehydroreticuline synthase from common poppy (Papaver rhoeas) and pairing it with dehydroreticuline reductase enabled de novo synthesis of (R)-N-methylcoclaurine from (S)-norcoclaurine and its subsequent conversion to pronuciferine. We leveraged our stereochemical inversion approach to also elucidate the role of NnCYP80A in sacred lotus metabolism, which we show catalyzes the stereospecific formation of the bis-BIA nelumboferine. Screening our collection of 66 plant O-methyltransferases enabled conversion of nelumboferine to liensinine, a potential anti-cancer bis-BIA from sacred lotus. Our work highlights the unique benzylisoquinoline metabolism of N. nucifera and enables the targeted overproduction of potential lotus pharmaceuticals using engineered microbial systems.