Temple Complex Research Articles

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WOODEN FIVE-STORIED BUDDHIST PAGODAS AND THE APPLICATION TO THE MODERN “TOKYO SKY TREE” ARCHITECTURE

Definition of Five Storied Pagoda: A five-storied pagoda is a symbolic tomb of Buddha. When Buddhism was introduced into Japan in 538, a five-storied pagoda became one of the important components of temple complexes. Present Situations of Wooden Five-storied Pagoda: There are 22 wooden five-storied pagodas in Japan. The oldest is the one in Horyuji Temple built in 710. The tallest is the one in Toji Temple with the height of 54.8 m. The shortest is the one in Murooji Temple with height of 16 m. Structural Characteristics: There is no historical record that five-storied pagoda was destroyed by an earthquake. A contributory factor is that no nail is used but carved holes or grooves in each of wooden pieces interdigitate precisely to form a structure. Another key factor is “A Central column (Shin-bashira)”, an important wooden structural component almost 30 m long. There was no theoretical principle. A Central column is effective against an earthquake and it has been regarded to absorb the earthquake energy. Thirdly, five-storied pagoda interior space is effective to control structural deformation and shake of pagoda. The first theoretical analysis was done by 1/5 scale model in 2006 that proved the role of “Central column”. Application to the Modern Technology: There are two cases presently. One is Marubiru Office building 178.5 m high built in 2002 and another is Tokyo Sky Tree, a telecommunication tower 634 m high built in 2012. Those structural design was influenced by a pagoda’s central column as a vibration damping tool.

Technical analysis of a Central Asian wall painting detached from a Buddhist cave temple on the northern Silk Road

A great number of Central Asian wall paintings, archeological materials, architectural fragments, and textiles, as well as painting fragments on silk and paper, make up the so called Turfan Collection at the Asian Art Museum in Berlin. The largest part of the collection comes from the Kucha region, a very important cultural center in the third to ninth centuries. Between 1902 and 1914, four German expeditions traveled along the northern Silk Road. During these expeditions, wall paintings were detached from their original settings in Buddhist cave complexes. This paper reports a technical study of a wall painting, existing in eight fragments, from the Buddhist cave no. 40 (Ritterhöhle). Its original painted surface is soot blackened and largely illegible. Grünwedel, leader of the first and third expeditions, described the almost complete destruction of the rediscovered temple complex and evidence of fire damage. The aim of this case study is to identify the materials used for the wall paintings. Furthermore, soot deposits as well as materials from conservation interventions were of interest. Non-invasive analyses were preferred but a limited number of samples were taken to provide more precise information on the painting technique. By employing optical and scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and Raman spectroscopy, a layer sequence of earthen render, a ground layer made of gypsum, and a paint layer containing a variety of inorganic pigments were identified.

Iron and fire: Geoarchaeological history of a Khmer peripheral centre during the decline of the Angkorian Empire, Cambodia

Preah Khan of Kompong Svay (Preah Khan) was a vast peripheral outpost of the Angkorian Khmer Empire, managed with either strong influence from the capital or semi-autonomously between the 11th and 13th centuries AD. It is believed to have held significant economic importance to the Angkorian elite given its assumed trade partnerships with the neighbouring Kuay hill tribes as well as its proximity to Phnom Dek, or “Iron Mountain”, one of Cambodia's richest known sources of iron oxide. However, the dating of a number of iron metallurgy sites found within the complex placed the heaviest period of industrial activity between the 13th and 17th centuries AD — during the decline of the Angkorian period and beyond into Cambodia's Middle Period. In this paper we present a more extensive record of occupation and use of the site, using a series of geoarchaeological and geochemical records, and show that occupation likely occurred in three stages (Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3). We suggest that in Stage 1 Preah Khan was initially established as a politico-religious expression of power in this strategically important region, and during this time maintained a small, non-industrial population. By the mid-late 14th century AD (Stage 2) macrocharcoal levels increase suggesting that Preah Khan's purpose may have shifted as it became increasingly occupied or utilised for iron smelting activity, before it was finally abandoned in Stage 3, approximately half a century before the supposed abandonment of Angkor. An important question raised from this transition is whether the increased activity in the later phase represents a new wave of Khmer occupants or parasitic occupation of an abandoned temple complex by neighbouring forest-based minority groups. These results highlight the benefit of using geoarchaeological approaches in reconstructing the histories of Angkorian settlements and in increasing our understanding of the response of Khmer peripheral cities to the abandonment of the capital.

Power, conflict and ritual on the fen-edge: the Anarchy-period castle at Burwell, Cambridgeshire, and its pre-Conquest landscape

ABSTRACTBurwell, Cambridgeshire, is best known as possessing a castle constructed by King Stephen during the mid- twelfth-century civil war commonly referred to as ‘the Anarchy’. Documentary sources confirm that the king built a series of fortifications around the East Anglian fen-edge during a.d. 1144 in an attempt to restrict the activities of the rebellious baron Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who was using the Isle of Ely as a base to raid the surrounding countryside. Written texts also reveal how de Mandeville was mortally wounded during a skirmish or siege which subsequently took place at Burwell. A combination of topographic and geophysical survey, supplemented by documentary analysis, suggests that the castle was constructed in a landscape with a complex earlier history. It is suggested that during the Romano-British period a temple complex was developed on the site, with a spring rising on the edge of the fens providing the likely focus for ritual activity. Burwell later developed into an important early medieval place and the castle itself may have been inserted into a thegnly enclosure — an act which probably sought to appropriate a recognised pre-existing centre of power. The current research provides the most comprehensive assessment of the site to date, and supports existing interpretations which consider the twelfth-century castle to be incomplete. Analysis also gives additional insight into the functional and symbolic significance of the castle at Burwell, and sheds important light on the character of power and conflict in the fenland during the mid-twelfth century.

Entertaining Deities and Humans with Performances of Puju (Puzhou Opera) at a Temple Fair in Yangxie Village, Southwestern Shanxi, May 29 – June 2, 2013

ENTERTAINING DEITIES AND HUMANS WITH PERFORMANCES OF PUJU (PUZHOU OPERA) AT A TEMPLE FAIR IN YANGXIE VILLAGE, SOUTHWESTERN SHANXI, MAY 29–JUNE 2, 2013 ZIYING YOU College of Wooster On the evening of the twenty-fourth day of the fourth lunar month (June 2), 2013, the fifth day of the temple fair at the Old Temple Complex of King Tang Yao (Tang Yao guyuan 唐堯故園; for a map of the complex, see Fig. 1) in Yangxie 羊獬 Village, Hongdong County, Shanxi Province, a local Puju 蒲劇 (Puzhou opera) troupe was to give their last performance. However, a rainstorm with strong winds came up unexpectedly that afternoon, causing a power outage in the village and at the temple. The once-crowded temple soon became empty, and almost all the vendors and visitors rushed back home. I went backstage to meet the troupe members, and asked them if they would give the performance as scheduled. One actor said, “I will perform even if there is only one person before the stage watching the performance , that is how my master taught me” 台下只有一個看戲的, 我也要演, 這 是我師傅教我的. One actress said, “The plays are performed for the gugu” 戲是 演給姑姑的.1 Gugu 姑姑 (Aunty) is how Yangxie residents call King Yao’s two daughters, Ehuang 娥皇 and Nüying 女英, whom he married to King Shun. Yangxie residents believe that they themselves are the descendants of King Yao, and so they call his two daughters “aunties.” Every year, on the third day of the third lunar month, Yangxie residents go to neighboring Lishan 歷山, where King Shun’s temple is located, to invite their two “aunts” back to visit the home of their parents, King Yao and his wife, in Yangxie.2 On the twenty-eighth day of the fourth lunar month—believed to be King Yao’s birthday—Lishan residents come to Yangxie to escort Ehuang and Nüying back to Lishan. The temple fair at the Old Temple Complex of King Yao in Yangxie starts on the twentieth day, and ends on the twenty-ninth day of the fourth lunar month. Two different troupes were invited by the Old Temple Complex of King Yao Reconstruction Association (Tang Yao Guyuan Xiufu 1 This actor and actress will be introduced below, in the first section on actors. 2 For a detailed account of the activities involved during 2007, see Chen Yongchao 陳泳超 et al., “Yangxie, Lishan sanyuesan ‘jie gugu’ huodong diaocha baogao” 羊獬、歷山三月三 “接 姑姑” 活動調查報告 (A report of a survey of the activities that are part of “inviting the aunties” in Yangxie and Lishan on the third of the third lunar month), Minjian wenhua luntan 民間文化 論壇 (Forum on folk culture) 2007.3: 59–69. CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 34. 2 (December 2015): 139–161© The Permanent Conference on Chinese Oral and Performing Literature, Inc. 2015 DOI 10.1080/01937774.2015.1096554 Weiyuanhui 唐堯故園修復委員會) to perform at the temple fair in 2013; the Puju troupe performed the first five days. Their performances were well received, with a large audience for each show, but on the night in question, it was not clear whether the performance would take place at all. Eventually, however, the power came back on at 9:30 p.m., and the performance started. My host family in Yangxie sponsored the performance in gratitude for the “aunties”’ help in protecting their 19-year-old son from dying of heart disease. Before the performance started, the whole family burned incense and kowtowed in the main hall of the Temple of King Yao, and then in the main hall of Gugu Temple (Temple of Ehuang and Nüying). They saw to it that two special chairs with two big pieces of red cloth on them given by the Temple Fair Office (Miaohui bangongshi 廟會辦公室) were placed in front of the stage for the “aunties” to sit in and enjoy the performance. When the show started, fireworks were set off, attracting some villagers to come to the temple to watch the performance. Although it was very cold that evening, a decent number of Puju fans sat through the whole show from beginning to end. The Puju troupe gave a wonderful performance that evening, and the show did not end until midnight. The troupe left very early the next day. FIG. 1. Schematic Map...

Ta Keo Temple Reconstruction Based on Terrestrial Laser Scanning Technology

Abstract. Ta Keo temple is one of the very famous temple complex of Angkor Wat in northwestern Cambodia. It has been suffering massive collapse and other serious damages in recent years. Nowadays, Terrestrial Laser Scanning(TLS) technology is considered as a wellestablished resource for heritage documentation and protection (Lerma et al, 2008; Reshetyuk, 2009). This paper used TLS to reconstruct Ta Keo Temple. Firstly, we acquired 71 scanning stations of points cloud data with high density and high accuracy, and over one thousand images with high spatial resolution about the temple. Secondly, the raw points cloud data were denoised, reduced and managed efficiently, and registrated using an adjusted ICP algorithm. Thirdly, a triangulation method was used to model most objects. At last, we mapped the texture data into the digital model and a 3-D model of Ta Keo with high accuracy was achieved. The authors focus on large object reconstruction by TLS technology, and pay much attention to the scanning design, multi-station data and the whole project’s data registration, and texture mapping and so on. The research result will be useful for Ta Keo restoration, reconstruction and protection. Also, it is a good reference source for large complex buildings reconstruction when using terrestrial laser scanning technology.

The Asclepian rod and the return of Psychiatry to its home in medicine and neuroscience.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) recently adopted the symbol of the rod (or Staff) of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, embedded within the brain as its logo. The attached sketch by this author was made at the Wayne State School of Medicine in front of which is a statue of Asclepius (Fig. 1). Also shown in the inset is a sketch of the new APA logo. Asclepius, son of Apollo, is said to have lived between 12th and 5th century BC, and was considered as the ideal physician. Temple complexes in ancient Greece, called Asklepions, were centers for healing practices. The staff of Asclepius has a single serpent winding around a rod or tree trunk, and figures as the symbol for many medical organizations around the world, including the World Health Organization. However, some medical organizations use the caduceus with two serpents winding around a winged rod, which is the symbol of Hermes (or mercury, a greeco-roman god. Hermes was associated more with magical incantations rather than medicine; thus, the use of the caduceus as a symbol of medicine has been thought to be erroneous (Wilcox et al., 2003). The APA’s previous logo, since 1921, was the picture of Benjamin Rush, who is considered to be the father of American

A multi-analytical approach for determining the origin of the marbles in Temple-A from Laodicea ad Lycum (Denizli-Western Anatolia, Turkey)

Abstract Laodicea ad Lycum is the major and most important Hellenistic city in the Lycos Valley. The ancient city is located at 6 km northeast of Denizli and the most contemporary and significant archaeological site in southwestern Turkey. A large marble temple complex, which is simply named Temple-A, is a remarkable structure. The marbles of Temple-A can be classified into four groups, based on color, crystal size, crystal boundaries and foliation status. These groups are identified as (i) lilac-purple-veined, (ii) white, (iii) gray-veined and (iv) gray-blackish marbles. Microscopically, the lilac-purple veined, gray-veined and gray-blackish marbles display heteroblastic mosaic texture, and the white marbles display a homoeoblastic polygonal texture. The marble groups chiefly consist of calcite + dolomite ± augite (lilac-purple veined), calcite (white), calcite + dolomite ± quartz ± muscovite ± opaque minerals (gray-veined) and calcite ± quartz ± pyroxene ± zircon (gray-blackish). The minero-petrographic, geochemical and C–O stable isotope results reveal that most of the marbles sampled Temple-A at Laodicea share the same characteristics and composition of the marbles exploited in the ancient quarries of Hierapolis and Domuzderesi.

The Iron IIA Judahite Temple at Tel Moza

The renewed excavations at Tel Moza brought to light remains of an exceptional temple complex, established in the Iron IIA (10th–9th centuries BCE).2 An assemblage comprised of figurines and cultic vessels was found lying on the packed earth floor of the temple courtyard. The plan of the temple and the motifs of the figurines and cultic vessels are drawn from conventions prevalent throughout the Ancient Near East. The importance and unique nature of the Tel Moza temple are accentuated by the fact that it is the first Iron Age temple to be excavated in the heart of Judah, just a few km from Jerusalem, and thus provides new insight into early Israelite religion.

Entertaining Deities and Humans with Performances ofPuju(Puzhou Opera) at a Temple Fair in Yangxie Village, Southwestern Shanxi, May 29–June 2, 2013

On the evening of the twenty-fourth day of the fourth lunar month (June 2), 2013, the fifth day of the temple fair at the Old Temple Complex of King Tang Yao (Tang Yao guyuan 唐堯故園; for a map of the...

Tourist Neo-colonialism as an Indication of the Future of Islands. The Example of Borobodur (Central Java)

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present the process of appropriation of public space by the tourism industry in island states with the example of the temple of Borobudur, addressing the question of the changing trends of the temple’s basic functions, from sacred to tourist functions, and the effects of the presented changes on the traditional users of the temple. The Borobudur temple complex has been (symbolically and practically) transferred from the hands of Buddhists into the hands of tourists. The Javanese cultural heritage has been commoditized in a systematic way and lacks religious functions. This is one example of how tourism increasingly appropriates spaces and redefines the meaning of cultural objects. Structural inhibitions to the Borobudur temple being used for traditional religious purposes can be considered an example of tourist neo-colonialism (both from the perspective of postcolonial theory and in light of previous research on the subject).

Tirumala Tirupati: Wait a Moment

This case examines the queueing issues caused by the growth in popularity of one of the most visited Hindu temples in the world. On January 2, 2015, Ramesh and Vasantha Gupta visit Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, just a day after some 210,000 people crowded the 2,000-year-old site. The case describes the many enhancements that the temple administrator, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), has implemented since its management of the temple complex began in 1932. The soaring popularity of the temple, however, has led to safety and comfort concerns for pilgrims. While challenging students to consider additional improvements that might benefit pilgrim throughput rate and time in the temple system, the case highlights the tension TTD must manage between maximizing efficiency and maintaining religious traditions. Additionally, the case demonstrates the importance of perceived waiting times in the management of queues.

Cannabis, Lord Shiva and Holy Men: Cannabis Use Among Sadhus in Nepal

Background: Despite being illegal in Nepal, cannabis grows wild, is cultivated, readily available and often consumed during religious festivals, such as those in honour of the Hindu god Shiva. Holy men (sadhus) also consume cannabis to aid meditation, and many are believed to suggest that as a substance favoured by Lord Shiva, and, as such, should be used. However, there are concerns that all cannabis use in Nepal is not benign, and that there are negative health and social consequences from its use for some consumers. Objectives: This study sought the views of sadhus in Nepal.Method: During the major Shiva festival at Pashupathinath temple complex in Kathmandu, Nepal, 200 sadhus were surveyed. Results: Most used cannabis daily, a quarter believed cannabis and its use to be legal in Nepal, and a further ten percent were unsure, about one third believed cannabis should be used by Hindus, but only fourteen believed Lord Shiva promoted its use. Those less educated and from the Naga sect were more likely to hold such views, and provide cannabis to devotees. Conclusions: Sadhus with evidence-based information about cannabis and its potential harms can play an important role in assisting to reduce harm and facilitate engagement in treatment. J Psychiatric Association of Nepal Vol .3, No.2, 2014, pp:9-14DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jpan.v3i2.12379

Brown Boys and Rice Queens: Spell-Binding Performance in The Asias by Eng-Beng Lim (review)

Reviewed by: Brown Boys and Rice Queens: Spell-Binding Performance in The Asias by Eng-Beng Lim Arnab Banerji Brown Boys and Rice Queens: Spell-Binding Performance in The Asias. By Eng-Beng Lim. Sexual Cultures series. New York: NYU Press, 2013; pp. 256. Kecak, the Ramayana-inspired trance-dance, is a regular and important feature of tourist attractions in Bali and is performed to full houses in palaces and temple complexes in Ubud. Tourists watch mesmerized as semi-naked men chant, dance, scream, and prostrate themselves in front of them. The queer colonial encounter that led to the creation of this homoerotic spectacle is seldom mentioned before, during, or after the performance. Cut to Singapore, the wealthiest city-state in Southeast Asia. The island nation is often touted as the gay capital of the region, and yet conversations about homosexuality have to happen behind closed doors and administrative clampdowns on queer people follow the retention of the antiquarian article 377A in the country’s constitution, which criminalizes homosexuality. Sex and sexuality, in other words, continue to be contested and under-written discourses when it comes to conversations about the colonial encounter in Asia, the homogeneous category of “Asia” in the Western imagination, and in the context of contemporary Asian performance. Eng-Beng Lim’s Brown Boys and Rice Queens: Spellbinding Performance in the Asias problematizes this aspect of the colonial encounter by productively inquiring into this murky territory. Lim’s exploration is based on what he calls the “colonial dyad”: the relationship between the white man and the native brown boy. Lim writes that “an understanding of Asian encounters . . . is not merely incomplete but lacking in its central substance if it does not take account of queer couplings, exemplified by the white man/native boy’s conceptual, historical, and sexual couplings” (8). Lim notes that extant scholarship has often looked at the perspective of the white man while relegating the native boy “as a superfluous character, a neglected critical trope, or simply missing from the archives” (9). For Lim, the native boy takes the center stage because “understanding the native boy in multiple contexts is . . . crucial to the erotohistoriography of performance traditions in the Asias” (12). The first chapter is the tour de force section of the book and explores the origins of the kecak dance, now considered an iconic sample of Bali’s cultural heritage. The chapter finds the perfect middle ground between archival research, personal anecdotes, and a rigorous historiographical and queer reading of colonial histories. We are introduced to Walter Spies, the German artist, musician, and adventurer who made Bali his home and played [End Page 159] an important role in promoting Bali as a “tropical paradise” to Western travelers, artists, and scholars. Lim unearths a cache of photographs to expose how Spies staged and orchestrated the encounters between his “cultured” guests and the “unharmed” cultures of Bali. He digs through extant archives and exposes Spies’s role behind the narrative that emerges at the turn of the twentieth century about Bali in films, ethnographic accounts, and tourist books. The chapter concludes with the fascinating account of the way in which kecak was conceived and choreographed by Spies for the 1931 orientalist film Island of Demons by Victor von Plessen and Friedrich Dahlsheim. Lim highlights the fact that the idea of the exotic that was imposed on Bali has perpetuated and is today used as the basis for the tourism and art industries that form the backbone of the island’s economy. Lim’s engrossing study helps us in reading and evaluating the mélange of Balinese exotica through a queer lens and as a result of a queer colonial encounter. The second chapter of the book, although not as rigorous as the first, is nonetheless an engaging study of Singapore as the gay “mecca” of Southeast Asia. Lim explores the city-state’s status as a gay haven vis-à-vis its stringent antiquarian laws that criminalize any non-peno-vaginal sexual act. These antiquarian laws are a British legacy and can be found in several former colonies, including India and Sri Lanka. Lim studies the evolution and growth of the burgeoning “pink-dollar economy” in...

Phytosocialogical and Ethnomedicinal Studies of Sacred Groves in Konjikuppam Village, Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu

The konjikuppam village lies on the state highway linking panruti (5 km south) and Neyveli (10 km north). The sacred grove of konjikuppam is also situated on the main read and is proximate to the village. A large bond of about 3 ha. Size lies behind the temple complex and cannel bringing strong water from the neighboring shallow ferralitic terrain runs into it. An extensive floristic survey of carried out in the sacred groves at monthly intervals between December 2011 and October 2012. Specimen flowering plants were collected and identified taxonomically with the help of different floras. Nine plots were established in three different disturbance areas within the sacred groves and it is divided into three site I. Disturbances, II. Moderately disturbance III. Undisturbance. Present study revealed that a total number of 110 plants belonging to 96 genera and 45 families were recorded from three sites (I. Disturbed, II. Moderately Disturbed, III. Undisturbed) of konjikuppam sacred groves Cuddalore district. The present study revealed that more number of species found in undisturbed site III and least number and density in disturbed site I. a total of 24 plants used in herbal preparations. The local health traditions provide immediate and cheaper remedy or relief to the poor and down trodden inhabiting the villages. The devastation of species diversity in the study area there is an urgent need for regeneration of the species for conservation of species and biodiversity.

Lords of the Sea: Pirates, Violence, and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan by Peter D. Shapinsky (review)

Reviewed by: Lords of the Sea: Pirates, Violence, and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan by Peter D. Shapinsky Noell Wilson Lords of the Sea: Pirates, Violence, and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan. By Peter D. Shapinsky. Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 2014. 327 pages. Hardcover $65.00; softcover $25.00. Peter Shapinsky’s Lords of the Sea: Pirates, Violence, and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan is an impressive study of sea power and state formation that resituates medieval Japanese history within a dynamic East Asian maritime world. The core interpretive goal of this book is to rehabilitate the conventional image of the premodern Japanese pirate from a violent and nefarious wakō, vilified by Ming China and Chosŏn Korea alike, to a savvy littoral authority who in fact substantially shaped premodern Japanese political and economic development by imposing order in maritime spaces. Shapinsky accomplishes this recasting through an innovative exploration of how littoral magnates (his “sea lords”) cultivated not only recognition by land-based authorities, but also the organizational tools that were most characteristic of ruling provincial lords (daimyo) within premodern Japan’s terracentric power structure. The book contains six numbered chapters covering, roughly, the period 1300–1600 (his “late medieval”), beginning with a historical overview of elite Japanese representations of the sea and how shifts in these worldviews shaped the significance of kaizoku (sea bandits) in Japan before 1300. Shapinsky bases this analysis on ancient texts, such as Kojiki, to explore a continuum of terracentrism that “stretched between the desire of the land-based court to incorporate the sea into state institutions and perceptions of the sea as terrifying, unknowable, uncontrollable space” (p. 36). This narrative draws on a rich synthesis of sources, ranging from familiar works of literature such as Konjaku monogatari to less-often-mined texts such as the seventh-century Chinese Nan shi (History of the Southern Dynasties); documents from Kongōbiji, a Mt. Kōya temple complex; and fourteenth-century Gyōki maps of Buddhist cosmology, which reveal the sea as both integrated into, yet partially distinct from, landforms. [End Page 293] Some of Shapinsky’s most compelling evidence emerges from tracing the etymology and use of terms such as ama and kaijin (distinct character combinations both translated as “sea people”) and how literary sources, such as Kojiki and Wamyōruijushō (an early tenth-century dictionary), situated these littoral populations, initially designated as seafaring “Others,” along a “continuum of incorporation and fear” (p. 38). By the Muromachi period, the shogunate had acknowledged the utility of kaizoku in protecting sanctioned trade with Ming China, while local daimyo continued to outlaw piracy to maintain their tenuous monopoly on violence. This is an ambitious chapter that primarily surveys the emergence of piracy in Japan before the fourteenth century and within the larger context of the sea as an evolving historical imaginary. Yet with eight separately titled subsections in just thirty-four pages, the chapter does not always flow with a clear interpretive coherence, and the final section, “Effects of Increased Maritime Exchange,” while critical background for later arguments about the role of kaizoku in medieval economic development, seems tacked on to the chapter as an afterthought. Chapter 2 explores how the growth of local authority and commerce in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries catalyzed the transformation of kaizoku into sea lords. The chapter’s core argument is that sea lords emerged as the scope of commercialization increased with the expansion of maritime authority, although it stops short of identifying this relationship as either causal or parallel. It explores three limitations on early sea lord power: geographic scale, generational continuity, and number of patrons. Yet even with these challenges to the consolidation of authority, his sea lords leveraged the confluence of political decentralization, military strife, and economic growth to gradually increase the stability and scope of their influence. Shapinsky excavates this trajectory by exploring the relationship between “local maritime magnates” and a few littoral estates, particularly the island estate of Yugeshima (p. 82). Here, a fascinating case study is the rise of sea lord Ben no Bō Shōyo, who exploited the waning power of Kyoto and Kamakura in the early 1300s to aggrandize his influence, using...

禅定印仏坐像の表現と配置構成

In most of the Khmer temples, constructed during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1181-1218 CE), there are Dhyāna Mudrā Buddha images represented on the decorative bas-reliefs around the doorways. This paper analyzes the representations of the images, focusing on the images of the lintels in Preah Khan’s temple complex. The analysis makes it clear that the lintels with the images can be classified into two groups mainly from the viewpoints of the stylistic features and the representations, and the tendencies of their arrangement in the central part of this temple complex, and that the difference between the two groups results mainly from the construction chronology of the temple complex, in other words the difference before and after the dedication of the principal image Lokeśa to the central main shrine. Then the paper attempts to analyze the symbolic meaning of Dhyāna Mudrā Buddha images and its chronological change, making reference to some old Khmer inscriptions engraved on the doorjambs and the descriptions of the foundation stele. The attempt shows us that the change of their meaning may be related to the change of the worldview represented in this temple, that is to say, the process of religious legitimation of Jayavarman VII’s kingship before and after the foundation of Preah Khan temple.

Phytosocialogical and Ethnomedicinal Studies of Sacred Groves in Konjikuppam Village, Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu

The konjikuppam village lies on the state highway linking panruti (5 km south) and Neyveli (10 km north). The sacred grove of konjikuppam is also situated on the main read and is proximate to the village. A large bond of about 3 ha. Size lies behind the temple complex and cannel bringing strong water from the neighboring shallow ferralitic terrain runs into it. An extensive floristic survey of carried out in the sacred groves at monthly intervals between December 2011 and October 2012. Specimen flowering plants were collected and identified taxonomically with the help of different floras. Nine plots were established in three different disturbance areas within the sacred groves and it is divided into three site I. Disturbances, II. Moderately disturbance III. Undisturbance. Present study revealed that a total number of 110 plants belonging to 96 genera and 45 families were recorded from three sites (I. Disturbed, II. Moderately Disturbed, III. Undisturbed) of konjikuppam sacred groves Cuddalore district. The present study revealed that more number of species found in undisturbed site III and least number and density in disturbed site I. a total of 24 plants used in herbal preparations. The local health traditions provide immediate and cheaper remedy or relief to the poor and down trodden inhabiting the villages. The devastation of species diversity in the study area there is an urgent need for regeneration of the species for conservation of species and biodiversity.

"The Sin of the Sanctuary” and the Referent of מקדש in Ezekiel 44

Abstract In Ezekiel 44, foreigners are prohibited from entering the sanctuary of Ezekiel’s visionary temple. Past scholars have often read this passage in view of postexilic xenophobic developments in the Israelite attitude toward the foreigner, especially noting the foreigners’ total exclusion from the later Herodian temple precincts, the violation of which was punishable by death. However, I argue that in keeping with common Priestly tradition, Ezekiel reserves the term “sanctuary” (מקדש) for the realm of the Levites and Zadokite priests, that is, specifically the inner court of the temple complex. In light of this interpretation, Ezekiel 44 cannot be read to represent any especial polemic against the foreigner, pagan, or proselyte. Rather, I assert that the traditional place of the foreigner within the cultus of the first temple is understood to be among the native Israelite laity within the outer court of the temple complex.

Soils and Earthen Building Materials Used for the Buddhist Temple Complex

ABSTRACTThis article presents a comprehensive study of the local soils and historic earthen building materials used in Nako temple complex in Western Himalayas. On-site and laboratory investigations followed a holistic approach to characterize materials and identify historic manufacturing formulas. The interdisciplinary and novel methodology used for analysis of the earthen building materials combine geological, chemical, mineralogical, geotechnical, and mechanical approach. The results presented in this article enable a better understanding of material culture and advance the study of damage and decay processes found in the temple buildings. In addition, a suitable conservation and preservation strategy is presented.