Journal articles on the topic '21st Dynasty'

AbstractThere has never been any consensus on the nature, composition and chronology of the “21st Dynasty”. Recent research has produced an ever-increasing multiplicity of rival models, most still relying on the information given in the surviving epitomes of the Hellenistic scholar Manetho. The claim that the regnal years given by “Manetho” for the 21st Dynasty are corroborated by the monuments is completely unjustified and based on circular reasoning. Progress can only be made by completely abandoning reliance on Manetho (a hangover from early 19th century, pre-decipherment, scholarship) once and for all.

Summary Lists of workmen of the 21st dynasty mentioned on ostraca of the Valley of the Kings and graffiti of the Theban Necropolis have not been fully studied. We analyzed 113 workmen, scribes and foremen of the Tomb named in these documents. A comparison of the composition of the crew between lists of the 21st dynasty and lists of the reign of Ramesses XI allowed their chronological ordering. A model of the progressive renewal of individuals with time in securely dated lists of the Ramesside Period was built to date the 21st dynasty lists. Results suggest that Renaissance lasted about 12 years, was followed by a period of about 11 years and then by another one associated with Pinedjem I. These results support the chronology and dating system proposed by K. Jansen-Winkeln with dates referring to the pontificate/reign of Herihor, Pinedjem I and Menkheperre. Consequences on the composition of the gang of workmen, their activity and individual chronology and prosopography are analyzed.

The topic of this study is a realistic due to the fact that in Chinese history, the Tang Dynasty (618–907) is considered as the peak of national strength. It is during this period that ancient China became the center of economic and cultural exchanges with a number of states in the medieval world. Thanks to stable social development and the steadily developing economy, Chinese art of this period flourished. To this day, it has a special meaning for both Chinese and Asian cultures. The article examines the presentational forms of the art of Tang Dynasty in historical and art museums of the People’s Republic of China at the beginning of the 21st century: an overview of the history of Tang Dynasty and its art is presented, the collections of museum objects — works of fine art of the Tang Dynasty in Chinese museums are considered, and specific forms of art presentation are analyzed, such as expositions, exhibitions, online exhibitions, educational programs and projects implemented in cooperation with the media. The research is based on original sources of museum origin (materials from museums’ official websites, interviews conducted with museum employees) and a body of regulatory and administrative documents covering museum policy developments in the People’s Republic of China.

SummaryA hieratic graffito from the temple of Queen Hatshepsut refers to the names of the members of the well-known family of the scribes of the royal necropolis, descendants of the scribe Tuthmosis and his son Butehamun. This graffito can be dated to the period of the early 21st Dynasty, as at least three of the sons of Butehamun are mentioned here, alongside one of his grandsons by the name Meniunefer (III).

In recent years the number of track sites discovered and reported from the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation, Sichuan Basin has increased steadily. Here we report on the 20th and 21st sites which are situated in unusual locations in a cave and on a steep bedding plane surface in association with Tang Dynasty grottoes. The ichnofauna is represented by two small assemblages which are both theropod-dominated. Due to sub-optimal preservation, the tracks are identified only as grallatorid and small and larger eubrontid, with Paracorpulentapus also tentatively recognized.

Study of the iconography and texts on sections of a 21st Dynasty coffin in the collection of the Museum of Banat in Timişoara, Romania, shows that the vignettes as well as the texts are unusual for such coffins. A notable feature is that the deceased is nowhere shown on the fragments, and bands of text (that on other coffins end with the name of the deceased) fill the entire area leaving no room to add the personal name.The lack of a name, the corrupt texts, unusual iconography, and the lack of varnish may reflect the lack of resources of the coffin’s owner. A fragment in Budapest (51.325) is shown to join the Timişoara coffin sections. The dismantling/sawing of an object to make it more portable and saleable reflects an established practice of late 1800s and early 1900s Egyptian antiquities market.

The main subject of article is sociopolitical situation of Romanovs after the Bolshevik Revolution. The first part is a description of final years of the rule and relations inside the dynasty. The second reverence of the text focus on the problems of White Emigrations and the difficult economic situations of members which survived revolution. The next part tells about organization of the Union of Mladorossi and attempts politicizing the situation of the Romanovs in Europe. The ending is historical reflection. Its aim is to present the political position of the Romanovs in the 21st century and real chances return to Russia.

<p>Poliovirus is the pathogenic agent of paralytic poliomyelitis that belongs to the picornaviridae family. Poliomyelitis has an extended history dating over to the Egyptian eighteenth dynasty. It was recognized as distinct disease in the late nineteenth century when the world was ravaged by large number of outbreaks and epidemics in many countries. Paralytic Polio, the rarest but the most severe form of the disease, is characterized by acute flaccid paralysis of any or rarely both of the limbs. Increasing epidemics during the late 19^th and 20^th centuries lead to the initiation of a worldwide global effort for polio eradication in 1988, super headed by WHO and various other organizations. The launch of Global Polio Eradication Initiative together with the introduction of two polio vaccines resulted in 99% reduction of wild poliovirus cases worldwide while the total number of polio-endemic countries dropped from 24 countries in the year 2000 to only three countries in 2012; Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. This review will focus on the general biology of poliovirus, some historic and geographic epidemiological aspects of poliomyelitis eradication during the year 2000-2012 and also on the major failing factors associated with the efficiency of the vaccines to eradicate polio in Pakistan.</p>

<p>Poliovirus is the pathogenic agent of paralytic poliomyelitis that belongs to the picornaviridae family. Poliomyelitis has an extended history dating over to the Egyptian eighteenth dynasty. It was recognized as distinct disease in the late nineteenth century when the world was ravaged by large number of outbreaks and epidemics in many countries. Paralytic Polio, the rarest but the most severe form of the disease, is characterized by acute flaccid paralysis of any or rarely both of the limbs. Increasing epidemics during the late 19^th and 20^th centuries lead to the initiation of a worldwide global effort for polio eradication in 1988, super headed by WHO and various other organizations. The launch of Global Polio Eradication Initiative together with the introduction of two polio vaccines resulted in 99% reduction of wild poliovirus cases worldwide while the total number of polio-endemic countries dropped from 24 countries in the year 2000 to only three countries in 2012; Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. This review will focus on the general biology of poliovirus, some historic and geographic epidemiological aspects of poliomyelitis eradication during the year 2000-2012 and also on the major failing factors associated with the efficiency of the vaccines to eradicate polio in Pakistan.</p>

A group of six shabtis from the collection of the Museum of Oriental Art in Zolochiv Castle, Lviv region, Ukraine are published and analysed in the paper. 1. Green glazed shabti of Psamtek, Late Period, inv. no. 5879. 2. Sky blue glazed faience shabti of Pa-di-Amun, 21st Dynasty, inv. no. 5890. 3. “Female” brown terracotta pseudo-shabti, Roman Period or modern imitation, inv. no. C-I-284. 4. “Female” brown terracotta pseudo-shabti, Roman Period or modern imitation, inv. no. C-I-2286. 5. Small blue glazed faience shabti without inscriptions inv. no. ЕP 7117. 6. Small brown terracotta shabti without inscriptions inv. no. ЕP 5888. At least five of them came from the private collections of the 19th century (Lubomirski, Pininski).

SummaryIn this article it is argued that the traditional view concerning the Gods Wife of Amun Maatkare is untenable. It is impossible to square the date of her coffins with her appearance as a young girl during the reign of Smendes. In 1984 A. Niwiński published an article in which he postulated the existence of no less than three scribes called Butehamun. Although his hypothesis was very soon afterwards falsified, the problems with the funeral equipment of Butehamun which led him to his remarkable theory have never been adequately dealt with. Like Maatkare, Butehamun himself is dated to the start of the 21st Dynasty, whereas his coffins point towards a much later date. For both problems an alternative solution is proposed.

Abstract Pyongyang has been described as a center of evil that threatens the world with nuclear weapons. The city is perceived as both aggressive and controlled. This study explains those particularities of Pyongyang utilizing Wagner, Rudolf (2000) (“The moral center and the engine of change. A tale of two Chinese cities”. In: Peking Shanghai Shenzhen. Städte des 21. Jahrhunderts. Beijing Shanghai Shenzhen. Cities of the 21st Century. Vöckler, K and Luckow, D (eds.). Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, Edition Bauhaus, vol. 7, 452–459) theory of the Northeast Asian city as a moral center under the ongoing Korean War (although a ceasefire has been called, the war has not officially ended). This study starts by drawing similarities between Pyongyang and Hanyang, the capital of the Joseon Dynasty, which was established as a moral center according to the Rites of the Zhou Dynasty. I also look at the influence that the Korean War had on Pyongyang and find that Pyongyang was constructed to express the North Koreans socialist Juche ideology (self-reliance, subjecthood), while Hanyang expressed Confucian ideology. Pyongyang is more than just a moral center; it is “the Holy Land of Revolution” according to the “Administration Act of the Capital City Pyongyang”, where the war still takes place to defend the Juche Ideology and its supreme leader. The Korean War justifies the control in North Korea. The country utilizes the five-family control system inherited from the Joseon Dynasty. Its origin is legalism during the Warring States period (770−221 BC) in China. Control in Pyongyang has been strengthened because of the need for military operations in the unfinished Korean War, compared to Hanyang. Having relaxed political tensions in 2019, North Korea offers a vision for the future of Pyongyang as a “socialist fairyland” (seongyeong 仙境), which is related to Korea’s own Taoism (sinseon sasang 神仙思想). Developing Pyongyang with the Juche ideology from a Confucian tradition in the war, the city now reveals a unique means of cultural entanglement.

Since 2009, the Korean government began to invest heavily in the field of digital contents based on Korean cultural heritage like Korean dramas, films, animation, and virtual reality application. The investment was caused by Korean Wave, which is the surge of popularity of South Korean culture around the world since the 21st century [1], also called Hallyu in Korean. However the Korean historical dramas and films have misarranged the components of Korean traditional houses and ornaments chronologically and spatially. The typical problem is coming from the lack of reference to who builds the sets. The one of the solutions is Korean Space Creator that has real time renderer to show the created space instantly and the database of traditional Korean house components, then it is easy for digital contents producers to use. At present the application has the specific regional materials of Chosun Dynasty (1392-1910) in database; it will extend to more region and dynasties.

AbstractThe theory of Jansen-Winkeln, which argues for a reversal of the traditional order of the late 20th Dynasty High Priests of Amun Herihor and Piankh, has provoked considerable controversy. The key to a resolution seems to lie in recognising that Herihor, on his elevation to kingship, was able (like later monarchs of the TIP) to co-opt a colleague/relative as High Priest of Amun. This way Piankh’s pontificate can be placed within the reign of King Herihor, explaining the genealogical and other evidence which might otherwise suggest a reversal of the two but avoiding the pitfalls of Jansen-Winkeln’s case. The evidence suggests a shortening of the high priestly genealogy at this period by one to two generations (from the standard/Kitchen model). A first step is offered here towards a new model involving a short overlap between the 20th and 21st Dynasties, as well as between Herihor and Pinudjem I, as Upper Egyptian kings based at Thebes.

Abstract An analysis of P. Geneva D191, P. BM EA 75019+10302, P. Penn 49.11, and P. Turin 2097+2105 leads to a new interpretation on the political events at Thebes during the Renaissance Era. Ramesses XI played a major role in the restoration of order with the help of Libyan troops. He decreed the Renaissance Era with the will of restoring control in the South. Nesamun, at the death of his brother Amenhotep, was compelled to return to his former position of second prophet of Amun while that of first prophet was left vacant for at least two years. After year 4 or 5 of the Renaissance Era, Piankh, who arrived at Thebes with the king, progressively installed a system of power which will prevail throughout the 21st Dynasty. In this new structure a military family of probable Libyan background occupied all the Theban secular and religious functions while maintaining a fictitious allegiance to the northern king.

Many of the faults of this book may be intuited from the title. The author too often writes as if there is a singular entity called “the Chinese Character” whose cornerstone are “the Chinese Face Practices.” Though claiming that his use of a “social constructionist” approach allows him to rise above ahistorical and orientalist approaches, the author rarely does so. For example, his history of the Chinese face practices consists of ten pages that cover the Shang dynasty to the present.

In the 21st century, the scientific study of the history of colonial policy pursued by the great empires on the basis of modern approaches has not lost its relevance. Their policies in different regions have led to political, economic and cultural changes as well as conflicts of interest. In particular, in the XVIII century in Central Asia there was a sharp political process. Not only will there be military conflicts in the region, but the political interests of several major empires will clash in the region. In particular, the growing economic potential of the Russian Empire increased its aspirations for East Turkestan, and on the other hand, after the Manchu dynasty took the Chinese throne, their bold move to the region aggravated the political situation. The short-lived occupation of Mongolia, Tibet, Lobnor, and the present-day Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by the Qing Empire resulted in the abolition of the centuries-old statehood of the peoples of Central Asia. In this sense, the occupation of East Turkestan by the Manchus was the responsibility of the Russian Empire and the Chinese administration.

This article discusses the cult of the tutelary spirits (th&#224;nh ho&#224;ng) in Vietnam. These are spirits venerated as patrons of villages, rural communities and urban areas in Vietnam are expected to protect area against calamities, disasters, epidemics, wars, etc. These are mythical, historical and pseudo-historical characters who have merits to the area and its inhabitants. The veneration of them is rooted in the traditional culture. It is an integral part of the Vietnamese folk religion (t&#237;n ng&#432;&#7905;ng d&#226;n gian Vi&#7879;t Nam). The spirits of the area are included in the pantheon of numerous deities and spirits (th&#7847;n) worshipped by the Vietnamese nowadays despite the anti-religious policy of the Communist Party of Vietnam (in the second half of the 20th century). The article describes reconstruction of the history of the cult and a description of its current state. The milestones of its development are considered: the formation of the cult during the Late L&#234; dynasty (1428–1788), development trends during the Nguy&#7877;n dynasty (1802–1945), which included the period of colonization of Vietnam by the French, the decline of the cult in the second half of the 20th century in socialist Vietnam, the revival of the cult and the entire religious system with the beginning of economic reforms and the democratization of public life in the 1980-90s, and finally, the modern flourishing of the cult and the features of its adaptation to modern conditions. The definition of the historical forms of the cult allows to identify the dynamics in its development and describe the inevitable transformations of the cult in the 21st century, which often are not realized by the bearers of culture, who perceive the cult as an ancient unchanging tradition. The cult has not previously been studied by Soviet and Russian orientalists. I propose the first systematic description of the history of the cult and an assessment of its current state.

2020 marked the 200th anniversary of the publication of the second part of Robert Morrison’s A Dictionary of the Chinese Language which has been widely recognized as the first Chinese–English (hereinafter abbreviated to C–E) dictionary and signaled the beginning of C–E lexicography. From the late Qing Dynasty to the present, literally several hundred C–E dictionaries, small or large, have been compiled, though the number of noteworthy ones is rather limited. Nevertheless, research into C–E lexicography has gradually developed into a distinct field of study as witnessed by thousands of academic papers and over a dozen books devoted to its research. A search of (Chinese–English dictionary) as the keyword in CNKI, a database of journal articles, theses, and dissertations written in the Chinese language, came up with 8,365 results. Most of the discussions center round topics such as dictionary criticism, history of dictionary-making, theoretical construction, and case studies. The history of bilingual lexicography in China, for instance, was under-researched in the past as a result of the lack of original copies of early dictionaries, which, however, has been improved thanks to the reprinting and wide availability of such dictionaries since the beginning of the 21st century. Chinese Lexicography: A History from 1046 BC to AD 1911 (Heming Yong et al., 2008), for instance, devoted only a few pages to the earliest history of C–E lexicography which spans more than 70 years. But now dozens of academic papers and even several books (e.g. Yang, 2012; Gao, 2014) have been written about the early bilingual dictionary-makers and their lexicographical works, presenting a clear picture of the evolution of C–E lexicography. Today more than two decades into the 21st century, the C–E lexicography scene is not as crowded as its English–Chinese counterpart as there are only a few major players. The paper aims to present a brief history of C–E lexicography with a focus on lexicographical tradition and creativity, elaborate on the deficiencies or problems found within the major C–E dictionaries, and finally discuss the future directions of C–E lexicography.

This work will study the outlooks on the mandate of Heaven in pre-Qin period, as one of philosophical studies on the relations between Heaven & Human beings, the core of ancient thoughts in East Asian traditional history & culture. The 1st chap. is introduction, it will mention the theories on concepts of Heaven and a thesis that the Human models the Heaven as a leading study. The 2nd chap. will defy some definitions of the mandate of Heaven, the road(way) of Heaven, and Heaven’s vengeance as a punishment to disobedience against Heaven’s Will. The 3rd chap. will introduce main theories on three step developments of the outlooks on the mandate of Heaven in pre-Qin period mainly concerning works in the continent of China, which show an epoch-making change before and after reform & opening of socialist market economy. To the end of 20th century, researches in the continent of China were faithful (devoted) to historical materialism of Marxism and disparage the religions & faiths as a political tool & a narcotic against the people’s will. But from the beginning of 21st century, researches approve the positive functions of religions in the human history & culture, so appreciate developments of the outlooks on the mandate of Heaven in pre-Qin period. Then this work will try the author’s own analysis & criticism based on classical literatures. ｢on｣; (documen-tary) records; documents The 4th chap. is the outlook on the mandate of Heaven and the thought on disasters from Heaven in Yin(殷) dynasty. The 5th chap. is the outlook on the mandate of Heaven and the thought on disasters from Heaven in West-Zhou(西周) dynasty. The 6th chap. will survey and comment on the changes of the outlook on the mandate of Heaven in Spring & Autumn(Chun-Qiu) period and Warring States period. Lastly the 7th chap. will come up with an the author’s own idea of the probability of the historical, philosophical, and universal(or cosmic) origin of the outlook on the mandate of Heaven. The 8th chap. is a brief conclusion. The author of this work anticipate that some able students may have interest in this subject and accomplish further more deepening inquiry.

Thomas Christiansen: The Engineer and the Egyptian Mummies: A Scoop from the 1910s The article contains a wealth of new and valuable information on important ancient Egyptian objects that are today housed and on display in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen and the Museum of Ancient Art (Antikmuseet) in Aarhus. Using Mediestream – a service provided by the Royal Library that allows you to access and search more than 35 million digitised Danish newspaper pages – it tells the curious story of a Danish engineer, Jacob Kjeldsen (1873‑1914), and three ancient Egyptian mummiesand coffins from the 21st Dynasty (c. 1070‑950 BCE). From the study of these newspapers it emerges that, during a trip to Egypt in 1910, Kjeldsen had acquired three mummies and coffins in Luxor from Mohammed Abd er-Rasul – a son of the infamous antiquities dealer Mohammed Ahmed Abd er-Rasul – who had discovered them in a tomb in Deir el-Bahari. Shortly after Kjeldsen’s return to Copenhagen, descriptions of the objects began to circulate in the press, and ValdemarSchmidt (1836‑1925), the first Danish Egyptologist, acquired the coffin and mummy of a priest of Amun by the name of Khonshotep for the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (inv. ÆIN 1069). During the autumn of the same year, Kjeldsen tried to sell his two remaining mummies, both female priestesses of Amun, and their coffins to the Museum of Aarhus (Aarhus Museum), but without success. Instead, they were impounded and auctioned off by the town magistrate in 1912, because Kjeldsen owed money to a patent office inCopenhagen. This is the last reference to the two mummies in the newspapers, until one of them cropped up out of the blue in Aarhus. In 1950 the newspapers reported that an industrialist, Ivan Lystager (1904‑1985), had donated an Egyptian mummy and coffin to the newly founded Museum of Ancient Art in Aarhus. The name, Taubasti, and titles, ‘Lady of the House’ and ‘Chantress of Amun’, inscribed on the coffin (inv. O 303) leave no room for doubt that it and the accompanying mummy once belonged to Kjeldsen. A letter in the archives of the museum informs us that Lystager had bought them in an antiquities shop in Copenhagen in 1939. The fate of Kjeldsen’s last mummy and coffin and their current whereabouts are still unknown. From the newspapers it can be deduced that the coffin stems from the same period (the 21st Dynasty) and was made for a woman, who also bore the titles ‘Lady of the House’ and ‘Chantress of Amun’, and probably answered to the name of Tamit. Because of onomastics and the fact that the three coffins all derive from the same period and were made for members of clergy of Amun in Thebes, it is likely that Mohammed Abd er-Rasul found the three mummies interred together in an unknown family tomb in Deir el-Bahari in 1910. The article is therefore supplemented with an appendix, which provides a catalogue of the names and titles inscribed in hieroglyphs on the two coffins in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and the Museum of Ancient Art. Hopefully, it can assist researchers in the search for the now lost coffin and mummy (and potentially other grave goods from the same tomb) in state and private ancient Egyptian collections around the world.

Dear readers, We are pleased to present to you Issue 4, 2022, of the scientific and analytical journal Burganov House. The Space of Culture. Upon the recommendation of the Expert Council of the Higher Attestation Commission, the journal is included in the List of Leading Peer-reviewed Scientific Journals and Publications in which the main scientific results of theses for the academic degrees of doctor and candidate of science must be published. The journal publishes scientific articles by leading specialists in various humanitarian fields, doctoral students, and graduate students. Research areas concern topical problems in multiple areas of culture, art, philology, and linguistics. This versatility of the review reveals the main specificity of the journal, which represents the current state of the cultural space. The journal opens with articles by Chinese researchers devoted to the art of Ancient China. In the article "The Heaven-and-Man Oneness Concept and the Style of Funerary Plastic Art During the Han Dynasty", Xiang Wu analyses the idea of heaven-and-man oneness, which was important for the art of this period. It was based on the Confucian view, the rituals of a strict social hierarchy and Taoist metaphysics. Qiu Mubing’s scientific research topic is “Objects of the Funerary Cult in the Han Dynasty. Gold and Silver Items. Aesthetics of Gold and Silver in the Han Dynasty”. Examining archaeological sources, the author concludes the high achievements of Chinese artisans during the Han Dynasty on examples of works of arts and crafts made of precious metals. In the article “Aesthetics of the Song Dynasty. The Origins of the New Style of Furniture Design in China", N.Kazakova and Qiu Qi analyse the vector of development of the furniture industry through the prism of the industrial design evolution. The reasons for the emergence of the New style in furniture design in China are studied. They are analysed in detail against the background of changing economic, political and cultural realities. The issues of the influence of Ancient China aesthetics on the formation and development of a new language in furniture design are touched upon. In the article "Problems of Colour Harmonisation of Composition and Development of Associative and Imaginative Thinking in the Environmental Design", N.Bogatova reveals the potential of colouristic graphic two-dimensional modelling in artistic and imaginative thematic compositions. On the example of the compositional laws of colouristics, the author traces the path of ascent from the concrete to the abstract, pictorial to the expressive, and emotional to the figurative. P.Dobrolyubov presents the text “Sculptor Alexander Matveev’s School and His Students”, which includes many archival documents and photographs. The author describes the process of learning from teacher and sculptor A.Matveev, names the main dates in his creative work, reveals the details of the sculptural craft, talks about the variety of moves in the master’s plasticity, analyses the methods and principles of work in sculpture, shows the attitude of students to their teacher, and highlights the entire course of historical milestones in the sculptor’s creative biography. In the article "The Golden Age of PRC History Painting (1949–1966): Origins, Searches, Achievements”, K.Gavrilin and L.Xiaonan consider the issues of the formation of the modern Chinese art school. Its foundation was laid in the framework of the creative and educational dialogue between China and the Soviet Union at the beginning of the second half of the 20th century. The authors believe that the characteristic features of the golden age of Chinese historical painting were, on the one hand, the popularisation of painting as an art form and, on the other hand, the predominance of the dominant position of realism over the traditional styles of Chinese painting. It is noted that during this period, two main plots became widespread: scenes of socialist construction and historical events of the revolution. S.Zubarev considers theoretical and practical aspects of the activities of military musicians in the article "Academic Music in the Practice of Russian Military Bands of the 19th - early 21st Centuries". In the process of studying military bands, special attention is paid to the study of the features of military band service development in the 19th and 20th centuries. Factors revealing the role of Russian composers in the history of military musical culture are highlighted, and several works of academic music performed by military bands are analysed. In conclusion, the author notes that in the national culture, unique conditions for the development of military musicians’ arranging activity were created. They made it possible to preserve the traditions of the military band service and form the value principles of academic art. The publication is addressed to professionals specialising in the theory and practice of the fine arts and philology and all those interested in the arts and culture.

The modern world corporate management and corporate governance is dominated by the theories and practices of American Management System, Japanese Management System and European Management System. Japanese Management techniques and practices are the champion concepts for any organization to follow in the context of quality management, production efficiency management, market competition management and above all human capital management etc. Japanese have established the dynamics of human capital and knowledge management as the best practices for any organization. The soundness of Japanese Management is derived from its treasure through revival of the Samurai System and traditional knowledge banks. European and American Management System are known for their contributions in the industrialization process of the world in the 19th and 20th century in the pre and post colonialism era. Indian oriental texts, gospels, practices, concepts, doctrines and arguments through logic are the sources of many Japanese management philosophies. India is a store house of pragmatic management and flawless applications in its ancient history phases. Oriental management texts and concepts need revival and rediscovery of the principles and system of applied management for use in the modern corporate world. Indian oriental system can and will create a system of its own as (IMS) Indian Management System like the Japanese. Proved and applied management of Chanakya during the Maurya Dynasty is historically evident as the best ever management practices India followed. Arthasastra and Chanakya Sutras are the two gospels of Indian management, enough to establish IMS the Indian management system for the modern corporate world of 21st century. These gospels applications are examined in the contemporary context for corporate use.

The Chinese historical chronicle “The Annals of the Three kingdoms” relates the last years of Han dynasty before the country fell into chaos. According to the Chronicle, a frontier general Dong Zhuo marched with his troops to the capital and took control over the boy emperor. He wanted to get rid of his rival general Ding Yuan, so he bribed his officers with gifts and promises. A young junior officer Lü Bu killed general Ding and presented his head to Dong Zhuo. The daring and unscrupulous officer enjoyed the favours of the usurper, he became his adopted son and was placed at the head of cavalry. To his misfortune, Dong Zhuo’s uncontrolled temper threatened the very life of his closest henchmen. Besides, Lü Bu’s regiments didn’t enjoy benefits they expected and that annoyed the soldiers and their new commander. Finally, Lü Bu started a secret affair with a court lady and was afraid to be exposed. So, when minister Wang Yun asked him to kill the tyrant, Lü Bu agreed. Following Wan Yun’s plan, he killed Dong Zhuo with his own hands. This story was masterfully re-worked in Luo Guangzhong’s great epic “The Three Kingdoms”. The writer dramatized the plot and turned the nameless court lady into a renowned beauty Diao Chan who plays the key role in the conspiracy. According to the novel, Diao Chan seduced Lü Bu and later married Dong Zhuo to set the tyrant and his powerful bodyguard against each other. This scheme was called “The Chain Scheme”, for the idea was to break the chain between the male characters with the help of female charms. The Chain Scheme is the most stylistically strong and textually rich episode; in the course of Chinese history it served as a plot to masterful works of fiction and in 20th-21st centuries got numerous TV adaptations. In the present paper I analyse artistic devices and narrative tropes in literature versions of Chain Scheme plot, paying attention to the visual images of the characters, especially their bodily representations as well as the psychological interpretations of their actions. In the Part II of the work I hope to do the same for the screen versions of the Chain Scheme story.

This paper is actually a summary of the authors series of academic research since 1970s. It focuses on interconnectivity of civilizations with a focus on major civilizations and their impact on regional development. It is very clear that in comparison to Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and modern Western Civilizations, the Imperial China and its traditional civilizations did not play a profound role outside China as judged by the Kublai Khan and Zheng Hes naval expeditions to East Asia and Indian Ocean areas. Apparently, she did not make good use of the “f-shaped” maritime road either. This “civilization-inabsentia” was probably due to traditional Chinas economy and culture which were built on unstable agricultural bases; thus conditioning its Han Chinese elites had its upper structure that evolved around paternalism and a feudal family system. Its inward-looking approach prohibited them from going outside to impose its cultural system so as to colonize the local populations along the “f-shaped maritime and land Silk Roads”. Her refusal to pursue an open policy inhibited formal international trades, thus giving the British East India Company a good excuse to conduct a so-called “Trade War” against the Qing Dynasty; and the Opium War had caused a total collapse of the Chinese Empire in 1830s. On the contrary, the Westerners have been using the “f-strategy” to impose on a broken China westernization in her search of model of modernizations. Here, the author has been trying to make good use of an “f-shaped” theory and methodology to interpret and understand Chinas historical, contemporary and future development processes. The f : fabric has proved to be an inspiring and useful model to configure Chinas shuttles between the so-called “#1.0: Pre-Western Culture” (before 1500 AD) and the “#2.0: Western Supremacy Culture” (1500–1990) and from here to move ahead for its “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” after entering the 21st century; finally, she could be a pioneer in the pursuit of a “#3.0: Post-Western and Non-Western World”. The tentative conclusion of the paper is that this newly introduced f : BRI-OBOR can be taken as a prelude to the future civilizations which are going to satisfy the human needs so as to promote the so-called “human pentagonal system” much more effectively.

El siglo XXI será el siglo más caluroso en miles de años, y el paisaje social del mundo es volcánico. La política global y las relaciones sociales estarán dominadas por dos temas:la crisis climática y la rivalidad entre Estados Unidos y China.Este artículo analiza los efectos dela «pandemia de desigualdad»de Covid-19; efectos que han debilitadoalgunas fuerzas y han fortalecidootras. También profundizaenlos contextos y perspecti-vas de la crisis climática y en el conflicto entre las dos superpotencias.Lasrespuestasgubernamentalesa la pandemia pusieron fin al régimen global del neoliberalismo y la globalización de mercado sin fisuras, acontecimientossucedidos por el conflicto geopolítico y la movilización interna de las grandes potencias.Es probable que las pro-fundas transformaciones tecnológicas y sociales necesarias para hacer frente a la crisis climática sigan en manos de la política,como de costumbre, con resultados confusospero difícilmente apocalípticos.El contexto histórico del conflicto entre Estados Unidos y China suponeel principio del fin de medio milenio de dominación del mundo Occidental, por una dinastía de estados desde Portugal hasta Estados Unidos.El ascenso de China como superpotencia económica y tecnológica abre una tercera fase del declive del imperio Occidental, después dela descolonización y el retroceso de los intentos fallidos de occi-dentalizar el mundo no Occidental tras la victoria de la Guerra Fría.El fin del imperio Occidental probablemente llegará en este siglo, salvo que unaguerra nuclearmodifique el curso de los acontecimientos de forma abrupta; en cualquier caso, las previsiones de futuro constituyen siempreuna pregunta abierta. The 21st century will be the hottest century in thousands of years, and the world’s social landscape is volcanic. Global politics and social relations will be dominated by two issues, the climate crisis and the US-China rivalry. This paper analyses their passage through the «inequality pandemic» of Covid-19, weakening some pertinent forces and strengthened others, and further the contexts and prospects of the climate crisis and the US-China conflict. Governmental response to the pandemic terminated the global regime of neoliberalism and untrammelled market globalization, which have been succeeded by geopolitical conflict and great power domestic mobilization. The profound technological and social transformations needed to meet the climate crisis are likely to remain in the hands of politics as usual, with messy but hardly apocalyptic results. The historical context of the US-China conflict is the half millennium of Western world domination, by a dynasty of states from Portugal to USA. The rise of China as an economic and technological superpower opens a third phase of the decline of the Western empire, after decolonization and the blowback from the failed attempts to westernize the non-Western world after the Cold War victory. The end of the Western empire will probably come in this century –short of nuclear war–, but what will succeed it is an open question.

In spite of an array of effective antibiotics, tuberculosis is still very common in developing countries where overcrowding, malnutrition and poor hygienic conditions prevail. Over the past 30 years associated HIV infection has worsened the situation by increasing the infection rate and mortality of tuberculosis. Of those diseases caused by a single organism only HIV causes more deaths internationally than tuberculosis. The tubercle bacillus probably first infected man in Neolithic times, and then via infected cattle, but the causative Mycobacteriacea have been in existence for 300 million years. Droplet infection is the most common way of acquiring tuberculosis, although ingestion (e.g. of infected cows’ milk) may occur. Tuberculosis probably originated in Africa. The earliest path gnomonic evidence of human tuberculosis in man was found in osteo-archaeological findings of bone tuberculosis (Pott’s disease of the spine) in the skeleton of anEgyptian priest from the 21st Dynasty (approximately 1 000 BC). Suggestive but not conclusiveevidence of tuberculotic lesions had been found in even earlier skeletons from Egypt and Europe. Medical hieroglyphics from ancient Egypt are silent on the disease, which could be tuberculosis,as do early Indian and Chinese writings. The Old Testament refers to the disease schachapeth, translated as phthisis in the Greek Septuagint. Although the Bible is not specific about this condition, tuberculosis is still called schachapeth in modern Hebrew. In pre-Hippocratic Greece Homer did not mention phthisis, a word meaning non-specific wasting of the body. However. Alexander of Tralles (6th century BC) seemed to narrow the concept down to a specific disease, and in the Hippocratic Corpus (5th-4th centuries BC) phthisis can be recognised as tuberculosis. It was predominantly a respiratory disease commonly seen and considered to be caused by an imbalance of bodily humours. It was commonest in autumn, winter and spring, tended to affect groups of people living close together, and young people in particular. Pregnancy exacerbated phthisis which was characterised by a chronic cough (worse at night), prominent sputum, often blood streaked and presumably arising from necrotic lung tissue. The face was typically flushed with sunken cheeks, sharp nose and very bright eyes. There was atrophy of all muscles with prominent (“winged”) shoulder blades, fever and perspiration often associated with shivering. Symptoms were described which would fit in with complicating lung abscess and empyema. Hippocrates also mentions disease entities which would fit in with extra-pulmonary tuberculosis, like Pott’s disease of the spine and cervical lymphadenopathy (scrofula), although he did not associate this with phthisis. Minimal specific therapy was prescribed. Subsequent writers in the Hellenistic and Roman eras added little to the classic Hippocratic clinical picture of phthisis, but Celsus (1st century AD) and Galen (2nd century) first suggested that it was a contagious condition. From Themison (1st century BC) onwards, therapeutic regimes became more drastic with the addition of inter alia strict dietary regimes, purges, enemas and venesection. Celsus suggested long sea voyages with ample relaxation and a change of climate. Aretaeus (1st century AD) stressed the importance of not exacerbating the suffering of people with chronic disease by imposing aggressive therapy. Except for the introduction of more drastic therapy the concept of phthisis (tuberculosis) had thus not progressed materially in the course of the millennium between Hippocrates and the end of the Roman era – and it would indeed remain virtually static for the next 1 000 years up to the Renaissance. There is, however, some evidence that the incidence of tuberculosis decreased during the major migration of nations which characterised the late Roman Empire.

The mummy of King Amenhotep I (18th Dynasty c.1525–1504 BC) was reburied by the 21st Dynasty priests at Deir el-Bahari Royal Cache. In 1881 the mummy was found fully wrapped and was one of few royal mummies that have not been unwrapped in modern times. We hypothesized that non-invasive digital unwrapping using CT would provide insights on the physical appearance, health, cause of death, and mummification style of the mummy of King Amenhotep I. We examined the mummy with CT and generated two- and three-dimensional images for the head mask, bandages, and the virtually unwrapped mummy. CT enabled the visualization of the face of Amenhotep I who died around the age of 35 years. The teeth had minimal attrition. There was no CT evidence of pathological changes or cause of death. The body has been eviscerated via a vertical left flank incision. The heart is seen in the left hemithorax with an overlying amulet. The brain has not been removed. The mummy has 30 amulets/jewelry pieces including a beaded metallic (likely gold) girdle. The mummy suffered from multiple postmortem injuries likely inflicted by tomb robbers that have been likely treated by 21st Dynasty embalmers. These included fixing the detached head and neck to the body with a resin-treated linen band; covering a defect in the anterior abdominal wall with a band and placing two amulets beneath; placement of the detached left upper limb beside the body and wrapping it to the body. The transversely oriented right forearm is individually wrapped, likely representing the original 18th Dynasty mummification and considered the first known New Kingdom mummy with crossed arms at the chest. The head mask is made of cartonnage and has inlaid stone eyes. The digital unwrapping of the mummy of Amenhotep I using CT sets a unique opportunity to reveal the physical features of the King non-invasively, understand the mummification style early in the 18th Dynasty, and the reburial intervention style by 21st Dynasty embalmers. This study may make us gain confidence in the goodwill of the reburial project of the Royal mummies by the 21st dynasty priests.

Confucianism is an important theoretical support of the Chinese national spirit. It started with the Confucian school founded by Confucius. After the continuous enrichment and creation of Confucianism, it gradually formed an important guiding ideology covering people, people, society, people and nature, which had a far-reaching impact on politics, economy, literature, social life, and other fields. In the 1980s, the stable social environment brought by the reform and opening up provided a good external condition for developing dulcimer art in China. The increasing communication between Chinese and western cultures and ideas has brought new ideas for developing dulcimer art in China. Yangqin, in the form of "singing, dancing and telling stories,” shows the living state and ideal pursuit of literati in the Yuan Dynasty by shaping specific events and characters, thus being regarded as a "living fossil" that reflects the social outlook of the Yuan Dynasty. There is no doubt that the culture of Chinese dulcimer is based on Chinese traditional culture. It has obvious characteristics of the cultural orientation of Confucianism and Taoism and is also the result of the interaction between Chinese and Western cultural trends. This cultural orientation will involve the future development trend of Chinese dulcimer culture and will profoundly impact Chinese dulcimer culture in the 21st century.

Abstract Although many studies have linked complex social processes with climate change, few have examined the connections between changes in environmental factors, resources, or energy and the evolution of civilizations on the Tibetan Plateau. The Chiefdom of Lijiang was a powerful chiefdom located on the eastern Tibetan Plateau during the Ming Dynasty; it began expanding after the 1460s. Although many studies have analyzed the political and economic motivations responsible for this expansion, no high-resolution climate records representing this period of the Chiefdom of Lijiang were available until now. Here, we obtain a 621-year reconstruction of the April-July normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values derived from moisture-sensitive tree rings from the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Our NDVI reconstruction accounts for 40.4% of the variability in instrumentally measured NDVI values and can effectively represent the historical changes in regional vegetation productivity that occurred on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. In combination with a reconstruction of summer temperatures on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, these results reveal that the regional climate was relatively warm and persistently wet during the period 1466-1630. This period was characterized by long periods of above-mean vegetation productivity on the eastern Tibetan Plateau that coincided with the expansion of the Chiefdom of Lijiang. We therefore propose that the NDVI anomaly and associated favourable political environment may affected the expansion of the Chiefdom of Lijiang. Instrumental climate data and tree rings also reveal that the early 21st-century drought on the eastern Tibetan Plateau was the hottest drought recorded over the past six centuries, in accordance with projections of warming over the Tibetan Plateau. Future climate warming may lead to the occurrence of similar droughts, with potentially severe consequences for modern Asia.

India and Kazakhstan share deep-rooted historical relations since millennia. The spread of Buddhism to Central Asia from India and Islam to India through Babur – the founder of the Mughal dynasty – vividly reflects at least 2500 years old cultural and civilizational ties with both the regions, yet India has been perceived in Kazakhstan as a latecomer and disinterested power. While many attribute New Delhi’s lack of political willpower and economic muscle as reasons for its consistent failure in the energy sector of Kazakhstan since 1990s, this article after thorough examination holds New Delhi’s diffident policy accountable for this. Although, at the beginning of the 21st century, the UPA government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh had tried to come out of that slumber through the initiation of ‘Connect Central Asia Policy’ yet a lack of concerted effort has derailed the renewed process. However, with Modi in New Delhi as the Prime Minister of India has shown keen interests and passionate desire to tie up with the region through commercial and strategic opportunities especially with Kazakhstan in energy sector yet both the countries need a massive overhaul in their relationship to transform the short-sighted association into a broad-based strategic engagement focussing on energy cooperation. This article uncovers the irritants, misplaced imaginations and wrong assumptions that deny India a foothold in the energy hub of Kazakhstan. It therefore argues for a paradigm shift in India’s Central Asia policy which New Delhi so far has been ignoring and strongly urges India to take Russia on board while dealing with Kazakhstan.

Статья посвящена реконструкции особенностей творческого мировоззрения художника и книжного графика Владимира Глуховцева. Публикуемые материалы созданы ученым и поэтом Аркадием Слуцким, который был близким другом художника на протяжении тридцати лет. Автором использован историко-биографический метод, при этом материалами, помимо авторских воспоминаний, послужили произведения классиков русской литературы. Представленные микросюжеты в постмодернистском ключе раскрывают различные события и особенности творческой биографии художника. Эстетические поиски Глуховцева как книжного графика были обращены кструктуре книги. Своей главной задачей он видел не интерпретацию литературных образов, а организацию книжного пространства и читательского восприятия текста. Начав свой творческий путь как продолжатель традиций русской графики, В.А.Глуховцев со временем выработал собственный подход к художественному творчеству, при этом сумев сохранить постоянную и живую связь с академической традицией.The article is devoted to the reconstruction of the biography and features of the creative worldview of Vladimir Glukhovtsev, an artist and book illustrator. The published materials were created by the scholar and poet Arkady Slutsky, who had been a close friend of the artist for thirty years. The methodological basis of the publication was the historical-biographical method, which allows revealing the features of the historical process through the analysis of various situations and micro-plots that arise in human life. Slutskys memoirs that he wrote over the last years of his life constituted the main factual outline of this article. The materials of the article were works of Russian and foreign philosophers and theorists of fine art, works of the classics of Russian literature. Consistently presented micro-plots (about the Glukhovtsev dynasty and the archive of Alexander Glukhovtsev (the artists father), about working on illustrations for Alice in Wonderland, Traveling with Pushkin, Traveling to Prague) reveal various features and events of the artists creative biography in a postmodern way. The research focuses on Glukhovtsevs experiments in the field of book design, on his pedagogical activity and inner imaginative world. Slutsky describes and analyzes Glukhovtsevs cultural environment in the context of the intellectual demands of Russian society at the turn of the 21st century, rich in turbulent sociopolitical events. The concept of factual presentation of the material is supplemented by oral history, the artists live speech, reproduced textologically from the phonograms of conversations with Glukhovtsev that Slutsky transcribed. A valuable part of the content of the article is the so-called philosophical and lyrical digressions, an attempt to comprehend everything that happened to the author and the character in space and time. The author concludes that the aesthetic searches of Glukhovtsev as a book graphic artist were focused on the structure of a book. The main task of the artist was the organization of the book space and the reading perception of the text rather than the interpretation of literary images. The artist sought to focus the readers attention in a special way, and for this he masterfully used a set of techniques for designing printing elements in his own authorial style. Having begun his career as a successor of the traditions laid down by the luminaries of the Russian graphics of the 20th century (Vladimir Favorsky, Andrey Goncharov, Mikhail Kupriyanov), Glukhovtsev eventually developed his own approach to artistic creativity, while being able to maintain a constant and lively connection with the academic tradition.

I attempt to evaluate rebel discourse(s), as opposed to mainstream, dominant discourse, on gender as demonstrated by marriage practices in Chinese societies, both contemporary and historical, vis-à-vis general Western, marriage practices. This is done discursive-analytically by way of cross-cultural analysis as methodology. Contributions on the theory of discourse are considered and applied. In this contribution, several rebel discourses on marriage during both post-Maoist Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) and former dynastic periods, are found to be emancipatory (with women refusing to partake in patriarchal constructs such as marriage) and progressive (with women having several sexual partners simultaneously). The hope is expressed that the profound insights unearthed from these rebel discourse(s) might be beneficial for Western feminisms. To this end, I utilise Zwart’s notion of cultural “mixing” and Derrida’s idea of the “sliding signifier” before making recommendations for improved public policy formulation. If the 21st century is indeed the Chinese century, such investigations are crucial

The curtain rose. The howling of desert wind filled the performance hall in the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Into the center stage, where a scenic construction of a mountain cliff and a desert landscape was dimly lit, entered the character of the Daoist priest Wang Yuanlu (1849–1931), performed by Chen Yizong. Dressed in a worn and dusty outfit of dark blue cotton, characteristic of Daoist priests, Wang began to sweep the floor. After a few moments, he discovered a hidden chambre sealed inside one of the rock sanctuaries carved into the cliff.Signaled by the quick, crystalline, stirring wave of sound from the chimes, a melodious Chinese ocarina solo joined in slowly from the background. Astonished by thousands of Buddhist sūtra scrolls, wall paintings, and sculptures he had just accidentally discovered in the caves, Priest Wang set his broom aside and began to examine these treasures. Dawn had not yet arrived, and the desert sky was pitch-black. Priest Wang held his oil lamp high, strode rhythmically in excitement, sat crossed-legged in a meditative pose, and unfolded a scroll. The sound of the ocarina became fuller and richer and the texture of the music more complex, as several other instruments joined in.Below is the opening scene of the award-winning, theatrical dance-drama Dunhuang, My Dreamland, created by China’s state-sponsored Lanzhou Song and Dance Theatre in 2000. Figure 1a: Poster Side A of Dunhuang, My Dreamland Figure 1b: Poster Side B of Dunhuang, My DreamlandThe scene locates the dance-drama in the rock sanctuaries that today are known as the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, housing Buddhist art accumulated over a period of a thousand years, one of the best well-known UNESCO heritages on the Silk Road. Historically a frontier metropolis, Dunhuang was a strategic site along the Silk Road in northwestern China, a crossroads of trade, and a locus for religious, cultural, and intellectual influences since the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.). Travellers, especially Buddhist monks from India and central Asia, passing through Dunhuang on their way to Chang’an (present day Xi’an), China’s ancient capital, would stop to meditate in the Mogao Caves and consult manuscripts in the monastery's library. At the same time, Chinese pilgrims would travel by foot from China through central Asia to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, playing a key role in the exchanges between ancient China and the outside world. Travellers from China would stop to acquire provisions at Dunhuang before crossing the Gobi Desert to continue on their long journey abroad. Figure 2: Dunhuang Mogao CavesThis article approaches the idea of “abroad” by examining the present-day imagination of journeys along the Silk Road—specifically, staged performances of the various Silk Road journey-themed dance-dramas sponsored by the Chinese state for enhancing its cultural and foreign policies since the 1970s (Kuang).As ethnomusicologists have demonstrated, musicians, choreographers, and playwrights often utilise historical materials in their performances to construct connections between the past and the present (Bohlman; Herzfeld; Lam; Rees; Shelemay; Tuohy; Wade; Yung: Rawski; Watson). The ancient Silk Road, which linked the Mediterranean coast with central China and beyond, via oasis towns such as Samarkand, has long been associated with the concept of “journeying abroad.” Journeys to distant, foreign lands and encounters of unknown, mysterious cultures along the Silk Road have been documented in historical records, such as A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms (Faxian) and The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (Xuanzang), and illustrated in classical literature, such as The Travels of Marco Polo (Polo) and the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West (Wu). These journeys—coming and going from multiple directions and to different destinations—have inspired contemporary staged performance for audiences around the globe.Home and Abroad: Dunhuang and the Silk RoadDunhuang, My Dreamland (2000), the contemporary dance-drama, staged the journey of a young pilgrim painter travelling from Chang’an to a land of the unfamiliar and beyond borders, in search for the arts that have inspired him. Figure 3: A scene from Dunhuang, My Dreamland showing the young pilgrim painter in the Gobi Desert on the ancient Silk RoadFar from his home, he ended his journey in Dunhuang, historically considered the northwestern periphery of China, well beyond Yangguan and Yumenguan, the bordering passes that separate China and foreign lands. Later scenes in Dunhuang, My Dreamland, portrayed through multiethnic music and dances, the dynamic interactions among merchants, cultural and religious envoys, warriors, and politicians that were making their own journey from abroad to China. The theatrical dance-drama presents a historically inspired, re-imagined vision of both “home” and “abroad” to its audiences as they watch the young painter travel along the Silk Road, across the Gobi Desert, arriving at his own ideal, artistic “homeland”, the Dunhuang Mogao Caves. Since his journey is ultimately a spiritual one, the conceptualisation of travelling “abroad” could also be perceived as “a journey home.”Staged more than four hundred times since it premiered in Beijing in April 2000, Dunhuang, My Dreamland is one of the top ten titles in China’s National Stage Project and one of the most successful theatrical dance-dramas ever produced in China. With revenue of more than thirty million renminbi (RMB), it ranks as the most profitable theatrical dance-drama ever produced in China, with a preproduction cost of six million RMB. The production team receives financial support from China’s Ministry of Culture for its “distinctive ethnic features,” and its “aim to promote traditional Chinese culture,” according to Xu Rong, an official in the Cultural Industry Department of the Ministry. Labeled an outstanding dance-drama of the Chinese nation, it aims to present domestic and international audiences with a vision of China as a historically multifaceted and cosmopolitan nation that has been in close contact with the outside world through the ancient Silk Road. Its production company has been on tour in selected cities throughout China and in countries abroad, including Austria, Spain, and France, literarily making the young pilgrim painter’s “journey along the Silk Road” a new journey abroad, off stage and in reality.Dunhuang, My Dreamland was not the first, nor is it the last, staged performances that portrays the Chinese re-imagination of “journeying abroad” along the ancient Silk Road. It was created as one of many versions of Dunhuang bihua yuewu, a genre of music, dance, and dramatic performances created in the early twentieth century and based primarily on artifacts excavated from the Mogao Caves (Kuang). “The Mogao Caves are the greatest repository of early Chinese art,” states Mimi Gates, who works to increase public awareness of the UNESCO site and raise funds toward its conservation. “Located on the Chinese end of the Silk Road, it also is the place where many cultures of the world intersected with one another, so you have Greek and Roman, Persian and Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese cultures, all interacting. Given the nature of our world today, it is all very relevant” (Pollack). As an expressive art form, this genre has been thriving since the late 1970s contributing to the global imagination of China’s “Silk Road journeys abroad” long before Dunhuang, My Dreamland achieved its domestic and international fame. For instance, in 2004, The Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteśvara—one of the most representative (and well-known) Dunhuang bihua yuewu programs—was staged as a part of the cultural program during the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. This performance, as well as other Dunhuang bihua yuewu dance programs was the perfect embodiment of a foreign religion that arrived in China from abroad and became Sinicized (Kuang). Figure 4: Mural from Dunhuang Mogao Cave No. 45A Brief History of Staging the Silk Road JourneysThe staging of the Silk Road journeys abroad began in the late 1970s. Historically, the Silk Road signifies a multiethnic, cosmopolitan frontier, which underwent incessant conflicts between Chinese sovereigns and nomadic peoples (as well as between other groups), but was strongly imbued with the customs and institutions of central China (Duan, Mair, Shi, Sima). In the twentieth century, when China was no longer an empire, but had become what the early 20th-century reformer Liang Qichao (1873–1929) called “a nation among nations,” the long history of the Silk Road and the colourful, legendary journeys abroad became instrumental in the formation of a modern Chinese nation of unified diversity rooted in an ancient cosmopolitan past. The staged Silk Road theme dance-dramas thus participate in this formation of the Chinese imagination of “nation” and “abroad,” as they aestheticise Chinese history and geography. History and geography—aspects commonly considered constituents of a nation as well as our conceptualisations of “abroad”—are “invariably aestheticized to a certain degree” (Bakhtin 208). Diverse historical and cultural elements from along the Silk Road come together in this performance genre, which can be considered the most representative of various possible stagings of the history and culture of the Silk Road journeys.In 1979, the Chinese state officials in Gansu Province commissioned the benchmark dance-drama Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, a spectacular theatrical dance-drama praising the pure and noble friendship which existed between the peoples of China and other countries in the Tang dynasty (618-907 C.E.). While its plot also revolves around the Dunhuang Caves and the life of a painter, staged at one of the most critical turning points in modern Chinese history, the work as a whole aims to present the state’s intention of re-establishing diplomatic ties with the outside world after the Cultural Revolution. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, it presents a nation’s journey abroad and home. To accomplish this goal, Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road introduces the fictional character Yunus, a wealthy Persian merchant who provides the audiences a vision of the historical figure of Peroz III, the last Sassanian prince, who after the Arab conquest of Iran in 651 C.E., found refuge in China. By incorporating scenes of ethnic and folk dances, the drama then stages the journey of painter Zhang’s daughter Yingniang to Persia (present-day Iran) and later, Yunus’s journey abroad to the Tang dynasty imperial court as the Persian Empire’s envoy.Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, since its debut at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the first of October 1979 and shortly after at the Theatre La Scala in Milan, has been staged in more than twenty countries and districts, including France, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Russia, Latvia, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and recently, in 2013, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.“The Road”: Staging the Journey TodayWithin the contemporary context of global interdependencies, performing arts have been used as strategic devices for social mobilisation and as a means to represent and perform modern national histories and foreign policies (Davis, Rees, Tian, Tuohy, Wong, David Y. H. Wu). The Silk Road has been chosen as the basis for these state-sponsored, extravagantly produced, and internationally staged contemporary dance programs. In 2008, the welcoming ceremony and artistic presentation at the Olympic Games in Beijing featured twenty apsara dancers and a Dunhuang bihua yuewu dancer with long ribbons, whose body was suspended in mid-air on a rectangular LED extension held by hundreds of performers; on the giant LED screen was a depiction of the ancient Silk Road.In March 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping introduced the initiatives “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” during his journeys abroad in Kazakhstan and Indonesia. These initiatives are now referred to as “One Belt, One Road.” The State Council lists in details the policies and implementation plans for this initiative on its official web page, www.gov.cn. In April 2013, the China Institute in New York launched a yearlong celebration, starting with "Dunhuang: Buddhist Art and the Gateway of the Silk Road" with a re-creation of one of the caves and a selection of artifacts from the site. In March 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency, released a new action plan outlining key details of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Xi Jinping has made the program a centrepiece of both his foreign and domestic economic policies. One of the central economic strategies is to promote cultural industry that could enhance trades along the Silk Road.Encouraged by the “One Belt, One Road” policies, in March 2016, The Silk Princess premiered in Xi’an and was staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing the following July. While Dunhuang, My Dreamland and Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road were inspired by the Buddhist art found in Dunhuang, The Silk Princess, based on a story about a princess bringing silk and silkworm-breeding skills to the western regions of China in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) has a different historical origin. The princess's story was portrayed in a woodblock from the Tang Dynasty discovered by Sir Marc Aurel Stein, a British archaeologist during his expedition to Xinjiang (now Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region) in the early 19th century, and in a temple mural discovered during a 2002 Chinese-Japanese expedition in the Dandanwulike region. Figure 5: Poster of The Silk PrincessIn January 2016, the Shannxi Provincial Song and Dance Troupe staged The Silk Road, a new theatrical dance-drama. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, the newly staged dance-drama “centers around the ‘road’ and the deepening relationship merchants and travellers developed with it as they traveled along its course,” said Director Yang Wei during an interview with the author. According to her, the show uses seven archetypes—a traveler, a guard, a messenger, and so on—to present the stories that took place along this historic route. Unbounded by specific space or time, each of these archetypes embodies the foreign-travel experience of a different group of individuals, in a manner that may well be related to the social actors of globalised culture and of transnationalism today. Figure 6: Poster of The Silk RoadConclusionAs seen in Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road and Dunhuang, My Dreamland, staging the processes of Silk Road journeys has become a way of connecting the Chinese imagination of “home” with the Chinese imagination of “abroad.” Staging a nation’s heritage abroad on contemporary stages invites a new imagination of homeland, borders, and transnationalism. Once aestheticised through staged performances, such as that of the Dunhuang bihua yuewu, the historical and topological landscape of Dunhuang becomes a performed narrative, embodying the national heritage.The staging of Silk Road journeys continues, and is being developed into various forms, from theatrical dance-drama to digital exhibitions such as the Smithsonian’s Pure Land: Inside the Mogao Grottes at Dunhuang (Stromberg) and the Getty’s Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road (Sivak and Hood). 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Literature for children and youth is reinterpreted under the influence of the new humanities. For example, prose from the 20th century is subjected to postcolonial read-outs (In Desert and Wilderness [W pustyni i w puszczy] by Henryk Sienkiewicz, the novel cycle by Alfred Szklarski), an eco-critical reading of the works of Tove Jansson, Hugh Lofting and the Polish writers Ludwik Jerzy Kern and Dorota Terakowska is proposed. On the other hand, works based on historical issues create a thematically focused series of publications, genealogical and geanological cycles, which are also fictionalized biographies, separate works referring to the lineage of the Polish state and dynastic linagees, post-memory narratives of a so-called “second generation” about the experience of the Second World War, and works on migration issues. The examples of literary historiography for adolescents mentioned and described in the article, captured in several areas of the formal issues, can be read through the prism of many analytical and interpretative practices, overlapping and incompletemethodologies. Retentional direction of reading, with the horizon of the past inscribed in it, does not exclude a protentional-oriented towards the future and environmental change, motivated by postcolonial revisions of old works, important issues of the 21st century (migration, post-memory), and a non-anthropocentric perception of reality. Their analysis should take into account the “poetics of history”, tropology of the narrative and narrative strategies (which Hayden White wrote about). Moreover, entangling the past with the present of the child-reader (and in fact with their future), seems to be a necessary condition for its interiorization, for recognizing it as one’s own, for admitting it. It always has a multitemporal, multigenerational and multicultural character.