Donald S. Lopez Jr.
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226493169
- eISBN:
- 9780226493220
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226493220.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Gendun Chopel is considered the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century. His life spanned the two defining moments in modern Tibetan history: the entry into Lhasa by British ...
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Gendun Chopel is considered the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century. His life spanned the two defining moments in modern Tibetan history: the entry into Lhasa by British troops in 1904 and by Chinese troops in 1951. Recognized as an incarnate lama while he was a child, Gendun Chopel excelled in the traditional monastic curriculum and went on to become expert in fields as diverse as philosophy, history, linguistics, geography, and tantric Buddhism. Near the end of his life, before he was persecuted and imprisoned by the government of the young Dalai Lama, he would dictate the Adornment for Nagarjuna's Thought, a work on Madhyamaka, or “Middle Way,” philosophy. It sparked controversy immediately upon its publication and continues to do so today. This book presents the first English translation of this major Tibetan Buddhist work, accompanied by a chapter on Gendun Chopel's life liberally interspersed with passages from his writings. The book also provides a commentary that sheds light on the doctrinal context of the Adornment and summarizes its key arguments. Ultimately, it examines the long-standing debate over whether Gendun Chopel in fact is the author of the Adornment; the heated critical response to the work by Tibetan monks of the Dalai Lama's sect; and what the Adornment tells us about Tibetan Buddhism's encounter with modernity.Less
Gendun Chopel is considered the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century. His life spanned the two defining moments in modern Tibetan history: the entry into Lhasa by British troops in 1904 and by Chinese troops in 1951. Recognized as an incarnate lama while he was a child, Gendun Chopel excelled in the traditional monastic curriculum and went on to become expert in fields as diverse as philosophy, history, linguistics, geography, and tantric Buddhism. Near the end of his life, before he was persecuted and imprisoned by the government of the young Dalai Lama, he would dictate the Adornment for Nagarjuna's Thought, a work on Madhyamaka, or “Middle Way,” philosophy. It sparked controversy immediately upon its publication and continues to do so today. This book presents the first English translation of this major Tibetan Buddhist work, accompanied by a chapter on Gendun Chopel's life liberally interspersed with passages from his writings. The book also provides a commentary that sheds light on the doctrinal context of the Adornment and summarizes its key arguments. Ultimately, it examines the long-standing debate over whether Gendun Chopel in fact is the author of the Adornment; the heated critical response to the work by Tibetan monks of the Dalai Lama's sect; and what the Adornment tells us about Tibetan Buddhism's encounter with modernity.
Aileen Ribeiro
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199280728
- eISBN:
- 9780191700149
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199280728.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
This chapter deals with material culture using John Gay's poem Trivia: or, the Art of Walking the Streets of London as a visual source. It shows how clothes were important in ways that were ...
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This chapter deals with material culture using John Gay's poem Trivia: or, the Art of Walking the Streets of London as a visual source. It shows how clothes were important in ways that were particular to the eighteenth century — ways that included the political concept of ‘Englishness’. You might think costume history was a distinct discipline, and what the poem says about clothes requires specialist knowledge to understand it. Indeed it does. But the history of clothes includes their use, and several of the other essays engage with that: how differences in clothing help to construct gender and class; how the cleanliness of clothes involves histories of hygiene, labour, and transport; how investments in adornment and ornament connect people in periods as ostensibly different as eighteenth-century London and ancient Rome, not least through debates about luxury.Less
This chapter deals with material culture using John Gay's poem Trivia: or, the Art of Walking the Streets of London as a visual source. It shows how clothes were important in ways that were particular to the eighteenth century — ways that included the political concept of ‘Englishness’. You might think costume history was a distinct discipline, and what the poem says about clothes requires specialist knowledge to understand it. Indeed it does. But the history of clothes includes their use, and several of the other essays engage with that: how differences in clothing help to construct gender and class; how the cleanliness of clothes involves histories of hygiene, labour, and transport; how investments in adornment and ornament connect people in periods as ostensibly different as eighteenth-century London and ancient Rome, not least through debates about luxury.
Henrik Hogh-Olesen
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190927929
- eISBN:
- 9780190927950
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190927929.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
The Aesthetic Animal answers the ultimate questions of why we adorn ourselves; embellish our things and surroundings; and produce art, music, song, dance, and fiction. Humans are aesthetic animals ...
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The Aesthetic Animal answers the ultimate questions of why we adorn ourselves; embellish our things and surroundings; and produce art, music, song, dance, and fiction. Humans are aesthetic animals that spend vast amounts of time and resources on seemingly useless aesthetic activities. However, nature would not allow a species to waste precious time and effort on activities completely unrelated to the survival, reproduction, and well-being of that species. Consequently, the aesthetic impulse must have some important biological functions. An impulse is a natural, internal behavioral incentive that does not need external reward to exist. A number of observations indicate that the aesthetic impulse is exactly such an inherent part of human nature, and therefore it is a primary impulse in its own right with several important functions. The aesthetic impulse may guide us toward what is biologically good for us and help us choose the right fitness-enhancing items in our surroundings. It is a valid individual fitness indicator, as well as a unifying social group marker, and aesthetically skilled individuals get more mating possibilities, higher status, and more collaborative offers. This book is written in a lively and entertaining tone, and it presents an original and comprehensive synthesis of the empirical field, synthesizing data from archeology, cave art, anthropology, biology, ethology, and experimental and evolutionary psychology and neuro-aesthetics.Less
The Aesthetic Animal answers the ultimate questions of why we adorn ourselves; embellish our things and surroundings; and produce art, music, song, dance, and fiction. Humans are aesthetic animals that spend vast amounts of time and resources on seemingly useless aesthetic activities. However, nature would not allow a species to waste precious time and effort on activities completely unrelated to the survival, reproduction, and well-being of that species. Consequently, the aesthetic impulse must have some important biological functions. An impulse is a natural, internal behavioral incentive that does not need external reward to exist. A number of observations indicate that the aesthetic impulse is exactly such an inherent part of human nature, and therefore it is a primary impulse in its own right with several important functions. The aesthetic impulse may guide us toward what is biologically good for us and help us choose the right fitness-enhancing items in our surroundings. It is a valid individual fitness indicator, as well as a unifying social group marker, and aesthetically skilled individuals get more mating possibilities, higher status, and more collaborative offers. This book is written in a lively and entertaining tone, and it presents an original and comprehensive synthesis of the empirical field, synthesizing data from archeology, cave art, anthropology, biology, ethology, and experimental and evolutionary psychology and neuro-aesthetics.
Geoffrey G. McCafferty and Sharisse D. McCafferty
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033303
- eISBN:
- 9780813039350
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033303.003.0007
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
In agency-based archaeology, a theoretical trend fosters a great interest in how the human body serves as a venue for negotiating and expressing social identity. Archaeological evidence may thus be ...
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In agency-based archaeology, a theoretical trend fosters a great interest in how the human body serves as a venue for negotiating and expressing social identity. Archaeological evidence may thus be used as a means for deducing relevant information when adopting a diachronic point of view. Utilizing this approach proves to be effective in looking at the various aspects of body image from the Early Postclassic Sapoá phase site's material culture found in Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. The human body, according to Erica Reisher and Kathryn Koo's review article, served as an agent and as a symbol since it was recognized as a “conduit of social meaning.” A common symbol set is thus needed to decipher the meanings of a symbolic body. This chapter attempts to examine the various aspects of the “body beautiful” in skeletal remains, dress and adornment, and representational art.Less
In agency-based archaeology, a theoretical trend fosters a great interest in how the human body serves as a venue for negotiating and expressing social identity. Archaeological evidence may thus be used as a means for deducing relevant information when adopting a diachronic point of view. Utilizing this approach proves to be effective in looking at the various aspects of body image from the Early Postclassic Sapoá phase site's material culture found in Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. The human body, according to Erica Reisher and Kathryn Koo's review article, served as an agent and as a symbol since it was recognized as a “conduit of social meaning.” A common symbol set is thus needed to decipher the meanings of a symbolic body. This chapter attempts to examine the various aspects of the “body beautiful” in skeletal remains, dress and adornment, and representational art.
Alejandra Ortiz, Melissa S. Murphy, Jason Toohey, and Catherine Gaither
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780813060750
- eISBN:
- 9780813051918
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813060750.003.0013
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
Ortiz and co-authors assemble diverse lines of evidence, namely biodistance data, mortuary patterns, ethnobotanical and zooarchaeological data, dress, and adornment from Magdalena de Cao during the ...
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Ortiz and co-authors assemble diverse lines of evidence, namely biodistance data, mortuary patterns, ethnobotanical and zooarchaeological data, dress, and adornment from Magdalena de Cao during the Colonial period. They seek to understand the construction, manipulation, and negotiation of identity at this reducción and, although their sample is small, they find that the people from Magdalena were biometrically and morphologically most similar to Spanish comparative samples, rather than pre-Hispanic samples from the Central Andes. They contrast these observations with archaeological data and argue for evidence of material and cultural hybridity as well as the continuity of local beliefs and practices.Less
Ortiz and co-authors assemble diverse lines of evidence, namely biodistance data, mortuary patterns, ethnobotanical and zooarchaeological data, dress, and adornment from Magdalena de Cao during the Colonial period. They seek to understand the construction, manipulation, and negotiation of identity at this reducción and, although their sample is small, they find that the people from Magdalena were biometrically and morphologically most similar to Spanish comparative samples, rather than pre-Hispanic samples from the Central Andes. They contrast these observations with archaeological data and argue for evidence of material and cultural hybridity as well as the continuity of local beliefs and practices.
Alice Collett
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199459070
- eISBN:
- 9780199086375
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199459070.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
As the most salient feature of Khemā’s biography is her obsession with her own appearance, this chapter focuses on female beauty. The notion of beauty is discussed with emphasis on the relationship ...
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As the most salient feature of Khemā’s biography is her obsession with her own appearance, this chapter focuses on female beauty. The notion of beauty is discussed with emphasis on the relationship between beauty and adornment. A preoccupation with bodily adornment can be seen in the earliest Indian sculptures, circa 150 BCE, so it would appear that this was a prominent idea in north India prior to the Common Era. If Pāli passages on women’s bodies are re-read in light of an understanding of the importance of beauty and adornment in this historical milieu, it becomes clear that what has been understood as desire for the female body is in fact desire for the ornamented and adorned body (made ready for sex) so it is not women and their bodies per se that are the problem, but rather the problem is the (doctrinally endorsed) problem of sexual desire.Less
As the most salient feature of Khemā’s biography is her obsession with her own appearance, this chapter focuses on female beauty. The notion of beauty is discussed with emphasis on the relationship between beauty and adornment. A preoccupation with bodily adornment can be seen in the earliest Indian sculptures, circa 150 BCE, so it would appear that this was a prominent idea in north India prior to the Common Era. If Pāli passages on women’s bodies are re-read in light of an understanding of the importance of beauty and adornment in this historical milieu, it becomes clear that what has been understood as desire for the female body is in fact desire for the ornamented and adorned body (made ready for sex) so it is not women and their bodies per se that are the problem, but rather the problem is the (doctrinally endorsed) problem of sexual desire.
Hella Eckardt
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199693986
- eISBN:
- 9780191804854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199693986.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter focuses on an object type associated with the body and female adornment in the Roman Empire's northern provinces, particularly Britain: a hairpin decorated with the image of a right hand ...
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This chapter focuses on an object type associated with the body and female adornment in the Roman Empire's northern provinces, particularly Britain: a hairpin decorated with the image of a right hand holding a circular object. This object type occurs over much of the Roman Empire and its wide distribution may relate to shared religious and symbolic beliefs. Although hairpins are strongly gendered objects of relatively low value, there are other artefacts depicting the same motif, an indication that the right hand had a wider significance in Roman thought. After discussing the material evidence, the chapter examines the symbolic significance of the right hand and the meaning of the object held within it. Finally, it considers the question of the fragmented human body and the use of body parts, especially hands, arms, and feet, as ritual deposits and ex votos in Roman Britain.Less
This chapter focuses on an object type associated with the body and female adornment in the Roman Empire's northern provinces, particularly Britain: a hairpin decorated with the image of a right hand holding a circular object. This object type occurs over much of the Roman Empire and its wide distribution may relate to shared religious and symbolic beliefs. Although hairpins are strongly gendered objects of relatively low value, there are other artefacts depicting the same motif, an indication that the right hand had a wider significance in Roman thought. After discussing the material evidence, the chapter examines the symbolic significance of the right hand and the meaning of the object held within it. Finally, it considers the question of the fragmented human body and the use of body parts, especially hands, arms, and feet, as ritual deposits and ex votos in Roman Britain.
