Steven Heine and Dale Wright (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195367645
- eISBN:
- 9780199777181
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367645.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Zen Masters contains ten articles by prominent scholars about the most significant “product” of the Zen tradition—the life and teachings of the masters or patriarchs who have made this ...
More
Zen Masters contains ten articles by prominent scholars about the most significant “product” of the Zen tradition—the life and teachings of the masters or patriarchs who have made this kind of Buddhism the most renowned in the world. In contrast to most other forms of Buddhism, sacred literature in Chan or Zen primarily consists of religious biographies, or stories about the lives of Zen masters. The emergence of these narratives, often in anecdotal style, concerning the practices and teachings of the patriarchs in the late Tang and early Song dynasties in China provided new and vivid models for what it meant to be awakened. Iconic images of these often irreverent, blasphemous patriarchs spread quickly, and became the basis of a new school that rose to prominence throughout East Asia. The focus of these collected essays is a critical examination of the “image” of the Zen master as it has been projected over the past millennium, in both classic literature and the lives of modern examples, in order to capture a sense of the history and evolutionary quality of narratives about Zen patriarchs. What it means to be a Zen master is something that changes over time and is related to social context. The masters are selected from different historical periods and geographical areas, ranging from medieval China to early modern Japan and contemporary America. Essays in this volume highlight which elements of Zen identity came into focus during various periods of history, and attempt to show how each of these factors stands in relations to earlier and later Zen personalities. The audience for this volume will include both specialists and more general readers. The potency of the Zen master’s image is so far-reaching that there will be an enthusiastic readership from all quarters of interest in Buddhism and in the image of sainthood more generally. Teachers of comparative religion, those analyzing diverse images of spiritual practice, and instructors of the history of the Buddhist tradition will be able to use this volume for classroom purposes. Practitioners of Zen will find the volume particularly helpful in their efforts to imagine and engage what Zen enlightenment means for understanding human behavior and comportment.Less
Zen Masters contains ten articles by prominent scholars about the most significant “product” of the Zen tradition—the life and teachings of the masters or patriarchs who have made this kind of Buddhism the most renowned in the world. In contrast to most other forms of Buddhism, sacred literature in Chan or Zen primarily consists of religious biographies, or stories about the lives of Zen masters. The emergence of these narratives, often in anecdotal style, concerning the practices and teachings of the patriarchs in the late Tang and early Song dynasties in China provided new and vivid models for what it meant to be awakened. Iconic images of these often irreverent, blasphemous patriarchs spread quickly, and became the basis of a new school that rose to prominence throughout East Asia. The focus of these collected essays is a critical examination of the “image” of the Zen master as it has been projected over the past millennium, in both classic literature and the lives of modern examples, in order to capture a sense of the history and evolutionary quality of narratives about Zen patriarchs. What it means to be a Zen master is something that changes over time and is related to social context. The masters are selected from different historical periods and geographical areas, ranging from medieval China to early modern Japan and contemporary America. Essays in this volume highlight which elements of Zen identity came into focus during various periods of history, and attempt to show how each of these factors stands in relations to earlier and later Zen personalities. The audience for this volume will include both specialists and more general readers. The potency of the Zen master’s image is so far-reaching that there will be an enthusiastic readership from all quarters of interest in Buddhism and in the image of sainthood more generally. Teachers of comparative religion, those analyzing diverse images of spiritual practice, and instructors of the history of the Buddhist tradition will be able to use this volume for classroom purposes. Practitioners of Zen will find the volume particularly helpful in their efforts to imagine and engage what Zen enlightenment means for understanding human behavior and comportment.
Caroline Johnson Hodge
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195182163
- eISBN:
- 9780199785612
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182163.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Christianity is understood to be a “universal” religion that transcends the particularities of history and culture, including differences related to kinship and ethnicity. This portrait of ...
More
Christianity is understood to be a “universal” religion that transcends the particularities of history and culture, including differences related to kinship and ethnicity. This portrait of Christianity has been maintained by an interpretive tradition that claims that Paul eliminates ethnicity or at least separates it from what is important about Christianity. This study challenges that perception. Through an examination of kinship and ethnic language in Paul's letters, this book demonstrates that notions of peoplehood and lineage are not rejected or downplayed by Paul; instead they are central to his gospel. Paul's chief concern is the status of the gentile peoples who are alienated from the God of Israel. Ethnicity defines this theological problem, just as it shapes his own evangelizing of the ethnic and religious “other”. According to Paul, God has responded to the gentile predicament through Christ. Using the logic of patrilineal descent, Paul constructs a myth of origins for gentiles: through baptism into Christ the gentiles become descendants of Abraham, adopted sons of God and coheirs with Christ. Although Jews and gentiles now share a common ancestor, Paul does not collapse them into one group. They are separate but related lineages of Abraham. Kinship and ethnicity work well in Paul's arguments, for at the same time that they present themselves as natural and fixed, they are also open to negotiation and reworking. This paradox renders them effective tools in organizing people and power, shaping self-understanding and defining membership. This analysis demonstrates that Paul's thinking is immersed in the story of a specific people and their God. He speaks not as a Christian theologian, but as a 1st-century Jewish teacher of gentiles responding to concrete situations in the communities he founded.Less
Christianity is understood to be a “universal” religion that transcends the particularities of history and culture, including differences related to kinship and ethnicity. This portrait of Christianity has been maintained by an interpretive tradition that claims that Paul eliminates ethnicity or at least separates it from what is important about Christianity. This study challenges that perception. Through an examination of kinship and ethnic language in Paul's letters, this book demonstrates that notions of peoplehood and lineage are not rejected or downplayed by Paul; instead they are central to his gospel. Paul's chief concern is the status of the gentile peoples who are alienated from the God of Israel. Ethnicity defines this theological problem, just as it shapes his own evangelizing of the ethnic and religious “other”. According to Paul, God has responded to the gentile predicament through Christ. Using the logic of patrilineal descent, Paul constructs a myth of origins for gentiles: through baptism into Christ the gentiles become descendants of Abraham, adopted sons of God and coheirs with Christ. Although Jews and gentiles now share a common ancestor, Paul does not collapse them into one group. They are separate but related lineages of Abraham. Kinship and ethnicity work well in Paul's arguments, for at the same time that they present themselves as natural and fixed, they are also open to negotiation and reworking. This paradox renders them effective tools in organizing people and power, shaping self-understanding and defining membership. This analysis demonstrates that Paul's thinking is immersed in the story of a specific people and their God. He speaks not as a Christian theologian, but as a 1st-century Jewish teacher of gentiles responding to concrete situations in the communities he founded.
Caroline Johnson Hodge
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195182163
- eISBN:
- 9780199785612
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182163.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter examines Paul's use of the concept of adoption, which was an integral part of the patrilineal cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. As a tool for perpetuating and shaping lineages and ...
More
This chapter examines Paul's use of the concept of adoption, which was an integral part of the patrilineal cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. As a tool for perpetuating and shaping lineages and maintaining households, adoption was widely accepted as a means of creating kinship. For Paul, adoption provides the perfect way to describe the change that occurs when gentiles are baptized into Christ: they become adopted sons of God and heirs to the promises. By presenting baptism as new kinship (via adoption), Paul crafts a myth of collective identity for gentiles; they can trace their beginnings not only to their baptism into Christ but also to their ancestor, Abraham, in whose seed they were blessed. Baptism into Christ creates an aggregative connection between gentiles and Jews. Thus, if oppositional ethnic construction (Jews/non-Jews) defines the problem (as outlined in Chapter Two), aggregative ethnic construction (gentiles-in-Christ linked to Israel) defines the solution.Less
This chapter examines Paul's use of the concept of adoption, which was an integral part of the patrilineal cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. As a tool for perpetuating and shaping lineages and maintaining households, adoption was widely accepted as a means of creating kinship. For Paul, adoption provides the perfect way to describe the change that occurs when gentiles are baptized into Christ: they become adopted sons of God and heirs to the promises. By presenting baptism as new kinship (via adoption), Paul crafts a myth of collective identity for gentiles; they can trace their beginnings not only to their baptism into Christ but also to their ancestor, Abraham, in whose seed they were blessed. Baptism into Christ creates an aggregative connection between gentiles and Jews. Thus, if oppositional ethnic construction (Jews/non-Jews) defines the problem (as outlined in Chapter Two), aggregative ethnic construction (gentiles-in-Christ linked to Israel) defines the solution.
Nadav Samin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164441
- eISBN:
- 9781400873852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164441.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter follows the lives of Saudi lineage seekers as they weave in and out of Hamad al-Jāsir's letters and their own personal narratives and texts. It first examines al-Jāsir's genealogical ...
More
This chapter follows the lives of Saudi lineage seekers as they weave in and out of Hamad al-Jāsir's letters and their own personal narratives and texts. It first examines al-Jāsir's genealogical volume Jamharat Ansāb al-Usar al-Mutahaddira fī Najd (The Preponderance of the Lineages of the Settled Families of Najd). It then relates the story of one of al-Jāsir's lineage-seeking petitioners, known as Rāshid b. Humayd. Rāshid's story calls attention to the intimate and personal concerns that propel the modern Saudi search for tribal lineages, genealogy between oral culture and textual culture, and the state's sometimes heavy hand in policing the boundaries of public culture in the kingdom.Less
This chapter follows the lives of Saudi lineage seekers as they weave in and out of Hamad al-Jāsir's letters and their own personal narratives and texts. It first examines al-Jāsir's genealogical volume Jamharat Ansāb al-Usar al-Mutahaddira fī Najd (The Preponderance of the Lineages of the Settled Families of Najd). It then relates the story of one of al-Jāsir's lineage-seeking petitioners, known as Rāshid b. Humayd. Rāshid's story calls attention to the intimate and personal concerns that propel the modern Saudi search for tribal lineages, genealogy between oral culture and textual culture, and the state's sometimes heavy hand in policing the boundaries of public culture in the kingdom.
Helen F. Siu
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622099692
- eISBN:
- 9789882207189
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099692.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
Historians and anthropologists have long been interested in South China where powerful lineages and gendered hierarchies are juxtaposed with unorthodox trading cultures, multi-ethnic colonial ...
More
Historians and anthropologists have long been interested in South China where powerful lineages and gendered hierarchies are juxtaposed with unorthodox trading cultures, multi-ethnic colonial encounters, and market-driven consumption. The divergent paths taken by women in Hong Kong and Guangdong during thirty years of Maoist closure, and the post-reform cross-border fluidities have also gained analytical attention. This book provides further theoretical application of a “regional construct” that appreciates process, transcends definitive powers of administrative borders, and brings out nuanced gender notions. The book uses fine-grained historical and ethnographic materials to map out three crucial historical junctures in the evolution of South China, from late imperial to contemporary periods that have significantly shaped the construction of gendered space. Stressing process and human agency, this book uses women's experiences to challenge dichotomous analytical perspectives on lineage patriarchy, colonial institutions, power, and social activism. The book refocuses attention on cultural dynamics in the South China region of which Hong Kong is an integral part, and illuminates the analytical importance of long historical periods in which layers of social, political, and economic activities intersected to constitute the complicated positioning of women.Less
Historians and anthropologists have long been interested in South China where powerful lineages and gendered hierarchies are juxtaposed with unorthodox trading cultures, multi-ethnic colonial encounters, and market-driven consumption. The divergent paths taken by women in Hong Kong and Guangdong during thirty years of Maoist closure, and the post-reform cross-border fluidities have also gained analytical attention. This book provides further theoretical application of a “regional construct” that appreciates process, transcends definitive powers of administrative borders, and brings out nuanced gender notions. The book uses fine-grained historical and ethnographic materials to map out three crucial historical junctures in the evolution of South China, from late imperial to contemporary periods that have significantly shaped the construction of gendered space. Stressing process and human agency, this book uses women's experiences to challenge dichotomous analytical perspectives on lineage patriarchy, colonial institutions, power, and social activism. The book refocuses attention on cultural dynamics in the South China region of which Hong Kong is an integral part, and illuminates the analytical importance of long historical periods in which layers of social, political, and economic activities intersected to constitute the complicated positioning of women.
Jiang Wu
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195333572
- eISBN:
- 9780199868872
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333572.003.0016
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter identifies the legacies of 17th‐century Chan Buddhism as expansion of Chan influence in Chinese culture and society, integration of monastic practice, and intensive networking by dharma ...
More
This chapter identifies the legacies of 17th‐century Chan Buddhism as expansion of Chan influence in Chinese culture and society, integration of monastic practice, and intensive networking by dharma transmission. The chapter argues that Chan Buddhism has a larger role in the history of Chinese Buddhism because it not only bridged the gap between Buddhism and Chinese culture and society and also unified the Buddhist world by systemizing monastic rituals and spreading dharma transmission. The reinvention of Chan also shows that there was a boundary within Chinese society to limit the growth of Buddhism and a general pattern of Buddhist revival can be discerned.Less
This chapter identifies the legacies of 17th‐century Chan Buddhism as expansion of Chan influence in Chinese culture and society, integration of monastic practice, and intensive networking by dharma transmission. The chapter argues that Chan Buddhism has a larger role in the history of Chinese Buddhism because it not only bridged the gap between Buddhism and Chinese culture and society and also unified the Buddhist world by systemizing monastic rituals and spreading dharma transmission. The reinvention of Chan also shows that there was a boundary within Chinese society to limit the growth of Buddhism and a general pattern of Buddhist revival can be discerned.
John C. Avise
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369670
- eISBN:
- 9780199871063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369670.003.0004
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Three natural quasi-asexual or quasi-sexual genetic modes (hybridogenesis, hybridogenesis, and kleptogenesis) can be described as parthenogenetic-like processes with added dashes of sex. Females in ...
More
Three natural quasi-asexual or quasi-sexual genetic modes (hybridogenesis, hybridogenesis, and kleptogenesis) can be described as parthenogenetic-like processes with added dashes of sex. Females in the clonal or hemi-clonal taxa that live these reproductive lifestyles are not virgins; rather, each mates with a male from a foreign species and utilizes his sperm. However, because of the cellular mechanics involved, these males usually make no lasting genetic contribution to future generations of the unisexual lineage. Instead, they have been the duped victims of sexual parasitism. Approximately 50 “species” of fish and amphibian, usually but not always consisting solely of females, constitutively reproduce by one or another of these mechanisms of sexual parasitism. This chapter describes the cellular bases, evolutionary histories, and ecological ramifications of all known cases of sperm-dependent unisexuality in vertebrate animals.Less
Three natural quasi-asexual or quasi-sexual genetic modes (hybridogenesis, hybridogenesis, and kleptogenesis) can be described as parthenogenetic-like processes with added dashes of sex. Females in the clonal or hemi-clonal taxa that live these reproductive lifestyles are not virgins; rather, each mates with a male from a foreign species and utilizes his sperm. However, because of the cellular mechanics involved, these males usually make no lasting genetic contribution to future generations of the unisexual lineage. Instead, they have been the duped victims of sexual parasitism. Approximately 50 “species” of fish and amphibian, usually but not always consisting solely of females, constitutively reproduce by one or another of these mechanisms of sexual parasitism. This chapter describes the cellular bases, evolutionary histories, and ecological ramifications of all known cases of sperm-dependent unisexuality in vertebrate animals.
D. Dennis Hudson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195369229
- eISBN:
- 9780199871162
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369229.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Since the 6th century, the Pallava kingdom (capital: Kanchipuram) had been ruled by Bhagavatas, worshiping Vishnu/Krishna. In about 731, however, the last of a short dynasty of Shaiva rulers died ...
More
Since the 6th century, the Pallava kingdom (capital: Kanchipuram) had been ruled by Bhagavatas, worshiping Vishnu/Krishna. In about 731, however, the last of a short dynasty of Shaiva rulers died without a clear heir. His father was the great Rajasimha, who built the Rajasimeshvara temple dedicated to Shiva on the east side of the city. In 731 the notables of the city were determined to install a “pure” Pallava, a devotee of Krishna. They found their candidate some distance away—it is here argued he was the youngest son of Hiranya, a ruler in Cambodia, whose lineage was founded by Bhima, of pure Pallava lineage. He was consecreated in Kanchipuram as Nandivarman Pallavamalla. The chapter discusses the military, political, and religious dimensions of his accession to the throne and subsequent career. A series of sculptures on the inside of the prakara wall is the main source.Less
Since the 6th century, the Pallava kingdom (capital: Kanchipuram) had been ruled by Bhagavatas, worshiping Vishnu/Krishna. In about 731, however, the last of a short dynasty of Shaiva rulers died without a clear heir. His father was the great Rajasimha, who built the Rajasimeshvara temple dedicated to Shiva on the east side of the city. In 731 the notables of the city were determined to install a “pure” Pallava, a devotee of Krishna. They found their candidate some distance away—it is here argued he was the youngest son of Hiranya, a ruler in Cambodia, whose lineage was founded by Bhima, of pure Pallava lineage. He was consecreated in Kanchipuram as Nandivarman Pallavamalla. The chapter discusses the military, political, and religious dimensions of his accession to the throne and subsequent career. A series of sculptures on the inside of the prakara wall is the main source.
Eugene Y. Park
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781503602083
- eISBN:
- 9781503607231
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503602083.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This book seeks a better understanding of the politics, society, and culture of early-modern Korea by tracing and narrating the history of the descendants of the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392). Decades ...
More
This book seeks a better understanding of the politics, society, and culture of early-modern Korea by tracing and narrating the history of the descendants of the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392). Decades after persecution that virtually exterminated the former royals, the Kaesŏng Wang, the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910) sought to bolster its legitimacy as the successor of Koryŏ. Emulating Chinese historical precedents, by the mid-fifteenth century, Chosŏn had rehabilitated the surviving Wangs. Contrary to the popular assumption that the Wangs remained politically marginalized, many fared well. The most privileged among them won the patronage of the Chosŏn court for which they performed ancestral rites in honor of certain Koryŏ rulers as selected by Chosŏn, passed government service examinations, attained prestigious offices, commanded armies, and constituted elite lineages throughout Korea. As members of a revived aristocratic descent group, the Kaesŏng Wang were committed to Confucian cultural and moral norms, at the heart of which was a subject’s loyalty to the ruler—the Chosŏn monarch. At the same time, Chosŏn increasingly honored Koryŏ loyalists and legacies. An emerging body of subversive narratives, both written and oral, articulated sympathy toward the Wangs as victims of the tumultuous politics of the Koryŏ-Chosŏn dynastic change, although the Wangs themselves steered clear of this discourse until after Japan’s abolition of the Chosŏn monarchy in 1910. Forces of modernity such as imperialism, colonialism, nationalism, urbanization, industrialization, and immigration transformed the Kaesŏng Wang as the progeny of fallen royals to individuals from all walks of life.Less
This book seeks a better understanding of the politics, society, and culture of early-modern Korea by tracing and narrating the history of the descendants of the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392). Decades after persecution that virtually exterminated the former royals, the Kaesŏng Wang, the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910) sought to bolster its legitimacy as the successor of Koryŏ. Emulating Chinese historical precedents, by the mid-fifteenth century, Chosŏn had rehabilitated the surviving Wangs. Contrary to the popular assumption that the Wangs remained politically marginalized, many fared well. The most privileged among them won the patronage of the Chosŏn court for which they performed ancestral rites in honor of certain Koryŏ rulers as selected by Chosŏn, passed government service examinations, attained prestigious offices, commanded armies, and constituted elite lineages throughout Korea. As members of a revived aristocratic descent group, the Kaesŏng Wang were committed to Confucian cultural and moral norms, at the heart of which was a subject’s loyalty to the ruler—the Chosŏn monarch. At the same time, Chosŏn increasingly honored Koryŏ loyalists and legacies. An emerging body of subversive narratives, both written and oral, articulated sympathy toward the Wangs as victims of the tumultuous politics of the Koryŏ-Chosŏn dynastic change, although the Wangs themselves steered clear of this discourse until after Japan’s abolition of the Chosŏn monarchy in 1910. Forces of modernity such as imperialism, colonialism, nationalism, urbanization, industrialization, and immigration transformed the Kaesŏng Wang as the progeny of fallen royals to individuals from all walks of life.
André Couture
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195380040
- eISBN:
- 9780199869077
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380040.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, World Religions
The Harivaṃśa (a long supplement to the Mahābhārata) contains the well-known Hindu story of the births of Saṃkarṣaṇa and Kṛṣṇa, which involves the killing of six fetuses, the miscarriage of a ...
More
The Harivaṃśa (a long supplement to the Mahābhārata) contains the well-known Hindu story of the births of Saṃkarṣaṇa and Kṛṣṇa, which involves the killing of six fetuses, the miscarriage of a seventh, and, finally, the exchange of the newborn Kṛṣṇa for a newborn girl. The aim of this chapter is to reexamine the “fetus story,” comparing it to other stories from the same tradition and trying to discover its meaning in the context of the new religious devotion to Kṛṣṇa, which first appeared a few centuries before the common era. Ultimately, the chapter shows how the Brahmins carefully crafted this narrative using material drawn from their own Vedic tradition to address their audience’s concerns.Less
The Harivaṃśa (a long supplement to the Mahābhārata) contains the well-known Hindu story of the births of Saṃkarṣaṇa and Kṛṣṇa, which involves the killing of six fetuses, the miscarriage of a seventh, and, finally, the exchange of the newborn Kṛṣṇa for a newborn girl. The aim of this chapter is to reexamine the “fetus story,” comparing it to other stories from the same tradition and trying to discover its meaning in the context of the new religious devotion to Kṛṣṇa, which first appeared a few centuries before the common era. Ultimately, the chapter shows how the Brahmins carefully crafted this narrative using material drawn from their own Vedic tradition to address their audience’s concerns.
Nadav Samin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164441
- eISBN:
- 9781400873852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164441.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter discusses the twentieth-century history of Saudi Arabia through the biography of Hamad al-Jāsir. More than any other single person, al-Jāsir was responsible for shaping the modern ...
More
This chapter discusses the twentieth-century history of Saudi Arabia through the biography of Hamad al-Jāsir. More than any other single person, al-Jāsir was responsible for shaping the modern genealogical culture of Saudi Arabia. The chapter examines al-Jāsir's life from his birth in 1909 in a central Arabian village to the beginnings of his genealogical project in the 1970s. It considers al-Jāsir's sometimes tumultuous relationship with his patrons in the Wahhabi religious establishment, his contributions to the development of the Saudi press and public culture, and his views on Arabia's bedouin populations and on the Arabic language. It also explores al-Jāsir's turn toward scholarship and the documenting of Saudi lineages in the last third of his life.Less
This chapter discusses the twentieth-century history of Saudi Arabia through the biography of Hamad al-Jāsir. More than any other single person, al-Jāsir was responsible for shaping the modern genealogical culture of Saudi Arabia. The chapter examines al-Jāsir's life from his birth in 1909 in a central Arabian village to the beginnings of his genealogical project in the 1970s. It considers al-Jāsir's sometimes tumultuous relationship with his patrons in the Wahhabi religious establishment, his contributions to the development of the Saudi press and public culture, and his views on Arabia's bedouin populations and on the Arabic language. It also explores al-Jāsir's turn toward scholarship and the documenting of Saudi lineages in the last third of his life.
Nadav Samin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164441
- eISBN:
- 9781400873852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164441.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter investigates Najdi historiography from a genealogical perspective in order to elucidate how and why central Arabian genealogies were documented from the eighteenth through the twentieth ...
More
This chapter investigates Najdi historiography from a genealogical perspective in order to elucidate how and why central Arabian genealogies were documented from the eighteenth through the twentieth century. It considers how Saudi bedouin and settled populations conceived of their kinship relations through their own eyes and through the eyes of Western travelers. It also discusses the caste-like status hierarchies that existed in central Arabia before the modern period, hierarchies rooted in Arabian political culture, and how the emergence of these hierarchies in modern Saudi history represents an important transition in the kingdom's social and cultural life. Finally, it examines the beginnings of modern genealogical culture in Saudi Arabia and suggests that the documenting of lineages and their mass circulation in print helped transform Saudi genealogies from reflexive components of social and political life into coveted objects of modern Saudi identity.Less
This chapter investigates Najdi historiography from a genealogical perspective in order to elucidate how and why central Arabian genealogies were documented from the eighteenth through the twentieth century. It considers how Saudi bedouin and settled populations conceived of their kinship relations through their own eyes and through the eyes of Western travelers. It also discusses the caste-like status hierarchies that existed in central Arabia before the modern period, hierarchies rooted in Arabian political culture, and how the emergence of these hierarchies in modern Saudi history represents an important transition in the kingdom's social and cultural life. Finally, it examines the beginnings of modern genealogical culture in Saudi Arabia and suggests that the documenting of lineages and their mass circulation in print helped transform Saudi genealogies from reflexive components of social and political life into coveted objects of modern Saudi identity.
Chris Tyler-Smith
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263112
- eISBN:
- 9780191734885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263112.003.0012
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This chapter outlines the peculiar genetic history and population characteristics of the Y chromosome, including the interaction with the X. The small size of the Y and its sex-limited transmission ...
More
This chapter outlines the peculiar genetic history and population characteristics of the Y chromosome, including the interaction with the X. The small size of the Y and its sex-limited transmission make it at first sight an unlikely vehicle for the determining characteristic of the species. Human and ape Y lineages are generally believed to have split about 5–7 million years ago, while extant human Y lineages trace back to a common ancestor that probably lived between 40 and 200 thousand years ago. Between these dates, two substantial segments of DNA on the Y chromosome were duplicated on the Y: the Yq pseudoautosomal region and the Xq/Yp homology region. The former does not contain any good candidate speciation genes but the latter may. The Xq-Yp transposition probably occurred soon after the ape-human split and, at the same time or subsequently, was divided in two by an inversion.Less
This chapter outlines the peculiar genetic history and population characteristics of the Y chromosome, including the interaction with the X. The small size of the Y and its sex-limited transmission make it at first sight an unlikely vehicle for the determining characteristic of the species. Human and ape Y lineages are generally believed to have split about 5–7 million years ago, while extant human Y lineages trace back to a common ancestor that probably lived between 40 and 200 thousand years ago. Between these dates, two substantial segments of DNA on the Y chromosome were duplicated on the Y: the Yq pseudoautosomal region and the Xq/Yp homology region. The former does not contain any good candidate speciation genes but the latter may. The Xq-Yp transposition probably occurred soon after the ape-human split and, at the same time or subsequently, was divided in two by an inversion.
Arnold R. Kriegstein
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195083309
- eISBN:
- 9780199847464
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195083309.003.0013
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Molecular and Cellular Systems
The neocortex is composed of a staggeringly large number of neurons, differing in phenotype and location, in a precise and apparently invariant pattern. The path by which each individual neuron ...
More
The neocortex is composed of a staggeringly large number of neurons, differing in phenotype and location, in a precise and apparently invariant pattern. The path by which each individual neuron reaches its assigned station and acquires its appropriate phenotype is one of the central mysteries of neuroscience. Recent advances in genetic engineering have allowed retroviruses to be designed to act as vectors to insert marker genes into precursor cells in the cerebral cortex of experimental embryos. A replication-defective retroviral vector is used to introduce a marker gene in the genome of a proliferating precursor cell. The marker gene is inherited by all the progeny of the initially labeled cell, allowing clonal descendants of infected cells to be identified histochemically. In this way precursor cells can be marked, and the fate of their descendants can be followed. This new technology has been applied to test the basic theories of lineage and cell-fate determination during corticogenesis. This chapter shows that important cell-fate-commitment decisions are made in the ventricular and subventricular zones during proliferative stages and remain relatively independent of subsequent environmental influence.Less
The neocortex is composed of a staggeringly large number of neurons, differing in phenotype and location, in a precise and apparently invariant pattern. The path by which each individual neuron reaches its assigned station and acquires its appropriate phenotype is one of the central mysteries of neuroscience. Recent advances in genetic engineering have allowed retroviruses to be designed to act as vectors to insert marker genes into precursor cells in the cerebral cortex of experimental embryos. A replication-defective retroviral vector is used to introduce a marker gene in the genome of a proliferating precursor cell. The marker gene is inherited by all the progeny of the initially labeled cell, allowing clonal descendants of infected cells to be identified histochemically. In this way precursor cells can be marked, and the fate of their descendants can be followed. This new technology has been applied to test the basic theories of lineage and cell-fate determination during corticogenesis. This chapter shows that important cell-fate-commitment decisions are made in the ventricular and subventricular zones during proliferative stages and remain relatively independent of subsequent environmental influence.
Jason A. Wilder and Michael F. Hammer
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195300307
- eISBN:
- 9780199790142
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300307.003.0013
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter examines with four unlinked loci the extent of divergence between two linguistically related Baining groups in New Britain. Although they are linguistically related and are less than 100 ...
More
This chapter examines with four unlinked loci the extent of divergence between two linguistically related Baining groups in New Britain. Although they are linguistically related and are less than 100 km apart, they are, by a number of measures, surprisingly different genetically. This difference is explained in terms of male and female demographic distinctions. Early comparisons in global and regional mtDNA and NRY diversity indicate comparatively greater overall mtDNA variability, but greater among-group NRY variation. The chapter suggests that the key factor is the larger effective population size of women (since relatively few men contribute to following generations). This distinction could cause an acceleration in the effects of genetic drift, leading to less overall variation, but proportionately more among-group variation. In the Baining study, evidence is found for a much smaller male effective population size. However, the proportion of males who migrate and successfully reproduce appears to be greater than for females. In considering the surprising degree of overall differentiation between these two Baining groups, the effects of drift are paramount, but there remains the question of whether the differences may be due to the residue of ancient lineage sorting.Less
This chapter examines with four unlinked loci the extent of divergence between two linguistically related Baining groups in New Britain. Although they are linguistically related and are less than 100 km apart, they are, by a number of measures, surprisingly different genetically. This difference is explained in terms of male and female demographic distinctions. Early comparisons in global and regional mtDNA and NRY diversity indicate comparatively greater overall mtDNA variability, but greater among-group NRY variation. The chapter suggests that the key factor is the larger effective population size of women (since relatively few men contribute to following generations). This distinction could cause an acceleration in the effects of genetic drift, leading to less overall variation, but proportionately more among-group variation. In the Baining study, evidence is found for a much smaller male effective population size. However, the proportion of males who migrate and successfully reproduce appears to be greater than for females. In considering the surprising degree of overall differentiation between these two Baining groups, the effects of drift are paramount, but there remains the question of whether the differences may be due to the residue of ancient lineage sorting.
Richard S. Weiss
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195335231
- eISBN:
- 9780199868803
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335231.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Siddha medical knowledge has been transmitted for centuries within the paramparai, the hereditary lineage. The knowledge of the lineage was carefully guarded, as knowledge held in secret was an ...
More
Siddha medical knowledge has been transmitted for centuries within the paramparai, the hereditary lineage. The knowledge of the lineage was carefully guarded, as knowledge held in secret was an advantage in a competitive medical environment. Siddha vaidyas today continue to draw on the luminous authority of secrecy to promote their medicine, claiming to possess cures for cancer and AIDS and even promising bodily immortality. This chapter explores secrecy in siddha medicine, paying particular attention to the most extraordinary of siddha medical formulations, muppu, an alchemical preparation that is said to cure all ailments. Premodern Tamil medical texts provide much of the source material here.Less
Siddha medical knowledge has been transmitted for centuries within the paramparai, the hereditary lineage. The knowledge of the lineage was carefully guarded, as knowledge held in secret was an advantage in a competitive medical environment. Siddha vaidyas today continue to draw on the luminous authority of secrecy to promote their medicine, claiming to possess cures for cancer and AIDS and even promising bodily immortality. This chapter explores secrecy in siddha medicine, paying particular attention to the most extraordinary of siddha medical formulations, muppu, an alchemical preparation that is said to cure all ailments. Premodern Tamil medical texts provide much of the source material here.
Ian W. McLean
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691154671
- eISBN:
- 9781400845439
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691154671.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter considers Australia's historical narrative, beginning with an assessment of the Aboriginal contribution to the economy constructed by the first European settlers. In Europe, modern ...
More
This chapter considers Australia's historical narrative, beginning with an assessment of the Aboriginal contribution to the economy constructed by the first European settlers. In Europe, modern economic growth from the late eighteenth century onward occurred in the context of societies and economies that, though undergoing rapid changes in some regions and industries, also exhibited much continuity with centuries past. Furthermore, institutions and production techniques of ancient lineage persisted into the period of modernization, though undergoing varying degrees of adaptation. Similarly, when modern economic growth began in Japan in the middle of the nineteenth century, there was much to build on in terms of physical capital, human capital, social organization, and political institutions in order to facilitate the transition to industrialization and sustained higher levels of prosperity.Less
This chapter considers Australia's historical narrative, beginning with an assessment of the Aboriginal contribution to the economy constructed by the first European settlers. In Europe, modern economic growth from the late eighteenth century onward occurred in the context of societies and economies that, though undergoing rapid changes in some regions and industries, also exhibited much continuity with centuries past. Furthermore, institutions and production techniques of ancient lineage persisted into the period of modernization, though undergoing varying degrees of adaptation. Similarly, when modern economic growth began in Japan in the middle of the nineteenth century, there was much to build on in terms of physical capital, human capital, social organization, and political institutions in order to facilitate the transition to industrialization and sustained higher levels of prosperity.
NATALIE EVERTS
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265208
- eISBN:
- 9780191754180
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265208.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, World Early Modern History
Euro-Africans along the Gold Coast figure as a somewhat obscure minority in contemporary European literature. Perhaps this can be attributed to the kinship system of the coastal Akan that dominated ...
More
Euro-Africans along the Gold Coast figure as a somewhat obscure minority in contemporary European literature. Perhaps this can be attributed to the kinship system of the coastal Akan that dominated the structure of Gold Coast society and accounted for the integration of Euro-Africans into the local lineages. In Akan culture, children belonged to the abusua or matrilineal family of their mothers, either as free members or as slaves. A different recruiting mechanism was also in operation in the other fundamental institution of the southern Akan polities, the asafo companies. Elmina boys were recruited by their father's asafo, and as a rule, male Euro-Africans had to do without the patrilineal affiliation to these prestigious power associations. The dearth of these ties encouraged a certain minority of Euro-Africans to initiate their own ‘company’, which might be considered a kernel in the development towards a Euro-African identity.Less
Euro-Africans along the Gold Coast figure as a somewhat obscure minority in contemporary European literature. Perhaps this can be attributed to the kinship system of the coastal Akan that dominated the structure of Gold Coast society and accounted for the integration of Euro-Africans into the local lineages. In Akan culture, children belonged to the abusua or matrilineal family of their mothers, either as free members or as slaves. A different recruiting mechanism was also in operation in the other fundamental institution of the southern Akan polities, the asafo companies. Elmina boys were recruited by their father's asafo, and as a rule, male Euro-Africans had to do without the patrilineal affiliation to these prestigious power associations. The dearth of these ties encouraged a certain minority of Euro-Africans to initiate their own ‘company’, which might be considered a kernel in the development towards a Euro-African identity.
Holloway Kenneth W.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195371451
- eISBN:
- 9780199870653
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371451.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter discusses the social implications of unity in Guodian texts. It also discusses the application of unity to the question of royal succession by arguing that “Tang Yu zhidao” and “The Five ...
More
This chapter discusses the social implications of unity in Guodian texts. It also discusses the application of unity to the question of royal succession by arguing that “Tang Yu zhidao” and “The Five Aspects of Conduct” similarly value a unity based on a hybrid composed of humanity and righteousness. Balancing humanity and righteousness entails unifying two competing centers of moral authority, the central government and the family (lineage group). The categories employed by the Guodian texts are comprehensive, so they pertain to more than simply the occasional selection of a sovereign. The balancing of humanity and righteousness will be shown to represent a religiously based political philosophy that is articulated with great clarity in Guodian.Less
This chapter discusses the social implications of unity in Guodian texts. It also discusses the application of unity to the question of royal succession by arguing that “Tang Yu zhidao” and “The Five Aspects of Conduct” similarly value a unity based on a hybrid composed of humanity and righteousness. Balancing humanity and righteousness entails unifying two competing centers of moral authority, the central government and the family (lineage group). The categories employed by the Guodian texts are comprehensive, so they pertain to more than simply the occasional selection of a sovereign. The balancing of humanity and righteousness will be shown to represent a religiously based political philosophy that is articulated with great clarity in Guodian.
Albert Welter
Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195150674
- eISBN:
- 9780199784615
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195150678.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter offers a precise analysis of the early Zen literature known as chuandenglu (records of the transmission of the lamp), which sets the Zen tradition up into family-like lineages ...
More
This chapter offers a precise analysis of the early Zen literature known as chuandenglu (records of the transmission of the lamp), which sets the Zen tradition up into family-like lineages transmitting the dharma from one master to another through lines of teaching heritage. Welter shows how this literary genre helps give rise to the classical divisions of Chinese Chan Buddhism into the “five houses,” although each text examined displays under careful scrutiny the preference by its authors for one lineage or another. The essay analyzes the early example of this genre known as the Zutang ji, and shows its relation to the most famous version of transmission texts, the Jingde chuandeng lu (The Jingde era record of the Transmission of the Lamp).Less
This chapter offers a precise analysis of the early Zen literature known as chuandenglu (records of the transmission of the lamp), which sets the Zen tradition up into family-like lineages transmitting the dharma from one master to another through lines of teaching heritage. Welter shows how this literary genre helps give rise to the classical divisions of Chinese Chan Buddhism into the “five houses,” although each text examined displays under careful scrutiny the preference by its authors for one lineage or another. The essay analyzes the early example of this genre known as the Zutang ji, and shows its relation to the most famous version of transmission texts, the Jingde chuandeng lu (The Jingde era record of the Transmission of the Lamp).
