| PIS'MENNYE PAMYATNIKI VOSTOKA Vol. 16, No. 2 (37) Summer 2019
Journal based in 2004 Issued quarterly
The entire issue as a *.PDF file
PUBLICATIONS
“The Tian di Hui Society in Singapore” (According to the Memoirs of Abdullah bin Abdulkadir Munsyi). Introduction, Translation from the Malay Language and Commentaries by Liubov V. Goriaeva — 5 The article comprises a research preface and a translation from Malay of chapter 21 (“The Tian di Hui society in Singapore”) from the book The Story of Abdullah, written by the famous Malay author Abdullah bin Abdulkadir Munshi (1796/7–1854). This chapter tells about a Chinese secret society that operated in Singapore in the first quarter of the 19th century and about how the author managed to secretly penetrate the holy of holies of this society and observe its rituals. The preface gives a brief account of the history of Tian di Hui and suggests the motives that prompted Abdullah to make his dangerous journey. Key words: Singapore, Crawfurd, Tian di hui, secret unions, initiatory ritual, Chinese diaspora, crime
RESEARCH WORKS
Inna N. Medvedskaya. Did the Urartians Reach the Caspian Sea? — 19 In the Iranian province of Gilan, items of Urartian weaponry (a quiver and a helmet), a bracelet with the name of the Urartian king Argishti inscribed on it as well as some other objects produced in Transcaucasia (bracelets with snake-heads, hinged fibulae, openwork pendants) have been found. These decorative items may well be evidence of the presence of soldiers from the Transcaucasian domains of the Urartian kingdom in the Urartian army in the 7th century BC. An important proof of the Urartians’ reaching southern Gilan and, consequently, approaching the northern borders of the Median kingdom is the sequence of conquests of Median kings. The Urartian kingdom became their first successful conquest, which occurred no later than in the 640s BC. Key words: Iran, Gilan, Median kingdom, Urartians, fibulae, bracelets, helmets, quiver, pendants
Yekaterina N. Levchenko-Shmaevskaia. “Songs about the Stone with the Buddha’s Footprints”: The Earliest Old Japanese Texts and the Formation of Language Consciousness — 40 The “Songs about the stone with the Buddha’s Footprints” constitute twenty-one apparently poetic texts, stored at the Yakusiji shrine, Nara-city. Construction of the shrine is considered to be started by Tenmu emperor in 680 AD within the territory of the Pudipara-kyo. The name Pudipara itself was given to the capital later, it was referred to as Aramasi-kyo in the “Nihon Shoki” chronicles. Since these texts are the only to be carved in stone, they present the original source of Old Japanese — other texts most be copies of older sources that did not survive (Old Japanese here have to be treated as a written language, namely man’yōgana script dated back to the 700–900 c). Old Japanese linguistic periodization covers the period of 700–800, which is preceded by Kofun and Asuka pre-literate periods. The first written Old Japanese text is thought to be the songs of “Kojiki”, which is followed by the songs of “Nihon Shoki”. Thus, the analyzed material can be considered to be the third written source in the history of the Japanese language. Apart from other Buddhist texts of Old and Early middle periods, written in pure Middle Chinese with a clear reflection of the Chinese cultural material, the texts under the consideration include linguistic and socio-cultural, though minimal, information about the ancient Japan proper, which makes those texts the most valuable material for study and comparative analysis. Within this limited space, I will make a philological, namely structural morphemic, analysis, after which grammar and socio-cultural commentaries will follow. Key words: Old Japanese, first songs, Buddhism, structural grammar, morphology, Yakusi-ji
Oxana V. Tikhonova, Larisa A. Shakunova. The First Quran Translation into Spanish and Manuscript T 235 — 63 The first Quran translated into Spanish is considered to be the one made by Isa de Gebir, a fakih of Muslim community of the city of Segovia in 1455 at the request of Juan de Segovia. Autograph of the translation has dissappeared as well as there is no knowledge about its copies. Manuscript T 235 (Library Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo) is considered to be an abbreviated copy of the lost Quran in aljamiado. Western specialists have contradictory opinions: some state the manuscript T 235 to be a manuscript of the Quran, translated into Spanish by Juan de Segovia; others believe his authorship to be out of the question. Key words: Quran manuscript, Quran translation, manuscript T 235, Isa de Gebir, Juan de Segovia
Han Li. Russian Language Teaching under the Qing Dynasty — 75 The article discusses the problem of Russian education under the Qing Dynasty: organization forms, educational objectives, teaching content, teaching materials and teaching staff. In the author’s opinion, Russian education under the Qing Dynasty trained a large number of diplomats and translators, and laid a solid foundation for the formation and development of modern Russian education. Key words: Russian language teaching, Qing Dynasty, China, teaching materials, teaching staff
HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
Marat M. Yunusov. From the History of the Decipherment of West Semitic Writing: Events and People. V. Decipherment of Palmyrene Alphabet: J. Swinton and J.-J. Barthélemy. Part II — 85 In the mid-18th century, Barthélemy and Swinton almost simultaneously deciphered Palmyrene writing. Previously well-disposed to one another, the two scholars later turned into bitter opponents because of the controversy over the priority in that discovery. High society and, partly, the scientific community took Barthélemy’s side while Swinton got a reputation of a dilettante and a tactless person. Key words: Barthélemy, Swinton, Roma I, Roma II, Palmyrene alphabet
Makhach A. Musaev, Shamil Sh. Shikhaliev, Magomed G. Shekhmagomedov. The Epitaphs of the Utsmi Cemetery in Qala Quraysh — 106 The article presents the Arabic epitaphs (accompanied with translations into Russian) of the cemetery of the hereditary rulers of Kaytag, located in their residence — Qal‘a Quraysh. Tombstones date back from the 14th century up to 1803–1804. The names of the buried, the dates of their death, other historical information, including social terminology, as well as poetic works of Arabic authors, religious sayings, prayers and ayahs of the Quran are engraved on them. Key words: Epigraphy, Daghestan, Qala Quraysh, Qaytagh, necropolistics
COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES
Sergei E. Kostikov, Olga M. Yastrebova. Petitions of the Iranian kupchina (Merchant) Khwaja Rahmat to Tsar Mikhail Fiodorovich (1613–1645) from the Russian State Archives of Ancient Acts — 122 The article focuses on the publication of thirteen petitions in Persian, which are stored at Foundation 77 “Russia’s relations with Persia” of the Russian State Archives of Ancient Acts. Addressed to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, they were composed by the kupchina (merchant) Khwaja Rahmat, the envoy of the Safavid Shah Safi I, and date back to Khwaja Rahmat’s sojourn in Russia in 1630–1631. The texts of the petitions are accompanied with Russian translations; the historical-linguistic commentary that precedes the publication covers the main goals and objectives of the mission, the historical realities that the envoy encountered, and also clarifies some diplomatic, administrative and trade terms. Key words: Safavid empire, Tsardom of Muscovy, kupchina, Russo-Iranian trade, Russo-Iranian diplomatic relations, embassy, Safi I, Mikhail Fiodorovich
ACADEMIC LIFE
Elena V. Tanonova. Jubilee Affairs Dedicated to the 200th Anniversary of the Asiatic Museum — Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS (St. Petersburg, November 27–29, 2018) — 146
Dmitrii A. Nosov. Exhibition “The Brush and the Kalam: 200 Years of the Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts” at the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg, November 27, 2018 — March 31, 2019) — 151
Anton E. Terekhov. The “Taoists on the Way to Immortality” Exhibition at the State Museum of the History of Religion (St. Petersburg, November 29, 2018 — March 5, 2019) — 154
REVIEWS
I. A. Alimov. The Garden of the Marvelous: A Concise History of the 1st–6th Century Chinese Xiaoshuo Prose. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies Publishers. 592 pp. I. A. Alimov. The Notes of Innermost Miracles: A Concise History of the 7th–10th Century Chinese Xiaoshuo Prose. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies Publishers. 840 pp. (Alexander D. Zelnitskiy) — 157
Vedantist Manusripts in the Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS: An Annotated Catalogue. Composition, Introduction, Translations and Indices by S. L. Burmistrov. Moscow: Nauka, Vostochnaia literatura, 2018. 479 рp. (Anatoly S. Kolesnikov) — 160
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