• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.47-68
• /
• 2017

To the Greeks, the Ottoman era was a "Dark Age" one that comprised a threat to their Greek Orthodox identity. The identities of Orthodox and Hellene were integral parts in the construction of their national history. In fact, the Morea Uprising, which began in 1821, was symbolized by a priest blessing the Greek flag in Aya Lavra Church. One of the most common national myths is religious oppression of the Christian population during the Ottoman Era, namely Turkokratia. They identified Ottomans as Asian barbarians who did not let Greeks practice their religion freely, and who furthermore forced them to change their religion. These kinds of beliefs, which might be taken as religious propaganda, are today still highlighted both in Greek textbooks and in publications supported by the church and books and newspapers published in their affiliated institutes. The underlying truth behind all these propagandist statements is Islamophobia. The existence of Islamophobia in the Balkans, where religious nationalism is intense, has caused nations to hold to these kinds of mythical beliefs. Most of the time the stories and narratives have been used for history building. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the effect of the anti-Islam propaganda of the church in Greece on the state and the people using Greek sources. The references are Greek religious textbooks and books and newspapers published by church-supporting publishing houses.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.89-112
• /
• 2017

Today, we face many problems at the planetary, national, local, and personal level. What is interesting and important is the fact that the environmental crisis that we have been facing since the 1960s is seen by many environmentalists as a crisis of Western civilization, a slow collective suicide, and "the defining challenge of our age." This fact has encouraged many environmentalists, thinkers, and activists to turn to the wisdom of the East for a better and deeper understanding of nature and humanity for a sustainable future. Moreover, environmental, social, and economic threats are aimed at everyone without discrimination, be they Christian, Jew, Muslim, or Buddhist. Therefore, the very nature of the environmental crisis and challenge requires a cooperative, global response. In this context, this study suggests that Eastern societies may re-discover the richness of their own traditions in the light of pressing environmental problems and offer new insights to respond to these problems. This paper will explore the possibility and relevance of Sir Muhammad Iqbal's (1877-1938) ideas for an attitude of reverence and care for nature. It will suggest that his ideas could enlarge and enrich our perspective of ourselves vis $\grave{a}$ vis nature, and raise our "ecological consciousness" and moral responsibility to take action for the environment. It will be argued that Iqbal, as a great and towering son of the Silk Road and a bridge between East and West, is still relevant for us.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.133-162
• /
• 2017

The Bering Strait crossing would link the entirety of Eurasia to the entirety of the Americas, and it can be seen as a natural extension of the historical Silk Road. There are some immense geopolitical benefits to such a project. It would bring about a profound and lasting change to the global economic and political outlook. The most valued function of the Bering Strait crossing and the extension of the associated railroad network would be to release the massive natural resources trapped underneath the tundra and permafrost for the benefit of Russia and the world. Moreover, the railroad project(s) would also build development corridors in those underdeveloped parts of the Russian Federation. The development of the resources and their rapid transportation to the global markets would contribute not only to the overall development of the region but also would be valuable for the resource-poor countries of Northeast Asia such as Japan, Korea, and China (relative to its economic size). This paper will explore the possible impact(s) of the Bering Strait crossing as a formidable infrastructure project for the economic development of the Russian Far East (RFE) from the Russian perspective under the frame of geopolitics. Furthermore, it will equally scrutinize the implications for the adjacent countries in the region.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.61-77
• /
• 2019

Following the introduction of Buddhism to China by Xuanzang (玄奘 602-664), the visual tradition of an itinerant monk became a popular subject. This theme developed into a Buddhist figure with an accompanying tiger, especially in Korea where tigers were an object of worship and ritual. This paper examines Korean examples of post-itinerant monk Buddhist figures accompanied by tigers, in particular the portrayal of itinerant monks as arhats and sansins. The supernatural powers of arhats were diverse, and they often tamed the tigers who then accompanied them on their journeys. The arhat, who was introduced during the Unified Silla period and gained popularity during the Goryeo period, was loved by the general public during the Joseon Dynasty as a familiar presence that brought good fortune. Special portraits of monks accompanied by a tiger, known as sansindo (山神圖), form a unique Korean genre. Sansin religious beliefs formed through a fusion of the newly introduced Buddhism and the age-old indigenous worship of sacred mountains and tigers. Most Buddhist temples include a sansin shrine containing on altar with sansin statues and portraits. Tigers in the portraits of itinerant monks and the stories of Buddhist monks who tamed tigers became famous and widely accepted in Korea, a nation already rich in tiger lore. Folklore and indigenous shamanism contributed to the establishment of Buddhism in Korea, and tigers played a central role in this.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.129-140
• /
• 2019

Nana was an important patron deity in the Kušan Empire and the most important deity worshipped by Emperor Kaniška (c. 127-150 CE). She was the head of the royal dynastic pantheon at this time. The cult of Nana may already have existed in Central Asia prior to the arrival of Indo-Iranians in the region, since she appears on a BMAC seal dating to the early second millennium BCE. Similarly, her cult in Bactria may pre-date her appearance in the Kušan pantheon by over two millennia. The spread of Nana's cult over such vast distances vividly illustrates the cultural connections (presumably stemming mostly from trade) that existed from prehistoric times linking the Mediterranean world to that of Central Asia and beyond, with the Iranian plateau at its center. The prevalence of Sogdian coins bearing Nana's name suggests that she was also the principal deity of Sogdiana. In Bactria, the goddess Ardoxšo (Avestan Aši vaŋ^vhī) was also worshipped by Kušāns and appeared on their coins. Nana, who was associated with war, fertility, wisdom, and water, was also equated with the Iranian goddesses Anāhitā, Aši, and Ārmaiti. The cult of Nana-Ārmaiti was widespread throughout eastern Iran.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.65-84
• /
• 2017

Media has become an inseparable companion of $21^{st}$ century culture, exerting immense influence on our daily lives. This article aims to reveal how cultural aspects and media in a particular part of the Silk Road have adapted Western cannons. Iran has redefined and transformed Western culture through the modern Silk Road by the method of cinematic adaptation. Karim-Masihi employs the general plot of Hamlet, the well-known drama by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), in his movie Tardid (Doubt 2009); however, he transforms some of the characters to reflect the current socio-cultural aspects of Iranian society. One of the characters is named Siavash, whose life is similar to Hamlet. In passivity, he awaits his imminent death and other tragic consequences. Yet, the movie ends differently. It is not an Elizabethan tragedy in a strict sense, although the final scenes abound with corpses. This article aims to find the similarities and differences between the two works, while reasoning the significance of the alterations. It concludes with how different cultures react to the same themes.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.85-108
• /
• 2017

This paper details the advance of the "Hui" (回) people to Korea and their socioeconomic activities in forming their own community during the late Goryeo and early Joseon period. Hui (回) or Hui Hui (回回) is generally recognized as representative of Muslim culture in Chinese and Korean sources. From the $8^{th}$ century, Korean-Muslim cultural relations accelerated as an outcome of ancient Chinese-West Asian commercial transactions along the Silk Road. These contacts between Muslims and Koreans on the Korean peninsula are borne out by references to Korea found in 23 Islamic sources written between the $9^{th}$ and $16^{th}$ centuries by 18 Muslim scholars, including Ibn Khurdadbih, Sulaiman al-Tajir, and Mas'ud1 i. Ibn Khurdadbih was the first Arab who wrote of Muslims' residence in the Unified Silla Kingdom (661-935CE). However, in the period of Silla, we could not find any reliable written documents in Korea to show encounters between Korea and the Muslim world. In the Goryeosa (GS) chronicle, Muslim merchants who came to Korea were described as "Daesik" (大食: Tashi). Daesik (Tashi) is most probably derived from "Tajir", which means "trader" in Muslim language. Muslims' mass influx and their wide ranging influence on Korean society manifested from the late $13^{th}$ century when the Goryeo Dynasty first came under Mongol control and afterward in the early $15^{th}$ century with the new dynasty of Joseon in Korea.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.109-120
• /
• 2017

The city of Basra, established on the shore of Basra Bay in the south of modern Iraq, played an important role in agriculture and trade for centuries, with its geography and its position where two great rivers of Mesopotamia flow. Before being established with its current name by the Muslim Arabs, the city was known as Teredon in the Chaldean period and VehiŞtebad ErdeŞir in the Sasanid period. It was reestablished with the name Basra in the early period of Islam by Arabs between Hijri 14-16 (635-637 CE). Afterward, the city became one of the most important centers of trade, science and thought; had a perfect cultural diversity; and hosted important schools of Arabic language and thought for centuries. Besides the commercial effects of its being a transfer point on the axis of Europe, Mesopotamia, Iran, and India, the schools of thought which emerged here were affected by this mobility. In this paper, we try to reveal the philosophical-religious approach which the Ikhwan al-Safa school of thought in Basra, one of the most important cities of the Silk Road, created in parallel with the characteristics of this city. Shiite Ismaili beliefs and thoughts in the region and its characteristics which feed different religions and traditions emerging from Egypt and with the scientific approach of Greek thought; with Indian-Iranian teachings that merge Greek thought and Neoplatonic philosophy, give us the summary of Silk Road civilizations.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.11-25
• /
• 2018

The Renaissance is generally said to be the rebirth of the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome, and was centered around Italy from the 14th to the 16th century. This includes the temporal peculiarity of the Renaissance as a sudden phenomenon after the Medieval Ages, and the spatial peculiarity of what happened only in Europe. However, if we remove the European-centered bias here, the horizon for interpreting the Renaissance becomes much wider. There have been claims that similar cultural phenomena resembling the Renaissance existed in other civilizations at the same time. This paper seeks to investigate two possibilities. The first is the possibility of a spatial expansion of the Renaissance. This suggests that the Renaissance was created by long-term exchanges with the Eastern, Middle and Western Hemispheres. The second is the possibility of a simultaneity of the Renaissance in the 14th and 16th centuries. This suggests that it was a global phenomenon that occurred in different civilizations. The Renaissance, therefore, was a crystallization of a complex of civilizations created by the crossing of various cultures along the Silk Road, and should be referred to as the 'Global Renaissance' instead of the 'Western Renaissance.'

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.119-138
• /
• 2018

The dragon of the East was an object of worship and an authority to make rain, unlike the West. The dragon image, one of the positively accepted Chinese motifs with the blue-and-white porcelain of the Ming dynasty by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, was combined with gigantic saw-edged leaves to create a genre in Saz style. By combining Eastern dragons with plant motifs instead of clouds, dragons were no longer accepted as authority and nobility but as symbols of life and longevity. Unlike Iran and other countries, the image of dragons in Turkish miniature paintings has evolved into a unique style using Turkish calligraphy. The stylistic feature is that a thick black line that gives the impression of calligraphy forms the dragon's back or a huge saz leaf stalk and forms the axis of the screen. Most of the work was black ink drawing, not painting, and partly lightly painted. In the development stage, the dragon appears as a protagonist on the screen of the early works, but the dragon retreats to the latter half and the saz leaves play a leading role on the screen. A common feature in all paintings, whether early or late, is that they have a militant character and create tension on the screen. From the viewpoint of comparative culture, Turkish dragon miniature drawings of the 16thcentury Ottoman period and the Joseon dynasty are somewhat similar in that they are based on calligraphic character and desire for longevity and loyalty, and are drawn according to certain iconic principles.