• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.98
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• pp.226-241
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• 2020

Located on the right side of the third floor of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the "Art of Central Asia" exhibition boasts the world's finest collection of artworks and artifacts from the Silk Road. Every item in the collection has been classified by region, and many of them were collected in the early twentieth century through archaeological surveys led by Russia's Pyotr Kozlov, Mikhail Berezovsky, and Sergey Oldenburg. Some of these artifacts have been presented around the world through special exhibitions held in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Korea, Japan, and elsewhere. The fruits of Russia's Silk Road expeditions were also on full display in the 2008 exhibition The Caves of One Thousand Buddhas - Russian Expeditions on the Silk Route on the Occasion of 190 Years of the Asiatic Museum, held at the Hermitage Museum. Published in 2018 by the Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House in collaboration with the Hermitage Museum, Kuche Art Relics Collected in Russia introduces the Hermitage's collection of artifacts from the Kuche (or Kucha) region. While the book focuses exclusively on artifacts excavated from the Kuche area, it also includes valuable on-site photos and sketches from the Russian expeditions, thus helping to enhance readers' overall understanding of the characteristics of Kuche art within the Buddhist art of Central Asia. The book was compiled by Dr. Kira Samosyuk, senior curator of the Oriental Department of the Hermitage Museum, who also wrote the main article and the artifact descriptions. Dr. Samosyuk is an internationally renowned scholar of Central Asian Buddhist art, with a particular expertise in the art of Khara-Khoto and Xi-yu. In her article "The Art of the Kuche Buddhist Temples," Dr. Samosyuk provides an overview of Russia's Silk Road expeditions, before introducing the historical development of Kuche in the Buddhist era and the aspects of Buddhism transmitted to Kuche. She describes the murals and clay sculptures in the Buddhist grottoes, giving important details on their themes and issues with estimating their dates, and also explains how the temples operated as places of worship. In conclusion, Dr. Samosyuk argues that the Kuche region, while continuously engaging with various peoples in China and the nomadic world, developed its own independent Buddhist culture incorporating elements of Gandara, Hellenistic, Persian, and Chinese art and culture. Finally, she states that the culture of the Kuche region had a profound influence not only on the Tarim Basin, but also on the Buddhist grottoes of Dunhuang and the central region of China. A considerable portion of Dr. Samosyuk's article addresses efforts to estimate the date of the grottoes in the Kuche region. After citing various scholars' views on the dates of the murals, she argues that the Kizil grottoes likely began prior to the fifth century, which is at least 100 years earlier than most current estimates. This conclusion is reached by comparing the iconography of the armor depicted in the murals with related materials excavated from the surrounding area (such as items of Sogdian art). However, efforts to date the Buddhist grottoes of Kuche must take many factors into consideration, such as the geological characteristics of the caves, the themes and styles of the Buddhist paintings, the types of pigments used, and the clothing, hairstyles, and ornamentation of the depicted figures. Moreover, such interdisciplinary data must be studied within the context of Kuche's relations with nearby cultures. Scientific methods such as radiocarbon dating could also be applied for supplementary materials. The preface of Kuche Art Relics Collected in Russia reveals that the catalog is the first volume covering the Hermitage Museum's collection of Kuche art, and that the next volume in the series will cover a large collection of mural fragments that were taken from Berlin during World War II. For many years, the whereabouts of these mural fragments were unknown to both the public and academia, but after restoration, the fragments were recently re-introduced to the public as part of the museum's permanent exhibition. We look forward to the next publication that focuses on these mural fragments, and also to future catalogs introducing the artifacts of Turpan and Khotan. Currently, fragments of the murals from the Kuche grottoes are scattered among various countries, including Russia, Germany, and Korea. With the publication of this catalog, it seems like an opportune time to publish a comprehensive catalog on the murals of the Kuche region, which represent a compelling mixture of East-West culture that reflects the overall characteristics of the region. A catalog that includes both the remaining murals of the Kizil grottoes and the fragments from different parts of the world could greatly enhance our understanding of the murals' original state. Such a book would hopefully include a more detailed and interdisciplinary discussion of the artifacts and murals, including scientific analyses of the pigments and other materials from the perspective of conservation science. With the ongoing rapid development in western China, the grotto murals are facing a serious crisis related to climate change and overcrowding in the oasis city of Xinjiang. To overcome this challenge, the cultural communities of China and other countries that possess advanced technology for conservation and restoration must begin working together to protect and restore the murals of the Silk Road grottoes. Moreover, centers for conservation science should be established to foster human resources and collect information. Compiling the data of Russian expeditions related to the grottoes of Kuche (among the results of Western archaeological surveys of the Silk Road in the early twentieth century), Kuche Art Relics Collected in Russia represents an important contribution to research on Kuche's Buddhist art and the Silk Road, which will only be enhanced by a future volume introducing the mural fragments from Germany. As the new authoritative source for academic research on the artworks and artifacts of the Kuche region, the book also lays the groundwork for new directions for future studies on the Silk Road. Finally, the book is also quite significant for employing a new editing system that improves its academic clarity and convenience. In conclusion, Dr. Kira Samosyuk, who planned the publication, deserves tremendous praise for taking the research of Silk Road art to new heights.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.3
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• pp.1-40
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• 1965

To measure variations in some of the important agronomic characteristics of rice varieties under shifting of seedling dates, this study has been carried out at the Paddy Crop Division of Crop Experiment Station(then Agricultural Experiment Station) in Suwon for the period of three years 1958 to 1960. The varieties used in this study were Kwansan, Suwon ＃82, Mojo, Paltal and Chokwang, which have the different agronomic characteristics such as earliness and plant type. Seeds of each variety were sown at 14 different dates in 10-day interval starting on March 2. The seedlings were grown on seed bed for 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 days, respectively. The results of this study are as follows: A. Heading dates. 1. As the seeding date was delayed, the heading dates was almost proportionally delayed. The degree of delay was higher in early varieties and lower in late varieties and the longer the seedling stage, the more delayed the heading date. 2. Number of days to heading was proportionally lessened as seeding was delayed in all the varieties but the magnitude varied depending upon variety. In other words, the required period for heading in case of late planting was much shortened in late variety compared with early one. Within a variety, the number of days to heading was less shortened as the seedling stage was prolonged. Early variety reached earlier than late variety to the marginal date for the maximum shortening of days to heading and the longer the seeding stage, the limitted date came earlier. There was a certain limit in seeding date for shortening of days to heading as seeding was delayed, and days to heading were rather prolonged due to cold weather when seeded later than that date. 3. In linear regression equation, Y=a+bx obtained from the seeding dates and the number of days to heading, the coefficient b(shortening rate of days to heading) was closely correlated with the average number of days to heading. That is, the period from seeding to heading was more shortened in late variety than early one as seeding was delayed. 4. To the extent that the seedling stage is not so long and there is a linear relationship between delay of seeding and shortening of days to heading, it might be possible to predict heading date of a rice variety to be sown any date by using the linear regression obtained from variation of heading dates under the various seeding dates of the same variety. 5. It was found out that there was a close correlation between the numbers of days to heading in ordinary culture and the other ones. When a rice variety was planted during the period from the late part of March to the middle of June and the seedling ages were within 30 to 50 days, it could be possible to estimate heading date of the variety under late or early culture with the related data of ordinary culture. B. Maturing date. 6. Within (he marginal date for maturation of rice variety, maturing date was proportionally delayed as heading was delayed. Of course, the degree of delay depended upon varieties and seedling ages. The average air temperature (Y) during the ripening period of rice variety was getting lower as the heading date. (X) was delayed. Though there was a difference among varieties, in general, a linear regression equation(y=25.53-0.182X) could be obtained as far as heading date were within August 1 to September 13. 7. Depending upon earliness of a rice variety, the average air temperature during the ripening period were greatly different. Early variety underwent under 28$^{\circ}C$ in maximum while late variety matured under as low as 22$^{\circ}C$. 8. There was a highly significant correlation between the average air temperature (X) during the ripening period, and number of day (Y) for the maturation. And the relationship could be expressed as y=82.30-1.55X. When the average air temperature during the period was within the range of 18$^{\circ}C$ to 28$^{\circ}C$, the ripening period was shortened by 1.55 days with increase of 1$^{\circ}C$. Considering varieties, Kwansan was the highest in shortening the maturing period by 2.24 days and Suwon ＃82 was the lowest showing 0.78 days. It is certain that ripening of rice variety is accelerated at Suwon as the average air temperature increases within the range of 18$^{\circ}C$ to 28$^{\circ}C$. 9. Between number of days to heading (X) related to seeding dates and the accumulated average air temperature (Y) during the ripening period, a positive correlation was obtained. However, there was a little difference in the accumulated average air temperature during the ripening period even seeding dates were shifted to a certain extent. C. Culm- and ear-lengths. 10. In general all the varieties didn't show much variation in their culm-lengths in case of relatively early seeding but they trended to decrease the lengths as seeding was delayed. The magnitude of decreasing varied from young seedlings to old ones. Young seedlings which were seeded during May 21 to June 10 didn't decrease their culm-lengths, while seedlings old as 80 days decreased the length though under ordinary culture. 11. Variation in ear-length of rice varieties show the same trend as the culm-length subjected to the different seeding dates. When rice seedlings aged from 30 to 40 days, the ear-length remained constant but rice plants older than 40 days obviously decreased their ear-lengths. D. Number of panicles per hill. 12. The number of panicles per hill decreased up to a certain dates as seeding was delayed and then again increased the panicles due to the development of numerous tillers at the upper internodes. The seeding date to reach to the least number of panicles of rice variety depended upon the seedling ages. Thirty- to 40-day seedlings which were seeded during May 31 to June 10 developed the lowest number of panicles and 70- to 80-day seedlings sown for the period from April 11 to April 21 reached already to the minimum number of panicles. E. Number of rachillae. 13. To a certain seeding date, the number of rachillae didn't show any variation due to delay of seeding but it decreased remarkably when seeded later than the marginal date. 14. Variation in number of rachillae depended upon seedling ages. For example, 30- to 40-day old seedlings which, were originally seeded after May 31 started to decrease the rachillae. On the other hand, 80-day old seedlings which, were seeded on May 1 showed a tendency to decrease rachillae and the rice plant sown on May 31 could develop narrowly 3 or 4 panicles. F. Defective grain and 1.000-grain weights. 15. Under delay of the seeding dates, weight of the defective grains gradually increased till a certain date and then suddenly increased. These relationships could be expressed with two different linear regressions. 16. If it was assumed that the marginal date for ripening was the cross point of these two lines, the date seemed. closely related with seedling ages. The date was June 10- in 30- to 40-day old seedlings but that of 70- to 80-day old seedlings was May 1. Accordingly, the marginal date for ripening was getting earlier as the seedling stage was prolonged. 17. The 1.000-grain weight in ordinary culture was the heaviest and it decreased in both early and late cultures. G. Straw and rough rice weights. 18. Regardless of earliness of variety, rice plants under early culture which were seeded before March 22 or April 1 did not show much variation in straw weight due to seedling ages but in ordinary culture it gradually decreased and the degree was became greater in late culture. 19. Relationship between seeding dates (X) and grain weight related to varieties and seedling ages, could be expressed as a parabola analogous to a line (Y=77.28-7.44X$_1$-1.00lX$_2$). That is, grain yield didn't vary in early culture but it started to decrease when seeded later than a certain date, as seeding was delayed. The variation was much greater in cases of late planting and prolongation of seedling age. 20. Generally speaking, the relationship between grain yield (Y) and number of days to heading (X) was described with linear regression. However, the early varieties were the highest yielders within the range of 60 to 110, days to heading but the late variety greatly decreased its yield since it grows normally only under late culture. The grain yield, on the whole, didn't increase as number of days to heading exceeded more than 140 days.