• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.699-701
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• 2015

The high plateaus in west China may provide suitable sites for astronomical observations with the institute's middle-range telescopes and possibly with larger telescopes. Under China-Japan collaborations for site survey in west China, we have been conducting searches for good sites and monitoring their characteristics over several years. As recent results of our site survey show, sites in west Tibet are revealed with a high possibility of good astronomical observations. Weather characteristics at Gar in Ali, Tibet, show its high clear-sky ratios, especially in winter, comparable to Mauna Kea, Hawaii. But it has some wind problem in winter, where stronger wind speeds, over 20m/sec, occur frequently even though the sky is clear. To find calmer sites, we have conducted numerical simulations for the Ali area using the Japan Meteorological Agency NonHydrostatic Model. We have found another site, named ZoZo Hill, near Gar. We will continue to monitor the Gar site to clarify weather characteristics over the whole year and hopefully start to negotiate for site monitoring at ZoZo Hill this year.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.113-116
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• 2005

The program of site survey in western China has been initiated by the National Astronomical Observatories of China(NAOC) toward large telescope facilities. The program is carried out in aspects of remote studies and local surveys. The preliminary results show that the eastern Pamirs and Ali area in Tibet may be the best candidates for further monitoring. The site survey group of NAOC will proceed to set up site testing stations on the selected sites and perform monitoring and campaign in 2005.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.659-666
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• 2003

This study is a comparative analysis on the variabilities of spring precipitation and atmospheric circulations of 500hPa surfaces between dry years and wet years over the Korean Peninsula. The distribution of variabilities of precipitation in spring are different from month to month. In March, the pattern is west-high and east-low, in April, north-high and south-low, in May, east-high and west-low respectively. In the distribution of 500hPa geopotential height anomaly, dry years of March show west-high and east-low pattern in that negative anomaly zones are formed around the Korean Peninsula and western coast of the northern Pacific Ocean, and positive anomaly zones are formed in the inland of East Asia centered on Siberia. Consequently, the Korean Peninsula and neighboring regions experience dry season when the zonal flows are strong with the positive anomaly zones of zonal components. On the contrary in the wet years the westerlies are weak since the pattern is east-high and west-low in which the positive anomaly zones are formed over the Korean Peninsula centered on the Aleutian Islands and western coast of the northern Pacific Ocean and the negative anomaly zones are formed in the inland of East Asia centered on Tibet Plateau and Siberia. The dry years of April and May show north-high and south-low patterns in that negative anomaly zones are found from the center of the northern Pacific Ocean to the eastern coast of East Asia, and the positive anomaly zones are found in the center of East Asia extending from Aleutian Islands to Tibet Plateau. On the contrary, in the wet years the patterns show south-high and north-low. This study identified not only that there are contrary atmospheric circulation patterms between dry years and wet years over Korean Peninsua in spring, but also there are different atmosphric circulation patterns between early and late spring.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.137-148
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• 2000

This paper is based on the 9 goat colonies along the middle and lower Yellow River valley and 7 local goat colonies in the Northeast, Tibet and the Yangtze valley. After collecting the same data about the 22 goat colonies in China and other countries, it establishes and composes the matrix of fuzzy similarity relation describing the genetic similarities of different colonies. It also clusters 38 colonies according to their phylogenetic relationship. The establishment of the matrix and the cluster are effected in terms of the frequency of 18 loci and 43 allelomorphs in blood enzyme and other protein variations. The study proves that the middle Yellow River valley is one of the taming and disseminating centers of domestic goats in the South and East of Central Asia. Compared with other goat populations in this vast area, the native goat populations in the west of Mongolian Plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the middle Yellow River valley share the same origin. The colonies in the lower Yellow River valley and those in the middle valley, however, are relatively remote in their phylogenetic relationship. The native goat colonies in the southeast of Central Asia can be classified into two genetic groups: "East Asia" and "South Asia" and the colonies in Southeast Asia belong to either group.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.125-146
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• 2019

This paper deals with the question of the origin of polo. Although it is a sport that has been mainly active in the West since the nineteenthcentury, it is well known that British troops in the northern part of Pakistan learned about the sport from the local people there. Most agree that the origin of polo is Iran. However, in this paper, rather than specifying a specific area as the birthplace of polo, it is argued that polo was a cultural phenomenon commonly found on the Silk Road. This is based on the fact that polo has been known for centuries in China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, as well as throughout Iran, northern India, Tibet, Central Asia, and the Uighur Autonomous Region. Yet, the transmission of polo cannot be traced chronologically according to the supposed propagation route. This cultural phenomenon has changed over a long period of time according to the local environment, and the change was caused by mutual exchanges, not by one party. Therefore, there are limitations to interpreting cultural phenomena linearly. Thus, the origin of polo could also be identified with another area, namely Baltistan in modern day Pakistan, instead of Iran. These results support the argument that to understand Silk Road civilization, a process-centric approach based on 'exchanges', not a method of exploring archetypes to find 'the place of origin', should be utilized. Polo is undoubtedly an important cultural artifact with which to read the Silk Road as a cultural belt complex, as well as an example of the common culture created by the whole Silk Road.