Tag Archives: asian-pacific history

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

“(1927-2013) British novelist and short-story writer. Born in Germany of Polish and German-Jewish parents, Jhabvala lived in England for twelve years before marrying an Indian architect and moving to New Delhi, where she remained until she moved to New York in 1976. Her subject is India, which she views as both an insider and an outsider, and with increasing distress at the poverty and misery surrounding her own comfortable life. She is concerned with social mores and psychological power struggles and psychological power struggles, and employs wit, nuance, and evocative descriptive detail. Her first novels, To Whom She Will (1955; U.S. Amrita, 1956), The Nature of Passion (1956), and Esmond in India (1957), deal with Indian arranged marriages and an East-West alliance. She has written a number of screenplays. Her later novels, such as Heat and Dust (1975), later made into a successful movie, show the influence of cinematic techniques. She has also published several volumes of short stories. In Search of Love and Beauty (1983) is a novel about German emigres in 1930s New York. Poet and Dancer (1993) is a novel.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

Nirvana

“The Sanskrit word ‘Nirvana” means ‘blown out’: a profound peace of mind, a freedom from suffering, and union with the Brahma-like symbol for the universe.

As the Lord Buddha explains, ‘Where there is nothing; where naught is grasped, there is the Isle of No-Beyond. Nirvana do I call it–the utter extinction of aging and dying…That dimension where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind; neither dimension of the infinitude of space, nor dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, nor dimension of nothingness, nor dimension of neither perception nor non-perception; neither this world, nor the next world, nor sun, nor moon. And there, I say, there is neither coming, nor going, nor stasis; neither passing away nor arising: without stance, without foundation, without support. This, just this, is the end of stress.'”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

Learning Support: Timeline of World History

Somewhere, and I’ll post it in the future, I have an entire lesson that attends this brief timeline of world history. For now, I think this document has merit per se.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Doctor Zhivago

“A novel (1957) by the Russian writer Boris Pasternak (1890-1960). Set against the background of the Russian Revolution and the ensuing civil war, it tells the story of poet and physician Yuri Zhivago, whose love for the beautiful Lara causes pain for all involved. In Russian, zhivago means ‘the living’, and the word has strong religious connotations: the Russian version of ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead’ (the question the angels ask the women who come to see Christ’s tomb in the Gospel of St. Luke) is ‘Chto vy ischyote zhivago mezhdu myortvykh?’ In addition, Yuri is the Russian version of George–the dragon-slaying saint.

The book brought Pasternak himself little happiness. Following his award of the Nobel Prize for Literature, he was pilloried by literary rivals, who accused him of plagiarizing other works, and his companion Olga Ivinskaya, on whom Lara was based, was thrown into prison by the Soviets. The first Russian publication of the novel did not take place until 1987.

David Lean’s epic film version (1965) lasts over 190 minutes, and stars Omar Sharif as Zhivago and Julie Christie as Lara. Maurice Jarre’s haunting ‘Lara’s Theme’, played on the balalaika, has become a favorite in all places where muzak is played.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

Independent Practice: Chandragupta Maurya

OK, here is an independent practice worksheet on Chandragupta Maurya. He was, as you probably know (but your students do not), the founder of the Mauryan Empire.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

“(Russian title: Odin den Ivana Denisovicha). A novel (1962; English translation 1963) by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), first published outside the USSR. Live on one of Stalin’s labour camps in 1950 is seen through eyes of an inmate; the author was himself in such a camp from 1950 to 1953. A film version (1971), directed by Caspar Wrede and starring Tom Courtenay, was a fairly faithful adaptation of the original, with all its harrowing detail.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

5 Qualifications of Islamic Virtue

“No honour is like knowledge * No belief is like modesty and patience * No attainment is like humility * No power is like forbearance * No support is more reliable than consultation

These qualifications were taught by Ali, the first male disciple of the Prophet Muhammad, his most valiant warrior, his cousin, son-in-law and father of his only male grandchildren. Ali was overlooked in the political succession to the leadership of Islam by the first three caliphs, which allowed him to meditate on the essence of faith in Medina. He is the fountainhead of all the Sufi brotherhoods and mystical practices of Islam, and possessed all these virtues in abundance.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

The Rosetta Stone

Wrapping up on a dark Saturday morning (is there anything better, incidentally, on a winter morning, than strong black coffee?), here is a reading on the Rosetta Stone and a comprehension worksheet that accompanies it.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

60 Degrees of Sumeria

“Sixty is the base number of the Sumerian number system, fully evolved in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) by 3000 BC, and it remains the essence of how we measure time: sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour. The number is also the base of of the 360 degrees of a circle, as in the fully imagined sky of the Sumerians (of which only a portion was visible from temple roofs), divided into six houses of 60 degrees. In Sumerian culture, the number 1 was expressed by a simple wedge, cut into clay or wood, and 60 by a great wedge.

Sixty has the versatility of being neatly divisible by 30, 20, 15, 12, 10, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2, and therefore makes for easy subdivision of irrigated land and the harvested crops which were initially gathered in sixty-fold sheaves, just as in pre-decimal English currency sixty pennies (60d) were a crown (five shillings/5s).”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

12 Emblems of Supreme Authority

“Sun * Moon * Stars * Axe * Fu * Pair of Sacrificed Cups * Water Weed * Mountains * Five-clawed Dragon * Pheasant * Grain * Fire

These twelve emblems were embroidered onto the Chinese Emperor’s yellow silk robe during the Qianlong Period, the first six symbols on the front, the others on the back. The axe symbolized the power of execution; a Fu is a good fortune symbol; the dragon symbolized the power to guard from harm, rain, good fortune, full harvest, and protection against fire; the grain the ability to feed; and the fire, brilliance.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.