Articles

The article investigates the role of the Chinese government in the process of searching for and identifying the next rebirth of the Dalai Lama XIV, who has been in India since 1959. The author considers the main assessments of the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama’s entourage on the reincarnation issue based on Chinese sources and materials of Tibetan exile, and also notes possible ways the issue may evolve.

The article discusses some main directions in the religious policy of China in the 20th century, when China becomes one of the most important global manufacturers and investors. Cultural policy, in general, and the attitude to religions, in particular, change radically with the beginning of reforms in 1978. The policy of struggle against religions, which caused death of tens of thousands of priests and the destruction of temples during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), has gone into the past. Since the beginning of the reforms in 1978 the communist party has pursued liberal permissive policy towards religions. Moreover, the state itself becomes organizer of religious life, investor in religious activities, religious institutions and spiritual education. However, the Chinese authorities behave rigidly when religious activities are considered to be connected with sectarianism, non-recognition of communist ideology, the struggle for self-determination or separatism.

The paper provides a translation with commentary of the “Chaoqi pian” chapter from Wang Chong’s (I A.D.) “Lunheng” made by the author.

Author investigates in details such specific trends of Japanese demographic development as fast population aging, rate of birth decrease, increase of age dependency ratio after the end of World War II, and the influence of these processes on labour force quantitative and qualitative characteristics and possible ways of its replenishment. Comparative analysis of the demographic shift in Japan and same processes in the developed countries of Western Europe and North America also occupies a significant place in the research.

Article deals with a reflection of Tianjin treaty of 1858 in the diary of Archimandrite Palladius (Kafarov), head of 13th Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Beijing (1850–1858), one of the best expert on China of his time. Diary covers a period from the winter of 1858 to the end of the summer of 1858 and provides some valuable data on the history of Russian-Chinese relations in the middle of the XIXth century, especially in the dimension of daily work of Russian diplomats of this time. On the pages of the diary we can find some critical remarks on Russian representative count Putiatin behavior and clear misunderstanding of the China situation and Russian interests in the region, showed by him. For this reason, the original diary was published in abridged form and fully published only in 1912.

This article is dedicated to the analysis of monastic exploit in ancient Georgian hagiographic literary monuments and, in particular, to dispensation of prayer by the example of Georgian saints. Article comments on different stages of prayer life: verbal prayer, pure prayer, spiritual prayer and prayerful contemplation. The path of mystic ascent of St. Shio Mgvimeli, Abo Tbileli, Grigol Handzteli, Ekvtime Atoneli and others is analyzed taking into account basic settings of hesychast teaching, unceasing prayer, noetic prayer, contemplation of uncreated light and fragrance, glory and theoria.

This article investigates the problematics of Chinese “neorealism” (xin xieshizhuyi) through a case study of Wang Anyi’s novels and short stories. Wang Anyi’s fiction is both representative of neorealism and symptomatic of its problematics. Though her work is not limited by neorealist discourse, it demonstrates, to a certain extent, all basic features of neorealist literary aesthetics, such as depicting decidedly unheroic urbane mundane life, lowering the emphasize on historical influence and social controversy, and accentuating instead human existence ‘as it is’, openly discussing the topics of human biology and body, and using specific literary techniques to transmit individual feelings and perception of life.

Nowadays shadow elements like sarrafi, hawala and qarz-ol-hasane funds still exist in financial system of Iran. The article briefly observes these institutions and depicts causes of their appearance as well as main fields and consequences of their work. Measures taken by Iranian government against shadow institutions are presented. An attempt was made to forecast future development of illegal institutions.

Turkish community is imprescriptible part of the modern German society. As a result it has inevitable influence on the all aspects of social life, including literature. The formation of the literature of Turkish community interest to which highly increases recently started in the mid of 1960s and beginning of 1970s. The first works by Turkish authors represented life of so-called “guest-workers” in Germany, their main problems and hopes. The aim of our article is to represent the main features of the first period of the development of the Turkish-German literature.

The following article focuses on the first years of the British occupation of north-eastern regions of Mesopotamia after World War I. The author investigates the key features of mutual relations between the local tribal elite and the officers of the British occupational administration. Special attention is paid to the subject of establishing control over the occupied area as well as its incorporation into the newly-formed Iraqi state.

The following article focuses on strengthening of Islamic factor in Turkish society and its depiction in Turkish press after World War II. The author shows shifts in Turkish printed press. Special attention is paid to establishing of Islamic periodicals in Turkey, and discussions of secular principles of the state.

The paper traces a number of developments in Burmese monastic thought in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that were instrumental in the formation of Buddhist social movements. It argues that the redefinition of the notion of Buddhist canon as well as the debates on monastic discipline and proper relations between the monks and the laity provided a basis for the emergence of new Buddhist identities and social roles. The pivotal role of the sangha in these processes offers a new perspective on the reform movements in the nineteenth-century Theravada Buddhism, as so far these movements are more commonly interpreted as a product of lay activism.