Oriental languages and cultures

This paper aims to provide insight into Aristotle's arguments for the "natural inferiority" of women. According to Aristotle, female reason "lacks authority". He does not explain why this is the case or what this actually means. This study combines Aristotle's psychology, ethics, politics and biology in order to spell out this obscurity. However, no explanation will be satisfying to the modern reader. It is crucial to understand that science is embedded in a cultural and political environment. An ambitious scientist with a genius for observing reality, can get it wrong nonetheless. This paper offers a reflection on Aristotle's biological and philosophical observations in order to grasp his ideas within their context.

This paper aims to provide insight into Aristotle´s arguments for the "natural inferiority" of women. According to Aristotle, female reason "lacks authority". He does not explain why this is the case or what this actually means. This study combines Aristotle´s psychology, ethics, politics and biology in order to spell out this obscurity. However, no explanation will be satisfying to the modern reader. It is crucial to understand that science is embedded in a cultural and political environment. An ambitious scientist with a genius for observing reality, can get it wrong nonetheless. This paper offers a reflection on Aristotle´s biological and philosophical observations in order to grasp his ideas within their context.

This article discusses Aristotle´s theory of emotions, and anger specifically, within the larger framework of his virtue ethics. For Aristotle, the right to anger corresponds with a social status which justifies the feeling and displaying of anger. Aristotle´s moral theory was embedded in his ethics and his particular society, in which women´s social position placed limitations on which emotions she is theoretically able to feel, why, towards whom, et cetera. Aristotle´s concept of "virtue" implies that women´s emotions and anger call for different conditions and rules as opposed to men´s. Anger is one of the emotions that illustrates this most clearly, it being an emotion that is closely connected to the preservation of public honour and status in the Ancient Greek polis.

This article analyses Ibn Rushd's/Averroes' (d. 1198) views on motherhood in his commentary on Plato's Republic. The starting point for this inquiry is Ibn Rushd's comparison of the women in his society to plants. Ibn Rushd argues that performing the duties of motherhood, i.e. being children's primary caregiver, does not constitute nor involve any form of human virtue. Ibn Rushd's low esteem for activities of motherhood has hitherto been ignored. This paper argues that the comparison of women to plants does not hinge on societal criticism solely but on at least two additional factors: Aristotle on plants in De Anima and on this low appreciation for tasks of parenthood. Furthermore, this paper aims to show that the latter is incompatible with Aristotle's views in his ethics and biology, which emphasize, respectively, the friendship that characterizes the parent-child relationship and the intelligence and virtue needed to raise the next generation.

India is een land dat gekenmerkt wordt door een enorme meertaligheid. Deze meertaligheid wordt in zekere mate weerspiegeld in het taalbeleid van het land, anderzijds blijkt er nog steeds een bepaalde graad van deprivatie te bestaan bij gemeenschappen van taalminderheden. Om hieromtrent een bepaalde bewustwording te creëren wil deze paper onderzoeken hoe het taalbeleid van India precies in elkaar zit en tot stand is gekomen. Daarnaast worden de effecten ervan op de positie van taalgemeenschappen geanalyseerd. Om dit te doen werd gebruik gemaakt van voornamelijk academisch materiaal uit de politieke wetenschappen, sociologie en sociolinguïstiek en overheidsbronnen. Op die manier kon worden vastgesteld dat het taalbeleid gekenmerkt wordt door een combinatie van pluralisme en nationale integratiepolitiek, waarbij de pluralistische tendensen vaak een maat voor niks zijn door een gebrekkige beleidsimplementatie. Daarnaast blijken de ongelijkheden tussen taalgemeenschappen net bestendigd te worden door het beleid, met economisch nut als voornaamste criterium. Op die manier is er sprake van een vicieuze cirkel waarbij minderheidstalen consequent het onderspit moeten delven en hun sprekers de toegang tot kwaliteitsvol onderwijs en opwaartse sociale mobiliteit blijven ontberen.

Salman Rushdie behoort tot de bekendste Indische auteurs op wereldvlak. Hij brak door met de roman Midnight’s Children, door zijn bijzondere manier van schrijven die een mengeling is van realistische en fantastische elementen, gepaard met een resem aan opmerkelijke narratieve technieken. De bedoeling van deze paper is deze narratieve technieken te koppelen aan postkoloniale en postmoderne thema’s als anti-imperialisme, identiteit en legitimiteit. Door het lezen van case-studies over Midnight’s Children maar ook essays van de auteur zelf werd een basis gelegd voor het begrijpen van deze complexe strategieën om ze vervolgens te toetsen aan fragmenten uit de roman zelf. Midnight’s Children blijkt op die manier een uitgelezen voorbeeld te zijn van de postmoderne gedachte dat de manier waarop een tekst geschreven is onze perceptie van de inhoud mee beïnvloedt, en dat de manier waarop een tekst geschreven wordt tevens afhangt van de positie van de schrijver tegenover het onderwerp. Uitgaand van deze gedachte is de rol van Rushdie als gedeeltelijke ‘outsider’, die niet meer in India leeft, een interessante piste om verder te onderzoeken.

Description of an .xlsx (Microsoft Excel) table that was originally prepared to help with the Historical Social Network Analysis TEI mark-up of selected fragments of the Zǔtáng jí 祖堂集 (Collection of the Patriarchs’ Hall; K.1503) published on the Database of Medieval Chinese Texts (Ghent University and Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts 法鼓文理學院).

Notes on the collection of variant characters of the Zǔtáng jí 祖堂集 (K.1503) and the referencing system used for the Database of Medieval Chinese Texts (Ghent University & DILA 法鼓文理學院). Variants are collected from an original print of the Goryeo 高麗 edition of the ZTJ which is stored at the Library of the Institute for Research in Humanities 人文科学研究所図書室 of Kyōto University 京都大學, Japan.

XLSX (Microsoft Excel) table that was originally prepared to help with the Historical Social Network Analysis TEI mark-up of selected fragments of the Zǔtáng jí 祖堂集 (Collection of the Patriarchs’ Hall; K.1503) to be published on the Database of Medieval Chinese Texts (Ghent University and Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts 法鼓文理學院). This table summarises information on the contents and structure of the ZTJ (e.g., juàn 卷, zhāng 張, generations, entries). In addition, it provides the exact name and the location of the entries of the Chán patriarchs and masters as recorded in the Goryeo 高麗 edition. As a complement, it includes the location of the praise verses (zàn 贊/讚) composed by Chán master Jìngxiū 淨修禪師 (d. 972), author of the original preface of the ZTJ, as well as the references of the corresponding praise verses contained in his Quánzhōu Qiānfó xīnzhù zhū zǔshī sòng 泉州千佛新著諸祖師頌 (Eulogies for the Patriarchs, newly composed by Qiānfó [Dèng] of Quán prefecture; Or.8210/S.1635).

This paper attempts to examine the genealogical framework of “lamp records” (denglu 燈錄) of the Chan Buddhist tradition using analytical tools and methods of Historical Social Network Analysis (HSNA) and graph theory. As an exploratory study, the primary objectives are to investigate the possibilities offered by HSNA and visualization tools for research on Chan genealogy in lamp records, explore the benefits of this approach over traditional lineage charts, and reflect on its limitations. The essay focuses on the Chan community portrayed in the Goryeo 高麗 edition of the Zutang ji 祖堂集 (Collection of the Patriarchal Hall; K.1503). It shows that the lineage reportedly stemming from Qingyuan Xingsi 青原行思 (d. ca. 740) and Shitou Xiqian 石頭希遷 (701–791), as well as the branch descending from Tianhuang Daowu 天皇道悟 (748–807) to Xuefeng Yicun 雪峰義存 (822–908) and his successors, play a crucial role within the structure of the Zutang ji’s genealogical network. The study further highlights possible irregularities in lineage claims by contrasting metrics of degree and betweenness centrality with features of the text (e.g., number of hagiographic entries, length of the entries).

to name but a few. Inspired by the vibrant scholarly atmosphere and invigorated by the fresh mountain air, this is also where I broke free of my long-standing timorousness and Marcus convinced me to experience East Asian culture on the field and learn modern Chinese more intensively in Taiwan. Apart from this, Marcus also generously iii Several chapters of this dissertation have been published previously or accepted for publication in scholarly journals. My warmest thanks to the editors and the anonymous reviewers who offered valuable feedback which helped improve my articles. I am especially indebted to Prof. James Robson and the two reviewers at T'oung Pao who provided excellent feedback on my study of the Quanzhou Qianfo xinzhu zhuzushi song 泉州千佛新著諸祖師 頌. In addition, chapters or sections of this dissertation have been presented at multiple conferences. An earlier draft of my translation of Huiguan's 慧觀 (d.u.) preface to the Quanzhou Qianfo xinzhu zhuzushi song was presented at the "Pre-modern Chinese Buddhist Texts: a translation workshop of readings from the Sinophone world" (June 14-16, 2021) workshop organized by the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. My heartfelt thanks to Prof. Matthew Orsborn (Univ. of Oxford) for his diligent comments and to the audience who offered valuable feedback. My investigation of the textual history of the Quanzhou Qianfo xinzhu zhuzushi song and the lineage claims contained in the Dunhuang manuscript was presented at the Easter 2022 "Dunhuang & Silk Road Seminar Series" (May 19, 2022) of the University of Cambridge. I am especially grateful to Prof. Imre Galambos for his invitation and guidance in the analysis of the Dunhuang manuscript, both online and at the British Library. My examination of the early hagiographic accounts related to Nanyue Huairang 南嶽懷讓 (677-744) was first presented at the FROGBEAR/Glorisun international conference "How Zen Became Chan: Pre-modern and Modern Representations of a Transnational East Asian Buddhist Tradition" (July 29-31, 2022), in collaboration with Yale University. I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. Huang Yi-hsun 黃繹勳 (Shanghai Univ.) for her thoughtful comments and kind encouragements. Finally, my study of the genealogical framework of the Zutang ji was presented at the symposium "Perspectives of Digital Humanities in the Field of Buddhist Studies" (January 13-14, 2023) of Hamburg University. Special thanks to the organizers, Prof. Carsten Krause (Hamburg Univ.) and Dr. Sebastian Nehrdich (Univ. of California, Berkeley), for their invitation and the fruitful atmosphere. In addition, I received many insightful comments from Prof. Chen Song 陳松 (Bucknell Univ.) and Christian Wittern which helped improve this study. Throughout the years, my colleagues and friends in Belgium and abroad have been a wonderful source of support, joy, and necessary distraction. At Ghent University, I thank especially Ven.