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The article describes evidence that an educated member of the Persian elite was employed at an academy that trained officials of the Japanese imperial governmen
by blackbagboys 10y ago
The article describes evidence that an educated member of the Persian elite was employed at an academy that trained officials of the Japanese imperial government. It's not at all clear how the researcher in the article makes the leap from this limited evidence for elite-to-elite contact to the conclusion that "...this suggests Nara was a cosmopolitan city where foreigners were treated equally.” Consider the conclusions that would be drawn from the modern-day scenario of a modern-day Persian employed at a government training facility in, say, Pyongyang...
- contingencies 10y agoAgreed. In addition, we know that pretty much every Central and South Asian influence (Buddhist or otherwise) certainly arrived in Japan and Korea via China and the Silk Road. Given this reality, it probably makes sense to point out that when we look at China's achievements in this period, Japan and Korea are extremely humbled. See their capital https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27an their second largest city https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luoyang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luoyang one major Buddhist monument https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshan_Giant_Buddha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshan_Giant_Buddha astrological maps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunhuang_Star_Chart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunhuang_Star_Chart and general technological achievement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_technology_of_the_Tang_dynasty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_technology_of_the_... ...
- ktRolster 10y agoit probably makes sense to point out that when we look at China's achievements in this period, Japan and Korea are extremely humbled You really didn't have to turn it into a rivalry.
- contingencies 10y agoChina had a serious, flourishing, cosmopolitan age with people from tens of unique cultures and simultaneously invented critical technologies such as printing. Japan and Korea basically simply absorbed more from China, and there's little evidence that they came in to direct contact with foreigners from further afield such as Central and South Asians except inside of or via China. For example, the period Japanese monk Ennin records that he visited a certain monastery near Taishan, at which the graves of numerous South Asian monks (as well as some Koreans, etc.) are found. His motivation for travel was literally seeking knowledge, and his destination was China.
- Steko 10y ago> It's not at all clear how the researcher in the article makes the leap Maybe because this article is a summary for popular consumption and presents conclusions instead of every step that leads to them?
- kirkules 10y agoWhy is this supposed to be a way to deflect criticism? Is popular consumption of assertions that are unverified, or difficult for a reader to verify, a good thing?
- Steko 10y ago> Is popular consumption of assertions that are unverified, or difficult for a reader to verify, a good thing? Yes, that's the whole point of summarizing expertise for lay readers and it's common and expected. The idea that it isn't strikes me as a symptom of engineers disease. When I read an article about any technical subject the assertions in there are basically never verifiable in the article alone; people with more serious questions can presumably go and look at the actual research that's being published that the article is reporting on.
- ekianjo 10y agoSo you are saying it's ok to have badly written articles?
- Steko 10y agoI'm saying it's ok to have shorter articles that don't have the detail every reader might want. I'm saying it's not badly written just because it's not a comprehensive academic review that answers every single possible question every reader might have.
- ekianjo 10y agoshorter articles without any details is exactly The problem with most fast food style articles. An article should invite thinking, not suppress it.