Sunday, April 6, 2008

Association for Asian Studies

The Association for Asian Studies has some good resources for graduate students. I am not a member, but it could be worthwhile for thos of us going on to pursue an academic career in this field.

H-GRAD Discussion Network

Discovered this Discussion Group which I think would really help UH graduate students. The site also has a number of other fascinating discussion groups geared for the academic/scholarly community.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Uehiro CrossCurrents Comparative Philosophy Conference

The Philosophy Students’ Association presents the 2008 Uehiro CrossCurrents Comparative Philosophy Conference: Crisis and Opportunity

March 19th and 20th, 2008
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
Center for Korean Studies

www.hawaii.edu/phil/gradconf

On March 19th and 20th, the Philosophy Students’ Association and the Department of Philosophy of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa will host the 2008 Uehiro CrossCurrents Philosophy Conference: Crisis and Opportunity. Events will be held at the Center for Korean Studies, and presentations are free and open to the public.

Since 1939, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa has been the focus of the most significant recurring event in comparative philosophy: the East-West Philosophers’ Conference. The 2008 Uehiro CrossCurrents Philosophy Conference aims to create a comparable forum for graduate students who are doing exciting work that may contribute to the field of comparative philosophy.

Presenters have been organized into panels that cover themes ranging from interpretation and comparative philosophy to responsible global citizenship. The conference features opening remarks by Professor Eliot Deutsch, and a keynote address by Professor Thomas Kasulis of Ohio State University. His talk is titled, “Comparative Philosophy in Crisis.” Additionally, there will be a special presentation by three University of Tokyo professors, entitled “East Asian Philosophy in the Age of Globalization.”

The conference begins Wednesday, March 19th, with opening remarks at 8:40 a.m., with panels at 9:00 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 1:30 p.m. The special presentation begins at 3:15 p.m. Thursday, March 20th, panels begin at 9:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The keynote address will begin at 1:30 p.m.

For more information, contact conference coordinator Sarah Mattice at psa [at] hawaii dot edu.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

International Night 2008

My name is Nozomi Hamaguchi from the International Student Association.

This coming March 14, Friday, International Student Association in
collaboration with International Student Services, are having the
event International Night 2008.

International Night is designed to make students, faculty, staff and
outside community members appreciate the cultural diversity of the University of Hawaii and the state. In this year's theme "Around the World in 3 Hours", we would like to present a sort of miniature world by having various ethnic booths set up. We are currently looking for individuals or groups who are interested in participating in the International Night 2008.

I was wondering if you could inform the students in your department
about this event. We are hoping to have a variety of people
participating, as it will give students the opportunity to display
their cultures.

It would be a great help if we could have more people participate in
this event.

The details of this event can be found in the attached document.
Paper copies of the application form are also available at
International Student Services, QLCSS 206.

Thank you for your time.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Blog RSS Feed

For those of you who use RSS readers, the Asian Studies Blog runs an RSS Feed. The address of the feed is:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/asianstudies

The link can also be found in the sidebar.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Chinese Picture Story Book (Lian Huan Hua) Exhibit

Chinese Picture Story Book (Lian Huan Hua)Exhibit
Asia Collection, Hamilton Library
February 2008

Visit Hamlition Library's Digitial Collection to view more than 150 colorful bookcovers.

Lian Huan Hua 连环画 literally means “linked serial pictures.” They are pocket sized picture-story books first published by a Shanghai publisher in the 1920s. Lian huan hua is also commonly known as Xiao ren shu (小人书), children’s book for their simplicity and heraldic subjects. They combined pictures with text. Unlike the western comic books, the text is usually placed either at the bottom or on the right side of the picture, rather than issuing from the characters’ mouth in balloons.

The origin of lian huan hua in China is hard to trace. However, there are two recognized forerunners of this popular medium, the traditional drawings in Chinese classical literature or popular romantic novels and Chinese New Year’s pictures (nian hua 年画). Many story books of the Song (A.D. 960-1279) and the Yuan (A.D. 1279-1368) dynasties often had illustrations at the top of each page, including The Water Margin (Shui hu zhuan 水浒传) and Romance of the Three Kingdoms (San guo zhi 三国志). During the Ming (A.D. 1368-1644) and the Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, popular romantic novels, such as The Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong lou meng 红楼梦) and The Romance of the Western Chamber (Xi xiang ji 西厢记), often included portraits of the main characters at the beginning of the novels and sometimes at the start of each chapter. Traditional Chinese New Year’s pictures are often colorful prints of stories of legendary heroes and episodes of operas. Tales such as Twenty-Four Legends of Filial


Piety (Er shi si xiao 二十四孝) is one of the favorite subjects of New Year’s pictures.

In the early 1920s, lian huan hua first appeared mainly as adaptations of Jingju 京剧 (Peking Opera) and Chinese literary classics. The pictures were created mostly in line drawings, sketches, and oil-wash painting. After the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded in 1949, lain huan hua became an extremely popular art form and was used to popularize new government policies and regulations. From 1951 to 1956, more than 10,000 titles, and approximately 26 billion copies were published in China.

The popularity of lian huan hua diminished in 1966 at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976); however, the publication was revived by Premier Zhou Enlai in the early 1970s with heroic stories of the time that were used as a propaganda tool. From the late 1970s to mid-1980s, lian huan hua became an important source of education and entertainment for children and adults alike. With a wide range of other reading materials appearing in China during the 1990s, lian huan hua lost its glamour. Since 2000, lian huan hua started appearing in shops and has become hot collectible items in China today.

The Hamilton Library’s China collection has collected more than 150 titles of lian huan hua that were published mostly during the Cultural Revolution, particularly between 1971-1976, when the publication of lian huan hua was rare and difficult at that time.

For the exhibit, the China Specialist Librarian has selected some representative titles and placed them in the display cases on the 4th floor of the Asia Collection.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Meeting for those Interested in East Asian Food and Drink

Let's have an organizational (and introductory!) meeting on Fri 2/1 at
1:30, Coffeeline, hidden restaurant at the corner of University and Seaview, across from Architecture Bldg. I've invited David Wu (now at EWC). Any grad students interested in the topic of food and drink in E. Asia are welcome! If nothing else, let's meet and share our research interests.

For those who are interested, but can't make it, let me know and I'll
keep you abreast.

Christine R. Yano
Professor of Anthropology