Humanities

Lingnan University (LU) organised a wide range of online orientation activities from 9 August to welcome new undergraduate students, and held the face-to-face New Student Orientation (NSO) and Official Welcome today (25 August).

Japanese fossil forest found, AI finds a way to people’s hearts, Language diversity and child social development & Supplement for kidney disease. Plus Submissions open for Asia Research News 2024. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.

In the early seventeenth century, a new painting tradition — characterised by its use of bold colours, gilding and gem-setting — emerged in the Thanjavur region of southern India. While Thanjavur paintings originally featured gods and saints, the tradition grew to incorporate secular subjects owing to a range of influences over the next several centuries, including Mughal, Maratha, and European art. Thanjavur paintings continue to be popular as memorabilia and worship objects, and are one the most recognisable South Indian painting styles today.

Greetings from JHSSR, Horizon is proud to announce the highly acclaimed publication of the latest issue of 2023, Vol. 5, Issue 1 (Jul. 2023). The issue is now live at the Journal’s webpage. You may explore our range of contributions within this Issue. Explore this issue, click the links below.

Lingnan University (LU) successfully hosted its two-day annual signature event, “Alumni Homecoming Weekend 2023” from 29 to 30 July, warmly welcoming alumni and their families back to reconnect and strengthen connections with old and new Lingnanians on LU campus. The “Alumni Homecoming Weekend 2023” featured a Mini Social Enterprise Bazaar, Rolling Books, NFT Pixel Art Workshops, Coffee Tasting Workshops, and a showcase and tutorial of smart table tennis, providing an opportunity for Lingnanians to share lovely memories together.

Backstrap looms are portable weaving contraptions with a component that is tied around the weaver’s waist, thereby engaging the weaver’s entire body in the process of creating textile out of warp and weft. Historical and archaeological evidence suggests that these looms, which presumably date as far back as the Bronze Age in China, have been, and continue to be, used by indigenous communities worldwide.

From big, permanent structures within imambaras to palm-sized ones made of cigarette boxes and coloured paper, tazias are replicas of the tomb of Imam Hussain which play a significant role in the rituals observed during Muharram. They were initially popularised by the Mughals for those royals who were unable to visit the actual tomb but the tradition continues, even today, when photographic images of the tomb are widely available — as a mode of creative expression or, perhaps more, as a performance of homage.

Comprising over 750 rock shelters — of which over a hundred are painted — the Bhimbetka caves are perhaps the earliest known repository of art in South Asia. These prehistoric paintings illustrate hunting scenes as well as scenes of collective rituals and processions. Although their purposes remain unknown, Bhimbetka paintings provide immense historical information about humans, animals and their relationship with nature and culture.

Elaborately carved with female figures and floral motifs, ringstones dating to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC are amongst the most enigmatic artefacts of Mauryan and Shunga art. Scholars continue to speculate about their use, and believe that they may have been used as amulets and ritualistic objects or designators. Discover more about these ancient artefacts through this article.

Beginning in the fifteenth century, until the nineteenth century, artists turned to classical music for inspiration, combining painting, allegory and music to create a genre known as Ragamala painting. Ragas — melodic frameworks central to Indian classical music — date back to nearly the fifth century, and each major raga is meant to evoke a particular mood or atmosphere, a season and a time of day. Ragamala paintings are distinctive for their nuanced depiction of emotions through environmental metaphors and imagery that often includes a hero or a heroine or both.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists found that Japanese and Chinese, who are considered to have high-context cultures with a high degree of reliance on information shared by the speaker and listener, are code-switching from high-context cultures to low-context cultures when communicating with people from each other’s country. Furthermore, the scientists found that the Japanese do not engage in much code-switching with Chinese students in Japan.

From its origins as a wide sash worn as a part of ceremonial, military and everyday dress in the Indian subcontinent, to becoming a part of British military clothing that was thought to guard against cholera, the cummerbund has had a storied legacy. Read about how this humble accessory evolved over the years.

- Target of implementing a faster and more efficient interface between semiconductor chips. Expected application in high-performance computing systems - Plan to undertake task from June 2023 funded by the Samsung Future Technology Promotion Project

- DGIST receives commendations from the President and the Minister of Science and ICT for expanding scientific research achievements, domesticating future technology, social contributions, and promoting and disseminating research outcomes.

In operation from 1863 to 2016, Bourne and Shepherd was one of the first commercial photography studios in India, known for architectural, landscape and topographical photographs, as well as portraits of Indian nobility, British officials and European travellers. While these images found traction as souvenirs, the studio’s photographs were also widely utilised in the scientific community for the topographical and sociological study of the Indian subcontinent.

Researchers discuss whether a "brain organoid" should be treated as a person by law, and suggest the need for legal and social discussions uncoupled from debates on consciousness.

Born out of the changing society of nineteenth-century Calcutta, Kalighat painting was a popular medium among the patuas (painters) who worked in the vicinity of the Kalighat temple. Though these paintings were originally intended to be souvenirs for devotees visiting the temple and featured primarily Hindu imagery, they expanded over time to include other religious traditions as well as socio-political commentary.

These figurines from more than 4000 years ago, provide insights into the material culture of one of the oldest Bronze Age Civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization.

Derived from the Gujarati word saras, meaning "beautiful", Sarasa cloth is believed to have been introduced to Japan as a trade textile by the Dutch during the Muromachi period (1336–1573).

Ajanta Murals represent some of India's earliest and most significant examples of cave painting. Spanning from the second and first centuries BCE to the late fifth CE, they narrate stories of the Buddha through his life as various bodhisattvas. Read on to discover the iconography, style and history of Ajanta Murals.

Lingnan University (LU) announced today (16 February) that Lingnan@WestKowloon, an off-campus learning hub for LU students and a meeting place with key stakeholders will be officially opened at M+ Tower of West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) in the 2023/24 academic year.

Theyyam is a ritualistic performance in the Kolathunadu district of Kerala, India. It is believed to be a physical manifestation of the presence of deities either connected to the Hindu pantheon or derived from folk tales and stories of people who were later deified. Read on to know more about the history and development of Theyyam performances.

The Kailasanatha Temple at Ellora is the largest monolithic rock-cut monument in the world. Considered to represent the victory of its patrons, the Rashtrakuta Dynasty, over the Chalukyas, the temple is widely considered remarkable for its size, standing at 32 metres high and 78 metres long.

Believed to have been built in 250 BCE to commemorate the occasion of the Buddha's first sermon in Sarnath, the lion capital is the most elaborately carved surviving capital made under the patronage of the Mauryan king Ashoka.

Rock-cut sculpture has independently arisen in various parts of the world, from subterranean structures in Malta in the Neolithic Period to tombs in ancient Egypt and the Phrygian kingdom in present-day Turkey. Read on to learn about India's earliest surviving examples of rock-cut sculpture.

The living environment of subdivided flats in Hong Kong has aroused extensive public concerns. A lot of community groups and research teams are committed to providing support for improvement. The Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative (LEI) of Lingnan University in Hong Kong strives for driving the development of humanitarian technology for the betterment of humankind. Under its pilot project, a low-cost mini air purifier is developed to fit in sub-divided flats. The LEI collaborated with Sham Shui Po District Office of Home Affairs Department and Sham Shui Po Residents Association Limited today (23 December 2022) to arrange volunteers to distribute 1,000 free air purifiers, spreading care to families living in sub-divided units before the Christmas.

Often used by devotees as a meditation tool, Mandalas are symmetrical circular forms that typically comprise a central deity surrounded by motifs and symbols.

Lingnan University (LU) in Hong Kong will confer honorary doctoral degrees upon three distinguished individuals in recognition of their outstanding achievements in their respective professions and valuable contributions to the well-being of society. The honorary doctorate recipients are Prof Woo Chia-wei, GBS, CBE (吳家瑋教授), Ms Anna Wu Hung-yuk (胡紅玉女士), GBS, JP and Dr Zhang Yimou (張藝謀博士).

Collecting Chinese porcelain as emblems of wealth and taste has a long and rich history. From the Balkans to Iraq and Iran through South Asia and East Africa, nobles and emperors of the 16 century collected Chinese ceramics to showcase them.

Over the years, Lingnan University (LU) in Hong Kong has resolutely promoted education for sustainable development on campus and in the community. To showcase their outstanding achievements in driving sustainable development with community partners, and to encourage the public to adopt low carbon living, the University held the Sustainable Development@Lingnan University-cum-Opening Ceremony of Carbon Neutral Action‧Mobile Exhibition on Low Carbon Living today (1 December).