A Study of Dragons, East and West PDF Download

Author: Qiguang Zhao
Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Few symbols saturate human civilization so broadly and thoroughly as those of the ubiquitous and enigmatic dragon. This compelling book examines, compares, and analyzes the appearance and symbolization of the Eastern and Western dragons and treats them as the crystallization of human cultures. It shows that Chinese dragons resemble one another but suggest different ideas in different contexts, while Western dragons have different appearances but often denote a single concept. As one of the most notable achievements of dragonology, this book offers astonishing new insights into dragons as zoological «fact», psychological archetypes, and ideological symbols.

Author: Robyn Eversole
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416987045
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
Two giant, imposing dragons confront their greatest fears…each other! East Dragon and West Dragon live on opposite sides of the world. They have never met—and they like it that way. East Dragon is sure that West Dragon’s huge wings mean that he is very, very strong. West Dragon fears that East Dragon’s long, swishy tail means that he is very, very fierce. But when some meddlesome knights start a riff between their two kingdoms, East Dragon and West Dragon are finally forced to come face-to-fire-breathing-face. Might the two dragons finally discover they aren’t so different after all? Detail-rich illustrations combine with a lighthearted, inspiring message to create a playful twist on the classic theme of fierce, fearless dragons. This story of friendship across cultures begs to be read again and again!

Author: Daniel Ogden
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192565877
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 478

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Book Description
An exploration of how the image and idea of the dragon has evolved through history How did the dragon get its wings? Everyone in the modern West has a clear idea of what a dragon looks like and of the sorts of stories it inhabits, not least devotees of the fantasies of J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, and George R. R. Martin. A cross between a snake and some fearsome mammal, often sporting colossal wings, they live in caves, lie on treasure, maraud, and breathe fire. They are extraordinarily powerful, but even so, ultimately defeated in their battles with humans. What is the origin of this creature? The Dragon in the West is the first serious and substantial account in any language of the evolution of the modern dragon from its ancient forebears. Daniel Ogden's detailed exploration begins with the drakōn of Greek myth and the draco of the dragon-loving Romans, and a look at the ancient world's female dragons. It brings the story forwards though Christian writings, medieval illustrated manuscripts, and the lives of dragon-duelling saints, before concluding with a study of dragons found in the medieval Germanic world, including those of the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and the Norse sagas.

Author: Sebastian Strangio
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300234031
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
A timely look at the impact of China's booming emergence on the countries of Southeast Asia Today, Southeast Asia stands uniquely exposed to the waxing power of the new China. Three of its nations border China and five are directly impacted by its claims over the South China Sea. All dwell in the lengthening shadow of its influence: economic, political, military, and cultural. As China seeks to restore its former status as Asia's preeminent power, the countries of Southeast Asia face an increasingly stark choice: flourish within Beijing's orbit or languish outside of it. Meanwhile, as rival powers including the United States take concerted action to curb Chinese ambitions, the region has emerged as an arena of heated strategic competition. Drawing on more than a decade of on-the-ground experience, Sebastian Strangio explores the impacts of China's rise on Southeast Asia, the varied ways in which the countries of the region are responding, and what it might mean for the future balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.

Author: Robert Ian Vere Hodge
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415172660
Category : China
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
An innovative text which adopts the tools of cultural studies to provide a fresh approach to the study of Chinese language, culture and society. The book tackles areas such as grammar, language, gender, popular culture, film and the Chinese diaspora and employs the concepts of social semiotics to extend the ideas of language and reading. Covering a range of cultural texts, it will help to break down the boundaries around the ideas and identities of East and West and provide a more relevant analysis of the Chinese and China.

Author: Sara Kuehn
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004209727
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
This book is a pioneering work on a key iconographic motif, that of the dragon. It examines the perception of this complex, multifaceted motif within the overall intellectual and visual universe of the medieval Irano-Turkish world. Using a broadly comparative approach, the author explores the ever-shifting semantics of the dragon motif as it emerges in neighbouring Muslim and non-Muslim cultures.

Author: Kenneth M. Swope
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806185023
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
The invasion of Korea by Japanese troops in May of 1592 was no ordinary military expedition: it was one of the decisive events in Asian history and the most tragic for the Korean peninsula until the mid-twentieth century. Japanese overlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi envisioned conquering Korea, Ming China, and eventually all of Asia; but Korea’s appeal to China’s Emperor Wanli for assistance triggered a six-year war involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers and encompassing the whole region. For Japan, the war was “a dragon’s head followed by a serpent’s tail”: an impressive beginning with no real ending. Kenneth M. Swope has undertaken the first full-length scholarly study in English of this important conflict. Drawing on Korean, Japanese, and especially Chinese sources, he corrects the Japan-centered perspective of previous accounts and depicts Wanli not as the self-indulgent ruler of received interpretations but rather one actively engaged in military affairs—and concerned especially with rescuing China’s client state of Korea. He puts the Ming in a more vigorous light, detailing Chinese siege warfare, the development and deployment of innovative military technologies, and the naval battles that marked the climax of the war. He also explains the war’s repercussions outside the military sphere—particularly the dynamics of intraregional diplomacy within the shadow of the Chinese tributary system. What Swope calls the First Great East Asian War marked both the emergence of Japan’s desire to extend its sphere of influence to the Chinese mainland and a military revival of China’s commitment to defending its interests in Northeast Asia. Swope’s account offers new insight not only into the history of warfare in Asia but also into a conflict that reverberates in international relations to this day.

Author: Thomas Honegger
Publisher: University of Wales Press
ISBN: 1786834707
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
Arnold, Martin. 2018. The Dragon. Fear and Power. London: Reaktion Books. My book is much shorter and focusses on the medieval (European) dragon, while Martin’s book covers all centuries and also the Asian tradition.

Author: Judy Allen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
"The dragon drifts his way through the art and mythology of the ancient and modern worlds like a recurring dream. And dreamlike, his forms and attributes change, from East to West and from age to age. He doesn't exist, and yet he features in ancient cosmology and western medieval romance; the alchemists used him as a symbol; early travellers insisted that they saw him and drew his images on maps; and psychologists analysed his impact on the human mind. He has been drawn, painted, carved, written about, hunted, slain, prayed to and sacrificed to and offered gifts and abuse in equal measure for centuries. The 140 illustrations range from a Ch'ing dynasty robe to Piero della Francesca's Saint Michael"--author's website.

Author: Donald K Emmerson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1931368597
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Will the nations of Southeast Asia maintain their strategic autonomy, or are they destined to become a subservient periphery of China? This book’s expert authors address this pressing question in multiple contexts. What clues to the future lie in the modern history of Sino-Southeast Asian relations? How economically dependent on China has the region already become? What do Southeast Asians think of China? Does Beijing view the region in proprietary terms as its own backyard? How has the relative absence, distance, and indifference of the United States affected the balance of influence between the US and China in Southeast Asia? The book also explores China’s moves and Southeast Asia’s responses to them. Does China’s Maritime Silk Road through Southeast Asia herald a Pax Sinica across the region? How should China’s expansionary acts in the South China Sea be understood? How have Southeast Asian states such as Vietnam and the Philippines responded? How does Singapore’s China strategy compare with Indonesia’s? How relevant is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations? To what extent has China tried to persuade the “overseas Chinese” in Southeast Asia to identify with “'the motherland” and support its aims? How are China’s deep involvements in Cambodia and Laos affecting the economies and policies of those countries? “This rich collection,” writes renowned author-journalist Nayan Chanda, answers these and other questions while offering “fresh insights” and “new information and analyses” to explain Southeast Asia’s relations with China.