Asian History

Vietnamese' blade

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:03:41 +0000

Vietnamese' blade, also called "đao" or "gươm" is a type of curved, two handed and single edged sword, once was very popular.

The blade is usually 80-90 cm long, the hilt is about 40 cm in length. The curvature of the blade is not as large as a Japanese' katana. The hilt is either tapering or greater in diameter at the end (note that the cross section of the hilt is a circle, showing great influence of Vietnam's neighboring countries like Thailand or Cambodia).

2 Syllable Corean Last Names / 3 Syllable First Names

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:43:37 +0000

I was wondering if anyone had information on two syllable last names / three syllable first names in the Corean language? I am wondering if these names are reflective of some of the Manchurian peoples that compose modern Coreans today. I know that Manchurians / Mongolians typically don't have the three syllable names reflective of Han Chinese people. Given the push to Sinicize during the Choseon (1392~1910) Period, I am wondering if these multi-syllabic names were phased out. (Also, perhaps there was a backlash at the Won (Yuan) Dynasty practice of making Corean royalty take Mongolian names?)

Here is a list of two-character last names that I have compiled. It is by no means complete, so please feel free to add anything I might have missed:

諸葛 제갈 Jaegal
西門 서문 Seomun
公孫 공손 Kongson
司空 사공 Sakong
南宮 남궁 Namgung (I have seen this one occasionally in South Corea)
皇甫 황보 Hwangbo
鮮于 선우 Sunwoo (This is another one of the more common two syllable last names)
石抹 석말 Seokmal
扶餘 부여 Buyeo
獨孤 독고 Dokko
令狐 영호 Yeongho
東方 동방 Dongbang
司馬 사마 Sama
網切 망절 Mangjeol
小峰 소봉 Sobong
長谷 장곡 Janggok
漁金 어금 Eogeum
岡田 강전 Gangjeon
강절 Gangjeol (?)

Here are the handful of three syllable first names I have run across (most of them are historical). There are a few TV personalities with three syllable first names as well, but I really don't watch television or keep track with South Corean pop culture, so I don't know any of them. Nonetheless, here are the ones I have stumbled across:

개소문 蓋蘇文 Gaesomun (After the famous Goguryo general, Yeon Gaesomun)
미사흔 未斯欣 Misaheun
아사흘 ??? Asaheul (I was told this was a Goguryo name meaning "Morning Village")
사다함 斯多含 Sadaham
아자개 阿茲蓋 Ajagae

Does anyone know of any other three syllable first names? Any ideas on the origins of these names?

Thanks in advance for any info or insights!

sb1

Samurai army in miniature

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:19:13 +0000

Check out my Samurai army in miniature for the De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) rules.
They are handpainted and the figures measure only 15mm tall.

http://tonyaguilar.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/post-mongol-samurai-iv59b/

http://tonyaguilar.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/dba-rrr-ii26-japanese/

Enjoy.

Videos of the Past

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:26:24 +0000

Kind of interesting to share...

1930's Japan

The following are from a Youtube channel called travelfilmarchive. There's a statement saying a lot of these films were made many decades ago, when colonial feelings were really strong. Take that into consideration and treat the videos as pieces of historical analysis. I'm just going to post some here, there's a lot on that channel.

Manchuria 1938

Siam to Korea 1931

Singapore 1938

Philippines 1948

China 1920s

Shanghai 1947

Hong Kong 1930s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ezxnwk-35Y&feature=channel

Beijing 1930
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8FoZXraHms&feature=channel

Tibet 1934
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0FSGL-QdBI&feature=related

India-Mumbai 1932
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob8n_Aaog58&feature=related

Jaipur 1932
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWKHlw1guAI&feature=channel

Beijing 1931
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2icgWT4lnk&feature=channel

Forbidden City 1940s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZUyTv_ArEM&feature=related

Cambodia 1930s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f4cuxQynvY&feature=related

TKD and martial arts influence on modern Korea

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 06:28:23 +0000

This is not really ancient history so I don't know if it belongs here, but I hope to get some answers.

So I just finished a book called A Killing Art: The Untold History of Tae Kwon Do by Alex Gills. After reading, I was left with the impression that many martial arts masters had very large political influence in Korean political history within the past half-century, and in some ways helped shape the country.

Some of these include:

-Gen. Choi Hong Hi (TKD founder, ITF organization)
-Park Chong Kyu (At one point head of Presidential Security Force)
-Kim Un-Yong (Ex-president of ***, former KCIA)

I'm sure some of you know the history of some of these men...

Anyways, the author seems to draw a lot of conclusions in some aspects but a lot of the information was fascinating. Like TKD's connections to Reverend Sun Myung Moon as well as the many incidents during Korea's past dictatorships that involved many Korean martial arts masters.

I was born and raised in the US, and many of these incidents are before my time and new information to me.

Can anyone confirm or elaborate?

Seeking Japanese female equivalent for 'infinite'

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:04:28 +0000

Am aware 'Mugen' means infinite but am after a female variation of the name. Am writing a short story about a character who overcomes daily struggles and goes beyond people's expectations of her and ends up living upto her name. Suggestions are welcome.

Buddhist Warrior Monks

Fri, 21 May 2010 01:24:18 +0000

The whole concept of Buddhist warriors seems to be contradictory because the religion is normally cast as a nonviolent one. But China, Korea, and Japan have such warriors that are famed for their skill in weapons and boxing.

What I find most interesting are the contrasting reasons given for the militarization of the Buddhist clergy in China and Japan. According to Meir Shahar’s The Shaolin Monastery (2008), Shaolin monks took up military arms to protect the monastery’s many treasures from constant bandit onslaughts. They continued to practice arms and occasionally helped protect the empire during times of turmoil.

Sohei monks of Japan are another story. According to Mikeak S. Adolphson’s The Teeth and Claws of the Buddha (2007), while monks initially took up arms to protect temples from bandits, the major reason they continued to practice was to battle for supremacy over Buddhist sects. Often times, one Buddhist lineage would object to the monarchy’s decision to appoint a senior monk from a sister lineage to be the abbot of the overall sect. This objection would usually entail the enraged lineage attacking the new abbot’s temple grounds and burning many of its buildings. This was normally a back and forth sort of deal where the afflicted lineage would retaliate, so the monks had to be good at wielding weapons. I must point out that I am still reading Adolphson’s book, but this seems to be the primary reason thus far.

Western accounts of Eastern Jewel

Fri, 07 May 2010 00:33:07 +0000

I am currently researching the figure of Yushiko Kawashima aka Eastern Jewel.
Unfortunately most information is clouded in mystery, or is highly dubious. Being a European that knows no Chinese and only little Japanese, it was frustrating to discover that most of the available accounts are mixtures of fact and fiction or worse (including English dubbed audiovisual material, like the biographic romaticised 1990 movie). So far the only reliable material I found were brief references in the works of orientalists like Ian Buruma, and WorldWar II records of the US Army.

Does anyone have an idea where historical facts can be found on this topic, separating them from the rumours, fictions, and wild stories? Any other help, or suggestions are of course welcome.

1600 years old Baekje artifacts are now on display

Thu, 06 May 2010 06:25:35 +0000

1,600 years old Baekje artifacts was finally cleaned up and now on display at Seoul's National Cultural Museum.
About 190 artifacts were discovered four years ago from Baekje Kobun (Kofun) at Gilduri Andong kofun park, South Jolla province.

Kofun contained 5th century helmet to body armour made of iron to many other items.
http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/05/06/2010050600982.html

Golden Shoe

Body armours

Ceremonial hat

Iron Helmet

Impression of Baekje warriors on display.

auspicious wedding dates 2011

Sun, 02 May 2010 16:50:03 +0000

Hi im planning to get married on april 9 2011. is it a good date for wedding. Who know the auspicious wedding dates 2011 in accordance with the chinese calendar.

Thanks