Wonders of the World: 2014

2014年2月11日火曜日

9. Dragon

Ancient civilizations were born along the banks of great waterways such as the Nile and the Yellow River. But a great river sometimes turned a monster acting violently and breaking into the city. In Sumerian mythology, a legend that Kur, a monster causing floods, was terminated by a hero was born. Tiamat, a primordial goddess of the ocean mating with Abzû (the god of fresh water) to produce younger gods, appears in Babylonian religion. These Mesopotamian monsters are considered as source of dragon.

Tiamat

The first dynasty of Babylonia was defeated in about 1600 BC by an ancient race called Hittite who is known as the first people using iron. The Hittites who used iron weapons and innovative chariot dominated all Mesopotamia. A legend that Illuyanka, a serpentine dragon causing floods, was slain by a hero was transferred to them. The technology of chariot was transferred to each place and it is equal to the way of conduction of iron and dragon. Legend of dragon was transferred Mesopotamia to Palestine to Europe but all of them were a monster to be exterminated.

The Sky God kills the dragon Illuyanka. Behind him his son Sarruma

La Bête de la Mer (from the Tapisserie de l'Apocalypse in Angers, France). A medieval tapestry, this detail of which shows the False Prophet, the Dragon, and the Beast of the Sea.

On the other hand in Asia, Aryan attacked India in about 1500 BC Dragon was mixed with native belief in a cobra and Nāga, the Sanskrit and Pāli word for a deity or class of entity or being was born.

A Hoysala sculpture of a Naga couple. Halebidu

In China because chariot had been transferred to China in about 1400 BC, the image of dragon could also be transferred But Chinese dragon was not an evil monster. The Yellow River often overflowed but drought was more serious for rice forming. So, ancient Chinese people considered dragon which have relation to the water as a god giving blessing rain. And it was believed that an emperor only can communicate with dragon and praying for rain. Before long, dragon became a sacred beast representing an emperor. The first Qin Emperor was called ancestor of dragon. Records of the Grand Historian of China says Emperor Gaozu of Han, the founder and first emperor of the Han Dynasty who ruled China from 202 BC to 195 BC, is son of a dragon and so he was to become an emperor.

Chinese dragon

Chinese dragon is a symbol of Chinese royal family

Dragon was born from a feeling of awe and respect against the nature but it seems that dragon had become a symbol of ambition and authority.

reference

宗像教授伝奇考

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuyanka

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kur

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Gaozu_of_Han

8. Kraken

The Colossal Octopus: Pen and wash drawing by malacologist Pierre Dénys de Montfort, 1801, from the descriptions of French sailors reportedly attacked by such a creature off the coast of Angola

There are countless witness and legend about UMA, unidentified mysterious animals, all over the world. Among them, kraken is the biggest one. It is said the size is 2.5 km. Kraken was made famous by, a Danish clergyman, Erik Pontoppidan. He described kraken’s size like a small island. It is natural that he told we cannot see its complete picture because of the bigness. It is said that some sailor mistook kraken floating on　the ocean for an island remote from any other land and landed it. The more we hear, the more suspicious we become against Pontoppidan’s stories. But it can be overhasty in conclusion that kraken is a mere monster in fantasy.

Pierre Dénys de Montfort's "Poulpe Colossal" attacks a merchant ship (1810)

Kraken is too big. It is unbelievable, to be sure, but unidentified animals’ size tends to be exaggerated. If we were not strongly conscious of the unbelievable size, kraken will be not an absolute lie. The most famous feature of kraken is that kraken uses its long tentacles like whipping to attack the seaman on the ship. Then we can imagine kraken as a large cephalopod. In fact, there are large squids and octopuses such as giant squid it can become more than 10m, giant pacific octopus it can become more than 4m. In addition it is also said that kraken’s excrement have strong fragrant and it gather fish. This feature calls up ambergris which is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish color produced in the digestive system of sperm whales.

This specimen, caught in early 2007, is the largest cephalopod ever recorded. Here it is shown in its live state during capture, with the delicate red skin still intact and the mantle characteristically inflated.

Giant Pacific octopus

Ambergris

Ancient times, sailor took a voyage at the risk of their life. During a traveling by sea, when they met such strange creatures on the ocean, they must have felt as if the creatures tried to attack them and shuddered with horror. After their return, such stories would become their legends of bravery and while the stories were passed on from one person to another they would be exaggerated. Finally kraken might have been born.

By the way, now we tend to imagine kraken as a big octopus but also, kraken used to be described like giant shrimp, lobster, jellyfish, dolphin, whale and etc. Contrary to expectation, Erik Pontoppidan imagined kraken as a huge sea star.

referene
http://umafan.blog72.fc2.com/blog-entry-348.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_squid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris

Amiri Baraka Breaking News

Amiri Baraka, formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is a dramatist, novelist and poet. He is one of the most respected and widely published African-American writers. He died on this Thursday. He was 79. He co-founded the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s.

Amiri Baraka was born in 1934, in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He attended Rutgers University for two years, then transferred to Howard University, where in 1954 he earned his B.A. in English. He served in the Air Force from 1954 until 1957, then moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. There he joined a loose circle of Greenwich Village artists, musicians, and writers.

“The Essence of Reparations” is his first published collection of essays in book form radically exploring what is sure to become a twenty-first century watershed movement of Black peoples to the interrelated issues of racism, national oppression, colonialism, neo-colonialism, self-determination and national and human liberation, which he has long been addressing creatively and critically. It has been said that Amiri Baraka is committed to social justice like no other American writer. He has taught at Yale, Columbia, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

The literary world respects the playwright and poet, Amiri Baraka as one of the revolutionary provocateurs of African-American poetry. He is counted among the few influential political activists who have spent most of their life time fighting for the rights of African-Americans.

In 2002, Amiri Baraka faced criticism of his poem "Somebody Blew Up America," which led to the removal of his position as state poet laureate of New Jersey.

reference

http://www.npr.org/2014/01/09/261101520/amiri-baraka-poet-and-co-founder-of-black-arts-movement-dies-at-79

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiri_Baraka

2014年1月31日金曜日

7.Mirror

Mirrors have believed that they have spiritual power in all countries since the olden days. The ancient people used them for predict the future. They play important roles of reflecting the one’s future, past and true character. Yama (king of the world of the dead, who judges the dead) uses a special mirror to see the conduct of the dead while they were still alive. And mirrors are also said to have been a boundary between the present world and parallel universe since ancient times.

In the Japanese myths mirrors have important roles. Especially Yata no Kagami is a sacred mirror that is part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. According to Japanese mythology it was created by the god named Ishikoridome during the event of Iwato-gakure (literally "hiding in Iwato) in which Amaterasu Omikami hid herself in the Ama no Iwato (literally "the cave of the sun god" or "heavenly rock cave"). When Amaterasu made a small opening in the rock, the mirror reflected her face, drawing her attention and successfully making her come out of the cave, thus bringing light back to the world.


Artist's impression of the Imperial Regalia of Japan　sword Kusanagi (草薙劍 Kusanagi no Tsurugi), the mirror Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡), and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama (八尺瓊曲玉)

The Sun goddess emerging out of a cave, bringing sunlight back to the universe

Ancient times, Japanese people used mirrors in the religious service. They may have elaborated their mirrors to give more holiness. January 29, 2014 Kyoto National Museum published their investigation about Sankakubuchi Shinjukyo Mirror/Sankakuen Shinjukyo Mirrors which is a kind of bronze mirror from an ancient tomb and large mirror engraving divine beasts with a triangular-rim in its cross-section. Kyoto National Museum made an accurate bronze replica of Sankakubuchi Shinjukyo Mirror with 3D printer. Then they investigate a certain phenomenon. When bright sunlight or other bright light reflects onto the mirror, that light is reflected from the mirror towards a wall, the pattern on the back of the mirror is then projected onto the wall. Because carving a pattern on the back deep brings an invisible uneven on the surface of a mirror. Such mirror is called “a magic mirror”. Many magic mirrors are found in Chinese ancient ruins and underground Christian in Japan used magic mirrors which project Christ's image as an object of worship. But this is the first thing that a magic mirror effect is observed on the mirror from an ancient tomb. It needs high level skills to made magic mirrors. This discovery will have a something effect on the way of thinking of ancient people in Japan and a role of mirrors in ancient society in Japan.

a cross section of a magic mirror (the surface is below and the back of mirror is above)

underground Christian's magic mirror

reference:
http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASHC2902G_Z20C14A1000000/?dg=1
http://news.yahoo.co.jp/pickup/6105436
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%AB%E5%92%AB%E9%8F%A1

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9A%A0%E3%82%8C%E5%88%87%E6%94%AF%E4%B8%B9%E9%8F%A1
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AD%94%E9%8F%A1