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Buddhism and its reflection in Czech lands until the year 1989
Holba, Jiří
This article outlines some of the most interesting moments of reflection on Buddhism in the Czech lands from its very beginnings until the “Velvet Revolution” in 1989. It deals with the first Czech Buddhists (L. Procházka, M. Novosad alias Bhikkhu Nánasatta), criticism of Buddhism from the pen of philosopher E. Rádl, Czech mystics (Drtikol, Minařík) and their relation to Buddhism and academic study of Buddhism (M. Winternitz, V. Lesný, I. Fišer, E. Bondy, K. Werner etc.).
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Marco Polo and his knowledge of Asian languages
Liščák, Vladimír
Marco Polo (1254–1324) claimed (or rather his editors) that he could speak (and read) in other languages in addition to his own, at least five. We do not know whether Marco – whose skills in his native language (Venetian) seem to have never been strong and were certainly influenced by the fact that he had been away from home for more than half his life – was waiting for an opportunity to describe his experiences, or whether Rustichello, who wrote them down, took the opportunity to practice his craft as a writer. Marco often mentions that people in some regions speak their own language. Although he spoke little or no Chinese, he spoke a number of languages used in East Asia at the time – most likely Turkish (in the Kuman dialect: (lingua) tartara, tartaresce, tartaresche), which was also spoken among Mongols, Arabized Persians, Uighurs, and perhaps Mongolian.
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Libro del conosçimiento and contemporary sources of the 14th century
Liščák, Vladimír
The Libro del Conosçimiento de todos los rregnos or Book of Knowledge of All Kingdoms, also known as the Book of All Kingdoms, is an anonymous 14th-century Castilian geographical and armorial manual (dated to ca. 1385). It is written in the form of imaginary autobiographical travelogue of a Castilian mendicant friar, as he travels through the entire world, known and fanciful, from the westernmost Atlantic islands, through Europe, Asia, Africa and the Arctic, identifying all the lands, kings, lords and their armorial devices as he passes them. The only explicit information is that the anonymous author claims to have been born in Castile in 1305.
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A Stranger of the House - the Crossroads III
Mlynářová, J. ; Kilani, M. ; Alivernini, Sergio
The Crossroads III – A Stranger in the House. Foreigners in Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern Societies of the Bronze Age conference has been held at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University (Prague) between September 10 and 13, 2018. The main objective of the conference was to enhance our understanding of “foreignness” in ancient societies between the end of the Chalcolithic period and the end of the Late Bronze Age. This book collects some of the twenty most significant contributions presented at the conference. Some authors decided to approach the discussion from a theoretical perspective, or to present and discuss theoretical frameworks that could be used to explore at least some elements underlying the concept of “foreignness”. Others investigated sociocultural dimension involved in the presence of foreigners, or in their interactions with local communities. Cases from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the Levant, covering the whole of the Bronze Age have been discussed. The wide range of perspectives, and their combination within the frame of the conference often stimulated that multidisciplinary dialogue that was the primary aim of this third edition of Crossroads
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Teaching Mandarin pronunciation: the cliticoids and basic types of phonetic chunks
Třísková, Hana
The paper is concerned with an important group of Chinese words, belonging to the high frequency items of the lexicon: monosyllabic function words such as prepositions, personal pronouns etc. They carry lexical tone, thus have a potential to be stressed. Yet, due to their deficiency in lexical meaning and frequent usage, they regularly behave as unstressed (and phonetically reduced) in connected speech. They receive stress (i.e. full pronunciation) only occasionally, particularly if emphasised. A new term is coined for these words: “the cliticoids”. The author provides their list and reviews the pitfalls of their pronunciation, observing that the Chinese cliticoids display similar features as so called “words with weak forms” found in English. Finally, short (2–3 syllabic) chunks of speech which contain the cliticoids are introduced. They are particularly designed for exercising the unstressed, reduced pronunciation of the cliticoids in L2 teaching. They are termed “phonetic chunks”.
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Aliud etiam referam de magno cane quod vidi. Odoric of Pordenone and his encounter(s) with the Great Khan
Liščák, Vladimír
From major part of Latin manuscripts of the travel report of Odoric of Pordenone we learn that he was personally present at an encounter of the Franciscan friars with the Great Khan. In the text known as De reverentia magni Chanis is described the esteem, which allegedly Yesün Temür Khan (reigned 1323–1328) showed to the Christian faith represented by the cross. The event said to occurred during the Great Khan’s journey from Khanbaliq to his Summer Palace in Shangdu. Only a very small part of the Latin manuscripts, which arose in the central-southern Germany (recensio Germanica) in the second half of the 14th century, contain the passage, commonly known as De prædicatione magno Chani. It records, as the only source in Latin, Odoric’s predication before the Khutughtu Khan (Qošila, Küsele, reigned 1328–1329).
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Evidence of Chinese Flags in the Light of Ancient Texts
Liščák, Vladimír
The evidence of the fact that in China some kinds of flags or banners have been in use since the earliest history of the state can be documented from the earliest inscriptions on the oracle bones and bronzes (between 14th and 5th centuries BC). But the earliest use of banners in China refers to the mythological times, as recorded in the classical books. According these texts already the Yellow Emperor (Huang Di), a mythical ancestor of the Chinese nation, has used some kind of a banner. It was ornamented with four kinds of diurnal birds of prey or raptors: a mythical bird he (a kind of falcon), an eagle, a kite (hawk or glede) and a falcon. Also standards of some mythical tribes are mentioned in Chinese classics.
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