Articles

The article presents the author’s experience of preparing school students for the All-Russian Olympiad in Chinese through work with the Moscow team and Olympiad classes at the Centre for Pedagogical Mastery. It discusses challenges in teaching language and culture, the development of intercultural competence, and age-specific approaches to learning. The teaching materials “China: History and Modernity” and “Russia: History and Modernity” are described alongside ways of using authentic texts, videos and infographics. Sample tasks address vocabulary development, the matching of sociocultural concepts, and the evaluation of the truth of statements. Particular attention is paid to reasoned oral expression, discussion formats and teamwork. The contribution documents methodological work in school-level Chinese studies and links between Olympiad preparation and university-level education in Oriental studies.

This article examines the reliability of official GDP statistics in India and China, two key but statistically opaque economies. While skepticism about the data in both countries is widespread, the author argues that the reasons for this are fundamentally different. In India, mistrust stems from the technical and methodological deterioration of the statistical apparatus—an institutional erosion that compromises data quality, although this deterioration is itself closely linked to political pressure to present favorable growth scenarios. In China, doubts are rooted in systemic political incentives that structurally encourage data manipulation at multiple administrative levels, generating systemic distortions rather than simply technical errors. Both countries have acknowledged these reliability gaps and initiated reforms. Meanwhile, researchers need to adhere to transparent working methods, clearly stating data limitations, using conditional language, and describing data specifications. A comprehensive analysis requires cross-checking official data with alternative metrics such as electricity production, rail freight, purchasing managers’ indices, and corporate financial reports. According to the author, the statistical opacity of India and China opens up new opportunities for research at the intersection of social science, data science, and econometrics. This future endeavour primarily involves compiling lists of the most optimal alternative data and developing methodologies for processing them using tools such as computer vision and natural language processing to peer beyond the veil of politicized data.

This article is devoted to the identification and analysis of the author’s invented motifs in the ghazals by two prominent Iranian poets — Simin Behbahani (1927-2014), the “Mistress of the modern ghazal”, and Hushang Ebtehaj (poetic pseudonym — Sayeh) (1928-2022). Their numerous works, composed in this form, served as one of the factors in the emergence of the concept of the “modern ghazal” (gazal-e mo‘aser). Simin and Sayeh’s creative heritage from the point of view of poetics has hardly been studied in Russian Iranian studies. The reason for choosing the two named poets’ ghazals as a material for research was also a biographical factor: the authors belonged to the same generation and literary circle, were well acquainted with each other and composed “answers” to each other’s ghazals. For the analysis, Simin and Sayeh’s poems were selected that are similar in theme (love), but different in terms of a set of author’s invented motifs which have no analogues in the repertoire of the classical Persian ghazal. The problem of studying the ways and techniques of manifestation of the author’s originality in traditional poetic genres and forms extends beyond the analysis of the examples of classical medieval poetry. This article attempts to draw a boundary between the nature of manifestation of novelty in the traditional and modern ghazal using the example of “invented” motifs (ehtera‘). The use of this term rooted in the medieval Arabic theory of verse and used in classical Persian poetics and poetic practice is determined by the natural continuity of the modern ghazal in relation to the recognized examples of the past. This term is applied to the modern material with a certain degree of conventionality because classical and modern ghazals as literary phenomena are the product of different types of artistic consciousness — the traditionalist and the individual-creative ones. In order to identify differences in the nature of traditional and modern “invented” motifs, the analysis incorporates terminological references to medieval treatises on poetics and examples from classical Persian poetry. The analysis shows that in Simin Behbahani and Hushang Ebtehaj’s ghazals authorial motifs in most cases are aimed at modernizing the text.

Despite the widespread use of stage adaptations in contemporary Chinese huaju theater of the 20th — early 21st centuries, their theoretical understanding remains fragmented, and a systematic typology of approaches to adapting prose for the stage has not yet been developed. This article examines the strategies for creating contemporary Chinese stage adaptations and describes the motives for playwrights to turn to certain original sources, the difficulties encountered in the process, and the artistic techniques used to resolve them. The aim of the study is to classify approaches to adapting prose works for contemporary Chinese drama huaju. The methodology is based on historical-cultural, comparative-historical, comparative-typological, and biographical methods, which allow us to trace the evolution of the genre, compare different strategies for dramatic adaptation of prose, and take into account the socio-historical context of the creation of stage adaptations. In the course of the study, three strategies for writing stage adaptations were identified and characterized for the first time: a compilation of several works by one author, requiring the introduction of a connecting character and a single artistic space; the condensation of a voluminous prose work into a theatrical format by reducing the number of characters and concentrating on the key conflict; a stage adaptation by the author of their own work. The latter can be either an independent work or a dramatic form integrated into the prose work. Moreover, all the stage adaptations under consideration are not a mechanical transfer of the text, but a creative reinterpretation of the original source, generating a new dramatic work with its own artistic value. The results of this study can be used not only in courses on Chinese literature and theater, but also in the practical work of playwrights and directors, especially given the rapidly growing popularity of contemporary Chinese theater in Russia.

This article examines the autobiography of Syrian poet and diplomat Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani (1923–1998), entitled “My Story with Poetry”, as a source of information about his life and creative views. The work offers a detailed account of the author’s development as a person and writer, highlights key names and events in his life, and reflects the ideas that formed the basis of his oeuvre. The article presents Qabbani’s reflections on creativity, on the development of his poetic language, and on the state of contemporary Arabic literature. Finally, it identifies the most characteristic thematic aspects of his works, including the position of women, rebellion, and individual value.

The article examines phraseological units used in political texts of contemporary Turkish media. Following V.V. Vinogradov’s classification, phraseological fusions and unities are selected for analysis from the point of view of their initial and contextual evaluativeness in order to achieve adequate translation in the Turkish–Russian language pair. The study employs descriptive-comparative, componential and contextual analysis. The results show that the initial evaluativeness of a phraseological unit in a political context may be preserved or reversed; the same phraseological unit may have evaluatively opposite contextual variants. The semantics recorded in phraseological dictionaries or in the explanations of the Turkish Language Association may be transformed in accordance with the political context. Changes in the idiom’s composition do not significantly affect its evaluativeness or semantics, although they can increase expressiveness or emphasize particular semantic nuances. A number of Turkish phraseological units actively used in the media are not included in phraseological dictionaries, which likely indicates their relatively recent origin. Some phraseological units enter political discourse from other spheres, including scientific and sports discourse. When translating phraseological fusions and unities in media context, it is necessary to take into account their stylistic affiliation, expressiveness and emotional connotation. For this reason, selecting an equivalent in the target language is not always the best solution. For some idioms that are difficult for the target audience to perceive, calquing is impossible, and the translator must choose a syntactically different variant based on the semantics of the original idiom.

The paper is dedicated to the problems of changes that have taken place in the semantic fields of ‘eating’ and ‘drinking’ in the history of Indo-Aryan. It is shown that in Ancient Indo-Aryan (in Vedic and Sanskrit) there were more than 10 verbal roots associated with the semantic class ‘eating’ while the class ‘drinking’ was represented by only 3 verbs. The basic root among the latter group was pā- ‘drink’; the rest were represented by cam- ‘draw’ (which actually signified the mode itself of the absorption of liquids) and by bhakş-, that is, by the root that changed its original semantics: its dominant meaning was ‘drink’ in Vedic and only in Sanskrit it started to signify ‘eat’. It is important that in Sanskrit the nominal deverbals bhakşá- and bhakşya- were used in the meaning of ‘(solid) food’, that is, “food that requires the use of teeth”. The greatest number of the “verbs of eating” was semantically grouped around khād- ‘eat / consume’ — the root that was well represented at every evolutionary stage of Indo-Aryan, which was characterized inside them by the highest frequency and by the most massive semantic abilities. The multitude of forms produced from khād- and from the roots associated with it, was based on the ideas of the ‘mastication’ and of the ‘use of teeth’. It was opposed to the analogous set of forms produced from bhu(ń)j- ‘devour; enjoy’ — the other root remarkable for its ‘longevity’ in the history of Indo-Aryan. Thus, already in Ancient Indo-Aryan there became noticeable the primary opposition of forms from khād- ‘to eat using teeth’ and forms produced from bhu(ń)j- ‘to partake /enjoy’ (that is, ‘to happily consume the food that does not demand biting or masticating’). This opposition became absolutely regular in the verbal system of Pāli (as one of the earliest Prākrits) where forms from the verb ‘khādati’ ‘to eat solid food which demands biting or masticating’ contrasted with those from ‘bhu(ń)jati’ ‘to experience pleasure when eating food which does not need biting or masticating and which thus is soft and enjoyable’. By the beginning of the New Indo-Aryan period the opposition had eroded. There were different reasons for this — among others, the extensive growth of the frequency of occurrence of all types of forms produced from khād- as well as the rapid increase in their semantic strength conditioned by various metaphorical transfers.

This article analyzes the main features of ideophonic (sound-symbolic) vocabulary in eastern and south-eastern Bantu languages using illustrative material from two major African languages, Swahili in the north and Zulu in the south of this region, with data from the minority languages Kerewe, Luguru, Vidunda, Ngindo, and Ndonde used for comparison. Zulu and Swahili have been studied quite extensively, while material from minority languages is being presented in scholarly research for the first time; therefore, the number of illustrative ideophones varies greatly across languages. Ideophonic vocabulary, including onomatopoeic and imagistic forms, is analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the formal, structural, and semantic characteristics of this lexical layer in Bantu languages, which are genetically and areally related. The article examines the syllabic structure of ideophones, reduplication, distribution by parts of speech, and lexical semantics of ideophonic vocabulary.

the article examines the language policy of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the sphere of education. It analyzes the status of language both as a medium of instruction and as a subject, explores how current policy trends are affecting the educational system, and reviews the existing instructional model and the part played by various Indian languages within it. The position of English in educational practice is given particular consideration. The study also focuses on the interplay between government policy initiatives, the educational framework promoted by the ruling party, and the actual situation on the ground, with due regard for regional specificities. The ideological agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party, underpinning the ongoing processes of Sanskritization and Hindiization in contemporary India, extends its influence to the educational domain. This influence, however, cannot be adequately assessed without a comprehensive analysis of the linguistic landscape across the country’s regions, where attitudes towards Hindi, the official language, are far from uniform. The article offers an overall appraisal of the state-led language policy measures in education, the legislative and policy documents that support them, their outcomes to date, and their potential future developments.

The article examines a group of non-oracle bone inscriptions from the late Shang Dynasty, characterized in Chinese paleography as “special inscriptions recording events” (特殊記事刻辭). This group contains nine inscriptions carved on different types of animal bones, which consist of formulaic expressions referring to the Shang king and commemorating royal hunts, sacrifices to ancestral rulers, and gifts bestowed by the king upon his subjects. The research material includes the bone recovered in 2005 from tomb M11 of a high-ranking official in Anyang, the so-called “Zai Feng bone” (宰丰骨) in the National Museum of China, and a bone fragment from tomb M701 in Anyang only recently noticed by paleographers. Approaching these inscribed bones from the perspective of object biography reveals their individual life histories, the relationships among them, and confirms the existence of a particular commemorative tradition, focused on the king, that existed among the late Shang elite. The article clarifies the content of these inscriptions based on Liu Zhao’s interpretations and recent paleographic ideas, and discusses different symbolic meanings which the inscribed bones acquired in their lives. The meanings can be described as an “auspicious sign” (祥瑞), a sacrificial offering, and a royal gift. It is argued that different types of bones (ribs, shoulder blades, skulls, and astragali) were treated differently, in the sense that their natural shape allowed for different types of ritual objects intended for different purposes. The archaeological context suggests that ribs and shoulder blades, such as those found in tomb M11 and tomb M701, or the “Zai Feng bone”, were transformed into elaborately decorated ladles (si 柶) and presented as royal gifts which enhanced the prestige of their owners in life and accompanied them in the grave to the afterlife. By analyzing this epigraphic material, the article proposes to regard these inscribed artifacts as valuable sources of ancient thought and ritual practices of the first historically known dynasty of China.

Shangdi is one of the versions of the concept of God in missionary translations of Christian literature into Chinese. This choice of translation is determined by the presence of the term shangdi in ancient Chinese Confucian canonical works, and especially in the Shujing (Canon of Records). The interpretations of shangdi in the Russian translations of the Shujing by archimandrite, and later just a monk, Iakinf (Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin, 1777–1853) and archimandrite Daniil (Dmitry Petrovich Sivillov, 1798–1877) are considered indicative of their religious and scholarly worldviews. In the 18^th century, among Catholic missionaries, and in the 19^th century, among Protestants, there were terminological disputes that are believed to have not affected Orthodox missionaries. A comparison of the interpretations of shangdi by Frs. Iakinf and Daniil is used to clarify this thesis. A review of unpublished translations and other materials from Russian archives reveals that, in practical terms, the translations of the Shujing by Frs. Iakinf and Daniil served as a kind of precursor to this debate. Father Iakinf used the term only in transcription, deliberately avoiding semantic translations of shangdi to prevent connotations of the Chinese term with the Christian concept of God. Father Daniil, by contrast, provides numerous translations of this term, alluding to epithets within the Christian concept of God. His concept of Chinese shangdi is close to the ideas of Catholic Jesuit missionaries of the 17^th and 18^th centuries, which may have influenced Fr. Daniil when stationed in Beijing. Contrary to popular belief, Fr. Iakinf appears to be a stricter adherent of Orthodox religious interpretations, while Fr. Daniil, without delving into the essence of the theological matter, preferred a more practical approach to preaching Christianity in China.