Articles

The article is devoted to the study of the traditional model of Chinese masculinity through the prism of the concept of wen - wu (文武), where wen represents cultural achievements and education, and wu - military valour, on the example of the first poem from Zuo Xi’s cycle ‘Poems on history’ (咏诗八首). The article examines the historical roots of the wen-wu dichotomy, its relationship to Confucian canons, and its role in the formation of the ideal male image in traditional Chinese culture. Based on the analysis of the first poem of the cycle, it was concluded that the harmonious combination of education, mastery of words on the one hand and knowledge of martial arts on the other embodies the traditional gender ideal of wen-wu shuangquan, which means ‘to be well-versed in literature and martial arts’. The study emphasises the significance of the categories of wen and wu for Chinese culture, and demonstrates how literary creativity reflects socio-cultural norms of masculinity.

The article reviews the First International Conference on Philippine Studies, held by the Department of Southeast Asian, Korean, and Mongolian Philology of IAAS MSU on October 25-26, 2024. It outlines key topics and presentations related to Philippine history, language, literature, and socio-political development, highlighting the conference’s role in fostering international scholarly collaboration.

The new book by the well-known Russian Africanist R.N. Ismagilova, Ethiopia: History and Modernity, published in 2025, is a collection of articles written over the past two decades. These articles examine both significant historical events and contemporary issues in Ethiopia. Domestic politics, the establishment of a federal system of governance, and complexities in the relationships among the diverse peoples of this multiethnic country are analyzed in close connection with their traditions. In her approach, the author combines the perspectives of a historian, political scientist, and anthropologist. The book will be of interest not only to specialists in African studies but also to anyone interacting and communicating with Africans.

The author considers the specifics of the confrontation between Russia and the United States in Syria against the background of the change of power in Damascus and the Russian armed forces’ special military operation in Ukraine. In the context of Russian military planning, the author points out the peculiarities of Moscow’s maintenance of the military and political balance of power in the Black Sea and Mediterranean theaters of military operations as a single operational area under the jurisdiction of the Southern Military District. The author shows the details of Russia’s geostrategic planning with reliance on military facilities in Tartus and Hmeimim, their place in the defense of Russian territories. The relevance of the study of this issue is due to the fact that Moscow is negotiating to maintain a military presence in Syria after the opposition comes to power, which increases the relevance of understanding the possible format of interaction — both in terms of delivery of humanitarian aid to the country to continue to provide assistance to the Syrian people, and to maintain the ability to conduct operations to deter the US and maintain logistics in the framework of counterterrorism cooperation between Moscow and African countries.

The article examines the external aspects of the implementation of the digital yuan, namely: what practical steps the Chinese government is taking to expand the use of the digital yuan in foreign trade transactions, and how such measures are substantiated by the legislation. In addition, the scientific discourse regarding the potential of the digital yuan to reshape the global financial system is being analyzed. Currently, scholars both in and outside China are discussing how the development of the digital yuan will affect the transformation of the international trade. Do the actual steps taken by the Chinese government match their vision? How systematically and consistently are changes being implemented? Which tools are being used to promote the digital yuan in bilateral and multilateral formats? To answer these and other research questions, the article analyzes the most important policy document on the digital yuan — the White Paper ‘Progress of Research & Development of E-CNY in China’, and identifies the main directions for the development of the digital yuan in accordance with this document. In addition, references to the use of the digital yuan in the scientific literature and media were studied and summarized. The relevance of this article is due to the fact that in the context of growing sanctions pressure, the failure of Western-centric payment systems in terms of maintaining the normal functioning of global trade, the study of the use of digital currencies of central banks in foreign trade transactions in general, and the digital yuan — as the most advanced central bank digital currency — in particular, is extremely in demand.

The Japanese economy entered the third decade of the 21st century with low and unstable growth rates, some vestiges of catch-up development, the legacy of the “lost” decade of the 1990s in the form of huge accumulated public debt, and demographic problems. From the position of the second largest economy in the world, which it occupied in the 1990s, it dropped to 3rd place (GDP at the current exchange rate) and to 4th place in PPP. The country’s share in world GDP decreased from 7.6 % to 3.7 % (PPP) between 1990 and 2023. What is Japan’s real place in the global and Asian economies? Does the country have growth potential in modern conditions? What are the internal quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the Japanese economic model? Thus, the purpose of this study is to assess the state and prospects of the Japanese economy according to the parameters “outside” — “inside” — “forward”, which is figuratively reflected in the title of the work as “3D measurement”. The paper analyzes internal and external problems and factors of development of the Japanese economy in the context of global uncertainty, the main trends in the country’s economic development in the 21st century and the directions of modernization of the country’s socio-economic model.

Based on the study of the original memoir source “My Biography” by A. Mostoufi, verified by the testimonies of foreign observers, the article examines one of the minor social groups of Iran’s urban population in the second half of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century. As an integral part of the Iranian city, this group is often viewed by researchers as amorphous and marginal, lacking stable characteristics that would define its homogeneity and permanence, which is also reflected in the contradictory meanings of the lexeme luti. Having analyzed the features of luti as a distinct group actor with its own moral, behavioral, and professional characteristics, the authors conclude that its officially low social status directly contradicts the significance it possessed in the socio-cultural life of the urban community. A wide range of role functions secured this group social prestige in the eyes of both the local patriciate and the democratic part of the urban population.

The article is devoted to the study of the religious communities of Jerusalem — Christians and Jews — in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, against the background of the Napoleonic expedition to the Middle East. Jerusalem, despite its relatively small population (about 12,000 people) and limited political importance in the Ottoman Empire, had a special status as a holy city of three world religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Christians and Jews in Jerusalem formed significant communities closely linked to the life of the Muslim majority, which created a complex system of religious symbiosis. During the years of the French invasion of the Middle East (1798–1801), the attitude of local authorities towards minorities was characterized by wariness and variability, including arrests, searches and the temporary detention of a large number of Christians in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Jewish community showed demonstrative loyalty to the Ottoman government and even helped to strengthen the defenses. Napoleon considered taking Jerusalem, hoping to gain the support of local Christians. However, due to tactical reasons, the capture did not take place, and the city maintained the status quo. The expedition exacerbated confessional contradictions, intensified the struggle for Holy Places and laid the foundations for further escalation of tension in interreligious relations. The Ottoman authorities sought to maintain control by charging large taxes and bribes from religious communities, while maintaining relative stability and preventing internal conflicts. The article reflects the complex balance of interests between various Christian denominations, the Jewish community and the Muslim authorities, as well as the reaction of Jerusalem residents to foreign military intervention in the lands of Palestine.

The article examines a historical retrospective of the administrative, cultural, and intellectual relationship between the post-Almohad dynasties of the Maghreb (the Marinids, Abdalwadids, and Hafsids) and the traditional Muslim educational institutions of North Africa. The reasons and characteristic features of the processes of reproduction of religious scholarship in the Maghreb are investigated in the light of the military and political events that accompanied the expansion of the Almohad state. The historical and cultural background of cooperation and rivalry between the major universities of the region and the Sultan’s/Emir’s court is shown. The author traces the dynamics of the geography of “sacred knowledge” in North Africa and proves that it correlates with the financial and economic activity of the states that arose on the ruins of the Almohad political project. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the multifaceted activities of madrasahs, which served as leading urban learning centers, had significant libraries and had highly professional teachers of Islamic spiritual disciplines. Tribal and intellectual ties between the military and political elite of the Maghreb and the teaching staff of new educational institutions have been studied.

The article examines the specific administrative model that developed in Ottoman Egypt in the second half of the 18th century, and the role of the local elite in the formation of the system of power. This study focuses on the influence of the Mamluk Sultanate on the ideas of regional leaders of predominantly Mamluk origin concerning the ideal structure of the state. These leaders regarded the Mamluk Sultanate as a model of the ‘golden age’ of Egyptian statehood. This study explores the repercussions of the deviation from the conventional tenets of the Mamluk corporation, which is characterized by an escalation in the competitive dynamics among the military-administrative elite of Egyptian society. The principal conclusion of the study is that the organizational structure of Mamluk society, which took shape in Ottoman Egypt in the latter half of the 18th century and was based on meritocratic principles of elite recruitment, due to its inherent contradictions, initially laid the foundation for stable stereotypes of behavior among the ruling authorities. These contradictions gave rise to conflicts among them. Despite the crisis of the Ottoman system of provincial administration, the leaders of the ruling ‘houses’ (‘beyts’) of the neo-Mamluk type were unable to propose a new political model of development and finally break away from dependency on the Ottoman metropolis, thus failing to put their ideas about the ideal state into practice.

The article examines the conflictual relations between the Druze community, historically inhabiting Jabal al-Duruz, a mountainous region in southern Syria, and the Ottoman authorities during the period of large-scale reforms in the Ottoman Empire, that is, during the Tanzimat (1839–1876) and the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876–1909). The ethno-confessional specificity of the population of Jabal al-Duruz, which has persisted to the present day, largely shaped the sociopolitical situation in the Hauran region, of which Jabal al-Duruz formed a part, south of Damascus. This makes it possible to place the military conflicts and political arrangements between the Ottoman provincial administration in Syria and the Druze community of Hauran within a broader context of the changing historical destinies of inward-looking and compactly settled ethno-confessional communities during state-led modernization. Drawing on archival materials from Russian consular reports and other primary sources, the study traces the logic and dynamics of Ottoman attempts to incorporate Jabal al-Duruz into the empire-wide reformed system of administrative and territorial governance. It also identifies the factors that helped preserve the Druze community’s confessional and social insularity and its readiness to offer armed resistance to external encroachments on traditional self-government.

This work is a historical analysis of the references to Sasanids and Arabs in Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius’ 14th poem, a panegyric to Constantine the Great, composed in the mid-320-es. The mention of the Parthian putting aside his arrows is a reference to the end of the war against Sasanid king Shāhpūhr II, waged in 324–325. The same war seems to be behind Optatianus’ words on the Mede rushing to a ‘love contest’ by which exchange of gifts, a standard diplomatic practice and a sui generis competition in courtesy, is probably meant. So, Optatianus appears to mean that the Sasanid king began negotiations and sent an embassy with gifts. The statement that Persians wish to recognize Constantine as their sovereign and give him their royal power and possessions is ambiguous. Optatianus may refer to Hurmuzd, a Sasanid prince who fled to the Romans and became a general at their service. Alternatively, Optatianus may reproduce the then existing belief that following the war of 324–25 king Shāhpūhr became a tributary of Rome. A reference to Arabs seems to be connected to the Roman rulers’ policy to attract Arabic tribes of border regions, especially those on the Euphrates, and use those tribes in their struggle against the Sasanids.

Researchers and practitioners studying traditional Chinese medicine often encounter difficulties in interpreting ancient texts; among the problems most frequently noted are ambiguous words and meanings and the abundance of specialised, outdated vocabulary. With regard to the treatise Huang-di nei jing. Su wen, there is a substantial body of research on its medical aspects, whereas works devoted specifically to its philological analysis are relatively few. The aim of this paper is to clarify the original meaning of key terms using the first chapter of Huang-di nei jing. Su wen as a case study. This article proposes a method for analysing terms based on the approaches of V.S. Spirin and A.M. Karapetyants. The method involves a step-by-step structural analysis of the text, the identification of parallel constructions, the explication of pairs with antonymous, synonymous and adjacent relations between components, and the subsequent classification of each pair. This approach makes it possible not only to analyse the structure of Chinese texts, but also to develop a more systematic way of interpreting ancient medical texts in general. The proposed method can be applied to other ancient Chinese texts, both medical and philosophical, and can contribute to the development of communication studies by promoting a more accurate understanding of the information reflected in ancient texts.

This article examines the structural features of newspaper headlines in the Korean language from a grammatical and stylistic perspective. It focuses on classifying headline types based on their form: nominal constructions, participial forms, full-sentence headlines (both declarative and interrogative), and those ending in case markers or adverbs. A comparison with Russian headlines is made, highlighting differences in frequency and usage. Special attention is given to the stylistic function of grammatical omission, the dropping of predicates, and speaker orientation in Korean, which are critical for accurate translation from Russian into Korean. The article discusses the challenges faced by Russian-speaking translators in preserving both authenticity and clarity when rendering headlines. It provides practical recommendations for using the most common and linguistically safe types of headlines, especially for non-native speakers. It emphasizes that choosing the appropriate headline structure requires not only grammatical knowledge but also an intuitive sense of Korean journalistic style.The material is useful for students studying Korean, instructors in East Asian studies, as well as translators and journalists working with Korean-language sources.

The article presents a historical and bibliographic sketch of the manuscript “Translation of the Sacred Book of the Foyan Sect called Fo niu jin gang jing, meaning The Adamant Book, or The Adamant-like Book of Foy’s Teaching” by Hieromonk (later Archimandrite) Daniil (Dmitry Petrovich Sivillov, 1798-1877), stored in the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books (15322, II/44, l. 1-3 vol.) of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University. The manuscript is an unfinished draft translation from Kumarajiva’s (early 5th century) Chinese version of the canonical Buddhist Diamond Sutra. This translation, done in Beijing around 1828, precedes the German translation of the Diamond Sutra from Tibetan by Russian academician J.I. Schmidt published in 1837, hence ought to be seen as the first attempt of this sutra translation into a European language. The bibliographic descriptions of the manuscript by A.I. Artemiev (1882, 1884), J. von Gottwald (1884), Henri Cordier (1893, 1904), A.A. Petrov (1937) and P.E. Skachkov (1977) are discussed. Erroneous transcription fo niu for fo shuo (‘Buddha speaks’) in the title of the Chinese original; the obsolete Russian ‘adamant’ for ‘diamond’ as well as the obsolete ‘Fo’ and ‘Foy’ for the name of Buddha are pointed out in particular. A.I. Artemyev’s bibliographic description undertaken between 1844 and 1851 is valued as the original one, while all the others must have been the secondary follow-ups. A.I. Artemyev had provided dating of the manuscript based on the filigree (watermark) of its paper. Although The Diamond Sutra is of prime importance for Buddhism, Fr. Daniil’s translation has been overlooked by historiographers. Unpublished works on Buddhism by Fr. Daniel, along with the works of J.I. Schmidt, J.S. Kowalewski, and some other scholars, provide a basis for revising the historiography of Russian Buddhology, highlighting its initial or preliminary stage in the first half of the 19th century.