Bøger udgivet af Kegan Paul

A biography of Saigo Takamori - the "last Samurai" and a hero of Meiji Japan. Using primary sources, the author reconstructs the historical Saigo from the mythical "Dai Saigo". He identifies that Saigo's importance lies less in historical fact, than in his influence over popular imagination.

Eschewing the path of religious pamphleteering in favor of a broad juridical and sociological approach, Hozumi describes the practice of Japanese ancestor-worship, its origins, manifestations, peculiarities and social and legal implications. The author lays aside many misconceptions regarding ancestor-worship, permitting us to see Japanese cultures and religions in an entirely new light. Among the fascinating topics covered are ancestor-worship in Europe and America, the theory of the dread of ghosts, sacred places in the Japanese house, and the relation of ancestor-worship to loyalty and patriotism.

A handsomely illustrated introduction to Japanese aesthetics, this text illuminates the principles involved in Japanese flower arrangement, home design and overall worldview. Concepts such as furyu, shin, so and gyo, as well as the rikkwa, ten-chi-jin, nageire and bunjin-ike styles of flower arrangement are explained, helping the reader to enter the world of Japanese culture.

Reviewing the data from other New Kingdom settlements on a "micro-spatial" level, this study reveals a highly diversified and unique pattern of habitation in the Nile Valley. The main focus of this work is the New Kingdom which offers the largest number of sites from any one period.

During the Japanese 'bubble' economy of the 1980's, the youth of Japan began to exert influence on Japanese culture through their spirited patronage of certain art forms previously deemed subcultural or avant-garde. Among these were manga (Japanese comics or animation) and shogekijo (Japanese little theater).

This is a reprint of the 1920 edition of an important but almost unknown work. When Atwood made her suggestive inquiry into what was termed "The Hermetic Mystery," she supposed that the adept Hieophants put the candidate into a deep trance and his soul was led into something that was for her the Supreme Oneness of everything.

First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Exploring locales such as Batum, Tiflis, Vladikavkaz, the Kakhetian Road, Signakh and the Alazana, this guide to Georgia examines its language, literature, politics and people.

This monumental volume in the History of Civilization Series has done a great service to learning in giving a very good outline of the earliest civilization of Europe. It covers the Orient, Crete, the Aegean, Maritime Civilization, Greece, the Balkans, the Danube, Eurasia, Northern Cultures, Forest Cultures, Islands of the Western Mediterranean, Iberia, Alpine Culture, and the British Isles.

From Ancient Greece, modern Western civilisation has derived many of its artistic philosophical and political ideals. This book discusses the various aspects of the Ancient Greeks' sexual life. Through literary, historical and artistic evidence, it presents a picture of the position of women in Greek life.

This is the most complete and detailed account of the traditional domestic and daily life of the Chinese in the mid-nineteenth century. Writing in the 1860s, Doolittle concentrates on social and religious customs, revealing the people through their practices and material culture which he observed for over fourteen years. Colorful, exotic and compelling, this is a more telling portrait than any history or encyclopedia, an innovative tour de force of popular culture, and a classic ahead of its time. Agricultural and household matters, betrothal and marriage, the treatment of disease, popular gods and goddesses, punishments and celebrations, annual customs and festivals, superstitions, business customs, charitable practices, vegetarians, charms and omens, fortune-telling, opium and opium smoking are among the subjects dealt with, accompanied by charming engravings. Doolittle lived midway between Shanghai and Canton, the origin of the overseas Chinese diaspora. The world he describes here may have vanished in mainland China but it endures in Chinatowns and Chinese homes around the world.

This is a complete English translation of the famous Ethiopian work The Kebra Nagast -- "The Glory of the Kings of Ethiopia." Compiled by a Coptic priest in the 6th century AD, from much older material, The Kebra Nagast is a remarkable mixture of legends and traditions, some historical and some of a mythic quality, derived from the Old Testament and the later Rabbinic writings and from Egyptian (both pagan and Christian), Arabian and Ethiopian sources. The principle theme of the work is the descent of the Kings of Ethiopia from the union of Solomon, King of Israel, and the Queen of Sheba. Woven through the story are many important narratives, including prophecies in the Old Testament that concern the Messiah as applied to Jesus Christ, the history of the rebel angels, and legends of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba in the Koran.

One of the greatest of Arabic poets - indeed, the greatest in the opinion of some critics - Abu Nuwas wrote accomplished verse that demonstrated his technical mastery of all the major genres. This work offers a glimpse of the hedonistic and dissipated world he inhabited: the world of Baghdad high society at the zenith of the Abbasid caliphate.

The Arab tribes of Iraq, differing widely as they do in customs and manner of speech, remain in all essentials of thought and conduct a distinctive and unique group. Their land embraces wide deserts, fertile fields, and boundless swamp and a unique form of life and living. Taking the central figure of Haji, Rikkan the writer-traveller tries to show an accurate picture of Arab tribal life as a whole.

Written by one of the most remarkable and erudite scholars of the early twentieth century, a man who has not an equal today, this book is a unique and authoritative portrait of one of the greatest men in history. The object of this work, which it admirally achieves, is to present to lovers of the legend and history about Alexander translations of all Ethiopic accounts of that man in English and to include all necessary commentary.

A study of sex in ancient Egypt. It considers sex in its broadest sense, analyzing not only the sexual practices of individual people but also the ways in which sexual activity was indivisibly woven into the fabric of social and community life.

A combination of techniques and ingredients from East and West, this guide to Turkish cooking provides a practical introduction to the repertoire of the Turkish kitchen. The recipes are supplemented with observations on the history of Turkish cuisine, and its cultural and religious significance.

This introduction to Mongolian literature, both oral and written, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century, provides a rare insight into the changing worldviews-from clan society to Soviet culture-of the Mongolian people. Translated by renown scholar Charles Bawden, the work is organized into Histories, Legends, Didactic literature, Epics, Shamanistic Incantations, Folk-tales, Myths, Sino-Mongolian Prose Literature, Lyrics and Other Verse, and Reminiscences, concluding with a modern short story. This highly important work, which makes the rich tradition of Mongolian literature available for the first time, will be essential reading for many years to come.

Providing background information about the climate and geography of Iraq, the author then goes on to give a detailed account of the peoples, mammals, insects and plants that define the Middle Eastern country.

This work provides a complete introduction to the traditional Japanese Kabuki drama. Featuring sections on the appreciation of Kabuki, characteristics of the plays, machinery peculiar to Kabuki, the best Kabuki plays, Kabuki techniques, and symbolism used in the plays, the book will provide any traveller with the background knowledge necessary to appreciate and participate in Japanese culture.

An excellent introduction to Old English, this book begins with an elementary grammar, ably preparing students for the thirty-four texts that follow. Among the carefully selected stories, verses and histories can be found a wide sampling of dialects: West Saxon, Northumbrian, late and early Kentish and early Mercian. A comprehensive glossary is included.

A rich account of Egyptian archaeology and the hymns of ancient Egypt, this book is at once a fascinating textbook and a practical guide. Readers with a background in Egyptology as well as those just beginning will be delighted by H. D. Rawnsley's disarming style and often-amusing advice: "On no pretext be induced to drink Nile water," "If you find a donkey falls, change him; he will do it again," "One often escapes the importunity of those who ask for 'bakhsheesh'by nodding, and saying with a smile, 'Boókra,'which means 'To-morrow.'"

This book provides a comprehensive review of a remarkable popular literary movement which began in the Spanish peninsula about the turn of the fifteenth century, spread over western Europe, including England, and, having flourished and exercised a considerable influence for some time, died out so completely as to be almost forgotten. Many of the romances created by the movement are now extremely rare and so they are presented here in one volume for the benefit of scholars and general readers alike.

The two volumes of this work make available many years of labor and scholarly work on the fundamental concepts of Indian thought which have determined the attitude of Indian civilization in regard to the relation of the sexes for more than two thousand years.