Another @internetarchive fun find: "Talks at Harvard" on Japan, or in its Japanese title　特集： ハーバードのみたニッポン　知日派７教授の熱い生の声 <- the seven 知日派 include Ezra F. Vogel talking about his (in)famous "Japan as Number One" and Edwin O. Reischauer. https://archive.org/details/talksatharvard/mode/2up #japan #asianists

I found another Malay language textbook for Chinese speakers in a used bookstore in Singapore from 1956. Looks like it may have been published in Penang, Federation of Malaya. I have scanned and posted to Internet Archive:

馬來語會話 1956
https://archive.org/details/malaiyu-huihua

#penang #malaysia #primarysources #histodons #asianists #internetarchive

In 1960 Radio Singapore broadcast a series of Malay language lessons. I found two volumes of the textbooks that accompanied the broadcast in an used bookstore. I have scanned and put them on the Internet Archive.

Belajar Bahasa Melayu dengan Radio Singapura (1960)
https://archive.org/details/belajar-bahasa-melayu-dengan-radio-singapura

Book 3
https://archive.org/details/belajar-bahasa-melayu-dengan-radio-singapura-book-three/mode/2up

#singapore #malaysia #histodons #asianists #TootSEA #primarysources #internetarchive

If anyone wants to work on their cursive Chinese writing, you might consult this old 1955 book published in Hong Kong that I found in less than great condition in a flea market here in Singapore. Scanned and posted to internet archive:

鋼筆快寫字彙
https://archive.org/details/gangbi-kuaixie-zihui/mode/1up

#chinese #china #primarysources #language #asianists #internetarchive

I bought an old 1959 history textbook for primary school students in Singapore. Scanned and posted to Internet Archive:

歷史 (四下)
https://archive.org/details/lishi-sixia/mode/1up

#singapore #TootSEA #malaysia #histodons #asianists #primarysources #internetarchive

I found a fun 1957 Chinese language booklet on nutrition published in Hong Kong in a flea market sale here in Singapore. I scanned it and posted to Internet Archive:

吃的知識
https://archive.org/details/chi-de-zhishi/mode/2up

#china #histodons #asianists #nutrition #primarysources #internetarchive

Bought a copy of an old Chinese language primary school textbook published in 1924. These books are mostly interesting for what snippets they give you of the world being shown the children, than anything else. Scanned and put on Internet Archive here:

共和國教科書新國文https://archive.org/details/gongheguo-jiaokeshu-xinguowen/mode/1up

#china #textbooks #primarysources #internetarchive #asianists #histodons

Came across a Malay language textbook for Chinese speakers in Singapore flea market. I scanned it and put on IA:

Perchakapan Bahasa Kebangsaan Yang Mudah 國語初級會話
https://archive.org/details/perchakapan-bahasa-kebangsaan-yang-mudah/mode/1up

Fun to try to figure out date & place: Preface mentions Malaysia "will be" founded 1963. Cover has the "Merdeka Lions" on Merdeka bridge (1956) so likely published in Singapore (see also owner dentist stamp) between 1956-1963. That look right?

#malaysia #singapore #asianists #histodons #internetarchive

I came across a pamphlet in Singapore flea market, "The World Red Swastika Society Prospectus" (世界紅卍字會) - this is a fascinating religious and philanthropic organization tied to one of China's salvationist religious groups, was founded in 1920s. Read their presentation of their own organization in the scanned version of the pamphlet I put on Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/the-world-red-swastika-society-prospectus

#histodons #asianists #china #internetarchive #religion #chinesehistory

Found an old undated guide to writing letters in Chinese 言文對照廣註寫信必讀 in a Singapore used bookstore. I scanned it and posted to the Internet Archive for anyone who wants to browse it. One book by this title is on worldcat as dated 1921. #china #chineselanguage #asianists #histodons #internetarchive

https://archive.org/details/xiexin-bidu

Scanned an old 1962 Singapore booklet teaching Bopomofo/注音符號 and posted it to Internet Archive for anyone interested! #chinese #singapore #chineselanguage #histodons #asianists

Spent a relaxing evening browsing sources unrelated to anything in particular. Wrote up a Frog in a Well blog post on a fun Hong Kong education report I came across:

Hong Kong Education in Chinese Schools 1929 https://froginawell.net/frog/2023/05/hong-kong-education-in-chinese-schools-1929/

#hongkong #histodons #asianists #educationhistory #chinesehistory

I realize I’m probably very late to the party on this one but today I learned how widespread the use of Aesop’s fable “The North Wind and the Sun” is in research on language. I was reading Gina Anna Tam’s “Dialect and Nationalism in China, 1860-1960” today and noticed a mention of its use in a famous 1920s work on the Shanghai Wu dialect/language. #asianists #linguistics 1/

I wrote up a post at Frog in a Well in support of "Japanese and English Bilingual Seminars and Workshops" https://froginawell.net/frog/2023/04/japanese-and-english-bilingual-seminars-and-workshops/ #asianists #histodons #japan

The National Showa Memorial Museum (昭和館) has a rich collection of historical materials related to Japan and Japanese empire that is often under appreciated. I was delighted to learn that they have lots of great material online:

昭和館デジタルアーカイブ https://search.showakan.go.jp/

#asianists #histodons #japan #japanesehistory

Toward the Eastern Mountains (東山) of #Kyoto, I walked from the Kawaramachi train station by Gion to the #Shinto shrine Yasaka Jinja (八坂神社) -- first photo -- and the World Heritage temple #Kiyomizudera (#清水寺). A recommended tourist route, these are only a few of the scenes I'm so familiar with. A willow tree in Maruyama Park could really be weeping, because a 2018 typhoon, going farther north than in the past -- like U.S. hurricanes -- broke it, but it is growing back and looking like "The Matrix" movie theme in the second photo. There is a #Buddhist Yasaka Pagoda -- third photo -- and one of many perspectives that always reward a visit to Kiyomizu Temple -- last photo.
@japodons #Japan #Asianists #Japanese #Religion #Religions #Buddhism

I have deep concerns about the rise of large language models but am also interested in exploring concrete use cases on assumption they are here to stay.

One thing ChatGPT can do quite well is clean up messy table data. This is useful for historians working with complex tables in scanned historical documents. I offer an example in this post:

https://froginawell.net/frog/2023/03/cleaning-up-tables-from-primary-sources-in-chatgpt/

#chatgpt #LLMs #histodons #asianists

Sad I won't be able to make this book talk with Prof. H. Yumi Kim: Madness in the Family: Women, Care, and Illness in Japan (Oxford University Press, 2022) on March 8, 2023 7-8pm EST. Zoom registration: https://mjha.org/Madness-in-the-Family #asianists #histodons #japan

The meeting of Eastern and Western civilizations over the past half century has shown both sides that there can be contrasting ways of thinking and functioning in the world that are also viable.

There have been sporadic East-West encounters for ages, such as through the Silk Road, but only in our time have the #civilizations had to come to grips with each other's #culture. There has been mutual influence, even while fundamental aspects of the contrasting #cultures have not yet been bridged.

"East-West Cultural Differences in Basic Life Stance" was a deep dive that is recently surging in interest again, at https://www.academia.edu/44784139

@religidons @religion @histodons @philosophy @japodons
#InterculturalCommunication #Asia #Japan #Asianists #Philosophy #Religion #Buddhism

1943 Chinese Language Guide published by the US War Department during WWII. Guaranteed to make Chinese language instructors and pretty much any reasonable speakers of the language shudder in horror: https://archive.org/details/TM30-333/mode/1up?view=theater #asianists #china #chinese #primarysources