Ateneo
Center for Asian Studies News
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International Convention of Asia Scholars 6 ACAS IN ICAS 6 August 6-9, 2009 at Daejeon Convention Center, Korea Advance Program (Last Updated June 11, 2009) [THF2] Southeast Asian Studies in the Ateneo: Assessing Colonial and Postcolonial Experiences DATE August 6, 2009 TIME 13:00 to 15:00 ROOM Room F CONVENER Francis Alvarez Gealogo (Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines) CHAIR Francis Alvarez Gealogo (Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines) Panel Abstract
The Ateneo Center for Asian Studies sponsors this panel that provides examples of the current state of academic studies on Southeast Asia in the Ateneo de Manila University. The papers included in the panel examine both the colonial and post colonial experiences of the region and the various nation states that constituted Southeast Asia. The topics cover a broad range of focus – from the evolution of colonial health policy, to social and demographic policies, regional integration, human rights, and political development. The diversity of the topics reflect the many approaches, the different perspectives, the many theoretical and methodological tools and the divergent issues that emerging scholars in Southeast Asian studies had to contend. In the end, the panel represents this diversity and corresponds to the growing interest of Southeast Asian studies in the Ateneo de Manila University. Presenters [THF2-1] Francis Alvarez Gealogo (Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines) The 1918 Influenza Pandemic in Southeast Asia:
The influenza pandemic of 1918 was one of the most virulent and deadliest ever to hit human history. While studies on the medical, clinical and epidemiologic nature of the epidemic has been substantial, the social and demographic history of the disease as it affected various parts of the world has not been given equal attention by historians and demographers. Moreover, the majority of studies were basically focused on Western societies of Europe, North America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia that experienced extremely high levels of mortality and morbidity rates during the outbreak. There is an obvious dearth of attention being made to study the impact of the epidemic on Southeast Asian societies like the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Malay states that were equally affected by the contagion. [THF2-2] Aaron Rom Olimba Moralina (Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines) Disease Etiology and Public Health Measures In
The paper is a preliminary attempt to comparatively assess broad stroke disease control measures implemented in the American Philippines and British Malaya. By identifying trends and elucidating divergences, the idea is to shed light in the character and logic of how public health medicine were instituted in these colonial polities. Official understanding of disease causation is significant in this regard, due to the gradual etiological shift created by the emergence of germ theory during the late nineteenth century. Still, adherence to bacteriology may have been revised by the need to comply to colonial impulses, thus it was not uncommon that health bureaucrats had read illness as having to do with ''superstition" "primitiveness", and "inherent filthiness" of the colonial subjects. Therefore, sustaining health and attaining non-illness had to do with compliance to colonial ideas of "hygienic reformation." Finally, the paper presents points which could be used for further studies on colonial public health and medicine in the Southeast Asian region. [THF2-3] Meynardo Mendoza (Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines) Historical Closure and the Politics of Reparations in Southeast Asia
Just how does post-conflict societies come to terms with the past? Over the years, many post-authoritarian and even post-apartheid regimes have grappled with this phenomenon. Trials of former dictators and perpetrators of gross human rights violations, truth commissions, apologies, financial compensation and lustration are only some of the mechanisms by which these societies effect closure of dark pasts and hopefully achieve national reconciliation and face a more certain future. Yet, these processes are fraught with dilemmas - the issue of national sovereignty vis-a-vis demands of the international human rights regime, promoting justice but at the same time preserving internal stability etc. The paper looks at three examples of transitional justice mechanisms in the region. First is the genocide trial of former leaders of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia that was established by the United Nations and the reluctant Hun Sen regime. The second examines the truth commission established both by Indonesia and East Timor in searching for answers behind the gruesome rampage of East Timorese militia members in the aftermath of a popular referendum in 1999. And thirdly, the pending claim for compensation by the Marcos human rights victims after securing a landmark victory in 1994. [THF2-4] Pilar Preciousa Pajayon Berse (Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines) The Decentralization Experiences of Post-Colonial Southeast Asia:
The paper attempts to assess the decentralization experiences of post-colonial Southeast Asia, particularly of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines vis-a-vis their colonized past. It looks for patterns of parallelism between the colonial experiences of these countries and the success of their respective attempts to empower local government units by using various strategies such as deconcentration, devolution, and privatization. Though the success or failure of the transfer of powers from the central government to the local government is more anchored on the issues of financial competence, geographic make-up, and the local community's social readiness, the foreign influences on these countries' bureaucratic structure may still have a bearing on how decentralization is being envisioned and practiced within their respective areas. The paper ends by closing in on (1) the issues that decentralization confronts at present in Southeast Asia and (2) the possibility of capitalizing on the region's colonial experience for better decentralization practices. [SAV3] Korean on the Filipino Mind DATE August 8, 2009 TIME 13:45 to 15:45 ROOM Room V CONVENER Lydia N. Yu Jose (Ateneo Center for Asian Studies, The Philippines) CHAIR Lydia N. Yu Jose (Ateneo Center for Asian Studies, The Philippines) DISCUSSANT Ricardo Trota Jose (University of the Philippines, The Philippines) Panel Abstract
The panel is set against the background of two wars, World War II and the Cold War and how they provided Filipinos opportunities to hear about Korea and its people. Unlike China and Japan, Korea's relationship with the Philippines was not quite close, if only in the sense that there was not a big Korean population in the Philippines, compared with the huge Chinese and Japanese communities in major cities. World War II and the Cold War brought Korea closer to the Filipino consciousness. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines (1941-45) very few Koreans were brought to the country and yet even to the present time, there are bits and pieces of rumors that the Korean soldiers during World War II were more cruel than the Japanese soldiers. The Cold War, on the other hand, brought to the Korean soil Filipino soldiers to fight on the side of South Korea. Presenters [SAV3-1] Lydia N. Yu Jose (Ateneo Center for Asian Studies, The Philippines) A Preliminary Examination of the Story that the Koreans were More Cruel than the Japanese Soldiers during the Japanese Occupation
Talk of World War II in the Philippines and of the behavior of soldiers, and sometimes, you would hear comments that it was the Korean soldier who did cruel acts, and not the Japanese. Ask those who you think might know, and you will get conflicting answers: some would confirm the story; other would say it was not true. Others would even say they never saw a single Korean during the war. In order to find out how widespread this story is, a survey questionnaire is now being conducted. The paper will report on the result of the survey, and give some preliminary explanations as to the nature of the story. [SAV3-2] Neville Jay Manaois (Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines) Revisiting the Accomplishments of the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (Peftok)
On June 25, 1950, the North Koreans invaded South Korean signaling the start of the Korean War. One of the first countries which responded to UN resolution calling for the cessation of hostilities in the Korean peninsula was the Republic of the Philippines. The Philippines dispatched close to seven thousand soldiers collectively known as the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK). They were involved in several major military operations and turning points of the war. The PEFTOK history contains a lot of action and drama that captured the imagination of the Filipinos as well as the international community during the 50s and the 60s. Despite all of these the Korean War and the PEFTOK fell into historical obscurity. This article seeks to provide some clarity why Philippine history forgot the Filipino soldiers' sacrifices in the Korean battlefields. Moreover this article seeks to emphasize the Filipino soldiers' accomplishments in the Korean War with the hopes to remember and preserve our forefather’s legacy. [SAV3-3] David O. Lozada III (Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines) Philippine Participation in The Korean War: A Re-Evaluation
The Prussian military theorist Carl Maria von Clausewitz once argued that while theoretically the true nature of warfare is to ultimately serve itself; in reality it is often observed that war is merely a continuation of state politics by other means.
It was widely believed that the participation of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) was prompted primary by two considerations. The first was due to a directive by the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly that called on its member countries "to furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to restore international peace and security in the area." The Philippines being a member of the United Nations and a principal signatory of its charter was obligated to comply. The second can be attributed to what Onofre D. Corpuz referred to as the close and special post war relationship that the Philippines had with the United States whose foreign policies were closely aligned.
This paper provides a third explanation - what Roger Dingman described as diplomacy of dependence. For then President Elpidio Quirino, the outbreak of the Korean conflict provided him with a timely means for political survival. Before 1950, the Philippine economy was in recession and internal unrest triggered by the Huk rebellion was spiraling out of control. His decision to commit Filipino troops to participate in military operations in Korea resulted in a chain reaction that improved (albeit temporarily) the economic and political outlook of the Philippines and ultimately helped turn the tide in the campaign against the Huk insurgency.
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CALL FOR PAPERS
Global Financial Crisis in the Asian Context: Repercussions and Responses
ACAS Fifth International Conference 9 July 2010 Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Heights Campus, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
ACAS invites individuals and institutions to submit paper/panel proposals to its fifth international conference "Global Financial Crisis in the Asian Context: Repercussions and Responses." As in the previous conferences, all sessions will be plenary, and only for a day, does enabling ACAS to choose only the best among the proposals. Selected papers that pass peer review will be published.
Many conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures have been held all over the world on this topic, but this conference aims to be different and unique by adopting both a broad and narrow approach. It is broad, in the sense that it will include papers that are theory-oriented and historical in approach and, the fresh theories and new historical approaches may include all the other past crises, such as the Great Depression of the 1930s, and other crises, such as the recent food crisis. Moreover, it will discuss the nature, causes, repercussions of, and reactions to these crises. It is narrow, in the sense that case studies of particular countries, specific communities, families, or individuals will also be taken up. And of course, it is narrow, because it focuses on Asia. Thus, a fresh look at the Great Depression of the 1930s, for example, should be from an Asian perspective. How did it impact on the Asian migrant workers - Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, etc., in the United States?
The conference will be multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary, cutting across the social sciences, natural sciences, the humanities, business and technology.
MAIN THEME: A decade after the economic crisis that struck Asia in 1997-98, a new one has made a landfall in the region. In the wake of the crisis, many issues have been raised. To begin with, the notion that the phenomenon at hand constitutes a 'crisis' is questioned. Whose crisis is it? There had been expectations that Asia - with its large stocks of foreign exchange reserves and the limited exposure of its banking systems to toxic financial assets, plus the lessons it learned from the crisis of the 1970s - would escape the worst consequences of the collapse of the US housing market in 2008. But is this true of all countries in Asia? In many Asian economies, contrary to the expectation, growth has been either stalled, slowed or even reversed. In most of Asia, fortunes appear to be also going the way of the global economic meltdown. How is the crisis perceived by governments, communities, families, individuals and, how do they respond to it?
There are theories about the causes of the crisis, some of which question the viability of capitalism per se, while others focus only on particular aspects of capitalism, such as the banking system, deregulation, liberalization, globalization, and the regulatory institutions. There are those who look beyond the economic system, and include in the analysis values and ethics.
Others highlight the human and environmental costs of the crisis, and there are those who draw attention to the less privileged, even in times of relative prosperity, such as the poor and the marginalized. The artistic and imaginative have come up with cartoons that capture the mood of the times, and new words to describe the victims of company restructuring have been added to the vocabulary of the times. To illustrate, while some say that an employee who has been asked to resign has been "reistra" (re-structured), others would say s/he has been "redundated," from the adjective "redundant."
Prognoses about the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and the fates of incumbent governments are offered. The virtues of purported solutions such as stimulus packages, a shift away from export-driven growth strategies, and the return to protectionism are debated. The trend towards regional economic cooperation and integration seems to be in danger of being compromised. Families and individuals ponder upon the wisdom of saving versus wise spending, and question the advantage of securing their own future and their children's through pre-needs insurance and other forms of assurance policies.
Indeed the global financial crisis has unleashed a flurry of discussions and debates, both articulated and silently thought about.
SUB-THEMES (Limited to the Asian Context): Theory about the 21st century global financial crisis
New theories about past economic crises
Theories about other economic crises, such as the food crisis
Histories of economic crises
Typologies of economic crises and their causes
Different meanings, dimensions, perceptions of the crisis
The impact of the crisis on the arts (visual, theater, movies)
Responses of individuals, groups, governments, institutions to the crisis
Value change arising from the crisis
Lifestyle change due to the crisis
"Asian values" and the global crisis
Impact on the migrant workers
Attitudinal and philosophical change about financial credit, including credit cards
Comparative cultural responses to the crisis
Family and identity reformulation
Religion and economic crises
Environment and economic crises
Governance and democracy
Power politics and economic crises
Soft power and the crisis
**The list is not extensive, and only suggestive.
MECHANICS OF PAPER PROPOSAL
FOR INQUIRIES, please email acas@admu.edu.ph, or call Christl at 926-4202 or 426-6001, local 5285 and 5286. Our office hours is Monday to Friday, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. MAILING ADDRESS: Ateneo Center for Asian Studies Second floor, Ricardo & Dr. Rosita Leong Hall, Loyola Schools, Ateneo de Manila University Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, 1108 Philippines
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KOREAN LANGUAGE CLASSES
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Venue (July 4 to Aug. 22, Saturdays): SEC A112
For those who haven't submitted the original deposit slips yet, please bring them to the ACAS office (Leong Hall 207).
*** Tentative next batch schedule: November 2009
Ongoing Courses:
Korean I: Introductory Korean Language Certificate Course
Ms. Sarah Jane Domingo
June 20 to August 22, 2009, Saturdays
1:00 - 4:00 pm
Course Description
Korean 1 is an introductory Korean language course designed for students with zero knowledge of Korean. This module delves on the essentials of the language beginning with the introduction of the alphabet, phonetics, and sentence patterns. Specifically, it covers the following: vowels and consonants, rudimentary rules of pronunciation, Sino-Korean and pure Korean numerals, basic grammar rules and sentence patterns, and simple dialogues and conversations.
The whole program aims to assist students acquire basic competency in 4 aspects of communication - speaking, listening, writing, and reading - through a combination of various teaching approaches and learning activities.
Korean II: Upper Beginner Korean Language Certificate Course
Ms. Eulalia Tome
June 20 to August 22, 2009, Saturdays
9:00 - 12:00 am
Course Description
Korean 2 is a continuation of Korean 1, which aims to enhance basic competency in the language through acquisition of new vocabularies and their application to more complex sentence structures. The course will also introduce new speech styles and expressions that will cover the following topics: imperative/command sentences in formal form, basic prepositions, propositive/suggestive exchanges, object, time and action-location particles, rules of pronunciation for syllabic pairs, etc.
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THE ATENEO CENTER FOR ASIAN STUDIES (ACAS)
cordially invites you to
A WORKSHOP ON CHINESE IMMIGRATION TO THE PHILIPPINES, JAPANESE AND KOREAN PHILOSOPHIES, AND SOURCE MATERIALS ON ASIAN STUDIES IN JAPAN AND THE PHILIPPINES
11 MARCH 2009, 9:30 to 3:50, Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies Conference Hall, 2nd floor, Ricardo & Dr. Rosita Leong Hall
9:30-9:40 Introduction to the workshop, explanation of the proceedings, introduction of the morning speakers by Kishi Toshihiko and Lydia N. Yu-Jose
9:40-10:00 Sugaya Nariko (Ehime University), "Spain's Chinese Policy in the Early Modern Philippines"
10:00-10:20 Comments by Francis A. Gealogo (Ateneo de Manila University)
10:20-10:40 Q and A
10:40-11:00 Kim Bongjin (University of Kitakyushu), "Reception and Change of the Idea of 'Right(s)' in Nishi Amane: Comparison with Yu Kilchun"
11:00-11:20 Anton Luis C. Sevilla (Ateneo de Manila University), "An Analysis of Dogen's Buddha-Nature as an Ethical Ought"
11:20-11:40 Q and A
11:40-1:20 Lunch Break
1:20-1:30 Introduction of the afternoon speakers by Meynardo Mendoza (member, ACAS Board of Directors)
1:30-1:50 Chen Laixing (University of Hyogo), "A Comparative Perspective of the Overseas Chinese Societies in the Pacific Rim Regions after the 19th Century"
1:50-2:10 Comments by Ellen H. Palanca (Ateneo de Manila University)
2:10-2:30 Q and A
2:30-2:50 Kishi Toshihiko (Kanagawa University), "Source Material Digitalization and Chinese Studies in Japan"
2:50-3:10 Lourdes T. David (Ateneo de Manila University), "Comparative Analysis of the Asian Collections of Two Philippine Libraries for Selected Countries in Asia"
3:10-3:30 Q and A
3:30-3:50 Summation/Conclusion
Please send your reply to acas@admu.edu.ph on or before February 25. In your reply, let us know if you are coming only to the morning session, only to the afternoon session, or to both sessions. Regardless of which session(s) you are attending, you are invited to lunch. Please let us know too, if you are accepting the lunch invitation. Thank you.
PAPER ABSTRACTS
Spain's Chinese Policy in the Early Modern Philippines
By Sugaya Nariko
Ehime University
The Spanish Crown supported the Roman Catholic Church, which was in turn, under the "patronato real de Indias," considered the source of legitimacy of Spanish colonial rule in the Indies. It was therefore in the Spanish Philippines that all the colonial residents were supposed to embrace the Catholic faith as a sign of submission to the Spanish Crown. The Chinese immigrants to the Spanish Philippines were no exceptions.
They had, however, never been strictly required to adopt the Christian faith for the nearly first two centuries until the mid-eighteenth century. Then in 1755, Governor Pedro Manuel de Arandía (1754-59) expelled all the non-Catholic Chinese residents from the Spanish colony. Since then to the early decades of the nineteenth century, the Spanish colonial government had more or less maintained the guidelines effected for the first time by Governor Arandía for the admittance of the Chinese immigrants; namely, that they had to embrace Catholicism.
This paper hopes to show that the Chinese in the Spanish Philippines had not always been the colony's "Other." This could particularly be said when practically all the Chinese immigrants embraced the Christian faith during the mid-eighteenth century to the early decades of the nineteenth century. Often times, the local people, indios or naturales as they were referred to, seemed readily to accept the Chinese in their localities. Taking advantage of their numerical preponderance over the Spaniards, the Chinese immigrants with the closeness to the local communities appeared to have exerted their influence on the indios not only through the various economic activities, but also through the shared "Catholic faith."
The Christian faith in the Spanish Philippines was crucial to the colonial people because it served as the determinant of whether or not one could be considered as the legitimate component of the Spanish colony. The boundaries between the two peoples; namely, "indios" and "Chinese" or "sangleyes," in those days were not so much clear-cut as we might suppose them to have been from the experiences of our day.
At any rate, being Christian, the Chinese immigrants steadily integrated into the local communities through their marriages to the local women. Their legitimate children were duly recognized by the Spanish authorities as Chinese mestizos, resulting to the rapid increase of the Chinese mestizos during the latter half of the eighteenth and early decades of the nineteenth centuries, a fact which should lay the foundation for their social rise in the following years.
A Comparative Perspective of the Overseas Chinese Societies in the Pacific Rim Regions after the 19th Century
By Chen Laixing
University of Hyogo
Overseas Chinese studies have become increasingly popular these days. Multi academic approaches have been adopted in this field. In consequence, diversity training is promoted between the scholars from different fields of study and different regions of concern. As a result, almost nothing can be discussed seriously, though.
We all know every region or country has its own specific characteristics surrounding ethnic Chinese issues. They are all different. However, even the most sensitive issue like identity tends to be discussed simply as a whole. Generalization is made mostly based upon the experience of a certain Southeast Asian countries as if it were common elsewhere.
Let me suggest talking more about the similarity between the Chinese communities of different places and then get further into the difference which is brought about by the inherent social and historical circumstances. Discussion on how much contribution overseas Chinese made to their homeland country seems to have been repeatedly centered by many scholars.
Firstly, I would like to focus on the network of overseas Chinese Chambers of Commerce as their commonly profitable social infrastructure. Overseas Chinese were basically linked together with the promoting policy by the Emperor Guangxu of setting up chambers of commerce in 1904, when the Qing dynasty first recognized the importance of commerce and the Chinese advantage of having Chinese merchants out side his Majesty's 'border'. To make clear why and how these Chinese Chambers have developed or stagnated respectively in different cities might provide us a good comparative perspective.
Secondly, undesirable influence exerted by the conflict between the CCP and the KMT is a common issue for most overseas Chinese communities after the WWII. Depending on the education and experience of 'Taiwanese' there and the state's diplomatic relation with either of Chinese Governments, the community's political map differs.
The target port cities in this paper I am going to compare are Hong Kong under British rule, Kobe of Japan from the Meiji Restoration to the post-World War II period and San Francisco. Singapore, Penang, Manila, Inchon, Shanghai, Guangzhou and some cities in the Dutch East Indies may be cited.
Reception and Change of the Concept of Right(s) in the Thought of Nishi Amane and Yu Kilchun
By Kim Bongjin
University of Kitakyushu
Reception is a process. And it entails hybridization of 'ours' and 'others'.' In the process of receiving foreign concepts or anything foreign, the foreign used to be hybridized with the native. Receiving the concept of 'modern Western' right(s), it was not alien to many intellectuals in East Asian countries. They had in 'tradition' their own various conceptions or ideas of right(s). By the way, the concept of right(s) contains ambiguity, even contradictory meanings such as 'rightness' and 'power.' Perceiving this matter, East Asian intellectuals translated it into various terms. However, problems of translation inevitably happen there.
The modern Western concept of right(s) or the idea of natural rights (and law) was introduced to the East Asian countries China, Japan, and Korea, through the mediation of Confucian thought, especially with the help of neo-Confucian concepts. For example, ziranquan (自然權; natural rights), tianfurenquan (天賦人權; rights endowed by Heaven)' or xingfa (性法)/ziranfa (自然法; natural law) could not be introduced without the neo-Confucian concepts of the 'Heavenly Principle of Nature, tianli ziran (天理自然)' or the idea of 'Nature as Principle /Reason, xing ze li (性卽理).' Here mediation means a way of reception which entails hybridization between 'ours' and 'others'.' In the process of receiving foreign concepts or ideas, the foreign concept usually were hybridized with native concepts.
In this paper, I will examine the mode of reception and the change of the concept of right(s) in the thought of Nishi Amane (1829-97) and will compare Nishi with Yu Kilchun (1856-1914). How did both receive the concept of the natural rights and law? How did the notion of right(s) change in both? In this process of change, both tackled the question how to coordinate the relationship between rights and power; between natural rights and law-bound rights (i.e., people's rights enacted by law). Before answering these questions, in the next section, I would like to discuss the problems of translation concerned with renderings of right(s). Lastly, I will analyze of the differences in legal thinking of Nishi and Yu.
Key words: right(s), reception, hybridization, problems of translation, Nature(性), Principle /Reason(理), power, ambiguity, contradiction, modern, tradition, West-centric universalism.
Source Material Digitalization and Chinese Studies in Japan
By Toshihiko Kishi
Kanagawa University
During the 1990s, when the World Wide Web was developed and the Internet became commercialized, attention was drawn to the possibilities of their
application to Chinese studies.
In Japan, particularly around 2000, epoch-making attempts were begun to convert bibliographic data, which had theretofore been disseminated through the print medium, into the digital medium. One of these attempts involved Chinese bibliographical studies. One more model tested during this time was "Scripta Sinica" at the Academia Sinica Computing Center in Taiwan, which today offers about 50 million characters of complete text related to Chinese history, the classics and literature. Complete text searching is different from the conventional bibliographic and subject index databases in that source materials themselves can be handled on a computer screen.
In contrast, Japan has gradually moved away from complete text database creation to collections of image facsimiles. The best example of this is the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR) which was opened in the National Archives during November 2001 and now makes available on its website source materials held by the Archives, the Foreign Ministry Diplomatic History Museum and the National Defense Research Institute Library. One more similar project is the National Diet Library's Modern Digital Library containing its uncopyrighted holdings from the Meiji and Taisho eras, offered free of charge.
The means to take such non-textual image data off the pages and put it into cyberspace was accomplished by the creation of the high resolution JPEG image compression format in 1994 and the development of all the digital cameras, scanners and monitors able bring it onto our desktops. And in the midst of a growing interest in regional studies, attempts as database creation in China research began from the 1990s on to reexamine methods for emphasizing personal names, historical eras and keywords, in order to focus on specific geographical areas crisscrossing with and expanding into the world at large.
Today researchers are not at all satisfied with databases, be they bibliographic, textual or image, that are already "precooked," preferring those that can be altered and orchestrated to their particular needs, as long as the data is reliable.
Zen Buddhism as Creative Ethics: An Analysis of Dogen's Buddha-Nature as an Ethical Ought
By Anton Luis C. Sevilla, M.A.
Ateneo de Manila University
Kim Bongjin's essay highlights the difference of how the concept of rights (kenri, 権利) is understood by Nishi Amane and Yu Kilchun. Human rights are often placed at the very foundation of not only political systems but ethical systems as a whole. But reading Kim's essay, one must ask the question: what is the fate of ethics in the absence of a strong notion of inherent human rights? If Japanese Confucianism has an underdeveloped notion of principle (ri, 理), a principle crucial for this notion of inherent rights, where then might a foundation for ethics be found? Guided by Kim's insightful questioning, this essay probes into a possibility of an ethics that is not founded on the notion of rights, a creative ethics devoid of conceptual universals. The author proposes that this creative ethics can be found in Zen Buddhism, with its foundations in Dogen's (道元) central notion of Buddha-nature (busshou, 仏性). In this paper, we shall explore 1) the meaning of creative ethics, 2) the features of Buddha-nature with respect to being, time, nothingness and impermanence, and 3) what it might mean to found an ethics on such a ground.
Comparative Analysis of the the Asian Collections of Two Libraries in the Metro Manila Area for Selected Countries
By Lourdes T. David
Ateneo de Manila University
The study determined the uniqueness, degree of overlap and strengths of the collections of the Asian Library, Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation and the Rizal Library, Ateneo de Manila University in several areas for selected countries in Asia. The study was carried out to assess the possibility of cooperative acquisitions between the two libraries.