The World of the Orient

The Activity of Jewish Social Organizations in Baku in the Early 20th Century

Shalala Baghirova — 2025-10-08

At the beginning of the 20^th century, Baku was a colonial city within the Russian Empire and was considered a significant centre not only in political and economic terms, but also in cultural and social aspects. During this period, the coexistence of diverse ethnic and religious communities within the city, their social and cultural engagement, and the establishment of public organizations played a crucial role in the development of their respective communities. Among these, the Jewish community stood out in particular. Jews actively participated in the political, economic, and cultural life of the time, contributing to both the advancement of their own community and society.

The paper examines the multifaceted activities of Jewish social organizations operating in Baku during the years 1906–1915. The selection of this time period is explained by the formation of social organizations in the Russian Empire. Basing on archival documents, the author examines the activities of such organizations as the Jewish Charity Society, the Baku branch of the Jewish Territorial Organization, the Talmud-Torah Society, the Jewish Literary and Musical Society, and the Society for the Spread of Literacy among Georgian Jews. The paper is aimed at assessing the impact of these organizations on the Jewish community in the social sphere.

Consequently, the organization and activities of the Jewish community in Baku not only highlight the role and place of Jews within the multicultural social fabric of Azerbaijan during this period, but also serve as a compelling example of the efforts made by national and religious minorities to preserve their identity and engage them in civic life under imperial conditions.

From the History of the Formation of Ukrainian-Chinese Scientific Relations (A Little-Knowed Visit of a Delegation of Chinese Scientists to the Academy of Sciences of the UkrSSR)

Hanna Indychenko — 2025-10-08

The study, based on little-known and partly unexplored archival documents, highlights the stay of a delegation of Chinese scientists at the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1953, a delegation of scientists from the People’s Republic of China, numbering 42 people, first visited the USSR and Ukraine, and for ten days they familiarized themselves with the experience of organizing and managing scientific work and the focus areas of activity of the Academy of Sciences of the UkrSSR – the superior scientific organization of Ukraine. It is characteristic that the delegation included scientists of various scientific knowledge spheres. During the visit to the Academy of Sciences of the UkrSSR, Chinese scientists gained an idea of the work of most Ukrainian academic research institutions, which was of great importance for the further development of scientific contacts between China and Ukraine, and also influenced the scientific and organizational processes in the Academy of Sciences of the People’s Republic of China, the development of new scientific areas in it, taking into account the experience gained in organizing scientific work in the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

The paper also highlights the achievements of the Ukrainian academic science as of 1953, in the context of the scientific interests of the members of the Chinese delegation. The archival documents demonstrate innovative developments of Ukrainian academic teams, which received world recognition at that time, testifying the strengthening of the authority of Ukrainian science abroad.

The establishment of Ukrainian-Chinese scientific ties in 1953 had a significant impact on the strengthening and development of these relations in the future, when specialized delegations of Chinese scientists began to visit the institutions of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, hence, joint scientific research was launched in specific areas of scientific knowledge.

The research methodology consists in the application of historical and archival, source-based, chronological methods, as well as methods of analytical and synthetic processing of documents and scientific expertise.

The scientific novelty of the work consists in the systematization, analysis, and introduction into wide scientific circulation of a complex of little-studied and partly unstudied archival sources, as well as scientific works on the history of the establishment of the Ukrainian-Chinese scientific relations, while the impetus for their further development was the event of 1953 – the first visit of the highest-level Chinese scientific delegation to the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.

French Colonial Exploitation in Annam: A Case Study of Nong-Son Coal Mine (1889–1927)

Luu Van Quyet — 2025-10-08

The authors of the paper study the colonial exploitation of Indochina in general and Annam in particular by the French with special reference to the Nong-Son coal mine (Quang-Nam province) from 1889 to 1927. The authors clarify the process of procurement of right to exploit the Nong-Son coal mine from the Chinese, the organization of management, exploration, and mining in Nong-Son by the French, and on this basis evaluate the results, analyze the core characteristics, clarify the advantages and limitations of the management organization and coal extraction in Nong-Son during the mentioned period. References used by the authors include administrative texts (reports, decrees, etc.) of the French protectorate government in Indochina and original materials of organizations or individuals who participated in management or worked in Nong-Son between 1889 and 1927. In addition, the authors also use historical materials published in French journals or newspapers at that time (Le Journal des débats politiques et littéraires, Le Génie civil, L’Écho des mines et de la métallurgie, L’Avenir du Tonkin, Bulletin économique de l’Indochine, Le Journal des finances, Bulletin de l’Office colonial, La Presse Coloniale Illustrée, L’Éveil économique de l’Indochine, La Dépêche Coloniale Illustrée, Le Temps, La Cote de la Bourse et de la banque, etc.) and research works related to the Nong-Son coal mine from the late 19^th century to the first half of the 20^th century. The paper contributes to “sketching” the picture of the Nong-Son coal mine in 1889–1927, thereby helping researchers and readers have a more objective and comprehensive view of the process of assessing the impact of colonial exploitation conducted by the French in Vietnam in modern times.

The Ottoman Empire in the Face of the Russian Threat: Military Operations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Reactions of Istanbul (Summer 1704)

Viacheslav Stanislavskyi — 2025-10-08

The paper analyses the reaction of the Ottoman Empire government to the challenges to its security resulting from the growing potential of the Russian state. The material is mainly based on the documents of Pyotr Tolstoy’s embassy, which are stored in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts and highlight one of the bright pages of international diplomatic and political activity in the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Since the diplomatic tension arose due to the events that took place on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in connection with the Great Northern War, the author of the paper examines the political situation in this state with an emphasis on the contacts of its representatives with the government officials of the Crimean Khanate and Turkey. At the same time, the main milestones of the political confrontation between Augustus II the Strong and Stanislaw I Leszczynski, the actions of Russian troops and the troops of Ivan Mazepa, and the multi-level political expectations of Peter I are mentioned in the paper. Next, the content is presented and materials from the reports of the Russian Embassy in Turkey are analyzed in chronological order. They gave the possibility to trace the initiative of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to seek support in Crimea and Turkey, the response of Bakhchisarai to this initiative, the joint appeal of representatives of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Khanate to the upper strata of the Empire, and influential figures in Turkey who supported this appeal. The Augustus II’s attempts to prove the legality of his actions to the Turks, which were contrary to the mentioned measures, are also described herein. An important part of the paper is the information about the negotiations between the Moscow ambassador and a representative of the Porte, which shows the official positions of the Russian and Turkish governments. Other materials, mostly not yet introduced into scientific use, are related to the orders of the Empire’s leaders, aimed at its protection from external threats. When analyzing the documents contained in the reports of the Russian embassy in Turkey, attention is focused on Moscow’s strategic plans presented therein, which provided for large-scale expansion in both the western and southern directions. These materials noted significant interest in the issue of power over Kamianets-Podilskyi. An assumption is made as to why this question particularly worried the leadership of the Ottoman Empire. At the end of the paper, the author analyzes the decisions of the Turkish government as a response to the appeal from Crimea and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Historiographical Overview of the Development of Digital Humanities in Sinology (1984–2024)

Victor Kiktenko — 2025-10-09

The study presents a comprehensive historiographical analysis of the formation and development of digital humanities within Sinology over the course of forty years, from 1984 to 2024. The work traces the evolution of the scientific sphere – from the earliest experiments in computational processing of Chinese texts to the establishment of a modern digital infrastructure for complex Sinological research. The methodological foundation is a chronological analysis combined with a systematic classification of key projects, initiatives, and technological solutions. More than thirty reference projects and initiatives have been examined, including encoding standards (GB 2312, Big5, Unicode), technological platforms (TEI, XML), and large-scale digital repositories. Particular emphasis is made on the emergence of digital Sinology as an autonomous academic discipline. It is demonstrated that this focus area has developed along three main trajectories: technological (the standardization of Chinese character encoding through Unicode, the implementation of XML and TEI standards for text markup); methodological (the development of principles for structured text encoding, the creation of relational databases for biographical and textual information); and institutional (the establishment of international scholarly networks and research centers). Eight foundational principles of digital Sinology are outlined: encoding standardization, structural markup, relational databases, international cooperation, open access, metadata preservation, scalability, and format compatibility. It is shown that these principles continue to define the current development of this scientific sphere. The study highlights the successful integration of digital technologies into Sinological research, which has resulted in the establishment of a robust technological foundation for future academic projects. The geographical scope – Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States – illustrates the international character of the emergence of digital Sinology. The contributions of leading institutions are systematized, including Academia Sinica, the Ministry of Culture of the PRC, the Harvard-Yenching Institute, the National Library of China, and international technological consortia. The originality of this research consists in its first holistic review of the forty-year development of the scientific sphere, detailing key stages, systematizing projects, and formulating the fundamental principles that have shaped the modern digital infrastructure of Sinological studies. The practical significance of the results consists in the potential for their application in strategic planning of future digital initiatives in the scholarly study of China.

The Poetics of Women’s Scars in the Prose of Сan Xue

Oksana Halchuk — 2025-10-09

The purpose of the paper is to define the artistic features of Can Xue’s works that depict female existence as a traumatic experience. Understanding the semantic models of female existence and their artistic representation is relevant, as it enables the exploration of the writer’s unique approach to Chinese women’s discourse and helps outline the key issues characteristic of contemporary women’s literature. We identify Can Xue’s works as an example of women’s writing, the writer explores women’s place and role in contemporary society, debates the biological determination of women’s social unfulfillment, and reinterprets the traditionally negative male perception of a “woman as the Other” into an affirmative one – a search for own identity in a feminine interpretation, etc. Therefore, among the complex scientific methods and approaches applied in the study, the feminist approach and the narrative construction of trauma as one of the key aspects of trauma studies are prioritized.

Can Xue’s flash fiction is examined through the framework of artistic models of female existence as a set of various interpretations, modifications, and transformations of women’s prose themes in the author’s stylistic vision. The differentiation criteria for the typology are based on the most common aspects of female existence interpretation in humanities studies: sociological (“woman in wedlock” and “woman as a mother”), psychological (“woman as the Other”), and cultural (“woman in the world of a male artist”).

Can Xue’s perception of female experience as trauma, resulting from a collision with a world structured by patriarchal norms, is evident in her collection Scars, which carries a highly symbolic title. In her reflections on the absence of a mother as the loss of a “link” in the generational “chain”, the writer highlights women’s social alienation, employing a unique chronotype where reality and the surreal merge, while also emphasizing themes of corporeality (A Woman with Legs Like a Fishing Net (双脚像一团鱼网的女人)). The realization that her marriage is a trap deeply scars the protagonist’s psyche, as it is structured around patriarchal notions of the submissive role of a “woman who serves” (Anonymous (匿名者)). Can Xue delve into the psychology of a heroine who, in an attempt to escape the “scar” of loneliness, ultimately renounces her own identity (The Usurer (索债者)). In this psychoanalytical exploration, the concept of female submission is taken to an absurd extreme through the phantasmagorical image of a cat, a projection of the “male abuser”.

Thus, Can Xue’s dominant interpretation of female existence is that of a traumatic experience, as her protagonists struggle to establish or rediscover their identity.

Discovery of the Akkerman Fortress Sundial

Andrii Krasnozhon — 2025-10-09

On one of Turkish towers of the outer front of Akkerman Fortress a vertical sundial with a southeast orientation was installed in the last quarter of the 15^th century. This is one of the earliest examples of Islamic sundials, which survived in the territory of the former Ottoman Empire. The tower sundial performed a public function and regulated the daily religious life of the city. It was installed and adjusted in December. The tower was erected specifically for the subsequent placement of this device on its façade, that is why the Ottomans called it the “Clock tower”. The Akkerman sundial had two gnomons to indicate the time of the beginning of two afternoon prayers – the noon Zuhr and the evening Asr. The designer of the device was interested in fixing the time for prayers (religious time) according to the canonical recommendations of the hadiths and the Hanafi mazhab. It was impossible to determine the beginning of the Asr prayer in the period from September 3 to April 8 due to the south-east orientation of the sundial. However, throughout the year it was possible to fix the time of the noon prayer, and orient oneself in the days of the equinoxes and solstices. In 1796, the public sundial of Akkerman was damaged. Another slab was installed on the tower over the marble cadran with dismantled gnomons, there was the tugra of Sultan Selim III on it, but it was also removed from the façade in the first quarter of the 19^th century.

The Geopolitical Role of Arabian Peninsula Monarchies in the 21st Century: Challenges and Prospects for Ukraine

Olena Koppel — 2025-10-09

It is argued that in the Middle Eastern region, the specifics of the manifestation of global trends are reflected in the new geopolitical role of the Arabian Peninsula monarchies at its main levels of implementation - within the Persian Gulf, the Arab and Islamic worlds, and globally. The place of the Arabian Peninsula monarchies in contemporary world politics is defined, and an assessment is given of the challenges and opportunities for Ukraine in cooperating with them.

The application of a systemic approach enabled the authors to identify and describe the main stages of the transformation of the geopolitical role of the subregional countries in international relations, based on an analysis of their historical development and political evolution within the frameworks of the Ancient Middle Eastern system, the Arab Caliphate system, the Vienna system, the Versailles-Washington system, the Yalta-Potsdam system, and the modern international system. It is pointed out that in the 21^st century, the center of economic and political gravity of the Arab world has shifted towards the Arabian Peninsula. The central role of the Arabian monarchies in the new configuration of geopolitical centers in the Arab world and the broader Middle Eastern region is becoming one of the main regional trends. These are new types of power centers that, due to technological breakthroughs, act as financial-investment, trade, transport-infrastructure, and information-telecommunication hubs not only at the regional but also at the global level.

The geopolitical specificity of the Arabian monarchies is defined and a comparative analysis is provided. The key vectors of the foreign policy of the monarchies are determined in the context of global and regional changes. The current state of Ukraine’s relations with the Arabian monarchies is analyzed, as well as the political, economic, and security challenges for Ukraine in interacting with them, and the potential opportunities for expanding cooperation are summarized.

The Taliban 2.0 Regime and Challenges to the State-Making in Contemporary Afghanistan

Ahmad Murid Kohy — 2025-10-09

Political instability still continues in Afghanistan and the Taliban movement, which had a failed experience in state-building between 1996 to 2001, is in power once again. The current regime after four years since seizing the power has gained neither domestic legitimacy nor international recognition. They have yet to succeed in bringing about a convergence between the society and the state, and thus their regime. This study examines the challenges to the state-making in Afghanistan under the current Taliban regime. It argues that the Taliban’s top-down approach to state-making aims at preservation of their regime, predominated by Pashtuns, and the monopolization and implementation, often by force, of sharia and while there is no issue in general in the ruling of a country by a group of elected people from any ethnic group, the ethnic factor has been so prominent in politics in Afghanistan, where no ethnic community is in majority. The contemporary state-making challenges in Afghanistan are influenced by historical events in the past few decades, too. One should not forget the international aspect of state-making in Afghanistan. The relationship between the society and the Taliban, the regime’s policy in providing security, the political and armed opposition groups, policies of regional and international powers are discussed in this paper to prove the argument. The paper suggests that the Taliban should consider the public opinion while making and implementing policies to eliminate the gap between the regime and society and get domestic legitimacy and international recognition. For this purpose, efforts are needed at both national and international levels.

Immanuel Kant Lesson on China: Enlightenment Geography, Orientalism, Cultural Distance, and a Porcelain Tower

Ivo Carneiro de Sousa — 2025-10-09

This paper thoroughly investigates all references to China and the Chinese in Immanuel Kant’s extensive body of work, as well as in the numerous manuscript notes from his university lectures over 41 years at the University of Königsberg, known as the Albertinum. This span of academic service lasted from the winter semester of 1755–1756 until his final lecture on July 23, 1796. The analysis reveals that, aside from a few minor titles, Kant exhibited little interest in studying Chinese civilization, let alone traditional Chinese philosophy in his major critical works. Most references to China appear in the various manuscript versions of his lectures, typically as brief examples rather than meaningful conceptualizations of China’s cultural and philosophical legacies. In some instances, these examples occur within Orientalist reflections, where Chinese cases are mingled with Indian examples, reflecting the geographical and cultural perceptions of the Orient that were still prevalent in the 18^th century. In other cases, references to Chinese examples emphasize extreme exoticism, cultural backwardness, racialization and ethnocentrism, or social, intellectual, and scientific stagnation. This perspective contributed to a prevailing view among 19th-century European intellectuals that while China had once been a brilliant civilization, it had subsequently stagnated and was incapable of progress.

Notably, Kant taught a course on Physical Geography for more than forty years, beginning in the summer semester of 1756 during his second term as a lecturer at the university. Apart from his Logic classes, which he taught 56 times, and his Metaphysics lectures, delivered 53 times consecutively, the Physical Geography course was the third subject he significantly engaged with, yielding 49-semester lectures until his retirement in mid-July 1796. Currently, 32 known manuscripts of students’ notes reflect the academic curiosity surrounding this field, which in the 18^th century was far more cosmopolitan and expansive than today’s academic Geography. Due to declining health, Kant sought to promote an authorized edition of his Physical Geography teachings with the help of his friend, Friedrich Theodor Rink (1770–1811). Kant provided Rink with a manuscript intended as a “dictation text” from his early teachings, created before 1760 but not fully updated. Consequently, Rink’s edition incorporated his updates, notes, and significant alterations. It also drew from other manuscript lecture notes from Kant’s classes in the 1770s, including portions of the original dictation text provided to the young aristocrat Friedrich von Holstein-Beck, who had paid for private lessons in 1772/73. The final product was published in 1802 in Königsberg under the title Immanuel Kant’s Physical Geography, edited at the author’s request from his manuscript and partly revised by Dr. Friedrich Theodor Rink (“Immanuel Kant’s Physische Geographie auf verlangen des Verfassers aus seiner Handschrift herausgegeben und zum Teil bearbeitet von Dr. Friedrich Theodor Rink”). The section presenting Kant’s lecture on China (pp. 129–140) is the third and final part of the second volume of the 1802 edition, titled “Summary Consideration of the Most Important Peculiarities of Nature in All Countries in Geographical Order”. This text closely aligns, often verbatim, with various available handwritten manuscript notes, indicating a consistent presentation of Kant’s recurring class on China. These teachings mark the beginning of the final section of this book, commencing with Asia as the “first continent”, followed by explorations of Africa, Europe, and America. In concrete terms, the lesson on China comprises just over 2,000 words in the original German printed edition. Therefore, if read aloud or dictated at a moderate pace, it would likely take approximately 20 to 30 minutes, suggesting that it served as the opening segment of Kant’s typical two-hour Physical Geography class, generally held every Wednesday and Saturday from 8:00 to 10:00 AM.

This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of Kant’s lecture on China, articulating a distinct cultural distance concept. It reveals Kant’s lack of engagement with Chinese civilization and philosophy, including Confucian thought, which Jesuit writings had popularized throughout 17th-century intellectual Europe. These writings had garnered favorable impressions from leading German philosophers such as Leibniz and Christian Wolff. In stark contrast, Kant exhibited no correspondence with or inclination toward the Jesuit accommodationist missionary framework that praised the Chinese imperial authority and the philosophies attributed to Confucius. In his lecture on China, Kant did not cite any Jesuit texts, prompting this study to investigate the primary sources that influenced Kant’s teachings rigorously. In particular, the examination draws on the notable work of German theologian Paul Ludolfo Berckenmeyer (1667–1732), titled Curiöse Beschreibung, Der außerleßnesten Merkwürdigkeiten, So in denen dreven Welt-Theilen Asia, Africa und America zu finden (“Curious Description of the Most Extraordinary Oddities to Be Found in the Three Parts of the World: Asia, Africa, and America”), published in Augsburg in 1721. Kant’s examples and lessons regarding China ultimately illustrate that between 1750 and 1770, when the Society of Jesus was disbanded by the Holy See and expelled from various European nations, a significant intellectual shift concerning Chinese civilization and society was already underway in Europe. Fueled by new geographical texts and travel narratives, there developed a tendency to perceive China with a fresh skepticism, highlighting its considerable cultural distance from European intellectual traditions and philosophy. Kant emerges as a pivotal figure symbolizing this turn.

The Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta / Translation from Pali, Preambular Part and Commentaries by M. Barkovskyi

Mykyta Barkovskyi — 2025-10-09

The reader is offered a Ukrainian translation of the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta, one of the most significant texts in the early Buddhist canon. This sutta, traditionally regarded as the first discourse delivered by the Buddha after his enlightenment, marks the foundation of his teaching.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this text for the study of the origins of Buddhist thought and practice. The Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta sets forth the fundamental structure of Buddhist doctrine, introducing the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, which became the basis of all Buddhist traditions. Leading Buddhist scholars and commentators (both in ancient times, such as Buddhaghosa, and in modern academia) have analyzed, interpreted, and debated the textual variations and doctrinal implications of this sutta.

The publication seeks to revive and advance Ukrainian academic engagement with early Buddhist texts, an intellectual tradition disrupted during the Soviet era, by providing the first complete translation of the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta into Ukrainian.

By re-examining this seminal Buddhist text through a modern scholarly lens, we aim to deepen its accessibility to Ukrainian readers while contributing to the global study of Buddhist philosophy, textual transmission, and historical continuity.

Nan Gongbo. Li Qingzhao. Chapters VІІ–VIІІ / Translation from Chinese, Introductory Article and Commentaries by H. Dashchenko

Hanna Dashchenko — 2025-10-09

This publication presents the Ukrainian translation of chapters VIІ–VІІІ (episodes 82–101) of the historical novel “Li Qingzhao” (“李清照”) written by the Hong Kong writer Nan Gongbo (南宮搏, 1924–1983). These episodes were published from July 22 to August 11, 1960 in Taiwan in the Central Daily News (中央日報). The events depicted in this part of the novel took place between 1126 and 1129. Nan Gongbo describes the Jurchen conquest of north China and the escape of main heroes to the south where the Song imperial court moved its capital.

In these chapters, the author uses two ci by Li Qingzhao and a shi by Du Mu as well as certain lines from three poems written during the Warring States period and Tang dynasty.

The correspondence of historical events to their representation in the novel is examined in the introductory article. The discussion among Chinese researchers in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries regarding Zhao Mingcheng’s concubines is highlighted. The notes provide explanations of terms and realities as well as brief information about historical characters mentioned in the text.

Charaka samhita. Part I, Chapter 16 / Translation from Sanskrit, Preambular Part and Commentaries by D. Burba

Dmytro Burba — 2025-10-09

The publication presents the first Ukrainian translation of the sixteenth chapter of the first part of the fundamental Sanskrit treatise on Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine) Charaka Samhita. (For previous chapters, see issues of The World of the Orient for 2017 and last year issues No. 2–4). In the opinion of contemporary researchers, the text was written in the 1^st century AD. Its translation is of great importance for acquaintance of the Ukrainian readers because of not only medical conceptions and lifestyle of Ancient India but also respective religious and philosophical doctrines.

Chapter 16 describes a “ready to treat” physician. Не is considered to be a “wise, learned and action-oriented” specialist but not a pretentious and ignorant healer (vaidya-mānin). When a patient undergoes cleansing procedures (which is one of the main methods of treatment in Ayurveda) under the guidance of a real physician he receives “bodily happiness” (i.e. health) but nothing good can be expected from visiting an “unwise” healer.

The chapter gives signs of correctly performed treatment procedures as well as symptoms of those that turned out to be insufficient or excessive. The remedies for eliminating the complications and for the patient’s rehabilitation are briefly mentioned. The indications for cleansing therapy designed to remove an excess of a certain doṣa (one of the three bodily humors) are described and positive effects of this treatment are listed.

The philosophical reflections on the naturalness of human death and the essence of physician’s business are quite interesting. Although a physician cannot make a patient immortal, he directly gives а person health and longevity and indirectly bestows (for the lifetime and the afterlife existence) dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), and kāma (satisfaction of desires).