Sulla Via del Catai - Nr. 32, Giugno 2025 |
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Nr. 32, Giugno 2025
CINA e GRECIA Ecumenismi antichi allo specchio: il riflesso dell'Altro a cura di Francesca FARIELLO e Maurizio PAOLILLO
Pagine: 160 Illustrazioni: 80 ISSN 1970-344-9 Prezzo: euro 20,00 Prezzo: Web € 15,00 soci € 10,00
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Description
CINA e GRECIA Ecumenismi antichi allo specchio: il riflesso dell'Altro Sfoglia le prime pagine INDEX INTRODUZIONE Forewords pag. 7 MAIR, Victor H. – University of Pennsylvania FARIELLO Francesca, PAOLILLO Maurizio - Università degli Studi di NAPOLI, L'Orientale CINA E GRECIA: FRAMMENTI DI UNO SPECCHIO PER SCRUTARE IL RIFLESSO DELL’ALTRO. pag. 9 China and Greece: Fragments of a Mirror to Scan the Reflection of the Other Abstract: The very definition of Gandharan art is currently the subject of discussions that involve not only the phenomenon itself but also the entire theoretical framework of our interpretive models. The Buddhist art of Gandhāra, flourishing in the early centuries of the common era in an area spanning from northern Pakistan to eastern Afghanistan, is characterized by the strong Hellenistic influence on much of its production. But what lies within this apparent subjection to imported models? To understand the fluid, dynamic, and yet rigorous world of iconographic models, their creation and re-creation, we must question all the actors involved, resorting also to archaeology and the complex reconstructions it is capable of offering us today of cultures in contact with each other, each with its own physiognomy and the ground which, in an original way, predisposes each to encounter with the others. Read ROSSI, Massimo – Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche MAPPE TRA OCCIDENTE E ORIENTE: TRADIZIONI E TRASMISSIONE DI CONOSCENZE pag. 21 Maps between West and East: Traditions and the Transmission of Knowledge Abstract: Commercial and cultural contacts between West and East have been visible in cartographic representations since ancient times. The Ptolemaic Geographia reports the echo of remote places in the “Serica Regio”, the Tabula peutingeriana places the “Sera Maior” in the Far East and locates the places crossed by Alexander the Great, as do the manuscript and the mapamundi of the Arab geographer al–Idrīsī created in 1154 for the Norman king Roger II. In the same period, in China, during the Song dynasty, very accurate geographical stelae were drawn up to give shape to a unified imperial idea and to instruct students with place names derived from the Yugong of the 5th century BC. The Ptolemaic or Chinese conceptions of a spherical or flat earth have not substantially influenced the reciprocal and analogous ways of culturally and geographically self–referencing. The Korean Kangnido, through the complex silk roads, returns to the West the echo of its geographical forms almost simultaneously with the Florentine rediscovery of Ptolemy. The analysis of some of the most important cartographic monumenta suggests a comparison between different perceptions of the world developed respectively in the Far East and the Far West. Read GALLO, Luigi - Università degli Studi di NAPOLI, L'Orientale I SERES E IL MITO DEL BUON SELVAGGIO pag. 45 The Seres and the Myth of the Noble Savage Abstract: The idealisation of the exotic barbarian recurs frequently in Greek and Roman ethnography. Such a phenomenon can probably also be seen in the case of the Seres, the mysterious silk people mentioned in various sources from the 1st century B.C. onwards. In these accounts, the Seres are portrayed as a mild and just people, distinguished by their remarkable longevity. Such descriptions reveal clear elements of idealization. Read FARIELLO, Francesca - Università degli Studi di NAPOLI, L'Orientale CHARAX ΧΆΡΑΞ: L’ULTIMA ALESSANDRIA NELLE FONTI GRECO–ROMANE E CINESI pag. 57 Charax χάραξ: The Last Alexandria in Greco-Roman and Chinese Sources Abstract: In Lower Mesopotamia, where the Eulaios River meets the Tigris at the innermost point of the Persian Gulf, Alexander the Great founded his “last” Alexandria (Pl. Nat. Hist. VI, 31, 138) in 324 BCE. The ktisis of the Macedonian ruler had the purpose of reconfirming the commercial importance that this area, coinciding with ancient Mesene, had held since antiquity: Alexandria on the Tigris would in fact have played an important role in the cultural, economic and commercial exchanges from the East to Mesopotamia connecting China with the Mediterranean World. This significance endured well beyond Alexander’s death, with the city being refounded many times under different names. Although the city was periodically destroyed by river flooding, and a series of shifts in power took place on the local political scene, Alexandria on the Tigris was refounded first as Antioch and then as Charax Spasinou Χάραξ Σπασίνου, during the Seleucid and later Parthian reigns remained a key international trade hub, and enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy: it was mentioned by Isidore of Charax as one of the stations of the Parthian trade routes in his Parthian Stations (Σταθμοί Παρθικοί), a work compiled on behalf of the Roman Empire. The toponym also appears in some ancient Chinese sources, in connection with the westward mission of Gan Ying 甘英 (97 CE), sent by General Ban Chao 班超 in search of contact with Da Qin 大秦 (the Roman Empire): in Chinese dynastic histories, the area of Charax is referred to as Tiaozhi 條枝. Read PAOLILLO, Maurizio - Università degli Studi di NAPOLI, L'Orientale LA FENICE DEL MONDO MEDITERRANEO E IL FENGHUANG. UNA RICONSIDERAZIONE IN CHIAVE COMPARATISTICA pag. 95 The Phoenix of the Mediterranean World and the Fenghuang: A Comparative Reconsideration Abstract: The mythical bird known in ancient China as feng 鳳 or fenghuang 鳳凰 is a ubiquitous symbolic animal in Chinese culture. Its association with the phoenix of the Greco–Roman world recurs frequently in comparative studies on religious symbolism, usually without giving rise to particular insights. The contribution includes in the first part a brief review of the main sources on the phoenix in classical Greece, as well as an exposition of the symbolism of the benu bird in dynastic Egypt, a sacred animal considered to be one of the original sources of Herodotus’ description of the phoenix. In the second part, the focus was placed on Chinese texts (pre–imperial and early imperial sources), in order to show how the functional symbolic elements in common between the phoenix of the Greek and Mediterranean worlds and the Chinese feng/fenghuang are more numerous and punctual than previously stressed.. Read YANG Juping – Nankai University HELLENISTIC RELICS IN CHINA: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE pag. 119 Reliquie ellenistiche in Cina: una rassegna della letteratura Abstract: IT Le conquiste orientali di Alessandro Magno non solo crearono un nuovo mondo ellenistico e una nuova civiltà, ma stabilirono anche la fondazione della Via della Seta dalla Cina al Mediterraneo. Fu attraverso questa rete di vie di comunicazione che copriva quasi tutto l’ex mondo ellenistico che l’eredità ellenistica si diffuse in Cina attraverso vari mezzi e gradualmente si adattò alla tradizione culturale cinese. Questo fenomeno può essere concretamente individuato soprattutto nelle reliquie e nei manufatti storici scoperti nella Cina attuale, come sculture e dipinti murali buddisti e altri reperti che sono palesemente legati all’eredità ellenistica. L’articolo intende fornire una panoramica degli studi su tali aspetti.. EN Alexander the Great's eastern conquests not only created a new Hellenistic world and a new civilization, but also laid the foundation for the Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean. It was through this network of communication routes, which covered nearly the entire former Hellenistic world, that the Hellenistic legacy spread to China through various means and gradually adapted to Chinese cultural tradition. This phenomenon can be clearly seen in the historical relics and artifacts discovered in present-day China, such as Buddhist sculptures and murals and other finds clearly linked to the Hellenistic legacy. This article aims to provide an overview of the studies on these aspects. Read CHRISTOPOULOS, Lucas - Independent Researcher Tokio YUREN – 羽人. FROM BIRD–MAN TO EROS pag. 137 Yuren – L’uomo piumato. Dall’uomo-uccello a Eros Abstract: IT Le prime rappresentazioni dello Yuren, l”uomo piumato”, dalla fine della dinastia Shang furono sostituite da una figura alata più simile a un essere umano durante l'epoca Qin–Han. Questa divinità aveva il ruolo di portare le anime nel mondo degli immortali. Essendo un Immortale celeste, lo Yuren aveva al contempo sia un ruolo ctonio di lotta contro le bestie che di resurrezione, possedendo il segreto della felicità e dell'immortalità. La sua rappresentazione durante la dinastia Han fu ispirata dall'iconografia e dal ruolo che l'Eros alato aveva nel mondo ellenizzato dell'Asia centrale e centro–orientale. L'associazione dell'uomo piumato con i misteri e la rinascita divenne strettamente legata alle “regioni occidentali”: la sua rappresentazione da parte dei cinesi lo mostrava soprattutto come un “occidentale”. L'arrivo di artisti e acrobati greci (Lixuan shanhuan), registrato durante la dinastia Han, sembra essere servito da modello per la nuova rappresentazione dello Yuren. Tali raffigurazioni non erano solo un'associazione superficiale e visiva con il mondo degli immortali, ma si accompagnavano ai misteri e al consumo di funghi allucinogeni come accadeva nei misteri greci. In questo articolo si è effettuata un'analisi iconografica e storica al fine di comprendere il ruolo e la funzione dell'uomo piumato come essere immortale, simile a Eros, e la sua associazione con gli acrobati greci nelle sue numerose raffigurazioni durante la dinastia Han. EN The earliest depictions of Yuren, the "feathered man," from the late Shang dynasty were replaced by a more human-like winged figure during the Qin–Han period. This deity was responsible for carrying souls to the world of the immortals. As a celestial Immortal, Yuren simultaneously had a chthonic role in fighting beasts and in resurrection, possessing the secret of happiness and immortality. His depiction during the Han dynasty was inspired by the iconography and role of winged Eros in the Hellenized world of Central and Central-Eastern Asia. The association of the feathered man with mysteries and rebirth became closely linked to the "Western regions": his depiction by the Chinese showed him primarily as a "Westerner." The arrival of Greek artists and acrobats (Lixuan shanhuan), recorded during the Han dynasty, seems to have served as a model for the new depiction of Yuren. These depictions were not merely a superficial and visual association with the world of the immortals, but were also associated with mysteries and the consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms, as was the case in the Greek mysteries. This article conducts an iconographic and historical analysis to understand the role and function of the Feathered Man as an immortal being, similar to Eros, and his association with Greek acrobats in his numerous depictions during the Han Dynasty. Read |
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