• Acta Via Serica
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.55-70
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• 2023

Carpets are a useful tool for highlighting the cultural uniqueness of a region because their characteristic usage often reveals distinctive natural features of the place or the unique cultural identity of a group. Investigating anecdotes and associated patterns found in three medieval trans-Eurasian travelogues, this paper focuses on observations made by the Chinese Buddhist monk, Faxian, the Sunni pilgrim and scholar, Ibn Battuta, and Marco Polo, the Venetian merchant examining their thoughts, observations, and perspectives on carpet-related customs in their experienced contexts. In particular, this manuscript touches on the controversies, impacts, and narratives associated with carpet practices observed in each travel writer's context respectively, concluding that each traveler shows several things in common rather than showing different patterns depending on the characteristics of their religion. Overall, they observed the uses of carpets according to their jobs and travel purposes and appropriately detailed related episodes if the intended purpose and context matched the uses.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.71-86
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• 2023

This article aims to reveal the history of traditional Mongolian carpeting techniques and their development and application based on archeological findings as well as related research from field researchers. Furthermore, the article highlights some of the ancient traditions in modern carpet decorative motifs and pattern designs. The paper focuses on traditional carpeting techniques, decoration motifs, pattern designs, and representations of embroidered felt carpets from Xiongnu Dynasty (209 BCE - 48 CE) elite burials. Main themes for this research are: 1. Traditional materials and techniques for making Xiongnu carpets. 2. Xiongnu embroidered felt carpet pattern designs, decoration motifs, and representations. 3. The development of modern Mongolian carpet decoration motifs and pattern designs. This research considers archeological evidence and socio-cultural factors together to hypothesize that traditional Xiongnu embroidered felt carpet techniques, main featured motifs, and pattern designs are widely used in modern Mongolian carpet design and have a significant influence on its development.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.53-78
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• 2023

The paper presents some new results illustrating some developments related to the concept of the Silk Road and subsequent methodological reflections. New laboratory results of scientific analyses of plants, minerals, and human remains in combination with more conventional methods of research contribute to a better understanding of the multidirectionality of exchanges in Pre- and Protohistory. Unsuspected long-distance transfers of items, especially of metals (tin) and biological materials (plants, pathogens, etc.) are discovered. Adding ancient DNA and petroglyphs to the vexed question of the Indo-European migrations across Eurasia complexifies the familiar linguistic, historical, and archaeological research landscape. Recent excavations show the impact of the adoption of artistic elements adapted from the Achaemenid arts, far in the steppe world, and up to China. Multidirectional (including North-South lanes) and multidisciplinary approaches leave space and hope for more rigorous scientific modelizations for the archaeology of Eurasia and the Silk Road.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.95-124
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• 2023

Over the past 30 years, intense archaeological research has revealed a great increase in regional and transregional object mobility across the South China Sea during its Iron Age (500 BCE to 500 CE). Some objects had moved from a long distance: intaglios, seals, fine ceramic, glass containers, and gold coins of Mediterranean origin; and large bronzes, mirrors, and lacquerware connected to central East Asia. This evidence has given rise to larger-scale explanations, among which the most prominent has been the growth of (maritime) Silk Road trade. Scholars are divided as to whether the Silk Road is a suitable concept, with some emphasizing its orientalist overtones and colonial baggage and others finding it useful for the investigation of interregional networks trading in silk and other commodities. This paper explores how productive the Silk Road concept or metaphor really is for understanding transregional connectivity and social change in Iron Age Southeast Asia.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.757-764
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• 2007

Marbling of cattle meat is dependent on the coordinated expression of multiple genes. Cattle dramatically increase their intramuscular fat content in the longissimus dorsi muscle between 12 and 27 months of age. We used the annealing control primer (ACP)-differential display RT-PCR method to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that may participate in the development of intramuscular fat between early (12 months old) and late fattening stages (27 months old). Using 20 arbitrary ACP primers, we identified and sequenced 14 DEGs. BLAST searches revealed that expression of the MDH, PI4-K, ferritin, ICER, NID-2, WDNMI, telethonin, filamin, and desmin (DES) genes increased while that of GAPD, COP VII, ACTA1, CamK II, and nebulin decreased during the late fattening stage. The results of functional categorization using the Gene Ontology database for 14 known genes indicated that MDH, GAPD, and COP VII are involved in metabolic pathways such as glycolysis and the TCA cycle, whereas telethonin, filamin, nebulin, desmin, and ACTA1 contribute to the muscle contractile apparatus, and PI4-K, CamK II, and ICER have roles in signal transduction pathways regulated by growth factor or hormones. The final three genes, NID-2, WDNMI, and ferritin, are involved in iron transport and extracellular protein inhibition. The expression patterns were confirmed for seven genes (MDH, PI4-K, ferritin, ICER, nebulin, WDNMI, and telethonin) using real-time PCR. We found that the novel transcription repressor ICER gene was highly expressed in the late fattening stage and during bovine preadipocyte differentiation. This information may be helpful in selecting candidate genes that participate in intramuscular fat development in cattle.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.145-166
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• 2023

This study aims to analyze the research trends of English-language journals in Korean studies published in Korea. Data were collected from four English journals in Korean studies indexed in A&HCI and SCOPUS. A total of 1,840 were selected, including 768 articles of the Korea Journal, 466 articles of The Review of Korean Studies, 285 articles of the Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, and 321 articles of the Acta Koreana, in connection with content analysis, author analysis, author keyword frequency analysis, and topic modeling. In results, the domain research of Korean studies is Humanities, followed by Social Science, and Arts and Kinesiology. These three sectors have grown significantly in publishing numbers since 2000. The subject period of the study is in the order of the modern period, late Joseon, and Japanese colonial period. Authors from domestic affiliations made up 73.34% of the total, but the proportion of authors belonging to foreign institutions continued to increase. As for author keywords, 'Korea'(41), 'Buddhism'(20), 'Koreanwar'(18), and 'Joseon'(18) were derived as top keywords. In topic modeling, six topics were identified; 'Korean culture, cultural transmission,' 'Korean modern political history,' 'Korean social democratization process,' 'Japanese colonial period,' 'Korean religious philosophy,' and 'Korean ancient history.' Through this study, it was possible to identify the interests in and research areas of the recent international academic community of Korean studies.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.29-54
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• 2023

This study aimed to analyze the research trends of journal articles published by medical schools representing Korean modern. A total of 682 were selected from two journals published by Medical College in Keijo and Keijo Imperial University Medical Faculty. In results, the affiliations of authors who participated in Acta Medicinalia in Keijo included various schools and hospitals, and the authors' major was found to be similar in basic medicine and clinical medicine. In The Keijo Journal of Medicine, only school-affiliated authors participated, and 96.33% of the authors were majors in basic medicine. Co-occurrence network analysis was conducted on MeSH terms from the title of the article using MeSH on Demand, and the keyword that derived in both journals was 'erythrocytes', which analyzed the condition of red blood cells according to organs and diseases. In frequency analysis, a common area of research in both journals was the study focusing on blood and blood cells, and the study of anemia and tuberculosis, which were prevalent diseases at the time. As for comparing each journal, Acta Medicinalia in Keijo has focused on inflammatory diseases and clinical pathological studies in humans, and The Keijo Journal of Medicine has focused on anatomical studies on animals and pharmacological studies on medicines. Through this study, it was possible to identify the research topics and major keywords in two medical schools with different founding goals.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.33-50
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• 2016

The article studies the new situation in international long distance trade after the emergence of new superpower - Arab Caliphate - in Eurasian overland tracks of the Great Silk Road. The stages of Arab advancement along trade routes and outcomes of their contestation with the strong tribal confederations of Turkic nomads in Central Asia and the Caucasus are highlighted. A special focus is made upon the relationship of Arabs with Khazar Turks who have endured severe clashes with strongest army of the time in the region. Khazar kingdom survived and even expanded its control over the tracks of international trade in the western part of Eurasia. The research describes the way how trade partnership between Arabs and Turks was shaped in the aftermath of military clashes. Existing scholarly views on the role of Khazar in Silk Road are reviewed and unattended evidence of Arab sources are involved to support concluding points that Khazar state managed to consolidate various actors for maintenance of international trade such as so called Rus warriors and merchants in the west of Volga, nomadic tribes in Eurasian steppes, and Jewish trading gild named ar-rahdaniyya in Arab sources. It is asserted that Khazar state since the second half of 9th century through its decline in mid 10th century not only served as transit space for goods of exporting countries but also exported goods of its own crafts and natural resources.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.69-93
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• 2016

This article compares two Iranian towers (burj) of the Saljuq period (c.1037-1194) with two Chinese Pagodas (t'a) of the Song dynasty (c.960-1279) in order to identify common cultural trends in medieval Iranian and Chinese architecture. To this end, the Iranian towers of Tuqrul in Rayy and Chihil Dukhtar in Damghan are compared with their Chinese counterparts of the Iron Pagoda in Kaifeng and the Pizhi Pagoda in Changqing. The two Iranian towers have much simpler architectural decorations compared to the splendid Song pagodas, which are decorated with statues and colorful paintings. The similarities in form, however, suggest common functions provided by the architecture. Both the Saljuq and Song towers had astronomical and military functions, position identification for travelers, and symbolic meanings, as well as their main functions as tombs. By applying comparative studies on the forms and functions of the Tuqrul and Chihil Dukhtar towers on the one hand, and the Iron and Pizhi Pagodas, on the other hand, this article aims to contribute new insights regarding common social trends shared by the medieval Iranian and Chinese and illustrated by their architecture. Extensive and distinguished publications on the general subject of art and architecture during the reign of the two dynasties under discussion already exist, as fully referenced below, but the specific comparative themes regarding the individual sites discussed here are the first in any study of this kind.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.105-117
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• 2016

The Silk Road named by Ferdinand von Richthofen was not designated as a specific route. A lot of East-West trade routes had already existed across the continent and the geographical scope and definition of the Silk Road is still expanding. In particular, the claim that the Eastern end of the Silk Road reaches Gyeongju is an example of this expansion. Burial treasures from tombs on the Korean Peninsula have already been identified as products from the Sassanian Dynasty of Persia, and various archaeological and epical evidences support this finding. However, the specific route where these exchanges were made, around the 6th-8th centuries, has yet to be identified. Maritime as well as inland routes can easily be hypothesized. The Silk Road was largely activated by the Yam postal system with the expansion of the Mongol Empire. It not only served as an effective pathway for the Yuan to rule over the Goryeo, but also connected the Eastern end of the Silk Road to Gyeongju. This can explain the situation since the 13th century. Therefore, this paper claims that the Yeokcham system had been operating on the Korean Peninsula since the Unified Silla Kingdom, the previous period of Goryeo, or perhaps even before then. The Yeokcham should thus be regarded as a prototype of the Mongolian Yam, and the Korean peninsula should be recognized as another route which contributed specifically to the development of the Silk Road, not just as a user or a beneficiary.