• SUVANNABHUMI
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.107-135
• /
• 2014

Cham identities which are socially constructed and multilayered, display their markers in a variety of elements, including homeland attachment to the former Kingdom of Champa, religion, language and cultural traditions, to mention a few. However, unlike other contemporary diasporic experience which binds the homeland and the host country, the Cham diaspora in Cambodia has a unique pattern as it seems to have no voice in the political and economic spheres in Vietnam, its homeland. The relations between the Cham in Cambodia and Vietnam seem to be limited to cultural heritages such as Cham musical traditions, traditional clothing, and the architectural heritage. Many Cham people have established networks outside Cambodia with areas of the Muslim world, like Malaysia, Indonesia, southern Thailand and the Middle Eastern countries. Pursuing education or training in Islam as well as working in those countries, especially Malaysia has become a way for the Cham to widen their networks and increase their knowledge of particularly, Islam. Returning to Cambodia, these people become religious teachers or ustadz (Islamic teachers in the pondok [Islamic boarding school]). This has developed slowly, side by side with the formation of their identity as Cham Muslims. Among certain Cham, the absence of an ancient cultural heritage as an identity marker has been replaced by the Islamic culture as the important element of identity. However, being Cham is not a single identity, it is fluid and contested. Many scholars argue that the Cham in Cambodia constitute three groups: the Cham Chvea, Cham, and Cham Bani (Cham Jahed). The so-called Cham Jahed has a unique practice of Islam. Unlike other Cham who pray five times a day, Cham Jahed people pray, once a week, on Fridays. They also have a different ritual for the wedding ceremony which they regard as the authentic tradition of the Cham. Indeed, they consider themselves pure descendants of the Cham in Vietnam; retaining Cham traditions and tending to maintain their relationship with their fellow Cham in Central Vietnam. In terms of language, another marker of identity, the Cham and the Cham Jahed share the same language, but Cham Jahed preserve the written Cham script more often than the Cham. Besides, the Cham Jahed teaches the language to the young generation intensively. This paper, based on fieldwork in Cambodia in 2010 and 2011 will focus on the process of the formation of the Cham identity, especially of those called Cham and Cham Jahed.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.1-19
• /
• 2016

This study tried to find out implementation factors of internal marketing for a cosmetic retailer, and to look into their effects on Salesperson's job satisfaction, organization commitment, customer orientation and sales performance. For this, this study inquired into the concepts and relationships of internal marketing, job satisfaction, organization commitment, customer orientation and sales performance through literature review; and tested the relationships between the variables by setting up a research model and hypotheses. The findings of this study may be summarized as follows: First, it was found that the better the education & training, the supervisor support and the compensation system among internal marketing factors of a cosmetic retailer were, the higher a door-to-door salesperson's job satisfaction was. Second, it was found that the better internal communication and the education & training among internal marketing factors of a cosmetic retailer were, the higher a door-to-door salesperson's organization commitment was. Third, the higher the job satisfaction of a door-to-door salesperson in a cosmetic retailer was, the higher the organization commitment was. Fourth, it was found that the higher the organization commitment of a door-to-door salesperson in a cosmetic retailer was, the higher the customer orientation was. Fifth, it was found that the higher the organization commitment and customer orientation of a door-to-door salesperson in a cosmetic retailer were, the higher the sales performance was. In conclusion, the internal marketing increases door-to-door Salesperson's job satisfaction, and enhances the sense of belonging to their cosmetic retailer. Further, they come to have a customer-oriented attitude in serving customers, which is directly connected to sales performance, and thus the retailer can create profits through internal marketing. Therefore, a cosmetic retailer will need to strengthen internal communication activities through diverse methods, expand and activate employees' professional education, and develop fair and just compensation system; and supervisors will need to give support to employees, trusting their judgment.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.73-84
• /
• 2020

Recently, there has been a change in consumer culture. The paradigm is changing from a consumption model that used to emphasize rationality to an ethical consumption model that focuses on sustainability. Such a change in consumption patterns has also been seen in the cosmetics industry, but studies to empirically assess this trend are incomplete. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to empirically identify the impact of ethical consumption proprieties on attitudes and purchasing intentions for ethical cosmetics. To achieve the aim of this study, 506 adult women residing in Korea were selected as subjects and surveyed. To identify the demographic characteristics of the study participants, a technical statistical analysis and frequency analysis were conducted. To check the validity and reliability of the measuring tools, an exploratory factor analysis was performed, and the Cronbach's α factor was calculated. The analysis method was analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 and the Amos 25.0 statistical analysis programs. The results of this study are as follows. First, ethical spending tendencies had a positive impact on attitudes toward ethical cosmetics. Specifically, interest in ethical issues, altruism, and business ethics perception have had a positive impact on attitudes toward ethical cosmetics. However, consumer effectiveness had no significant impact on attitudes toward ethical cosmetics. Second, attitudes toward ethical cosmetics had a positive effect on purchasing intentions. This study found that for the spread of ethical cosmetics and ethical consumption trends varied according to the age and that attitudes toward ethical cosmetics and differences in purchasing intentions should be kept in mind. It also showed that attitudes toward ethical cosmetics affect purchasing intentions. The results of this study suggested that the analysis of adult women, the main consumers of cosmetics, by age was meaningful for finding the factors for growth in the macroscopic ethical cosmetics industry and that the industry could raise its ethical awareness. If such tasks are systematically established, ethical cosmetics are thought to be able to actively solve social problems and lead a mature cosmetics industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.36
• /
• pp.219-238
• /
• 1998

For the purpose of this Study, the situation of Korean costume properties in the collection of overseas museums was investigated through correspondence, interviews with their curators and persons in charge and survey. As results were made about the situation of museum science (conservation) and practical utilization of costume properties. So, the study result were drawn as follows : Krean costume properties unexplaind of 'Korean cultural Properties' could be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York(135 pieces), the Brooklyn Museum of New York(20 pieces), the Newark Museum of New Jersey(15 pieces), and the Victoria Albert Museum of London(100 pieces). Korean costume properties in the collection of over-seas museums mostly fall under the rang of period between the 19th century and the early 20th century and are classified into everyday clothing, wedding costume and armors for the most part. In 1900s, museum in several countries began to collected Korean cultural properties through foreign missionaries or diplomats as well as merchants or travellers in who bought Korean objects. Recently, scholars, traditional Korean costume designerss and diplomatic and consular offices in overseas have donated our Korean costume to many foreign museums. Korean costume properties were largely on display in the dependent display of folklore museums or in a part of exhibition gallery for Asian culture and there were the separate exhibition rooms in museums in the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Japan and the United States America. But the size and level of display room for Korean cultural properties is one third as large as that for chinese or Japanese cultual properties. It was found in this study that the traditional Korean costume in the collection of overseas museums was largely recorded only as general items rather than given their proper names. The typical example of misnaming included bridal's Kimono for Wonsam(원삼) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yeonroksaek-bumunsajeokori for Dangeui(당의) and Jissan-gryongwonmunsadurumagi for Kongdali(동달이) in the Okura collection of the Tokyo National Museum, and so on. And the Victoria Albert Museum modified the way of wearing Daenim(대님) and the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka seemed to misplace the ornament of Keanggi(댕기) on Mubok(무복) and Josunjuk(조선족: Chinese-Korean) Museum also misplace hansam(한삼). On the one hand, the Newark museum of New Jersey mixed Chinese armor with the Korean one and the Photohraph of King Kojong(고종) with Chinese one. It is corrected to publish and disseminate the book concering Korean costume in order to inform foreign museums of thed proper names and wearing method of our traditional costumed. The repair of costume before cleaning in the process of conservation treatment can prevent damage likely to occur as the properties of fiber itself are weakened in liquid. It is recommended that western 8-figure stitch and tacking stitch is added to Korean traditional stitching method. Museums in the U.S.A and the U.K are concerned about the aftermath of cleaning it-self, specially conservation treatment may exert on remains and predominantly use the vacuuming method to remove dust or bits of straw before the exhibition beings. But in case of Korea, the dry cleaning and wet cleaning method are used according to the nature and state of a sample costume. This comprehensive cleaning method is gradually developing scientifically but it is expected that those concerned will make a chemical analysis of the solvent to be used and also the more precise test of costume properties will be conducted before cleaning them. A partial study was made here because the scope of study was too broad and vast. It is expected that more studies will be conducted concerning our costume culture under the long-term plan and active support at the government level.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
• /
• no.42
• /
• pp.233-256
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this article is to understand the characteristics and meanings of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum, or shamanic ritual dance. First, the characteristics of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum are summarized as follows. The regular dances that appear in all pieces of Gutgeori or the tune of Gut of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum feature Geosangchum, followed by domu and heojeonmu in the sequential order. The accompaniment rhythms are Geosang rhythm, Chum rhythm, and Yeonpung rhythm. The dance featuring mugu, or shaman implements held on shaman's hand as part of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum, which symbolizes the characteristics of deities, is the same as domu aligned with the dance rhythm and the whirling dance aligned with the Yeonpung rhythm. The name of mugu, mubok (shaman clothing) and/or deities may be used as the name of Gutchum but there is no originality of Gutchum. The Beokgu Chum and Samhyeon Chum as part of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum use Beockgu Jangdan and Samhyeon Jangdan, which deserves to have their originality acknowledged. Hwanghae-do Gutchum is closely related to the rhythm. The harmony of janggu player and a female shaman is essential in practicing the Hwanghae-do Gut. If a janggu player fails to perform to properly support the gut practice of a female shaman, the shaman is not able to proceed with a smooth practice and causes confusion. On the other hand, if the gut performance of a female shaman fails to catch up with the performance of janggu, the gut becomes plain and simple at best. Janggu is the single most important element that determines the success or failure of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum. A female shaman takes the harmony and collaboration with a janggu player so seriously that she is willing to reschedule the practice of gut if its schedule does not match that of the janggu player. The Hwanghae-do Gutchum is largely dependent on gyeolrye. However, the difference between the chum and the rhythm caused by gyeolrye has disappeared due to the intangible cultural assets. That is, designating an intangible cultural asset has resulted in eliminating all distinctive characteristics of Hwanghae-do Gutchum. With the distinction of gyeolrye becoming vague, they have lost interest in the genealogy of gut they have learned. It is no longer gyeolrye but the intangible cultural property system that serves as an important factor to distinguish chums.

• Journal of Fashion Business
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.137-156
• /
• 1998

In this study, the researcher studied the historical background, and the traditional culture about dress and ornament of Yunnan Province of China, The results of the study are as follows. 1. Dress and personal ornaments of the Va peoples vary with the locality. Their traditional dress and adornment is characterized by those in the Ximeng area. Men usually wear black or dark blue collarless jackets and black and dark blue loose and short bagged trousers with folding waist. Women usually wear close-fitting sleeveless pullover blouses with V-shaped necks and straight skirts with patterns of red and black cross stripes. 2. Jingpo men have changed to wear shirts with button down the front and trousers. They also entwine white turbans with red bobbles on both ends, and carry diagonally long knives, firelocks and red woolen figured satchels on their shoulders. Women usually wear black velvet blouses with silver bowl-shaped ornaments and chains around collars and on the fronts. They also wear red straight skirts with overlapped slit on the right, waistbands and waist hoops made of rattan and bamboo. 3. The Naxi nationality has a long history and excellent traditional culture. In modern times, women like to wear red, blue or purple laced blouses, long double-layered pleated skirts, waistbands and embroidered shoes. They wear their hair in buns with either hats or kerchiefs over them. While working or going out, they put on their "seven-star" capes made of sheepskin and embroidered with two big circles and seven small ones, while is a symbol of their frog totem. 4. The dress and adorment of the Jinuo people is simple, elegant and has its own unique characteristics. Men usually wear white buttonless shirts with round necks and an opening on the front, knee-length bagged trousers and legging. They wear cloth turbans, earrings and also put small bamboo or silver pipes in the holes of their earlobes. Women wear short buttonless blouses with round necks and seven coloured stripes and thin tight-fitting or embroidered triangular underwear. 5. The dress and ardorment of the Benglong (De' ang) nationality has its own strong national colour. Most of the men wear jackets with buttons arranged diagonally on the front, loose, short trousers and black or white turbans. Some young men like to wear eardrops and silver necklaces. Women's dress and adornment differs according to various branches. For example, the women of the Bielie and Liang branches have their hair shaved and wear black turbans. They use large square silver tablets as buttons and wear blue or black blouses with buttons down the front. 6. Oai men usually wear trousers, white or blue cloth turbans and round-necked shirts with buttons down the front or arranged diagonally on the front. Women usually wear long straight skirt and blouses. But dress and adornment varies in regions. 7. The Bai nationality dress and adornment has unique national style. The dress fabrics are mainly cotton cloth, silk and velvet. Men usually wear red velvet vests over white shirts with buttons down the front or black velvet vests over light blue shirts. They also wear white of blue turbans and carry satchels with beautiful embroidered designs over their shoulders. Women usually wear red velvet vests over white blouses, or black vests over light-coloured blouses.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.129-149
• /
• 2021

The purposes of this study were to examine the current status of the establishment of home economics-related departments in colleges and universities and the changes required in the home economics curriculum of secondary schools, and to structure the elective courses of home economics subject(group) that can be organized in the next high school curriculum. To achieve these purposes, related literature and data were analyzed, and a questionnaire survey and FGI were conducted by home economics experts. The research results are as follows. First, home economics was considered to be highly related not only to the human ecology but also to social sciences, education, engineering, and arts and physical education. The numbers of technical colleges and 4-year universities with departments related to home economics were 1,405 and 961 respectively in 2019. Therefore, it was confirmed that there is a sufficient basis for opening home economics subject(group) elective courses in high school. Second, in the secondary school home economics curriculum, the concepts of culture, relations, independence, and sustainability were emphasized based on the changing life patterns and values. It was proposed that the contents of the home economics course would be structured in a way that allows deep and high-level thinking and helps students to enjoy culture. This demand can be implemented by diversifying, specializing, and structuring the elective courses of the home economics subject(group). Third, a total of 18 elective subjects and subject outlines were structured in the fields of child/family, food/nutrition, clothing, housing, consumption/family management, and home economics integration. This study results will contribute to the establishment of the high school credit system by providing basic information for organizing the next home economics curriculum, and expanding the options for home economics subject(group) to high school students.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.1
• /
• pp.119-129
• /
• 1977

It is significant for developing the future for us to know our present age. In order to preserve our Korean costume as a fola clothes retaining our distinguished independent characterisitics and to help design the tomorrow of our Korean costume playing a role as a racial to develop the world clothing culture, a survey was conducted to investigate modern people's conscious-ness and wearing practumes of Korean costume by questionaire and interviewing methods. The results of the survey were analyzed as follows: (1) At present, Korean costumes were purchased as customtailored(64.0%) and as ready-made(17.8%) and most of them were not made at individual homes. The laundry and ironing of them were carried out at laundry shops(68.8%). Considering our present economic, social and cultural aspects, sowing, laundryand ironing will not be carried out at homes again in the future and ready made costumes seen to be produced in a large scale in the future. Garment makers and laundry shop operators should be trained how to make our Korean costumes retain our traditional beauty in the course of their production and laundry and the makers of ready-made costumes must make research how to efficiently produce ideal ready-made costumes by adopting the synchro system in their wrk odisivion. (2) The age group wearing Korean costumes most frequently was the aged people over 60 (their wearing rate; 45%-50%) and the group wearing them most frequently next io the aged people over 60, was housewives(their wearing rate; 15%-20%). Excludign aged people and housewives, other respondentsdid not wear Korean costumes very frequently. Men's wearing rate was lower their wearing rate was the younger their ages were and the less their monthly incomes were. Korean costumes were used for holiday and festival(60%), wedding and funeral ceremonies (52%), visiting and working(22%), casual wear(12.8%) and home wear(9.2%). The use of Korean costumes as casual and home wears, was lower than the use for holday, festival, visiting and working, Under our present circumstances in which our Korean people use both Western style clothes and Korean costumer, our Korean costume has lostits position as a basic and necessary requiement in Korean people's daily life and become a ceremonical and fancy costume. It is natural that the times and life change everything in our daily life. Our costume has to be made as good ceremonial and fancy clothes satisfying modern sensibility according to its new role. In order for us to get close with our clothes, a keen study must be carried out to cleat the color, material, style, function and harmony of the Korean costume matching the of the times. (3) The 47.8% of the respondents answered that they were proud of our Korean costume as our folk clothes, 47.6% replied that thought them just common and 1.1% responded that they were ashamed of it. Most of them were affirmative in feeling pride with our Korean costume. (4) Considering the functional aspect of Korean costumes, their strong points were symetric beauty, rhythmical beauty, unity feeling, harmonical beauty and detailed decorations. Their common shortcomings were lack of individuality and inadequateness for active life. The shortcomings of woman costumes were suppressing breast, making resperation difficult and in adequnteness in summer time. The main reason not to wear our Korean costumes, was due to the fact that they are incomvenient for active life. As a measure to eliminate such shortcomings, 1) the suspension system of skirt to remove the suppression of breast should be generally adopted. 2) they should be simplified in their structure to make them convenient for active life and adepuate in wearing them in hot weather in an extent to which the traditional beauty of the costume may not be lostand 3) a new technique must be explored for showing individuality by wearing method and new arrangment of colors and decorations. (5) The reasons desiring to wear Korean costumes were classifide as follows: A. Korean costumes are our traditional clothes(43.4%). B. Korean costumes are noble and beautiful(26.8%). C. They are accustomed to wear Korean costumes by habit(19.5%). D. Korean costumes are necessary for attending ceremoneis(9.5%). E. Miscellaneous reasons(0.8%). Classifying these reasons into age groups, the high age group over 40 wore them because they were easy to wear by habit and the low age group of 10-30 never thought that they were east to wear by habit. Considering that even those who were accustomed to wear Korean costumes showed a low wearing rate and that the young generation were accustomed to wear Western style clothes rather than Korean costumes, the wearing rate of Korean costumes will be reduced in the future if such trend continues. It is urgent for us to make our best efforts in order to enhance the interest of young generation in Korean costumes and not to make them lose the strong points of Korean costume in the future. (6) Conicering the plan of the respondents on what kind of clothes they were going to wear in the future, among the age group over 50, those who wanted to wear only Korean costumes were 24.8%(men) and 35.1%(women), those who wanted to wear 49.7%(men) and 47.4(women), those who wanted to wear chiefly Western style clothes were 20.7% (men) and 14.4%(women) and those who wanted to wear only Western style clothes, were 2.4% (men) and 2.1%(women). This shows that the general tendency to wear only or chiefly Korean costumes is more prevalent than that to wear only Western style. Among the age group under 50, the tendency to wear Western style clothes was conspicuous and most of the respondent answered that they would wear chiefly Western style clothes and Korean costumes occasionally. Only 5.4% of the respondent answered that they would wear only Western style clothes and this shows that meny respondents still wonted to wear Korean costumes. Those who wanted their descendants to wear what they desire, were 50.1%(men) and 68.8% (women) and those who wanted their descendants to wear Koran costumes occasionally, were 85.8%(men) and 86.3%(women). This shows that most of respondents wanted their descendants to wear Korean costumes. In order to realize, it is necessory for us to make ourdescendants recognize the preciousness of our traditional culture and modify our Korean costumes according to their taste so that they may like wearing them.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.51 no.4
• /
• pp.66-83
• /
• 2018

This article focuses how the materials of hatstrings of the 19th to 20th century gat, the Korean top hat for men among the collections of National Folk Museum of Korea, was transformed after port opening treaties with overseas since 1876. As a result of analyzing the materials of the hatstrings, amber, tortoiseshell, wood and bamboo as the traditional materials were used, and ivory, glass (soda glass, lead glass, alkali mixed glass) and plastics (cellulose nitrate, phenol-formaldehyde, polystyrene, acryl) were newly used for the hatstrings. Bamboo, wood and amber were the most frequently used materials. Bamboo was mainly used for the pipe of hatstring and were combined with beads and central decorations of other materials. This shows the trend of bamboo hatstring according to the simplification of the clothing and the culture by Regent Heungseon Daewongun. Ambers were used in the central decorations and beads and the origin of ambers was baltic amber just like the amber relics found in Korea. Compositions of glass were soda glass and alkali mixed glass which were excavated or handed down in Korea from ancient times to Joseon dynasty. But in the case of lead glass, Na2O was detected and it is considered to be a new type lead glass for crafts which came from overseas after port opening since 1876 because it showed the characteristic that it deviates from the lead glass component found in Korea. Plastics such as cellulose nitrate and phenol-formaldehyde were used as new synthetic materials to replace traditional materials such as tortoiseshell, amber, and coral as in the West. Cracks, crazing, crumbly and yellowing of cellulose nitrate of hatstrings were observed by deterioration. The survey of the materials of the 19th to 20th century hatstrings among the collections of National Folk Museum of Korea showed that the introduction of new materials such as glass and plastics were used to replace natural materials such as tortoiseshell and amber along with the use of traditional materials after port opening since 1876.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
• /
• v.98
• /
• pp.226-241
• /
• 2020

Located on the right side of the third floor of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the "Art of Central Asia" exhibition boasts the world's finest collection of artworks and artifacts from the Silk Road. Every item in the collection has been classified by region, and many of them were collected in the early twentieth century through archaeological surveys led by Russia's Pyotr Kozlov, Mikhail Berezovsky, and Sergey Oldenburg. Some of these artifacts have been presented around the world through special exhibitions held in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Korea, Japan, and elsewhere. The fruits of Russia's Silk Road expeditions were also on full display in the 2008 exhibition The Caves of One Thousand Buddhas - Russian Expeditions on the Silk Route on the Occasion of 190 Years of the Asiatic Museum, held at the Hermitage Museum. Published in 2018 by the Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House in collaboration with the Hermitage Museum, Kuche Art Relics Collected in Russia introduces the Hermitage's collection of artifacts from the Kuche (or Kucha) region. While the book focuses exclusively on artifacts excavated from the Kuche area, it also includes valuable on-site photos and sketches from the Russian expeditions, thus helping to enhance readers' overall understanding of the characteristics of Kuche art within the Buddhist art of Central Asia. The book was compiled by Dr. Kira Samosyuk, senior curator of the Oriental Department of the Hermitage Museum, who also wrote the main article and the artifact descriptions. Dr. Samosyuk is an internationally renowned scholar of Central Asian Buddhist art, with a particular expertise in the art of Khara-Khoto and Xi-yu. In her article "The Art of the Kuche Buddhist Temples," Dr. Samosyuk provides an overview of Russia's Silk Road expeditions, before introducing the historical development of Kuche in the Buddhist era and the aspects of Buddhism transmitted to Kuche. She describes the murals and clay sculptures in the Buddhist grottoes, giving important details on their themes and issues with estimating their dates, and also explains how the temples operated as places of worship. In conclusion, Dr. Samosyuk argues that the Kuche region, while continuously engaging with various peoples in China and the nomadic world, developed its own independent Buddhist culture incorporating elements of Gandara, Hellenistic, Persian, and Chinese art and culture. Finally, she states that the culture of the Kuche region had a profound influence not only on the Tarim Basin, but also on the Buddhist grottoes of Dunhuang and the central region of China. A considerable portion of Dr. Samosyuk's article addresses efforts to estimate the date of the grottoes in the Kuche region. After citing various scholars' views on the dates of the murals, she argues that the Kizil grottoes likely began prior to the fifth century, which is at least 100 years earlier than most current estimates. This conclusion is reached by comparing the iconography of the armor depicted in the murals with related materials excavated from the surrounding area (such as items of Sogdian art). However, efforts to date the Buddhist grottoes of Kuche must take many factors into consideration, such as the geological characteristics of the caves, the themes and styles of the Buddhist paintings, the types of pigments used, and the clothing, hairstyles, and ornamentation of the depicted figures. Moreover, such interdisciplinary data must be studied within the context of Kuche's relations with nearby cultures. Scientific methods such as radiocarbon dating could also be applied for supplementary materials. The preface of Kuche Art Relics Collected in Russia reveals that the catalog is the first volume covering the Hermitage Museum's collection of Kuche art, and that the next volume in the series will cover a large collection of mural fragments that were taken from Berlin during World War II. For many years, the whereabouts of these mural fragments were unknown to both the public and academia, but after restoration, the fragments were recently re-introduced to the public as part of the museum's permanent exhibition. We look forward to the next publication that focuses on these mural fragments, and also to future catalogs introducing the artifacts of Turpan and Khotan. Currently, fragments of the murals from the Kuche grottoes are scattered among various countries, including Russia, Germany, and Korea. With the publication of this catalog, it seems like an opportune time to publish a comprehensive catalog on the murals of the Kuche region, which represent a compelling mixture of East-West culture that reflects the overall characteristics of the region. A catalog that includes both the remaining murals of the Kizil grottoes and the fragments from different parts of the world could greatly enhance our understanding of the murals' original state. Such a book would hopefully include a more detailed and interdisciplinary discussion of the artifacts and murals, including scientific analyses of the pigments and other materials from the perspective of conservation science. With the ongoing rapid development in western China, the grotto murals are facing a serious crisis related to climate change and overcrowding in the oasis city of Xinjiang. To overcome this challenge, the cultural communities of China and other countries that possess advanced technology for conservation and restoration must begin working together to protect and restore the murals of the Silk Road grottoes. Moreover, centers for conservation science should be established to foster human resources and collect information. Compiling the data of Russian expeditions related to the grottoes of Kuche (among the results of Western archaeological surveys of the Silk Road in the early twentieth century), Kuche Art Relics Collected in Russia represents an important contribution to research on Kuche's Buddhist art and the Silk Road, which will only be enhanced by a future volume introducing the mural fragments from Germany. As the new authoritative source for academic research on the artworks and artifacts of the Kuche region, the book also lays the groundwork for new directions for future studies on the Silk Road. Finally, the book is also quite significant for employing a new editing system that improves its academic clarity and convenience. In conclusion, Dr. Kira Samosyuk, who planned the publication, deserves tremendous praise for taking the research of Silk Road art to new heights.