#pre-class response

Image from: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/149088?search_no=10&index=70

This artifact, Lion-Headed Demon (Kala), is from Indonesia, Central Java, from the 9th century.

While browsing through the artifacts for the various countries, I have noticed that Indonesia has relatively quite a number of animal-related artifacts as compared to the other countries. Most artifacts were religion-related, like figures of Vishnu, Bodhisattva, and other deities related to Buddhism or Hinduism. As such, I had found this lion-headed demon, Kala, to be interesting because it seems to be a mixture of a description of an animal and a religious mythical creature. In addition, I feel like I have seen similar lion-like statues at the gates of temples in Singapore as well. According to some research done, the creature is without a lower jaw because, in the legend, it stole the immortality medicine and Vishnu cut his head off above the lower jaw. Despite being a “demon”, people still use the image of this mythical creature at the gates of their temples as they believe that it can ward off evil or symbolize immortality beyond the gates as they enter into the temples.

A statue of a guardian lion that used to guard the entrances of the temples, in particular “the pyramidal structure that represented Mount Meru, the residence of the gods at the center of the Hindu world.”

Item: Silver Tanka of Nitichandra, King of Arakan.

Created: 700 to 799 CE

Background: These coins are early Burmese coins issued in the Buddhist kingdom of Arakan. Burma was rich in silver and thrived from trade which is also reflected in these coins which bares similarities to Nepal’s coinage.

I find this coin most interesting as when I first saw it I assumed the bull on the coins to be due to the influence of Buddhism considering the kingdom it came from which practiced Buddhism mainly. However, when I read that this bull was actually a depiction of Nandi, Shiva’s mount, I was really amazed that instead of choosing their own religion, Burmese of that time would choose to depict on the coin animals related to Hinduism.

This is an important part of history as it shows how ingrained trade is to the Burmese people at that time- coins reflect part of our identity, nationally or otherwise, to let other cultures and religions be imprinted on them is a reflection of acceptance of them generally. It also reflects the great extent of trade at that time which had been so big and widespread that native people did not seem to distinguish themselves much from traders considering the widespread acceptance of foreign cultures and religions.

As to their marriages, you must know that no one among them has a wife unless he buys her; so it sometimes happens that girls are well past marriageable age before they marry, for their parents always keep them until they sell them.

Quote

The variety and expenditure of the religious endowments at Damascus are beyond computation. There are endowments in aid of persons who cannot undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca, out of which are paid the expenses of those who go in their stead. There are other endowments for supplying wedding outfits to girls whose families are unable to provide them, and others for the freeing of prisoners. There are endowments for travellers, out of the revenues of which they are given food, clothing, and the expenses of conveyance to their countries. Then there are endowments for the improvement and paving of the streets, because all the lanes in Damascus have pavements on either side, on which the foot passengers walk, while those who ride use the roadway in the centre.

Response

4.8 And when the near of kin (Literally: endowed with kinship, "nearness) and the orphans and the indigent are present at the division, then provide for them out of it, and say to them beneficent saying.

4.10 Surely the ones who eat the riches of the orphans unjustly, they surely only eat (up) Fire in their bellies and will roast in a Blaze.

“The cleanliness of the people of Mecca

The Meccans are very elegant and clean in their dress, and most of them wear white garments, which you always see fresh and snowy. They use a great deal of perfume and kohl and make free use of toothpicks of green arak-wood. The Meccan women are extraordinarily beautiful and very pious and modest. They too make great use of perfumes to such a degree that they will spend the night hungry in order to buy perfumes with the price of their food. They visit the mosque every Thursday night, wearing their finest apparel; and the whole sanctuary is saturated with the smell of their perfume. When one of these women goes away the odour of the perfume clings to the place after she has gone.”

This part of the text is most important to me as it encompasses most of the values Ibn Battuta seems to put in high regards which includes cleanliness, discipline, generosity as well as the ideal woman.

Ibn Battuta praises people who clean their clothes often, especially so when they do it before praying, even if the clothes is old, so long it is cleaned (even better if it is white) it seems to reflect the idea of purity and discipline to him- perhaps also reflecting his idea that Muslims should be pure (good) and disciplined in character and behaviour. This aspect is shown through his repeated praising of clean clothes throughout the text which adds emphasis to the importance he places in it.

He also praises the idea of the generous Muslim whereby he emphasizes that he is given “free” things by people and he wish that God will bless them (people who helped and gave him things without expecting compensation) when he receives the items, again, this is also repeated throughout the text.

Finally, Ibn Battuta seems to hold the ideal woman as feminine and modest but seems to hold great dislike for any displays of greed like the clamour to buy perfumes, claiming that it gave an “odour” which shows his being displeased.

Quote

But in order that this richest of poor men, led by his great feeling of tenderness, might (in whatsoever way) help the poor, he would in very cold weather ask the rich of this world to lend him a mantle of furs. When in their devotion they complied with his request even more readily than he had made it, he would say to them, "I will take this from you on the understanding that you do not expect to have it back anymore," and then with joy and exultation he would clothe the first poor man he met with whatever had been given him.

Response

From this quote, it is evident that Francis is following the teachings of Christianity, "if there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother." Deuteronomy 15:7 (Old Testament Passage)