A philosophical analysis of the thesis of the metaphysic of the non-dual that "the world we are confronted with is nothing but words, words, words" is a difficult one upon which to embark. The difficulty does not lie in assuming this argument, but in examining it from the opponent's position. It is equivalent to an evaluation of the New York Giants in Brooklyn. If we assume the thesis of the metaphysic of the non-dual, finding the proper arguments and quotations to substantiate its claims, all that we would be doing is claiming a victory for "our side” when, indeed, no battle had been fought. The issue is not that what has been said can be said, but that there is a validity in the arguments and a truth in the assertions. As pleasant as it might be to find quotations to support this thesis, it would have little value if our sources were all one-sided. To return to an earlier analogy, if the issue were whether the Giants have the better team, we certainly should not confine our inquiries to only Giant fans. The issue is quite simple and clear. One must find in even the Brooklyn fans a tacit agreement that the Giants are a superior team. Or, putting our playful analogy aside, one must find in even the strongest antagonist's thesis a large place for the final pronouncement upon the nature of the phenomenal world of the metaphysic of the non-dual. The advantages are of course obvious even though it might be a more difficult task. But this is always the role of the mythical hero. If we momentarily forget that the weapons are only paper and typewriter and the armor, rhetoric, we can then, perhaps, see the correspondence. The present fashion in philosophy or at least the most vocal and vociferous, is the forthright denial of metaphysics as a valid intellectual pursuit - even in principle. It is with this school that we encounter our first difficulties. Thus, if we can discern in their writings - the critics of the metaphysic of the non-dual and mysticism - a metaphysical bias as well as either an implicit or explicit use of what, for the moment, we may call typifying reality as a word structure, then we can claim not only a victory, but an ally even if they may prefer a disguise. Again, if we are fortunate enough to see this pattern with the concomitant parts we have mentioned, then it would be interesting, if one is not interpolating too far, to utilize this as a tool for analytical purposes in other kindred fields to see if a general thesis could be maintained to substantiate the non-dualist's claim where the critics might not have lingered. Thus, if the same form can be discovered, an underlying thought process may be discerned that well may prove interesting as well as provide a way of handling thought while escaping the dangers of dogmaticism. If so, this may be the analogue to the non-dualist's thesis presented in a rational context. A word of caution, however. One must recall the Platonic dictum to joke seriously and sport in ernest.

In the tradition of the Zen school, all of the monks are required to study what are called the "seven books of Zen. These books are chosen from the old Zen masters' collections, but the "seven books" are different according to each of the schools of Zen. Therefore, it is not possible to say which are "the seven books," but Lin-chi Lu is always listed as the first one of them in every school of Zen.

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This study explores the development of women's tea ceremony from the Edo (1603-1868) to the Meiji period (1868-1912) onward, focusing on its connection to the "good wife, wise mother" ideology in the Meiji period. Many girls' schools, led by Atomi school, adopted the tea ceremony around the time of establishing the “good wife, wise mother.” During the Edo period, the population of women practitioners increased significantly. This was not limited to just women from samurai families; it extended to commoners as well. The women’s tea ceremony during the Edo period was greatly influenced by Confucianism and its expectations for women. However, when the Meiji period (1868-1912) arrived, Westernization started to have a major impact. This led to a decline in Confucian education and Edo cultural practices, including the tea ceremony. During the mid-Meiji period, the tea ceremony was reevaluated and integrated into girls' education in response to the resistance against Westernization and the surge of nationalism. Alongside the expansion of girls' schools, the practice of the tea ceremony spread throughout the country. Atomi Kakei, educated in Confucianism during the Edo period, is considered the first educator to have included women’s learnings of the Edo period, such as the tea ceremony, in the school curriculum from its inception. Nevertheless, the presence of inconsistencies in the remaining documents has raised doubts about the introduction of tea ceremony during the early Meiji period. Furthermore, in her autobiography, Oriori-gusa (1915), certain descriptions interweave the early and mid-Meiji periods, suggesting that she adjusted her actions and behaviors to align with the respective times. This study highlights that the ideology of "good wife, wise mother" played a pivotal role in the spread of the women's tea ceremony. In addition, careful observation of the operation of the Atomi Kakei’s school reveals that the tea ceremony was modernized in a short period of time, in line with the changing policies of the Meiji government.

Asians consistently report higher social anxiety symptoms but have lower prevalence rates, compared to Westerners. As cultural differences and measurement issues could both be potential sources for the discrepancy, it is important to examine whether score differences between cultural groups are due to measurement issues or genuine underlying differences in social anxiety. This study used 402 participants to examine the construct of social anxiety and measurement invariance of six social anxiety scales using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results supported scalar invariance of a three-factor bifactor model (comprised of Fear/Avoidance of Social Interaction, Fear of Negative Evaluation, and Taijin Kyofusho/fear of interpersonal relationships). Furthermore, multivariate analysis of covariance and moderation analysis revealed Asian Americans endorsed higher Fear/Avoidance of Social Interaction symptoms, but do not differ in Taijin Kyofusho and Fear of Negative Evaluation symptoms, compared to European Americans. This study showed when measurement bias is minimized, Asians still endorse higher symptoms of Fear/Avoidance of Social Interactions. Moreover, Taijin Kyofusho appears to be an aspect of social anxiety identified in more than one cultural group rather than a culture-related specific syndrome. Thus, it is important for clinicians and researchers to consider Taijin Kyofusho in the evaluation of social anxiety. / School Psychology

This dissertation research examines the Korean Wave phenomenon as a social practice of globalization, in which state actors have promoted the transnational expansion of Korean popular culture through creating trans-local hybridization in popular content and intra-regional connections in the production system. This research focused on how three agencies – the government, public broadcasting, and the culture industry – have negotiated their relationships in the process of globalization, and how the power dynamics of these three production sectors have been influenced by Korean society’s politics, economy, geography, and culture. The importance of the national media system was identified in the (re)production of the Korean Wave phenomenon by examining how public broadcasting-centered media ecology has control over the development of the popular music culture within Korean society. The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS)’s weekly show, Music Bank, was the subject of analysis regarding changes in the culture of media production in the phase of globalization. In-depth interviews with media professionals and consumers who became involved in the show production were conducted in order to grasp the patterns that Korean television has generated in the global expansion of local cultural practices. In conclusion, the Korean Wave has rekindled national forces in spreading local popular content globally in three ways: 1) by deconstructing a binary approach of West vs. non-West, and Global vs. Local in order to understand media cultures and practices; 2) by understanding the rise of Northeast Asian media connections as part of a global culture; and 3) by decolonizing non-US/UK state actors to perceive their actions, which hinges on the ongoing centrality of nation-states in the global media sphere. / Media & Communication

by Simon Siu-man Tam. / Includes bibliographical references / Thesis (M.Ph.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1986

This thesis analyses the nine main tense–aspect constructions in Old Japanese in more detail than ever before, exploiting the research possibilities created by the Oxford Corpus of Old Japanese. The commitment to close textual reading and the interpretation of examples in context that is characteristic of traditional Japanese scholarship is combined with a determination to explain the distributional data revealed by the Corpus. Large samples are used to produce quantitative semantic analyses, allowing a new perspective on multifunctional constructions from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. All findings are placed within the wider perspective of cross-linguistic studies of tense and aspect, an approach often missing in Old Japanese scholarship. This thesis is the most comprehensive analysis of Old Japanese tense and aspect to date. Some traditional conclusions are challenged, and light is shed on many previously unexplained phenomena. Resultative constructions are discovered to be even more pervasive in Japanese than previously thought, with at least five of the nine con-structions I look at hypothesized to have begun as resultative constructions. In most cases these constructions have broadened to also denote ongoing activities, another characteristic of Japanese. This thesis thereby contributes to the cross-linguistic understanding of resultative constructions, and to the question of the validity and nature of the distinction between activities and states. It also shows the potential of an exemplar-based model of linguistic storage, which is seen to be a powerful tool for explaining both the multifunctionality of grammatical constructions and semantic change.

This work reviews the topic of international financial linkages, including theoretical definitions and the main methodological approaches of the empirical measurement based on vector autoregressive models. One of the approaches, the Spillover Index methodology based on Diebold & Yilmaz (2009), is then used to analyze the developments of financial linkages of the Japanese stock market in the period from 1995 to 2012. The attention is paid both to the relations with western developed economies and within the region of East Asia. The main contribution of this paper is the fact that it comprises a complete review of international relations of Japanese stock market during the era of unprecedented financial liberalization. The results of the empirical study confirm the opening of Japanese stock markets towards foreign influence. Even though USA have been the major driving force behind the movements in East Asian stock markets, Japan has become a significant regional player, whose influence on East Asian countries has been growing. The developments in the Japanese stock market are on the other hand driven solely by the western developed countries, which further supports the view of Japan as the regional financial leader.