ninjaruski asked: There's a deeper meaning to "Bugeisha" than what the previous ask said. Bugeisha literally meant "one who practiced the art of war." Art, in this case, meant not just a "way of doing something," that would be budoka (one who practiced the way of war), rather, Bugeisha intends an aesthetic perfection through martial practices. It treats the martial arts as literally art on par with poetry and dance.
There may be a gendered component there, as I have rarely read of men being called “bugeisha,” though I don’t think it is impossible: “geisha” isn’t technically a gendered term, it merely refers to “one who practices the arts,” where art here meant aesthetic forms. However, there are some references in the Heike Monogatari to men being called bugeisha as opposed to “bushi” or “budoka.”
Finally, if we are to understand the full context of the word, “bugeisha” are those individuals who have incorporated a degree of self expression into the martial practice, or those so skilled at the martial arts as to elevate them to aesthetic representations, to make present a certain kind of feeling through the martial art.
The nuance seems a little deeper but in all honesty, someone who practices the art of war and is female generally seems to be the rough translation although each seems to add more depth I don’t think anyone has been wrong, necessarily?
Still, thank you.
eibomb asked: Hi. re: onnabugeisha. As was mentioned, "bugeisha" means martial artist. Bugei means martial arts and is the root of Bugeisha. In "Bugeisha", "Bugei" is the root and "sha" is an affix.
Thanks!
theblueviolin11 asked: Hey! Are you a student? What do you do in life?
Yes, I’m a museum studies BA student. Full time university student, part time intern, and part time employee at my University’s theater as a floor manager. I usually spend most of my time working, studying, and being broke. My “personal” blog is themuseologist.com. You can read about what I do in life there, when I have time to update it.
The amount of working I do is actually one of the reasons why I’m trying to raise more money to help pay off my student tuition for school. Working, interning, and loans/grants from the government doesn’t pay all my bills, unfortunately, and I’m going to apply to Graduate School this year.
You can read about my campaign or donate here: Indiegogo.
beyondsilkroads:
asianhistory:
I wouldn’t say it’s a root word per se, but I’m no linguist and can’t really explain with any accuracy how the word was formed.
Here’s what I do know:
Onna Bugeisha is written 女武芸者, and Geisha is written 芸者, and the Samurai (侍) are also referred to as bushi 武士.
Breaking down Onna Bugeisha gives you Onna (Woman), Bu which is found in words like Bushido (or the way of the samurai) and Bushi (referring to a Warrior-Poet ideal) and Geisha, which is already known as:
Two kanji, 芸 (gei) meaning “art” and 者 (sha) meaning “person” or “doer”. The most literal translation of geisha into English would be “artist,” “performing artist,” or “artisan.”
More or less it seems to be very self-descriptive - Women who are versed in the way of the Samurai. Again, not a linguist, but I think that’s roughly what the kanji breaks down into meaning wise.
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I believe many of the Onna Bugeisha were part of the samurai (bushi) class.
The word bugeisha meant a martial artist and did refer to the samurai sometimes called musha in old texts, so it might just mean a woman martial artist. The 士 means gentleman or scholar (in Chinese I believe). I vaguely remember my Chinese teacher saying the phrase “a scholar and a gentleman” was strange for him since both terms came back as 士. And I also remember him saying that in Don Quixote’s Mandarin translation the words “qishi” and “jueshi” are used which both mean a knight and both “shi” characters were 士.
So I think bushidou is the “way of the martial artist-gentleman”. Or “way of the warrior-scholar”.
beyondsilkroads said: I think the best bet would be looking up things about the diasporas; Thai diaspora or Malaysian diaspora. Most of the things that I’ve seen about Asians in the UK were about the WWII Japanese-Brits or the Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong
fur-qan said: “Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History” by Rozina Visram might be a good start.
I wouldn’t say it’s a root word per se, but I’m no linguist and can’t really explain with any accuracy how the word was formed.
Here’s what I do know:
Onna Bugeisha is written 女武芸者, and Geisha is written 芸者, and the Samurai (侍) are also referred to as bushi 武士.
Breaking down Onna Bugeisha gives you Onna (Woman), Bu which is found in words like Bushido (or the way of the samurai) and Bushi (referring to a Warrior-Poet ideal) and Geisha, which is already known as:
Two kanji, 芸 (gei) meaning “art” and 者 (sha) meaning “person” or “doer”. The most literal translation of geisha into English would be “artist,” “performing artist,” or “artisan.”
More or less it seems to be very self-descriptive - Women who are versed in the way of the Samurai. Again, not a linguist, but I think that’s roughly what the kanji breaks down into meaning wise.
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azakhm asked: Hi! I was wondering if you happen to know any good books about South Asian people in Britain during or before the first world war? It's for a story I'm planning... I know it's a very specific request and it's fine of course if you can't recommend anything that fits that exact subject, but I thought you'd be a good person to ask in addition to my own Google research. :) Thank you!
Generally speaking, the best I can do is point you in the right direction of my resources lists, and put it to the general public to suggest things! There are multiple databases that cover South Asian countries listed on the resources button, which is perhaps a little more of a narrow search than google.
However, I personally only read so much, and can’t suggest anything this time! Any advice anyone? My askbox is open!
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![Illuminated manuscripts, like this one of the Buddhist deity Sahasra Pramardini, were only still being made in Nepal during the Indian persecution of Buddhism and consequently Tibet during the mid-ninth century through the start of the eleventh. Illuminated manuscripts like this one helped both Tibetan Buddhist teachers and students bring the famous teachings back to central Tibet.
Buddhism, which flourished when first introduced to Tibet in the middle of the seventh century, experienced a time of decline beginning in the second half of the ninth century continuing through the end of the tenth. This can be attributed to warfare fought among the Tibetan, Uighur Turks, and Chinese that had been brought on by the frequent changing of allies causing great imbalances in political power.[i] These battles, which were often and high in damage and causalities, eventually created a massive financial debt within the Tibetan Empire that fed off the resources that were quickly disappearing. The lack of resources, natural and human, forced Tibet into signing peace treaties with China that ensured the end of “the era of Tibetan expansion in Inner Asia”[ii]. The remaining debt in Tibet, now halted from the profit found in expanding, had nowhere to come to rest except on the Tibetan people themselves. This came in the form of taxation and with no organized system of power, central Tibet collapsed. The debt affected every aspect of Tibetan culture, and even Buddhist monasteries and temples had a major drop in financial support from the government. Previously, historical legends recounted an extremely violent and massive persecution of Buddhism in Tibet stemming from a king who had turned his back on the religion[iii]. However, most historians agree that this is most likely an example of legends being taken to heart and attribute finanical problems as the real cause;
“ It seems possible that the persecution, despite its great importance in later thought, was in essence a withdrawal of funding, no doubt due to a poor current-accounts balance rather than to anti-Buddhist sentiment, that came to be very much exaggerated in its retellings.”[iv]
Image courtesy of Naresh Shakya.
— Mapping Cultures: The Fall of the Tibetan Empire and a Decline in Buddhism
Indiegogo | Asianhistory | US History Minus White Guys](http://25.media.tumblr.com/da7c028fa83607af84c1c865a282aca9/tumblr_mmprf6ZX401qh6o2ho1_500.png)
Illuminated manuscripts, like this one of the Buddhist deity Sahasra Pramardini, were only still being made in Nepal during the Indian persecution of Buddhism and consequently Tibet during the mid-ninth century through the start of the eleventh. Illuminated manuscripts like this one helped both Tibetan Buddhist teachers and students bring the famous teachings back to central Tibet.
Buddhism, which flourished when first introduced to Tibet in the middle of the seventh century, experienced a time of decline beginning in the second half of the ninth century continuing through the end of the tenth. This can be attributed to warfare fought among the Tibetan, Uighur Turks, and Chinese that had been brought on by the frequent changing of allies causing great imbalances in political power.[i] These battles, which were often and high in damage and causalities, eventually created a massive financial debt within the Tibetan Empire that fed off the resources that were quickly disappearing. The lack of resources, natural and human, forced Tibet into signing peace treaties with China that ensured the end of “the era of Tibetan expansion in Inner Asia”[ii]. The remaining debt in Tibet, now halted from the profit found in expanding, had nowhere to come to rest except on the Tibetan people themselves. This came in the form of taxation and with no organized system of power, central Tibet collapsed. The debt affected every aspect of Tibetan culture, and even Buddhist monasteries and temples had a major drop in financial support from the government. Previously, historical legends recounted an extremely violent and massive persecution of Buddhism in Tibet stemming from a king who had turned his back on the religion[iii]. However, most historians agree that this is most likely an example of legends being taken to heart and attribute finanical problems as the real cause;
“ It seems possible that the persecution, despite its great importance in later thought, was in essence a withdrawal of funding, no doubt due to a poor current-accounts balance rather than to anti-Buddhist sentiment, that came to be very much exaggerated in its retellings.”[iv]
Image courtesy of Naresh Shakya.
— Mapping Cultures: The Fall of the Tibetan Empire and a Decline in Buddhism
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Map of the Tibetan empire at its greatest extent between the 780s and the 790s CE.
The Tibetan Empire once covered land that includes the countries of: India, Afghanistan, Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
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Anonymous asked: Would you please give some link(or posts) on Tibetan history? Thank you very much.
I think we can do some Tibetan History posts next!
