Asian Studies introduces you to the many cultures, societies and politics of Asia including China, Indonesia and Japan. It explores the impact of the great religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam and investigates the dramatic changes that colonialism and revolutions have brought to the people of the region.¹

This page looks at topics A to L covering Australian Relationships with Asia, Chinese Culture, Folk Religions, Human Rights in Asia, Indonesian Music, Japanese Society and journal information. The previous grouping called General Sites is now on the second page under the heading Other Information.

The Second Page looks at topics beginning M to Z and covers areas such as Musical Cultures, Other Information, Politics in China, Social Change in Asia and Women in Asian Society.

Information is aimed at undergraduate level and is listed in alphabetical groupings. Some information may be useful at a higher level.

Be aware some units/topics have different titles at different universities, even though content may be the same or similar. Australian information is supplied wherever possible.

Additional unit material will be included as time permits.

If you are aware of any worthwhile information which is not included, suggestions or additions are welcome and will be given every consideration.

A - F

Australian Relationships with Asia

Australian images of Asia, immigration from Asia, political relationships. Emphasis on the period following World War II.

• Asia Pacific Migration Research Network
  MOST Project. Research on migrant worker protection.
• Asian Settlement and the Media in Australia
  1997 address.
• AusStats Australia’s Bilateral Relationships
  Includes with Asia.
• Australia and the Asia-Pacific
  Regional engagement and competing regionalism.
• Australia China Friendship Society
• Australian Dissertations on Asia 1999-2002
  Post-graduate theses.
• Australia - Japan Relations
  Australia and the Empire of japan, Post-war relations, economic relations, references, links. From Wikipedia.
• Australian Literary Responses to Asia
  Australian creative writing about or referring to Asia. Australian critical responses to Asian literature.
• Bibliography of Australian Literary Responses to ‘Asia’
  ‘This bibliography records Australian literary responses to Asia in poetry, short-stories, novels and plays, from the beginnings of the colony to 1995’. Flinders University.
• Contemporary Australia - Great and Powerful Friends
• Immigration, Social Cohesion and National Identity
  ‘The paper sets out to clarify what Australians really think about a range of issues connected with immigration and multiculturalism, based on evidence collected from a variety of sources’. Research Paper, Parliament of Australia.
• Literary Bibliography
  Literary Representations of Asian-Australian Relations. Stereotypes, images, migrant & refugee stories.
• Migration Heritage Centre
  Research, projects, stories.
• Migration to Australia with Particular Reference to Asian Migration [UQ eSpace]
  Article Abstract, keywords, access to PDF download.
• Monash Asia Institute
  Research & Research Centres, news, publications.
• Quality of Life After Migration to Australia
  Comparison of two Asian immigrant groups.
• The Future of Australia-Japan Relations
  Dr Malcolm Cook, Lowy Institute. Available for download as a PDF document. A response via The Lowy Interpreter can be found here.
• The Rise Of Japan - Konnichiwa, mate !
  Light hearted view.

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Chinese Culture

Looks at China with an emphasis on contemporary Chinese culture [20th century].

• Asia Major
  ‘Published by the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Continuation of Asia Major, New Series, published in England from 1949 to 1975. All periods of Chinese history, literature, ideas, and culture in general’. Most available online.
• Association for Chinese Music Research
  ‘The Association serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas and for those interested in the scholarly study of Chinese music’. Check Publications and Resources in particular.
• Celebrating the Chinese New Year
  Read online or download. Links to books on other festivals.
• China - Classical Instrumental Music
  Text, links. Especially to CDs.
• Chinese Cultural Studies
  A collection covering history to language, women to Buddhism and beyond. Related material on the Middle East and other Asian countries.
• A Brief History of Chinese Film
  Begins in the 1930s and works in periods to about 1980.
• China the Beautiful
  Links in groups including Calloigraphy, Poetry, Culture History, Language, Graphics, more.
• Chinese Culture
  ‘Introduction to Chinese culture. The approach will be one which sees culture as the system of shared ideas and meanings, explicit and implicit, which a people use to interpret the world and which serve to pattern their behaviour [Patricia Ebrey]. This concept of culture includes an understanding of the art, literature, and history of a society, but also less tangible aspects such as attitudes, prejudices, folklore and so forth’. Brooklyn College. Much available online.
• Chinese Culture [2]
  Historical introduction with links to sections including publishing, media, performing arts, literature, arts and museum and culture relics.
• Destiny, The Culture of China
  ‘Old & New, Living and values, Design Arts, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Chinese Music and learning & Literature’.
• Globalisation, National Culture and The Search for Identity : A Chinese Dilemma
  Article with bibliography.
• Inside Out : New Chinese Art
  ‘Artists are appropriating and transforming both conventional Chinese aesthetic idioms and contemporary Western vocabularies to negotiate the cultural differences between past and present, self and other. The decade-long perspective is intended to provide the viewer with a sense of the unprecedented pace of economic, social, and political change in the region’.
• Modern Chinese Literature and Culture Resource Centre
  ‘Contains, among other things, bibliographies of mostly English-language materials on modern Chinese literature, film, art, and culture’.
• The China Experience : China Culture Index
  Arts & Crafts, Folk Custom, Literature, Performing Arts, etc., with collected links.
• The Internet Chinese Music Archive
  Traditional, modern and popular music. Anthologies, MP3 music, links to other sites.

Folk Religions

• Asian Popular Religions
  Summary of popular folk religions.
• Chinese Folk Religion
• Contemporary Papers on Japanese Religion
• Daoism Depot [Taoism]
• Encyclopedia Mythica - Japanese Mythology
  200+ articles.
• Mislinks
  One section covers Asia. Links to sources, even YouTube videos.
• Religions and Societies, Asia and the Middle East
  [Carlo Caldarola, Google Books]. Check contents pages. Primarily Parts 2 and 3 cover the Southern and Eastern Asian areas. While it concentrates on mainstream religions, others are covered.

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G - L

Human Rights in Asia

Human rights across the region as well as in specific countries. Major groups working in this field.

• Amnesty International
  Latest information by country or topic. Access 50 000+ documents from their Library.
• Article2
  Journal which covers human rights issues across Asia. Most issues based around a theme. Linked to the Asian Legal Resource Centre.
• Asian Centre for Human Rights
  ‘Dedicated to promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Asian region’. The Info by Theme [and By Country] sections may be most valuable.
• Asian Human Rights Commission
  News, newsletters, reports, appeals, campaigns, country information, education, reports, more. Check their Human Rights Correspondence School for lessons [PDF downloads] and links to areas, e.g. Child Rights, Police & Legal Reforms.
• Asian Values and the Universality of Human Rights
  Xiaorong Li. ‘A preliminary attempt to identify the myths, misconceptions, and fallacies that have gone into creating an Asian view of human rights. By sorting out the various threads in the notions of cultural specificity and universality, it shows that the claim to Asian values hardly constitutes a serious threat to the universal validity of human rights’.
• Asian Values Debate
  ‘Resources selected by Vincent Ferraro, Professor of International Politics at Mount Holyoke College. [Jura Gentium]’
• Bibliography for Research on Human Rights in Asia
  Goes to about 1995, but may prove useful if you are researching a topic covering the period up till then. Individual countries.
• Democracy, the Rule of Law, and Human Rights in Asia : The Empirical Record
  Human rights may not be the most pressing need of the poor of Asia. Article.
• Ethnic Minorities in China
  From About.com. Covers Tibet, Uyghurs, other ethnic minorities and especially travel restrictions.
• Human Rights Can Be Manifested Differently
  Article detailing Chinese view on how human rights can best be achieved.
• Human Rights Dialogue [1994-2005]
  Journal. Online or download full copies or specific articles. You will need to select articles or issues relevant to Asia.
• Human Rights, Legal and Justice Sector Reform Program
  United Nations Development Program, Indonesia. What is being done, Development Goals, Publications, newsroom, more.
• Human Rights Links
  Links in multiple sections, including for individual countries. Some far more extensive than others. Worth visiting.
• Human Rights Violations Reports - Global
  Collection broken into specific areas. Relevant areas cover Asia, Asia - China, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Thailand. Each has links to information and sources. More than reports are covered.
• Law and Politics in Post-colonial Asia
  Links for Asian Values, Projects & Campaigns, Asian Foundations, Documentation on Human Rights in Asia. Select the descriptor on the home page corresponding to the language desired.
• List of Human Rights Articles By Country
  Asian countries listed separately on this page. Access individual country by clicking on the name. Most provide information on human rights aspects and also give links to other information. Countries considered part of the wider Asian area are found in other listings.

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Indonesian Music

• Balinese Music
  Encyclopaedia entry.
• Central Javanese Gamelan
  Brief description, specific recording list with required details.
• Gamelan
  Emphasis on instruments.
• Indonesian Gamelan
  Introduction, beliefs, Gamelan functions.
• Indonesian Music
  Background, instruments, video performance. Leads to two pages on more technical aspects, linked recommended listening.
• Introduction to Gamelan Music
  Notation, form, glossary, etc..
• Javanese Music
  Encyclopaedia entry, further links.
• Open Directory - Gamelan
  Annotated links to Gamelan music.

Japanese Society

Cultural values, customs, minority groups, foreign affairs, family and stereotypes. Emphasis on changes since World War II.

• allRefer Reference - Japan - Social Welfare
  Health and welfare systems.
• Cultural History of Japan, Illustrated Lectures
• Donald Keene Centre of Japanese Culture
  Tadashi Suzuki Lecture Transcription. Changes in Japanese society.
• Japanese Culture & Traditions
  Links to alphabetically listed topics.
• Japanese Culture and Customs [Questia]
  Enter Japanese Culture & Customs in the Search Box.
• Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
  Harvard. Most useful sections would be Documentation Centre on Contemporary Japan and Japan Resources from the main menu.
• The Ainu Museum
  Original inhabitants of Japan, their position in society.

Journals

Both electronic and print journals.

• Asian Affairs
  Journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. ‘Covers the whole region of Asia - the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia. Has a multi-disciplinary approach, which includes social, political and historical perspectives as well as contemporary affairs’.
• Asian & Pacific Studies Electronic Journals
  Collection, in alphabetical format.
• Asian Studies Journals
  ‘To aid readers and authors in learning about the great variety of Asia-centered periodicals now available’. University of California, Los Angeles. General listing, also by country.
• Asian Studies Review
  From the Asian Studies Association of Australia. Part of the larger association website.
• East Asian Studies Journals
  Annotated links.
• Journal of Asian Studies
  ‘The very best empirical and multidisciplinary work on Asia, spanning the arts, history, literature, the social sciences, and cultural studies. Experts around the world turn to this quarterly journal for the latest in-depth scholarship on Asia’s past and present, for its extensive book reviews, and for its state-of-the-field essays on established and emerging topics’.
• South & Southeast Asian Studies
  Electronic Journals & Newspapers. Annotated links listed alphabetically.

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References

• 1. School of Social and Cultural Studies : Asian Studies. University of Western Australia, 8 June, 2011. Web. 31 Aug. 2011. http://www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/courses/asian-studies.

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