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Shahrisabz

Shahrisabz (Uzbek Cyrillic and Шаҳрисабз; : "city of green" / "verdant city"; Шахрисабз) is a district-level city in Qashqadaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has selected Shakhrisabz as its tourism capital for 2024.

It is located approximately 80 km south of Samarkand, at an altitude of 622 m. Its population is 140,500 (2021). Historically known as Kesh or Kish, Shahrisabz was once a major city of Central Asia and was an important urban center of Sogdiana, a province of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. It is primarily known today as the birthplace of 14th-century Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur.

History
Formerly known as Kesh or Kish ("heart-pleasing") and tentatively identified with the ancient Nautaca, Shahrisabz is one of Central Asia’s most ancient cities. It was founded more than 2,700 years ago and formed a part of the Achaemenid Empire or Persia from the 6th to 4th centuries BC. Throughout this period Kesh remained an important urban center of Sogdiana, a major province within the Empire. Documents from the late Achaemenid period speak of the renovation of the city's walls. It has been known as Shahrisabz since the Timurid era.

Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy captured the satrap of Bactria and pretender to the Persian throne, Bessus, at Nautaca thus ending the once great Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great chose to spend his winters and met his wife Roxanna in the area in 328-327 BC. Between 567 and 658 AD rulers of Kesh paid taxes to khagans of Turkic and Western Turkic khaganates. In 710 the city was conquered by the Arabs and following the Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia in the 13th century, the region came under the control of the Barlas tribe, all of whose lineages seem to have been associated with this region.

As part of the Turkic Kaganate
In the 6th to 8th centuries, Kesh was a part of the Turkic and West Turkic Kaganates. In the 8th century the ruler-malik of Khuzar (Kesh) was Turk Subugra. Under Ton-Yabgu-Kagan (618-630) the power of Turks strengthened in Sogdia. New campaigns to Tokharistan and Afghanistan pushed the borders of the state to northwestern India. Ton-Yabgu Kagan carried out administrative reform and appointed his representatives - tuduns - in the regions, including Sogdia, to monitor and control the collection of tribute. It is assumed that he issued his coins with the inscription "Tun yabgu kagan".

An ancient Turkic tribe were the Khalaj people, who in the Early Middle Ages lived in Tokharistan - the modern territories of southern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan.

The Turks of Central Asia worshiped the following deities: Tengri (sky), Umai (Mother Goddess), Yer-sub (Earth-Water) and Erklig (Lord of Hell), among which Tengri held the predominant position. Tengri was the most important.

Arab conquest
Kesh was conquered by the Arabs in the 8th century. During the Arab invasion, the Kashkadarya Valley and especially Kesh was the epicenter of an anti-Arab and anti-Islamic liberation movement led by Al-Muqanna, known in history as the "Revolt of the Men in White Clothes".

The resistance eventually led to the decline of the capital city. In 701-704, there were battles between Turks and Arabs at Nessef and Kesh.

During the Samanid dynasty, urban life gradually moved to the southwest of old Kesh, the site of the large village of Barknon.

Karakhanid era
In 1038, Ibrahim ibn Nasr, who also was known as Böritigin, son of the conqueror of Transoxiana, captured Chaghaniyan, from where he invaded central Transoxiana. In 1040 he conquered Kesh. By the 10th century, the Karakhanid state had a literary language that continued the traditions of ancient turkic written texts. The official Karakhanid language of the 10th century was based on the grammatical system of ancient Karluk dialects. The Islamization of the Karakhanids and their turkic subjects played a major role in the cultural development of turkic culture. In the late 10th and early 11th centuries, for the first time in the history of the turkic peoples, the Tafsir, a commentary on the Quran, was translated into the turkic language. The 11th century scholar Mahmud Kashgari laid the foundations of turkic linguistics. He lists the names of many turkic tribes of Central Asia.

One of the famous scholars was the historian Majid al-Din al-Surhakati, who wrote "History of Turkestan", which outlined the history of the Karakhanid dynasty.

During the reign of the Karakhanids, the new capital of medieval Kesh was finally formed. During the hegemony of the Khwarazmshahs (early 13th century), Kesh-Shakhrisabz was first enclosed by defensive walls.

Modern history
During World War II, in 1942, the 6th Infantry Division of the Polish Anders' Army was stationed and organized in Shahrisabz, before it was evacuated from Uzbekistan to fight against Nazi Germany. There is a Polish military cemetery in the city.

The birthplace of Timur
Kesh was the birthplace of Timur in 1336, to the family of a minor local Barlas chief, and during the early years of the Timurid dynasty, the city enjoyed his considerable patronage. Timur regarded Kesh as his “home town” and planned it eventually to be the location of his tomb. However, during his reign, the center of activity shifted to Samarkand instead. In the era of Timur, masterpieces of world architecture were built: the Ak-Saray palace, the Dorusiodat memorial complex. The city struggled for autonomy under Bukharan rule and the Russians helped the Bukharan emir conquering the city in 1870.

Historical sites
Several remaining impressive monuments from the Timurid dynasty have enabled the old part of the city to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, destruction of vast areas of the medieval townscape in 2015 to create a park and tourist facilities have led to concern from UNESCO. It is possible that the listing could be lost.

 * Ak-Saray Palace

Timur's Summer Palace, the “White Palace” was planned as the most grandiose of all Timur's constructions. It was started in 1380 by artisans deported by Timur from the recently conquered Khwarezm. Unfortunately, only parts of its gigantic 65 m gate-towers survive, with blue, white and gold mosaics. Above the entry of the Ak-Saray are big letters saying: "If you challenge our power – look at our buildings!"

 * Kok Gumbaz Mosque / Dorut Tilovat (Dorut Tilavat) Complex

A Friday mosque built in 1437 by Ulugh Beg in honor of his father Shah Rukh, its name meaning “Blue Dome”. Located immediately behind the Kok Gumbaz Mosque is the so-called “House of Meditation”, a mausoleum built by Ulugh Beg in 1438 but apparently never used for burials.

 * Hazrat-i Imam Complex

East of the Kok Gumbaz is another mausoleum complex called Dorus-Saodat (Seat of Power and Might), which contains the Tomb of Jehangir, Timur's eldest and favorite son. The adjacent mosque is said to house the tomb of a revered 8th century imam Amir Kulal.

 * Tomb of Timur

Behind the Hazrat-i Imam Emsemble is a bunker with a door leading to an underground chamber, discovered by archaeologists in 1943. The room is nearly filled with a single stone casket, on which inscriptions indicate that it was intended for Timur. However, the conqueror was buried in Samarkand, not at Shahrisabz, and mysteriously, his tomb in Shahrisabz contained two unidentified corpses.

Also of interest are medieval baths and an 18th-century bazaar.

 * Shahrisabz Museum of History and Material Culture

Further external sites
To the north of the small village of Kumyrtepa in the Kitab District of the Kashkadarya Region, along the left bank of the small, low-water Shurabsay River, which originates from the Zarafshan Mountains, there are three hills of varying configurations running from north to south. Together, they constitute three parts of the ancient capital city of Nautaka (Padayaktepa, Uzunkyr, and Sangirtepa).

In the mid-1980s, archaeological sites in the Shurabsay micro-oasis, which are scattered within 5 kilometers of each other, were first surveyed by N.I. Krasheninnikova, a member of the KATE (Kesh Archaeological and Topographical Expedition). At that time, these three hills were identified as a citadel, the actual city, and the temple of Nautaka.

The citadel of the city measures 270x74 meters and is located in the northern part on a high, rugged bank of the Shurabsay River. As a result of archaeological work at the site, four construction horizons have been identified. The oldest cultural layers of the settlement date back to the 9th to 8th centuries BCE. In one of the excavations in the western part of Padayaktepa, a section of a defensive wall from the Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods can be traced. These walls indicate that the city of Nautaka had an aristocratic section, enclosed by a separate wall - an acropolis, similar to the ancient site of Afrasiab in Samarkand. With the end of Alexander the Great's rule, the city was abandoned, and only the acropolis of Padayaktepa continued to be inhabited. A new city emerged on the high right bank of the Aksu River, on the site of the Kalandartepa settlement, within the boundaries of the modern city of Kitab.
 * Padayaktepa

Remnants of the fortification wall of the city are visible near the village of Kumyrtepa in the form of a low mound measuring more than 650 meters in length and 20 meters in width. At one time, this wall encircled the entire city, covering an area of more than 70 hectares. The original wall of the settlement was constructed from adobe-like raw bricks dating back to the 10th-9th centuries BCE, which were characteristic of ancient cities in Sogd, such as Koktepa, and Kesh. Later, during the rule of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms, extensive repairs were carried out on the fortification walls of the city.
 * Uzunkyr

A standalone hill, located beyond the city walls, is situated about 650 meters to the southwest of Uzunkyr. It consists of a central hill with dimensions of 84x62 meters and a height of around 8 meters. The surrounding wall encloses an area within 3 hectares. Archaeological excavations have been conducted on this site by the Department of Archaeology at Tashkent State University (now the National University of Uzbekistan) since 1983. As a result of these excavations at Sangirtepa, a unique Zoroastrian temple was uncovered, featuring a hall in the center, an altar, and auxiliary rooms. The temple is one of the oldest religious structures in Central Asia.
 * Sangirtepa

Economy
The city's economy is primarily focused on the processing of agricultural raw materials, including cotton cleaning and canning, among other activities. Additionally, traditional and cottage industries are well-developed in the area.

Climate
Shahrisabz has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with chilly winters and very hot, dry summers.

In music
Shakhrisabz was celebrated in the well-known eponymous song by the Uzbek VIA "Yalla," with music by Farrukh Zokirov and lyrics by Yevgeny Berezikov.

title: Shahrisabz


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User talk:Qattus

Dun Gorg Preca
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title: User talk:Qattus


text: User talk:69.157.254.5

title: User talk:69.157.254.5


text:
Talk:Shahrisabz

Shahrisabz or Shakhrisabz?
Both are used, but the latter seems more common. See Shakhrisabz District. Should the article be titled Shakhrisabz? --Pete Tillman (talk) 23:45, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Shahrisabz


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Talk:Guru/Archive 2

Talk:guru
 * Talk:guru/archive1
 * Talk:guru/archive2

Biblio additions by Andries
The biblio you added are all Western criticism of Gurus. I would expect that references and biblio are more balanced toward the whole article rather than the narrow Western view of Gurus. After all, the Western usage section of the article is only apprx 20% of the whole article. After all the number of people that believe in Gurus (such as Hindus and Sikhs) will be greately offended by this approach.

I have no problems with you adding these, but we will need to add bibliography for the remaining 80% of the article to maintain NPOV.

An alternative would be to create a separate article about "Guruism" in which you and others can expand the criticism of Gurus. --Zappaz 01:50, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * I do not agree. The only really non-Eastern book is the one by Storr though he treats Bhagwan too. The psychiater Deutsch (literally) treats Jeff/Baba, who is in turn a follower of the Hindu guru SSB. Mary Garden was a follower of a string of Hindu gurus. Van der Lans points out the dangers of lack of personal contact when compared to traditional gurus. Kramer and Alstadt have a very long essay that could apply both to Hindu gurus as well as their Western equivalents. I have already written hereabove that I think that the distinction between Hindu and Western gurus is artificial and should go. There is too much overlap e.g. Andrew Cohen. Ram Dass, and Adi Da are not from India but learned from Hindu teachers, Bhagwan is from India but is not a Hindu guru. If there is a distinction to be made, then I find Kranenborg's three types more useful than Hindu versus non-Hindu. Andries 02:17, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * You did not understand what I meant. All these books are written by Westerners. This article relates to "Guru" from a much wider perspective than the one offered by Westerm sociologists. I am sure that you can appreciate that for Hindus, Sikhs and Budhists, the guru is a respected person and a tradition that goes back for 1,000's of years. In fact, when Western civilization was still in the dark ages, gurus in the East were a source of light and wisdom. Your approach to this article show a common bias of Western culture, that considers anything "different" such as the concept of guru as something to be feared and criticized. This is Wikipedia, an encylclopedia that respects diversity and respects diverse viepoints. In regard to this article, you must respect the millions of people to which "guru" represents a source of inspiration and great respect. -- Zappaz 02:46, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Wikipedia should use the most authorative sources regardless from the question whether they where written by Westerners or Indians. And please, when answering me, you seem to forget my background of intense involvement with and respect for a Hindu guru during nine years. Andries 03:24, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Hagiographic or non-scholarly books about individual gurus should not be listed in the bibliography. Andries 03:39, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Zappaz, what is the difference between the critical books about gurus by the Indians Basava Premanand, Abraham Kovoor and western critics? I think the distinction is very artificial. Andries 02:39, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Both these authors focused on debunking false gurus in modern India. What I am talking about is the tradition of gurus as teachers. --Zappaz 02:46, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * I understand and I agree. That is why I propose to drop the artificial distinction between Hindu and non-Hindu gurus but instead follow Kranenborg's three types, spiritual advisors (traditional), enlightened master, and avatar. Andries 02:49, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * That is exactly the problem I am referring. The taxonomy proposed by Kranenborg is, when viewed from a Eastern perspective, a very strange one. --Zappaz 03:11, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Then what is your alternative? I think the current version is worse than Kranenborg's taxonomy. Andries 03:18, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Reasons of slightly negative connotation
I think the reason of the slightly negative connotation is due to several factors and not to one as in the current version. I do not have references so quickly but nor does the current version. Andries 13:05, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 1) Generals suspsicion of foreign philosophies
 * 2) Proselytizing by followers
 * 3) Public came into contact with followers who disseminated simplistic, idiosyncratic philosophies, including surrender to the guru and who sometimes gave up their careers and studies to follow the guru conflicting with the public's common sense.
 * 4) Scandals e.g. Osho but also due to scandals with more traditional gurus.
 * 5) Sometimes bitter complaints of ex-followers who were disillusioned
 * 6) Activities of the anti-cult movement
 * 7) Unpredictability of some of these gurus (similar with charismatic authority) and their strong influence of their followers

 * You keep missing the point. For Sikhs, Hundus and Budhists, "guru" is to be respected and part of a tradition that spawns thousands of years. ll what you say is related to a very narrow interpretation of "guru", that of the Judeo-Christian tradition. --Zappaz 20:02, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * I admit that the more traditional part spiritual advisor of the guru needs expansion but that is one part of Hinduism that I do not know much about. Andries 21:16, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Yes. At this rate I can see already two different articles emerging. One that deals with the traditional aspects of Guru as in the great religions of the East (Budhism, Hinduism and Sikhism) and another article that deals with the critique/analysis of Gurus by Western sociologists and thinkers. Intertesting is the fact that Western civilization always had a problem in trying to understand the complexity of the Eastern traditions, such as this one. --Zappaz 23:30, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Zappaz, could you explain what you want with this article and explain why you moved van der Lans' and Kranenborg's citations to "Western context" though Kranenborg and van der Lans make statements that apply both to Hindu and westernized gurus? Andries 08:04, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * It is very obvious why. Both Kraneborg and der Lans are Westerners. For a Sikh, a Hindu or a Budhist, these assertions are tainted by a western world-view. The more I think about it, the more I feel that we need to create two separate articles. One that discusses Guru from a Western perspective, and one that discusses guru from a Budhist, Hinduist and Sikh perspective. --Zappaz 18:08, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * See this example: Imagine I am a Budhist that passionately studying Jesus and Christianity. I then come to Wikipedia and start editing the article. I am, of course, writing about Jesus from my world-view, that is Budhist. I compare Jesus with the Dalai-Lama, I start making comparisons between the Jesus' teachings and the Gautama's. Surely Christians will not be very happy about it. They will have no problem on a short section about "Budhism's views on Jesus", what they will be rightly upset if that section becomes the predominant section in the article. Do you see the problem...?   --Zappaz 18:22, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * I can imagine a distinction between religious views (Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Sant Mat) on gurus and secular views (psychological, sociological) but to make separate section and even articles on Western views is wrong, I believe. Some originally Indians hold Western ideas and some Westerners hold Hindu ideas. I do not think that there is much difference between an Indian enlightened master and a western enlightened master. I met a Western guru from the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, who followed an Indian guru and who held Hindu ideas about gurus. Lane has followed and written about an gurus for decades. Kranenborg started to study gurus in the early seventies. Andries 21:16, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Zappaz, I intend to merge the Hindu view and western view. I see no good reason why they should be separated. Andries 21:19, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Please don't. Please respond first to the position that I have explained above. If you stil intend to do so, I would suggest to bring this to RfC to see what other editors think. --Zappaz 03:22, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Attraction by gurus
Andries, I imagine that this is your writing. You will need to either provide attributions for the text in that sub-section (Guru statements or I will move to delete it. They way it currenty reads and without attributing it is not within NPOV.

There are several reasons why people in Western cultures are attracted by gurus.
 * How do you know of these reasons? (yo do not know what people think)

The most common is that people look for the meaning of life and are disillusioned in traditional religions.
 * Says who?

''Gurus provide answers to the meaning of life, often free from the intellectualism of philosophy. ''
 * Which Gurus?

''Other people who have traditional beliefs seek to intensify their religious life and see a guru who can help her or him with this. ''
 * Says who? Which "Other people".

''Gurus offer a belief system that offers fulfillment and purpose and sometimes promises of a peaceful happy life. Many gurus claim that they can bring people closer to God, facilitate enlightenment, moksha, or nirvana, or can help people to achieve good karma and a correspondingly better next incarnation.''
 * this is a awful generalization. Some Gurus do not address Karma or re-incarnation. Others dont's speak of Moksha or Nirvana.

This text as is needs to go or be re-written with less generalizations and providing some attributions or citacions. See if Kraneborg or der Lans say someting on the subject and attribute the text if you want. IMO, this is an example of the lack of understanding about cultures other that their own by Westerners and the assumptions and generalizations made. This is pretty bad... --Zappaz 03:38, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Please Zappaz, stop the harassment, you are less picky about what you vrite than about others write. Now, I confirm what andries said, and many people would confirm it. Is that OK for attribution? Please, don't dare to delete a text, a really stupid menace, just because you want to make the article unbalanced. If so, the whole article should be deleted, and all articles in wikipedia that don't give an attribution to every sentence should be deleted. All this propaganda of yours, either in this article or in the cult article, to the point of spitting at democratic laws in some paragraphs, is really becoming silly. Wikipedia is not here to recruit adepts for cults and gurus. You know, cigarettes pack include warnings, even aspirin notices include warnings, so certainly guru and cult articles should include warnings. --Pgreenfinch 08:42, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * I would encourage you to lower your tone and become more knowledgeable on how Wikipedia works, before making unwarranted assessments of my requests for attribution:
 * Please read NPOV, the foundation of Wikipedia. Your coment above shows a lack of basic understanding on how WP works.
 * Note that Wikipedia is not the place for original research. Read No original research
 * Wikipedia is not here to recruit adepts for cults and gurus, neither it is here to "warn" people about what some think to be nefarious. The basis of Wikipedia is that if information is presented in a neutral voice, with attributions of POV where needed, readers are intellingent enought to reach their own conclusions. Why do you see yourself to be authorative to spoon-feed readers your own biases? This the exact opposite of what WP is all about!

 * Andries, knows all the above, and I am sure he will find a way to keep the essence of that text, after he has found good sources that support it.

 * Regarding what I write, I expect that you hold me accountable to the same standards. If you see any text that I add without attribution or sources, let me know. --Zappaz 17:52, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Lower your tone also and don't try to impress me with lessons on how Wikipedia work. I didn't see you being the perfect example on those matters. You know perfectly well for example that attributions can be used to cover some biased presentations. The OSCE bit in the cult article was a good example of that. --Pgreenfinch 22:09, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * My tone is loew already. And yes, I still think that you will benefit from reading NPOV and No original research. I do that myself from time to time to refresh my memory. --Zappaz 04:31, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Zappaz, I wrote it. Feel free to remove statements that you feel are doubtful or overly generalizing in that section but please do not remove statements that you cannot seriously doubt because it will cost me a lot of time to find references for them even if they are obvious. Andries 18:06, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * I could try Andries, although I think that given you are the author, it should be you the one to make the edit and remove generalizations and POV. I can offer this edit:
 * As an alternative to established religions, some people in the West have looked up at spiritual guides and Gurus from the East to provide answers to the meaning of life and to achive a more direct experience free from intellectualism and philosophy. Gurus from many denominations have traveled to the West and established a following, in particular during the 1960s and 1970s.

 * I would collapse that text within the section "Criticism and assessment of the guru's authenticity". --Zappaz 04:31, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Removals of non-Hindu gurus by Jossifresco
Jossi removed Marshall Applewhite and Benjamin Creme which may be correct but he is incorrect in removing Shoko Asahara (whom I re-added) who has often been referred to as a guru, for example here. Andries 11:48, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Japanese newspapers call Asahara a guru. See Searching on google for Ashara & guru yields 5,900 results. In other words, enough evidence to list Asahara as a guru. Andries 16:41, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * I thought that this a list of of people that either call themelves "guru" or that his followers call him "guru". Not people that others call him guru, particularly if used as a pejorative. Maybe we need disclaimers for each one on the list establishing these distinctions (i.e. Shoko Asahara - called a guru by Japanese newspapers and critics). In this vein, What about Blavatsky, Crowley and Gurdjieff? Have these been called gurus? By whom? Note that we do not have this problem on the "list of famous gurus", because in Hindu context, Guru is a highly regarded role...≈ jossi ≈ 17:04, Apr 13, 2005 (UTC)

 * Well, I am certiain that Gurdjief has been called a guru by e.g. Anthony Storr. And it is not true that a guru is always so highly regarded in Hinduism. The existence of false gurus is well known. For example the influential Vivekananda and the Panchatantra warn against them. Andries 17:09, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Storr called a lot of people "guru". That is insufficent for listing these as gurus. I am remoning a few, leaving the obvious ones. --Zappaz 03:36, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Unattributed text
This must be from you Andries. Care to find an atribution or citation for this?
 * The history of various gurus, religions, sects, new religious movements and cults has shown that the question how to assess the authenticity of a guru is difficult, especially when the guru is still young.

This text seems to me just an idea and not encyclopedic:
 * According to the Bible, Jesus said that one should judge a prophet by his fruits, though it is not not clear whether this rule of the thumb also includes gurus..

Please also refrain of using ""some believe".
 * Some believe that this rule has the drawbacks that one should know what is good and bad in the first place and that one cannot possibly know all acts and their corresponding fruits of a guru.

Thanks. --Zappaz 23:43, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Zappaz, I have restored the sentence about Jesus that you removed. This is a notable attributed opinion. Andries 06:41, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Jesus said what he said. The applicability to Gurus need to be attributed. Removed. --Zappaz 20:53, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * many Christians believe that what Jesus said about prophet in this respect also applies to teachers, not just to prophets. Teacher is similar to the meaning given to the wors guru by Hindus. Andries 00:35, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Now it reads better, has context and is relevant. Thanks Andries .--Zappaz 05:22, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Why did was this text deleted?
 *  He further refers to Eileen Barker's list to recognize dangerous situation in religious movements.
 * There seem to be an effort to separate cults and false gurus. Thanks, -Willmcw 23:50, Apr 19, 2005 (UTC)

 * It was deleted because it is not relevant to that sentence (my highligt):
 * "The British psychiatry professor Anthony Storr argues in his book Feet of clay - A Study of gurus that gurus (in the non-Hindu usage of the word) share common character traits (e.g. being loners without friends) and that some suffer from a mild form of schizophrenia. He argues that the belief system that some gurus hold developed during a period of psychosis to make sense of their own minds and perceptions. These belief system persists after the psychosis has gone away. He further refers to Eileen Barker's list to recognize dangerous situation in religious movements."

 * A I missing something? The text refers to Storr's book, and explains his views about Gurus (the subject of this article). The subject of this article is not purported "dangerous situations in religious movements". What is the relevance? Deleted. --Zappaz 02:44, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * So are you saying that this discussion of false gurus is more relevant to cult checklists? Wow, maybe we should link the articles. No? OK, I'll copy the sentence over there, where it is relevant. Cheers, -Willmcw 05:10, Apr 20, 2005 (UTC)
 * Yes. Thanks. --Zappaz 20:53, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Zappaz, I have never read a guideline in Wikipedia that says that it is wrong to make links to related subjects. Not writing that sentence would give a one-sided view of Storr's opinion. Besides the sentence is relevant in an article about gurus. For example Barker's checklist contains the sentence.
 * "Leader who claim divine authority for their deeds and for their orders to their followers;"
 * Andries 06:25, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

- Zappaz, please read Storr's book first before commenting on his book. Thanks. Andries 21:27, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Zappaz, what you write about the book is nonsense. Storr never wrote that Freud had special revelations. Andries

 * Correct. I just made a list of all the people that Storr considered Gurus, and that, believe it or not, includes Freud and Jung. --Zappaz 05:22, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Guru/Archive 2


text:
Metamfepramone

Metamfepramone (INN, also known as dimethylcathinone, dimethylpropion, and dimepropion (BAN)) is a stimulant drug of the phenethylamine, and cathinone chemical classes. Dimethylcathinone was evaluated as an appetite suppressant and for the treatment of hypotension, but was never widely marketed.

It was used as a recreational drug in Israel under the name rakefet, but was made illegal in 2006.

Metamfepramone is metabolized to produce N-methylpseudoephedrine and methcathinone. It has also been found to be about 1.6 times less potent than methcathinone, making it roughly equipotent to cathinone itself.

Legal Status
In the United States, metamfepramone (N,N-Dimethyl-cathinone) is considered a Schedule I controlled substance as a positional isomer of mephedrone.

title: Metamfepramone


text:
Hapū

In Māori and New Zealand English, a hapū ("subtribe", or "clan" ) functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally operated independently of its iwi (tribe).

Etymology
The word hapū literally means "pregnant", and its usage in a socio-political context is a metaphor for the genealogical connection that unites hapū members. Similarly, the Māori word for land, whenua, can also mean "placenta", metaphorically indicating the connection between people and land, and the Māori word for tribe, iwi, can also mean "bones", indicating a link to ancestors.

Definition
As named divisions of iwi (tribes), hapū membership is determined by genealogical descent; a hapū consists of a number of whānau (extended family) groups. The Māori scholar Hirini Moko Mead states the double meanings of the word hapū emphasise the importance of being born into a hapū group. As a metaphor this is "the members being born of the same womb", and "conveys the idea of growth, indicating that a hapū is capable of containing many whānau."

In the 1870 census the Whakatōhea iwi had five named hapū ranging in size from 51 to 165 people. Some were apparently overlooked, as an iwi register from 1874 showed two more hapū, but these had only 22 and 44 members respectively. The hapū of this iwi ranged in size from 22 to 188. In 1874, hapū still had a small male-female imbalance overall with 6 of the 7 iwi having far more males than females. In the four-year period between the census and the register, all the hapū had grown significantly—at a time when popular opinion had it that the Māori population was in decline. Ngāti Rua gained 8, Ngāti Patu gained 28, Ngāti Tama gained 63, Ngāti Ira lost 4, and Ngāti Ngahere gained 17. These population gains were at a time when the iwi had land confiscated by the government for their support of various anti-government movements. Some hapū in other iwi were larger.

History
Before the arrival of Pākehā, the normal day-to-day operating group in Māori society seems to have been the smaller whānau. Each hapū had its own chief and normally operated independently of the tribe (iwi) group. By the 1820s Māori had realised the economic benefits of working in larger groups—especially when it came to trading with ships. The larger hapū could work more effectively to produce surplus flax, potatoes, smoked heads and pigs in exchange for blankets, tobacco, axes and trade muskets. In warfare the hapū operated as the standard grouping for warriors during the period of the Musket Wars (1807–1842). Hapū would unite politically under their own chief, to form much larger armies of up to several thousand warriors, although it was common for hapū to retain independence within the larger group.

Te Maire Tau noted in his study of Ngāi Tahu migrations that hapū size and names were volatile, with hapū splitting into sister groups when they grew in size or when migrating. New hapū often adopted names from events associated with the migration. Likewise the same group of people would change their name according to different circumstances. Name changes primarily asserted rights to resources given to a named hapū, or emphasised a link to an ancestor with mana in a particular area. Tau states that hapū names and locations have become more stable in more recent times.

Missionaries such as Henry Williams noted that even in times of war against another iwi, hapū usually operated independently. In the period of the Musket Wars (1807–1842) many of the battles involved fighting between competing hapū rather than different iwi. It was not uncommon for two hapū from the same iwi to clash.

Hapū were frequently the political unit that sold land to the Europeans: in the 20 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, according to Native Affairs Minister William Richmond, different hapū or comparatively small groups of individuals sold half of all the blocks sold under the Treaty. Richmond said that hapū or small groups sold all the land sold north of Auckland, some in Hawke's Bay, in the Wairarapa valley, in the Waikato at Raglan, and in sales by Te Āti Awa in Wellington and Taranaki.

title: Hapū


text:
Runaway Horses

Runaway Horses (奔馬) is a 1969 novel by Yukio Mishima, the second in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Mishima did much research to prepare for this novel, visiting locations recorded in the book and studying historical information about the Shinpūren Rebellion collected by previous researchers, including Ishihara Shiko'o. Japanese critics initially reviewed Runaway Horses negatively.

According to Araki Seishi, Mishima didn't care whether or not Runaway Horses sold well, and deliberately selected a featureless wasōbon-like cover design. Araki was concerned that the forbiddingly blank cover would result in younger generations not bothering to read it. However, Shinchosha ultimately included a more decorative design on the dust jackets of the first published edition.

Plot
Set between June 1932 and December 1933, Runaway Horses tells the story of young Isao Iinuma, a rightist reactionary trained in the samurai code by his father. Isao becomes the instigator of a plot to topple the zaibatsu that he feels have corrupted the Yamato-damashii and betrayed the will of the Emperor. He is assured of the army's assistance by the young Lieutenant Hori. They plan to assassinate many key government figures simultaneously on December 3, 1932.

Shigekuni Honda, a character who figured prominently in Spring Snow, the first novel of the cycle, appears again here as a judge and later lawyer. He comes to believe that Isao is the reincarnation of Kiyoaki Matsugae, the aristocratic schoolfriend whose story was told in Spring Snow. Realising that Isao too seems to be hurtling towards a "picturesque" death, he makes strenuous efforts to save him without revealing this personal connection.

Honda and Isao (ch. 1-8)
It is just after the May 15 Incident of 1932. Shigekuni Honda, the law student from Spring Snow, is now a junior associate judge at the Osaka Court of Appeals. He is asked by Judge Sugawa to give an address at a kendo tournament on June 16 at the Ōmiwa Shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture.

At the tournament, the chief priest points out to him a promising athlete called Isao Iinuma. Honda realises that this is the son of Shigeyuki Iinuma, Kiyoaki's old tutor, now a right-wing "personality". After lunch, Honda climbs the sugi-clad Mount Miwa and afterwards descends to Sanko Falls to bathe. Some of the kendoists are already there. Honda is startled to see that Isao has the same three moles on his side that Kiyoaki had, and remembers Kiyoaki's dying words: "I'll see you again. I know it. Beneath the falls."

The next day, at the Saigusa Festival at Izagawa Shrine in Nara, Honda is introduced to Mr. Iinuma. He now runs the "Academy of Patriotism" (靖献塾, Seiken'juku, pretentiously named after the Seiken Igen of Asami Keisai) and is slowly going to seed, morbidly talkative, his face "marked by the years and by the common tribulations." Honda invites him and his son to dinner that evening. Iinuma accepts, and responds by introducing Honda to the poet, retired Lt.-Gen. Kito, and his 30-year-old divorced daughter Makiko.

Iinuma and his son leave for Tokyo after the dinner. Just before they go, Isao lends Honda a copy of his favourite book, The League of the Divine Wind by Tsunanori Yamao, and urges him to read it.

Part 1: The Rite of Ukei
"At the time of the... Imperial Restoration, the indications had been altogether favourable that the august wish of His Late Majesty Komei to expel the barbarians would be fulfilled. But clouds soon cut off the light of Heaven... swords were forbidden to the common people... it was decreed that samurai could cut off their topknot and that they might go without swords."

In 1873, four samurai worship at Shingai Shrine in Kumamoto Prefecture, and then await the results of a divination performed by the priest Ōtaguro Tomoo, the heir of the late, revered Hayashi Ōen, whose 200 followers will come to be known as "the League of the Divine Wind". The proposals they have put to the gods are: "To bring an end to misgovernment by admonishing authority even to the forfeiture of life" and "to cut down the unworthy ministers by striking in darkness with the sword". Both return the response "Not propitious." In 1874, the proposal Otaguro puts is to take advantage of the vulnerability induced by the Saga Rebellion. Again, the Ukei rite returns "Not propitious."

On 18 March 1876, the wearing of swords is prohibited. Harukata Kaya resigns as priest of Kinzan Shrine and presents a petition to the prefectural governor. In May, the rite of Ukei is performed by Otaguro, this time returning "Propitious." The others wish Kaya to join them in rebellion, but he is reluctant. A further rite convinces Kaya that it is his duty.

Part 2: The Combat of the Ukei
On arriving at Kumamoto Castle on the night of 24 October 1876, the 200 warriors split into three units. The first attacks the residences of the major officials; Governor Yasuoka is killed. The second attacks the artillery battalion, with great success; the third attacks the infantry encampment, breaking down barrack doors and throwing in grenades. The tide turns when ammunition is found for the garrisoned troops, and when the second unit rushes to the aid of the third, it is entrapped, and both Kaya and Otaguro die.

Part 3: One with the Gods
The next morning, on the 9th day of the 9th month (lunar calendar), 46 survivors gather on Mount Kinpo, less than four miles (6 km) west of Kumamoto Castle. The six boats intended for escape are stuck in tidal mud and it is debated what they should do. The seven youngest rebels are sent away with Tsuruda, and the rest descend to Chikozu beach. A scouting party returns with the report that a crackdown is underway and no further military action can be taken. Accordingly, the survivors split up. One by one they surrender or commit seppuku, and a detailed accounting is given of each man's end. The pamphlet concludes with a quotation from the Romance of the Divine Fire (神焰稗史端書), a book later written by the captured rebel Ogata Kotarō (緒方 小太郎) while serving a life sentence in prison.

Honda's letter to Isao (ch. 10)
Honda sends the book back with a letter that Isao reads when he arrives at school. In it, Honda expresses a new respect for the League, and for the forces of the irrational in general (influenced by his new belief in reincarnation, although that is a secret) and discusses the dead Kiyoaki and his passion for Satoko. However, he warns Isao that the tale of the League is "unsuitable" for him, and dangerous, and lectures him at length on the need for "the comprehensive picture offered by history."

Isao concludes that Honda's "age and profession have turned him into a coward", but that the judge is still in some sense "a man of 'purity'."

Isao's circle (ch. 11-14)
After school, Isao and two schoolfriends (Izutsu and Sagara) go to the boarding-house of a right-wing army officer, Lieutenant Hori. (It is Kitazaki's—the same inn that appeared in Spring Snow.) Isao boldly announces his intention of organising a "Showa League" and voices extreme sentiments for which Hori expresses sympathy, although the lieutenant become tense when Isao asks direct questions about Hori's connections to men involved in the May 15 Incident. The three boys stay until 9pm, listening to him discuss current affairs. Isao lends him The League of the Divine Wind.

On Sunday morning in July, Isao conducts a kendo practice for young boys in the drill hall of the neighbourhood police station. While a detective called Tsuboi talks to him, four Communists are brought to the prison, and Isao feels a stab of envy. Iinuma runs an "Academy of Patriotism" in a wing of his large house in Hongō. We learn about what happened to Iinuma and Miné between 1914 and 1932, and meet the 40-year-old student named Sawa. After Master Kaido's Sunday lecture, Isao shows his two schoolfriends a map of Tokyo, suggesting an air-raid on the areas he has coloured in purple. Later on they have dinner with Makiko at her house, and the four discuss who in Japan most deserves assassination. Isao names Kurahara. Makiko has kept the lilies Isao brought from Izagawa Shrine a month ago, and hands them one each.

Isao visits Hori at the garrison. Hori expresses irritation with Isao's hot-headed talk. During kendo practice, he is impressed with Isao's abilities, and proposes taking him to an audience with Prince Harunori Toin, the military royal for whom Satoko had been intended.

The Capitalists (ch. 15-19)
Baron Shinkawa gives a banquet at his villa in Karuizawa. Five couples sit and chat in his garden before dinner: the Matsugaes, the Shinkawas, the Kuraharas, the Matsudairas, and the Minister of State and his wife. They discuss current affairs in great detail, with prominence given to the personality and monetaristic opinions of Kurahara. We discover the fate of members of the Matsugae household. The Marquis Matsugae himself is humiliated by his insignificance, even by the fact he has no bodyguard.

Isao has an audience with Prince Toin, against Iinuma's wishes. Hori and the Prince chat for a while; when the Prince criticises the nobility, Isao uses the opportunity to give him The League and to express his ideas about bushido.

By this time, Isao has gathered 20 more boys into his circle, and Izutsu and Sagara have studied explosives. Two weeks before the end of summer vacation, he sends all the boys a telegram ordering them to return to Tokyo for a meeting at the school shrine at 6pm. All turn up and are stunned when Isao tells them it was only a drill; three leave. Isao then has the remaining boys swear vows of fealty. To Isao's surprise, Makiko turns up, and takes them all to dinner at a restaurant in Shibuya.

Chapter 19 gives a description of the opening of a Noh play attended by Honda in Osaka, called Matsukaze. While watching the two ghostly women ladle seawater into their brine-cart, Honda suddenly decides that his grief for Kiyoaki has deceived him and that there could be no real connection between Kiyoaki and Isao.

Isao's plot (ch. 20-30)
While hanging out his washing in October (on a certain Mr Koyama's 77th birthday), Sawa asks Isao if he can go with him and his "study group" to Master Kaido's training camp in the week starting on the 20 October. Isao makes no reply. Sawa, while serving him tea in his own room, starts to describe how three years ago Iinuma helped extort 50,000 yen from a newspaper and used his 10,000 yen share to bolster the Academy. Isao is disappointed, but not shocked until Sawa warns him, without explanation, that he cannot hurt Kurahara without betraying his father. Wondering if Kurahara is a secret patron of the Academy, Isao later returns to Sawa's room and demands an explanation. Sawa responds by begging to be allowed to kill Kurahara himself. But after hearing him out, Isao smilingly denies there is any plot.

Honda hears an account of the coup d'état that took place in Siam on 24 June, during which the country became a constitutional monarchy controlled by Col. Phahon Phonphayuhasena. On Friday 21 October, Honda attends a judicial conference in Tokyo, and on Sunday goes with Iinuma to see Isao at the riverside training camp at Yanagawa. Isao is in trouble: he has taken offence at the bland Shintoism espoused by Master Kaido and gone out to kill an animal after having been ritually purified. When he accompanies the whole group as they look for Isao, Honda is startled to realise that one of the dreams in Kiyoaki's journal is now being acted out in detail.

Isao holds a secret meeting on Monday evening and shows the other boys his elaborate plan for a "Shōwa Restoration" placing all government functions under the Emperor's control, through (1) destroying Tokyo's six electric transformer substations, (2) assassinating Shinkawa, Nagasaki and Kurahara, and (3) burning the Bank of Japan, events that would lead to the desired declaration of martial law, after which they would all commit seppuku. The plan mentions Hori and Prince Toin. They discuss details of the plot; Isao names December 3 at random as the date, and they receive an unexpected windfall of 1000 yen from Sawa, who claims he acquired the money by selling land.

Honda visits Kiyoaki's grave before returning to Osaka. On November 7, Lieutenant Hori summons Isao and tells him he is being sent to Manchuria on November 15. When Hori suggests moving the date of the plot to this week, Isao realises that he has no intention of taking part. Hori suddenly urges Isao to give up the plot, and Isao pretends to be persuaded. At the group's secret headquarters (a rented house in Yotsuya Sumon) Isao tries to salvage the plan. Seyama, Tsujimura and Ui argue with Isao in private, and he dismisses them from the group. Within days, only 10 are left with Isao, and on November 12 they are joined by Sawa, who sets out a plan for the 12 of them to assassinate one capitalist each. Sawa is assigned Kurahara, and Isao is assigned Baron Shinkawa.

Isao visits the Kitos one last time on November 29 to deliver a present of oysters, but Makiko follows him, guessing that he has resolved to die, and they kiss on a hill opposite Hakusan Park. Makiko promises to go to Ōmiwa Shrine at Sakurai and bring them each back a talisman the day before they go ahead. Isao does not admit they already each have one of her lily petals.

The morning of December 1, the boy conspirators are at their hideout, discussing the daggers they have bought, when they are arrested by detectives. In the afternoon Sawa is arrested at the Academy.

Discovery and trial (ch. 31-37)
On reading about Isao in the newspaper, Honda resolves to save him, and resigns his judgeship to act as defence lawyer for Isao. In Tokyo, Iinuma thanks him, and then claims that it was he himself who informed the police, and that he did it to save his son from death. Prince Toin summons Honda to his house on December 30. The prince expresses sympathy for the twelve, but is horrified when Honda informs him that he was mentioned by name in the propaganda leaflets they prepared, and loses interest in helping them. Honda saves the situation by persuading him to lean on the Imperial Household Minister to have that part of the evidence suppressed.

Isao is moved to Ichigaya Prison in late January, and a long prophetic dream is described. He learns that Honda will be defending him, and realises that he has awakened popular sympathy. During an interrogation he hears Communists being tortured, and asks why he is not tortured; the interrogator replies that as a rightist he has his heart in the right place. In June he receives a Saigusa Festival lily from Makiko, which she has gone all the way to Nara to pick. The trial opens on June 25. The evidence of the leaflets has been suppressed, and it becomes clear that Lt. Hori is unlikely to be indicted.

At the second session on July 19, Isao boldly admits to planning the assassinations. Honda tries to fudge the issue by bringing up the purchase of the daggers and leading the witness Izutsu to admit that, as imitators of the League of Divine Wind, these weapons would be more appropriate for committing seppuku than for murder. The innkeeper Kitazaki is called as witness, and he says he heard Hori telling a lone visitor to "Give it up!" although he did not know to whom Hori was speaking. Pressed to identify the person, Kitazaki points to Isao, but his strange words seem to suggest he is confusing Isao with Kiyoaki, although they had no physical resemblance. Most assume he is senile. Only Honda realizes the significance of his confusion of Kiyoaki and Isao. Makiko is called as witness, and while reading a mendacious diary entry for November 29, she manages to cleverly insinuate that Isao was not only planning to abandon the conspiracy, but that he was merely a schoolboy in over his head, boasting and play-acting all along. The manipulative older woman hopes that her young lover will surrender his ideals and save himself by lying, since he cannot contradict her in court without exposing her to a charge of perjury. Thinking fast, Isao sidesteps dishonor by claiming that he did indeed talk of giving up the conspiracy, but only to spare her from any consequences of his actions. The judge, who becomes sympathetic, allows him to enlarge on his motives, and he delivers a long address on the suffering of the common people and the need to destroy the deadly spirit poisoning Japan. The prosecutor expresses doubts about Makiko's testimony, but it is clear he senses defeat.

Denouement (ch. 38-40)
The verdict is handed down on December 26. They are found guilty, but punishment is remitted on account of their youth and pure motives, and they are released. That evening, a celebratory dinner is held at the Academy of Patriotism. Tsumura, the youngest student, is irritated by the jolly atmosphere and shows Isao a newspaper account of desecratory blunders made by Kurahara on December 16 at the Inner Ise Shrine. Iinuma, drunk, tells Isao that he was the informant. Isao is not surprised until Iinuma goes on to say that the Academy is run entirely with money paid by Baron Shinkawa as protection, and that Shinkawa made him promise, just before the May 15 Incident, never to allow Kurahara to be touched. Later, Honda hears the sleeping Isao mutter "Far to the south. Very hot...in the rose sunshine of a southern land," predicting his next reincarnation. In the morning he meets Tsuboi, who asks him to teach kendo to children, and he has a vision of himself doing so till old age. Sawa takes Isao into his room and lets him know that it was Makiko (whom Isao has not seen since the trial) who told Iinuma of their plan by telephone. This is the final straw for Isao.

On 29 December, Isao slips away from Sawa during a lantern procession, buys a dagger, and travels to Inamura, a seaside village near Atami, Shizuoka. He breaks into Kurahara's weekend house, stabs him to death because of his blasphemy at Ise Shrine, then runs through his tangerine orchards down to a cave on the shore where he commits seppuku.

Major themes
The book explores the history and atmosphere of the early Showa Period and also of the Meiji Period through Isao's increasing obsession with the League of the Divine Wind, a group that attempted an insurrection in Kumamoto in October 1876, eight years after the Meiji Restoration, in reaction to the prohibition of the wearing of swords.

It also discusses the Wang Yangming school of thought (according to which, "to know and not to act is not truly to know"), espoused in Japan by Chusai Oshio, a rebel who died in 1837 while leading an insurrection in Osaka.

While Mishima's vision is considerably darker, more ambiguous and more complex than that of J.D. Salinger, the theme of adult corruption versus adolescent purity is strongly present throughout the novel. Isao resembles Holden Caulfield in his disdain for adult duplicity, hypocrisy, and the dreary ugliness of adult sexuality, but differs from him sharply in terms of his greater courage, his charisma and natural leadership, his passionate eloquence and athletic skill, his reverence for the past, and above all his willingness to sacrifice himself for the greater good.

Isao's final acts are to a certain extent nihilistic because he performs them after he has become aware of their falsehood and futility. In other words, it is a much more profound kind of suicide than the one he had been planning. Isao’s actions can also be viewed in the light of Martin Heidegger’s existentialist philosophy and its embrace of death.

The book explores the boundary between atheism and religious belief by presenting Honda with seeming evidence of reincarnation and exploring his emotional responses. The religions of Buddhism and Shinto are contrasted.

Characters

 * Major characters
 * Shigekuni Honda
 * His wife Rié, married in 1922
 * Isao Iinuma (1914–33)
 * Shigeyuki Iinuma, Isao's father, Kiyoaki's former tutor
 * Lieutenant Hori, a right-wing Army officer
 * Lieutenant-General Kensuké Kito (retired), a poet
 * Makiko Kito, General Kito's daughter, a cunning, seductive older woman who is in love with Isao
 * Prince Harunori Toin, an aristocrat distantly related to the royal family
 * Judge Murakami, a friend of Honda
 * Judge Sugawa, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals, and a kendo enthusiast
 * Tsuboi, a Special Police detective and 2nd-level kendoist
 * Master Kaido Masugi, an elderly disciple of Hirata Atsutane
 * An official sent to Honda by Prince Toin
 * Judge Hisamatsu, who tries Isao and his companions
 * The unnamed prosecutor
 * Reikichi Kitazaki, the old innkeeper
 * Lieutenant Miura, also at the inn (mentioned by Kitazaki but never seen)
 * The Matsugaes, the Matsudairas, the Minister of State and his wife
 * Baroness Shinkawa and Mrs. Kurahara
 * Capitalists
 * Baron Tōru Shinkawa
 * Busuké Kurahara
 * Juemon Nagasaki
 * Nobuhisa Masuda, Shonosuké Yagi, Hiroshi Teramoto, Zembei Ota, Ryuichi Kamiya, Minoru Gota, Sadataro Matsubara, Genjiro Takai, and Toshikazu Kobinata are added to the list by Sawa
 * Showa League
 * Isao Iinuma
 * Sawa, a 40-year-old student at the Academy
 * Izutsu and Sagara, the two schoolfriends of Isao
 * Hasegawa and Serikawa, along with Sagara and the nine who back out, were to attack transformer substations
 * Miyaké, Miyahara, Kimura and Fujita were to help Isao and Izutsu with the three original assassinations
 * Takasé and Inoué, Army officers
 * Lieutenant Hori and First Lieutenant Shiga of the Air Force
 * Seyama, Tsujimura, Yoneda, Sakakibara, Horié, Mori, Ohashi, Takahashi, Ui

Reception
Richard T. Kelly of The Guardian, after discussing the character of Honda envying Isao's ardor, wrote that "Mishima is dispassionately brilliant in noting ignoble human impulses – the twinge of jealousy, the flicker of disgust."

References to other works

 * Minamoto no Sanetomo, a poet of the 13th Century, to whom the fictional Kito's Hekiraku is compared (ch.7)
 * Ogata Kotarō's "Romance of the Divine Fire" is an abridged version of the historical Sorrowful Draft from Prison (獄の憂草), perhaps also influenced by the Prison Utterances (幽囚唫) of Koyama Hagyaku (小山破逆) (ch.9)
 * Kita Ikki's An Outline Plan for the Reorganization of Japan (日本改造法案大綱 Nihon Kaizō Hōan Taikō), written in 1923, considered unsuitable for his followers by Isao (ch.18)
 * Matsukaze, a Noh drama featuring the actors Kanesuke Noguchi and Yazo Tamura (ch.19)
 * Atsutane Hirata, a Shintoist famous for diatribes against Buddhism (ch.22-23)
 * The last poem by Inokichi Miura, of the Sakai incident, chanted by Sawa (ch.26)
 * An anti-Buddhist poem by Kohei Tomobayashi, recited by Sawa (ch.26)
 * Isao receives Dr. Inoue Tetsujirō's Philosophy of the Japanese Wang Yangming School in prison (ch.35)
 * A gramophone record of Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Richard Strauss's tone-poem Till Eulenspiegel is listened to by Prince Toin (ch. 32)
 * In an essay, Baron Shinkawa mentions The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (ch.28)

References to historical events
Runaway Horses is the most explicitly political of the novels in The Sea of Fertility and contains detailed descriptions of the court and penitentiary systems of the time, and of official attitudes towards political extremists.
 * The May 15 Incident of 1932, during which Prime Minister Inukai was assassinated, is in the newspaper Honda reads in the opening scene (ch. 2)
 * The kendo tournament takes place at Omiwa Shrine at the foot of Mount Miwa near Sakurai, Nara (ch. 4)
 * The Shinpūren Rebellion of 1876: an attack on Kumamoto Castle led by "The League of the Divine Wind" (Japanese Shinpūren), and retreat to Mount Kinpo, immediately prior to the Satsuma Rebellion (ch. 9)
 * The capture and imprisonment of Ogata Kotarō. Although the novel insinuates that Ogata remained in prison for the rest of his life, he was in fact released under amnesty in 1881. (ch. 9)
 * Near Isao's classroom at the Kokugakuin is a taiko made by the master drum-maker Onozaki Yahachi (小野崎彌八). (ch. 10)
 * Meiji Shrine and Yasukuni Shrine are visited every month by Iinuma's academy (ch.12)
 * A petition presented at the Japanese Diet in June 1932 for a moratorium on farmers' debts (ch. 15)
 * The UK goes off the gold standard in 1931 (ch. 15)
 * The retiring Finance Minister Takahashi's efforts to sabotage the embargo on gold exports (ch. 15)
 * The possibility of the recognition of Manchukuo (ch. 15)
 * The policy of reflation (ch. 15)
 * The rice riots of 1918, which prompted Premier Terauchi's resignation (ch. 15)
 * The Bon Festival in Karuizawa (ch. 15)
 * The Olympic Games of 1932 in Los Angeles, United States (ch. 18)
 * Honda goes to the Osaka Noh Theatre in Tennoji-Dogashiba (ch. 19)
 * Master Kaido's 6 acre training camp is at Yanagawa, in Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi. The camp lies under Motozawa Cliff, next to the Katsura River, near Mount Gozen (ch. 22-23)
 * Isao remembers sparring with the kendo master Fukuchi (ch. 27)
 * The London Naval Conference 1930, considered humiliating to Japan (ch. 37)
 * Sagoya shoots Premier Hamaguchi (ch. 37)
 * Famine in Tohoku and Hokkaidō in 1931 (ch. 37)

Film
Runaway Horses is one of three Mishima novels adapted by Paul Schrader for his 1985 film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. It features in chapter three, "Action". The other two novels are The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and Kyoko's House.

Quotations
In a letter about The League of the Divine Wind, Isao's favorite book (a book which Mishima reproduces in full), Honda writes to him: "At your age, however, every excitement is dangerous. Every excitement that can send one pitching headlong is dangerous. And some are especially dangerous. For example, judging from that light that flashes from your eyes to disconcert those around you, I would think that your very nature makes a tale of this sort 'unsuitable' for you."

In prison, Isao considers the reasons for the failure of his plot and subsequent imprisonment. He determines that the very act or bonding with his comrades in a "blood brotherhood" had brought about, or in the words of the novel "crystallized", an evil that is only possible in the presence of purity, musing: "The purest evil that human efforts could attain, in other words, was probably achieved by those men who made their wills the same and who made their eyes see the world in the same way, men who went against the pattern of life's diversity, men whose spirits shattered the natural wall of the individual body, making nothing of this barrier, set up to guard against mutual corrosion, men whose spirit accomplished what flesh could never accomplish."

title: Runaway Horses


text:
Dark Night (song)

Dark Night is a song by The Blasters. It was first featured on the 1985 album Hard Line. The earliest offerings of the song in popular culture can be found in the 1985 episode "Whatever Works" in season 2 of the TV crime drama Miami Vice. It experienced a resurgence in popularity after being prominently featured in the 1996 Robert Rodriguez film From Dusk Till Dawn as the opening and closing song. It also featured as the main theme in the 2005 motion picture, Dark Night.

Reception
Spin wrote, "Dave Alvin's masterpiece is "Dark Night". His lyrics paint a timeless portrait of senseless bloodshed that could equally apply to the Hatfield-McCoy feud or barrio turf battles. The opening line, 'Hot air hangs like a dead man', and the cut's twangy bayou guitar licks chill to the marrow."

title: Dark Night (song)


text:
User talk:Ysw1987

Hong Kong meetup 58
SusanLai (talk) 05:49, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

Hong Kong meetup 83
SusanLai (talk) 10:53, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Hong Kong meetup 83
SusanLai (talk) 10:53, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Hong Kong meetup 84
SusanLai (talk) 07:31, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:00, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Ysw1987


text:
Awen

Awen is a Welsh, Cornish and Breton word for "inspiration" typically poetic inspiration).

In Welsh mythology, awen is the inspiration of the poets, or bards; its personification, Awen is the inspirational muse of creative artists in general. The inspired individual (often a poet or a soothsayer) is an awenydd. Neo-Druids define awen as "flowing energy" or as "a force that flows with the essence of life".

In current usage, awen is sometimes ascribed to musicians and poets. Awen also occurs as a female given name.

The word appears in the third stanza of "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau", the national anthem of Wales.

Etymology
Awen derives from the Indo-European root *-uel, meaning 'to blow', and has the same root as the word awel meaning 'breeze' in Welsh and 'wind' or 'gale' in Cornish.

Historical attestation
The first recorded attestation of the word occurs in Nennius's Historia Brittonum, a Latin text of c. 796, based in part on earlier writings by the Welsh monk, Gildas. It occurs in the phrase 'Tunc talhaern tat aguen in poemate claret' (Talhaern the father of the muse was then renowned in poetry) where the Old Welsh word aguen (awen) occurs in the Latin text describing poets from the sixth century.

It is also recorded in its current form in Canu Llywarch Hen (9th or 10th century?) where Llywarch says 'I know by my awen' indicating it as a source of instinctive knowledge.

On connections between awen as poetic inspiration and as an infusion from the divine, The Book of Taliesin often implies this. A particularly striking example is contained in the lines:

ban pan doeth peir ogyrwen awen teir

-literally “the three elements of inspiration that came, splendid, out of the cauldron” but implicitly “that came from God” as ‘peir’ (cauldron) can also mean ‘sovereign’ often with the meaning ‘God’. It is the “three elements” that is cleverly worked in here as awen was sometimes characterised as consisting of three sub-divisions (‘ogyrwen’) so “the ogyrwen of triune inspiration”, perhaps suggesting the Trinity.

There are fifteen occurrences of the word awen in The Book of Taliesin as well as several equivalent words or phrases, such as ogyrven which is used both as a division of the awen (‘Seven score ogyrven which are in awen, shaped in Annwfn’) as well as an alternative word for awen itself. The poem Armes Prydain (The Prophecies of Britain) begins with the phrase ‘Awen foretells …’, and it is repeated later in the poem. The link between poetic inspiration and divination is implicit in the description of the Awenyddion given by Gerald of Wales in the 12th century and the link between bardic expression and prophecy is a common feature of much early verse in Wales and elsewhere

A poem in The Black Book of Carmarthen by an unidentified bard, but addressed to Cuhelyn Fardd (1100-1130) asks God to allow the awen to flow so that ‘inspired song from Ceridwen will shape diverse and well-crafted verse’. This anticipates much poetry from identified bards of the Welsh princes between circa 1100-1300 which juggles the competing claims of the Celtic Church with the source of the awen in the Cauldron of Ceridwen.

So Llywarch ap Llywelyn (1173-1220) – also known as ‘Prydydd y Moch’ – can address his patron Llywelyn ap Iorwerth like this:

'I greet my lord, bring awen’s great greeting

Words from Ceridwen I compose

Just like Taliesin when he freed Elffin'.

The same poet also penned the lines

'The Lord God grant me sweet awen

As from the Cauldron of Ceridwen'

Elidr Sais (c. 1195-1246), ‘singing to Christ’, wrote

'Brilliant my poetry after Myrddin

Shining forth from the cauldron of awen'

Dafydd Benfras (1220-1258) included both Myrddin (Merlin) and Aneirin in his backward glance:

'Full of awen as Myrddin desired

Singing praise as Aneirin before me

when he sang of ‘Gododdin’.'

Later in the Middle Ages the identification of the source of the Awen begins to shift from Ceridwen to more orthodox christian sources such as the Virgin Mary, the saints, or directly from God. A full discussion can be found in Awen y Cynfeirdd a’r Gogynfeirdd by Y Chwaer Bosco. The Bardic Grammars of the later Middle Ages identify ‘The Holy Spirit’ as the proper source of the awen. The 15th century bard Sion Cent argued that God is the only source and dismissed the “lying awen” of bards who thought otherwise as in his dismissive lines

A claimant false this awen is found

Born of hell’s furnace underground

Such a focus on an unmediated source was picked up by the eighteenth century Unitarian Iolo Morgannwg (Edward Williams, 1747-1826) who was able to invent the awen symbol /|\, suggesting that it was an ancient druidic sign of “the ineffable name of God, being the rays of the rising sun at the equinoxes and solstices, conveying into focus the eye of light”.

Giraldus Cambrensis referred to those inspired by the awen as "awenyddion" in his Description of Wales (1194):

 * THERE are certain persons in Cambria, whom you will find nowhere else, called Awenyddion, or people inspired; when consulted upon any doubtful event, they roar out violently, are rendered beside themselves, and become, as it were, possessed by a spirit. They do not deliver the answer to what is required in a connected manner; but the person who skilfully observes them, will find, after many preambles, and many nugatory and incoherent, though ornamented speeches, the desired explanation conveyed in some turn of a word: they are then roused from their ecstasy, as from a deep sleep, and, as it were, by violence compelled to return to their proper senses. After having answered the questions, they do not recover till violently shaken by other people; nor can they remember the replies they have given. If consulted a second or third time upon the same point, they will make use of expressions totally different; perhaps they speak by the means of fanatic and ignorant spirits. These gifts are usually conferred upon them in dreams: some seem to have sweet milk or honey poured on their lips; others fancy that a written schedule is applied to their mouths and on awaking they publicly declare that they have received this gift.

(Chapter XVI: Concerning the soothsayers of this nation, and persons as it were possessed)

In 1694, the Welsh poet Henry Vaughan wrote to his cousin, the antiquary John Aubrey, in response to a request for some information about the remnants of Druidry in existence in Wales at that time, saying

"… the antient Bards … communicated nothing of their knowledge, butt by way of tradition: which I suppose to be the reason that we have no account left nor any sort of remains, or other monuments of their learning of way of living. As to the later Bards, you shall have a most curious Account of them. This vein of poetrie they called Awen, which in their language signifies rapture, or a poetic furore & (in truth) as many of them as I have conversed with are (as I may say) gifted or inspired with it. I was told by a very sober, knowing person (now dead) that in his time, there was a young lad fatherless & motherless, soe very poor that he was forced to beg; butt att last was taken up by a rich man, that kept a great stock of sheep upon the mountains not far from the place where I now dwell who cloathed him & sent him into the mountains to keep his sheep. There in Summer time following the sheep & looking to their lambs, he fell into a deep sleep in which he dreamt, that he saw a beautiful young man with a garland of green leafs upon his head, & an hawk upon his fist: with a quiver full of Arrows att his back, coming towards him (whistling several measures or tunes all the way) att last lett the hawk fly att him, which (he dreamt) gott into his mouth & inward parts, & suddenly awaked in a great fear & consternation: butt possessed with such a vein, or gift of poetrie, that he left the sheep & went about the Countrey, making songs upon all occasions, and came to be the most famous Bard in all the Countrey in his time."

Modern Druidic symbol
In some forms of modern Druidism, the term is symbolized by an emblem showing three straight lines that spread apart as they move downward, drawn within a circle or a series of circles of varying thickness, often with a dot, or point, atop each line. The British Druid Order attributes the symbol to Iolo Morganwg; it has been adopted by some Neo-Druids.

According to Jan Morris, Iolo Morganwg did in fact create what is now called "The Awen" as a symbol for the Gorsedd of Bards, the secret society of Welsh poets, writers, and musicians that he claimed to have rediscovered, but in fact created himself. Morganwg, whose own beliefs were, according to Marcus Tanner, "a compound of Christianity and Druidism, Philosophy and Mysticism", explained the Awen symbol as follows, "And God vocalizing His Name said /|\, and with the Word all the world sprang into being, singing in ecstasy of joy /|\ and repeating the name of the Deity."

The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) describe the three lines as rays emanating from three points of light, with those points representing the triple aspect of deity and, also, the points at which the sun rises on the equinoxes and solstices – known as the Triad of the Sunrises. The emblem as used by the OBOD is surrounded by three circles representing the three circles of creation.

Various modern Druidic groups and individuals have their own interpretation of the awen. The three lines relate to earth, sea and air; body, mind and spirit; or love, wisdom and truth. It is also said that the awen stands for not simply inspiration, but for inspiration of truth; without awen one cannot proclaim truth. The three foundations of awen are the understanding of truth, the love of truth, and the maintaining of truth.

A version of the awen was approved by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in early 2017 as an emblem for veteran headstones.

Neo-Druidic Sites

 * Awen – "The Holy Spirit of Druidry" British Druid Order site
 * A Short History of the Awen The Druid Network site

title: Awen


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Castro's kiosk

This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this  page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was delete. Tony Sidaway|Talk 22:51, 11 May 2005 (UTC)

Castro's kiosk
Non-notable cafe, doesn't even deserve a redirect and merge into the university article. RickK 07:44, Apr 26, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, not notable, advert. Megan1967 08:32, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, no reason to assume it is notable, advert. Sietse 09:49, 1 May 2005 (UTC)
 * This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
Simple Gifts

"Simple Gifts" is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848, generally attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett from Alfred Shaker Village. It became widely known when Aaron Copland used its melody for the score of Martha Graham's ballet, Appalachian Spring, premiered in 1944.

Background and composition
The tune and lyrics were written by Elder Joseph Brackett (1797–1882) of the Alfred, Maine Shaker community, although there is some disagreement as to which community Elder Joseph belonged to when the song was written. Elder Joseph resided with the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine community before he was called to serve in the Ministry in 1848. For the next decade, he served the Community in Alfred, later returning to New Gloucester. However, the Alfred community's history makes no reference to "Simple Gifts", although there are several mentions of Elder Joseph.

The first known reference to "Simple Gifts" is an advertisement for a concert in October 1848 by the Shaker Family from the Society of Shakers of New Gloucester, Maine.

Resurgence and enduring popularity
The song was largely unknown outside Shaker communities until Aaron Copland used its melody for the score of Martha Graham's ballet, Appalachian Spring, first performed in 1944. (Shakers once worshipped on Holy Mount, in the Massachusetts portion of the Appalachians). Copland used "Simple Gifts" a second time in 1950 in his first set of Old American Songs for voice and piano, which was later orchestrated.

Lyrics
Copland used Brackett's original verse for the lyrics to his one-verse song:

Several Shaker manuscripts indicate that this is a "dancing song" or a "quick dance". "Turning" is a common theme in Christian theology, but the references to "turning" in the last two lines have also been identified as dance instructions. When the traditional dance is performed properly, each dancer ends up where they started, "come 'round right".

Tune
A manuscript of Mary Hazzard of the New Lebanon, New York Shaker community records this original version of the melody.

The song resembles, to a slight extent, several repetitions of the opening measures of William Byrd's renaissance composition, "The Barley Break", which Byrd intended to imitate country children playing a folk game. Similarly, Brackett is claimed to have come up with the song as an imitation of what folk music sounds like.

A somewhat similar musical theme arises also in a brass ensemble work, Canzon per sonare no. 2, by Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1555–1612).

"Lord of the Dance"
English songwriter Sydney Carter adapted the original American Shaker tune and lyrics for his hymn "Lord of the Dance" published and copyrighted in 1963.

The Carter hymn is also titled "I Am the Lord of the Dance" and "I Danced in the Morning".

In 1996, the Carter hymn was adapted without authorization or acknowledgments of the origins of the tune or Carter's lyrics by Ronan Hardiman for Michael Flatley's dance musical, Lord of the Dance. The melody is used at various points throughout the show, including the piece entitled "Lord of the Dance". The musical's title and version of the "Lord of the Dance" have led to some confusion that the song and lyrics are Celtic; however they are of American and English origin.

Subsequent usage

 * Judy Collins included the song on her 1970 album, Whales & Nightingales.
 * R.E.M. used this song to open their song, "I Believe" during the last half of their Work Tour in 1987.
 * The song is incorporated into both the opening and closing tracks of the 1990 album Simple Gifts: Instrumental Arrangements of Shaker Melodies by William Coulter and Barry Phillips.
 * Yo-Yo Ma recorded a duet with singer/songwriter Alison Krauss, originally released on his 2001 album Classic Yo-Yo, re-released on the 2005 album Essential Yo-Yo Ma, and later included in Apple Music's compilation, Yo-Yo Ma Essentials.
 * John P. Zdechlik used "Simple Gifts" in "Chorale and Shaker Dance", a 1972 composition for concert band. In 2004, Robert Steadman arranged the tune for orchestra featuring an off-stage trumpet and a thumping, dance-music influenced finale.
 * Frank Ticheli composed a variation of "Simple Gifts", presented in Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs.
 * The 1967 album Happy Together by The Turtles includes the song "Too Young to Be One", which Eric Eisner adapted from "Simple Gifts."
 * The central melody of "Simple Gifts" is used in the 2009 song The Sound Above My Hair by German electronic music group Scooter, which utilises bagpipes in the composition.
 * The 2008 song "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" by Weezer makes extensive use of the "Simple Gifts" melody throughout.

In popular culture

 * John Williams composed a variation for cello, violin, clarinet, and piano titled Air and Simple Gifts. The variation was written specifically for Barack Obama's Inauguration on January 20, 2009. It was performed by Anthony McGill, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gabriela Montero.
 * Icelandic singer Jónsi covered the song for the 2017 film, The Circle.
 * Several arrangements by composer Rick Krizman were composed for the tabloid news series, American Journal.
 * For many years, an excerpt was used as the opening theme for the CBS News television documentary series, CBS Reports
 * It was used in the 1963 Boulting Brothers' film, Heavens Above!.
 * Hannibal Heyes (Pete Duel) sings the song in Alias Smith and Jones in the 1971 (second season) episode, "The Posse That Wouldn't Quit".
 * The song is performed in the 1990 Shining Time Station Christmas episode  'Tis a Gift.
 * The melody appears prominently in the score of the 2023 Bluey episode  Relax.

Additional verses
Two additional, later non-Shaker verses exist for the song, as follows:

And an additional alternative:

Another alternate verse:

A Version Broadcast During Music and the Spoken Word:

title: Simple Gifts


text:
Talk:Afrasiab

[Untitled]
This article is about two separate things: a city and a quasi-historical personage, just like it says in the introductory sentence. Therefore, the article needs to be split and a disambiguation page made. Unfortunately I am new and I don't know where to request that articles be split.--KASchmidt 07:45, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Context makes all the difference between a dictionary plus sets of lists and an encyclopedia. What does this quasi-historical personage mean, apart from the city he embodies? By all means do make separate articles, if splitting improves the sense of context. You'll find many meaningless splits at Wikipedia as you settle in; but I'd say, try instead to draw disparate items together, wherever you can. Just a thought. --Wetman 15:49, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Actually, even according to the article itself, scholars agree that the name of the city came about separately. Combining these two separate topics creates much confusion, especially considering that there is already an article on the city Afrasiyab, except it is spelt differently, and has different information than the information about the city in this article. I myself was looking for information about the city itself, and didn't know about the other spelling, so I was a bit frustrated that all that existed on wikipedia was a minor reference in a part of an article about a completely different thing. --Babloyi (talk) 07:26, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Added Turkish version of Afrasiab's name
Afrasiab, being a Turkic Hero-King, is known to Turks as Alp Er Tunga, and forms the basis of the modern Turkish name Alper.

Turkish culture, being interwoven with Persian throughout their thousand year old rivalry, also includes the mythical enmity of Rostem (Persian) and Afrasiab (Turk).

Concerning the interpretation related to "above the black river" (under Archaeological Site)
I believe that someone should seriously investigate the correctness of the interpretation given in the text, implying that Afrasiab referred to Sīāhāb. The fact is that if Sīāhāb in truth borders the site in question to the North,  the place cannot be called "above the black river"; the black river would have to be below the site (that is to the South  of the site) in order for the site to qualify the appellation "above the black river". As it stands, the interpretation at issue is logically unsound. --BF 16:07, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

 * Further to my above remarks, a moment's thought brought me to the following idea: Afrā is the poetic form of the Persian word Farā which means Beyond, Further (and not necessarily Above). It follows that Afrasiab can be seen as referring to Farā-Sīāb, that is Farā-Sīāhāb which means Beyond the black river/water (Sīāh means black and āb, water). On the basis of this observation, I am about to change the Above in the main text into Beyond. --BF 16:50, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

External links modified
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title: Talk:Afrasiab


text:
Lesley Stahl

Lesley Rene Stahl (born December 16, 1941) is an American television journalist. She has spent most of her career with CBS News, where she began as a producer in 1971. Since 1991, she has reported for CBS's 60 Minutes. She is known for her news and television investigations and award-winning foreign reporting. For her body of work she has earned various journalism awards including a Lifetime Achievement News and Documentary Emmy Award in 2003 for overall excellence in reporting.

Prior to joining 60 Minutes, Stahl served as CBS News White House correspondent – the first woman to hold that job – during the Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan presidencies and part of the term of George H. W. Bush. Her reports appeared frequently on the CBS Evening News, first with Walter Cronkite then with Dan Rather and on other CBS News broadcasts. During much of that time, she also served as moderator of Face the Nation, CBS News' Sunday public affairs broadcast from September 1983 to May 1991. As a moderator on Face the Nation, she has interviewed world leaders including Margaret Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin and Yasser Arafat. From 1990 to 1991, she was co-host with Charles Kuralt of America Tonight, a daily CBS News late-night broadcast of interviews and essays.

Early life and education
Stahl was born in 1941 to a Jewish family in the Boston suburb of Lynn, Massachusetts, and was raised in Swampscott, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of Dorothy J. (née Tishler) and Louis E. Stahl, a food company executive. She attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts, where she was an honors graduate, majoring in history.

Career
Throughout her 50-year career in journalism, Stahl has covered such iconic moments in United States history as the Watergate scandal in 1972, the impeachment hearings of President Nixon in 1974, the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan and the 1991 Gulf War. She reported on the U.S./Russian summit meetings and the economic summits of the industrialized countries, as well as the national political conventions and election nights throughout her career. In her TV news career, she has investigated the enhanced interrogation methods against Al Qaeda during the Iraq War, the cruelty Saddam Hussein inflicted on Iraqi children, in addition to examining practices within Guantánamo Bay and operatives. She has also reported on tensions within the Middle East and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

1970s
Stahl began her television broadcasting career at Boston's original Channel 5, WHDH-TV, as a producer and on-air reporter. She joined CBS News in 1971, and became a correspondent in 1974. "I was born on my 30th birthday," Stahl would later write about the experience. "Everything up till then was prenatal." Stahl credits her CBS News hire to the Federal Communications Commission's 1972 inclusion of women in its affirmative action mandate: "the television networks were scouring the country for women and blacks with any news experience at all. A friend in New York had called to tell me about a memo floating around CBS News mandating that 'the next reporter we hire will be a woman.'" According to Stahl, Connie Chung and Bernard Shaw were "the two other 'affirmative action babies' in what became known as the Class of '72." Stahl reflected in an interview on her early days at CBS how, on the night of the '72 Nixon-McGovern election returns, she found her on-air studio chair marked with masking tape, not with her name as with her colleagues, but with "Female". Stahl was the mentor of CBS news producer Susan Zirinsky.

Stahl's prominence grew after she covered Watergate. "I found an apartment in the Watergate complex, moved all my stuff from Boston, and didn't miss a day of work. ... June 1972. Most of the reporters in our bureau were on the road, covering the presidential campaign. Thus, I was sent out to cover the arrest of some men who had broken into one of the buildings in the Watergate complex. That CBS let me, the newest hire, hold on to Watergate as an assignment was a measure of how unimportant the story seemed: ... I was the only television reporter covering the early court appearances. When the five Watergate burglars asked for a bail reduction, I got my first scoop. Unlike my competitors, I was able to identify them. The next time the cameraman listened when I said, 'Roll! That's them!' And so CBS was the only network to get pictures of the burglars. I was a hero at the bureau."

1980s
Stahl was the moderator of Face the Nation between September 1983 and May 1991. She went on to become White House correspondent during the presidencies of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. At the Republican Convention of 1980, she broke the news on CBS that Reagan's negotiations with ex-President Gerald Ford had broken down and the answer to the question of who would be vice-presidential nominee was: "It's Bush!  Yes, it's Bush!" George H. W. Bush had been standing perhaps not far away, largely off by himself, looking discouraged because he was sure he wasn't going to be chosen. During her time at CBS she covered the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan, and the 1991 Gulf War. She reported on the U.S.-Russian summit meetings and the economic summits of the industrialized countries, as well as the national political conventions and election nights, throughout her career.

1990s
In 1998, she appeared on the NBC sitcom Frasier, playing herself in the episode "Desperately Seeking Closure". Stahl has written two books, the first of which, Reporting Live, was published in 1999: "I had decided by August 1989, in my 48th year, that I had already had the best day of my life. ... Then we went to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas, Dian Fossey's gorillas in the mist. ... After two and a half hours ... there they were: two baby gorillas frolicking like any four-year-olds. We snapped and stared. We were right there, in their lives, in the middle of their open-air house. And then the silverback, the patriarch, seemed to welcome us, as three females kept grooming him. ... We spent one hour in their world, watching them tumble and wrestle, nurse their babies, swing in the trees, forage for food—vines, leaves, berries— ... so close that a female reached out to touch me. When I went to reciprocate, the guide hit my arm with a stick. 'Non, madame. C'est inderdit.' ... What I decided that day with the gorillas in Rwanda was that the best day of your life may not have happened yet. No matter what you think."

2000s
In addition, she hosted 48 Hours Investigates from 2002 to 2004. In 2002, Stahl made headlines when Al Gore appeared on 60 Minutes and revealed for the first time that he would not run for president again in 2004. When Katie Couric was hired, CBS News asked Stahl to reduce her salary by $500,000 to accommodate Couric's salary, bringing her salary down to $1.8 million.

In 2007, Stahl gained attraction for her interview with the then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy for a 60 Minutes when the President abruptly ended the conversation and walked out, calling it "stupid" and a "big mistake". Sarkozy criticized Stahl for questions regarding his wife, Cecilia. Sarkozy and his wife announced their divorce two weeks after the interview.

Lesley Stahl was a founding member in 2008, along with Liz Smith, Mary Wells Lawrence, and Joni Evans, of wowOwow.com, a website for "women over 40" to talk about culture, politics, and gossip. By the end of 2010 it had merged into PureWow, a Web site aimed at younger women.

2010s
In 2014, she served as a correspondent for Years of Living Dangerously, a documentary show about climate change. Her second book, Becoming Grandma: The Joys and Science of the New Grandparenting, which chronicles her own experiences with her grandchildren, was published in 2016.

2020s
During the 2020 United States presidential election campaign, Stahl interviewed President Trump on October 20, 2020, for a segment on 60 Minutes. Trump cut short the interview and complained about it on Twitter. On October 22, Trump released the full interview on Facebook, ahead of its planned official release on 60 Minutes on October 25.

In May 2021, Stahl received criticism from LGBTQ advocacy groups for a 60 Minutes special about transgender healthcare. CBS News, the producer of 60 Minutes, reported the special as coming "amid a spate of legislation being introduced in states across the country that would limit care for transgender youth", and said that the special focused on "detransitioners". PinkNews reported advocacy group GLAAD as calling it "fearmongering about trans youth", while also reporting that Chase Strangio of the ACLU said that Stahl and others involved with the production "knew exactly the harm they were causing with last night's segment".

Career timeline

 * September 1983–May 1991: Face the Nation moderator
 * October 1990–March 1991: America Tonight anchor
 * March 1991–present: 60 Minutes correspondent
 * October 2002–December 2004: 48 Hours host

Personal life
In 1977, Stahl married author Aaron Latham and they have a daughter. Latham died in July 2022 due to complications from Parkinson's disease.

On the May 3, 2020, broadcast of 60 Minutes, Stahl revealed that she had been hospitalized with COVID-19. She has since recovered.

Awards and honors
She is a currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Stahl is also on the Board of Selectors of Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

 * Stahl has won 13 News & Documentary Emmy Awards including one for Lifetime Achievement
 * 1990 - The Dennis Kauff Journalism Award for lifetime achievement in the news profession.
 * 1994 - The Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
 * 1996 - The Fred Friendly First Amendment Award from Quinnipiac College
 * 1996 - Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for "Punishing Saddam" segment, which exposed the plight of Iraqi citizens, mostly children, suffering the effects of the United Nations sanctions against Iraq.
 * 2004 - Gerald Loeb Award for Television Long Form business journalism for Jobless Recovery"
 * 2008 - A Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Colgate University
 * 2008 - A Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Loyola College in Maryland.
 * 2012 - The Overseas Press Club award
 * 2013 - The Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television
 * 2014 - The International Center For Journalists Founders Award for Journalistic Excellence.
 * 2015 - The Radio Television Digital News Association's Paul White Award for Lifetime Achievement
 * 2021 - Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism

Filmography

 * Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa as Newscaster (voice)
 * Frasier: "Desperately Seeking Closure" (S5, E8) as herself
 * Marcel the Shell with Shoes On as herself
 * Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as herself

title: Lesley Stahl