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[edit] Cynism and Madhyamika
Numerous parallels exist between the Greek philosophy of Cynicism and, several centuries later, the Buddhist philosophy of the Madhyamika and Zen. The Cynics denied the relevancy of human conventions and opinions (described as typhos, litteraly "smoke" or "mist", a metaphor for "illusion" or "error"), including verbal expressions, in favor of the raw experience of reality. The Cynics stressed the independence from externals to achieve happiness ("Happiness is not pleasure, for which we need external, but virtue, which is complete without external" 3rd epistole of Crates). Similarly the Prajnaparamita, precursor of the Madhyamika, explained that all things are like foam, or bubbles, "empty, flase, and fleeting", and that "only the negation of all views can lead to enlightenment" (Nagarjuna, MK XIII.8). In order to evade the world of illusion, the Cynics recommended the discipline and struggle ("askēsis kai machē") of philosophy, the practice of "autarkia" (self-rule), and a lifestyle examplified by Diogenes, which, like Buddhist monks, renounced earthly possessions. These conceptions, in combination with the idea of "philanthropia" (universal loving kindness, of which Crates, the student of Diogenes, was the best proponent), are strikingly reminescent of the Mahayana Buddhist prajna (wisdom) and Karuna (love).
[edit] Buddhism and the West
Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years. Perhaps the most significant of these began in 334 BC, early in the history of Buddhism, when the Macedonian king Alexander the Great conquered most of Central Asia. The Seleucids and the successive Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms established an important Hellenistic influence in the area, which interacted with the Buddhism. The conversion to Buddhism of the Indo-Greek king Menander (155-130 BCE) is described in Indian sources.
[edit] Menander the Just, "King of the Dharma"
Obv: Menander wearing a diadem. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (King Menander the Just).
Rev: Winged figure bearing wreath and palm, probably Nike. The Kharoshthi legend reads MAHARAJASA DHARMIKASA MENADRASA (Menander, King of the Dharma).
Menander seems to have changed his royal title and coins types at a later stage of his life, and this has been associated to his supposed conversion to Buddhism as described in the Milinda Panha.
Althoug his first coins bear the mention "King Menander the Saviour" (Greek: BASILEOS SOTHROS MENANDROY/ Kharosthi: MAHARAJA TRATASA MENADRASA), his later coins adopt the new title "King Menander the Just" (Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ), to which, for the first time in any coinage corresponds the Pali title "King of the Dharma" on the reverse (Kharoshthi: MAHARAJASA DHARMIKASA MENADRASA), a possible reference to his conversion to Buddhism.
The profiles of the king between the former and later coins are quite consistent. Based on the age difference between the rendering of the profiles on the coins, this change would have happened around the age of 50.
Obv: Warrior standing, armed with spear and sword. Forming a benediction with the right hand, similar to Buddhist vitarka mudra. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ (King Menander the Just).
Rev: Buddhist lion. Kharoshti legend reads MAHARAJASA DHARMIKASA MENADRASA (Menander, King of the Dharma).
The coins of Menander the Just are filled with Buddhist symbolism, and present interesting evolutions of his previous coin types:
- When the goddess Athena is represented, she is not the warlike "Athena Alkidemos" of the earlier coins, but instead she has dropped her shield in a peaceful attitude and makes a benediction gesture identical to the Buddhist vitarka mudra.
- The goddess Nike, holding a victory wreath, is now crowned by a religious halo.
- For the firt time, a Greek king is represented from head to toe, but he also has dropped his warlike stance, and instead makes the vitarka mudra.
- Finally, the Buddhist lion is represented on many of these coins.
The two coin categories having no mint mark in common and the types being quite different, it has also been suggested (Bopearachchi) that Menander the Just may be later, different, king, named Menander II, and possibly the grandson of Menander.
[edit] Western expansion of China
The Western expansion of China started during the reign of emperor Han Wudi (140- ) as a response to conflicts with western nomads, the Xiong Nu, located in the area of the Tarim Basin. This led to multiple contacts with Central Asian regions, which over the centuries permitted the development of the Silk Road.
[edit] Expedition to the Yuezhi (136-124 BCE)
China first tried to find nomadic enemies of the Xiong Nu, in an effort to make them allies. The large nomadic tribe of the Yuezhi, had recently been expelled from the Tarim around 160 BCE, and was living in exodus in Central Asia, in the area between the Oxus and the Jaxartes. An embassy of a hundred men, led by Zhang Qian was sent to the Yuezhi in 136 BCE. Although the embassy was caught and detained by the Xiong Nu for ten years, Zhang Qian finally managed to escape and make contact with the Xiong Nu.
Second expedition of Zhang Qian to the Wusun.
Circa 120 BCE, attacks against the Xiong Nu in the Tarim Basin. Statues of golden men are brought back to Han Wu Di.
Circa 100 BCE, numerous expeditions to Central Asia and India documented in the Han Shu.
100 CE, expeditions of Ban Chao to the western regions.
Tang dynasty expansions.
[edit] Le Napoléon (1850)
 Napoleon, first purpose-built steam battleship in History (1850). |
|
| Warship | Image:French-Ensign.svg |
|---|---|
| Shipyard: | |
| Ordered: | July 14th, 1847 |
| Launched: | 1850 |
| Commissioned: | 1852 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5,120 tonnes |
| Dimensions: | 5 decker loa 77.8m x breadth 17m x draught 8.4m) |
| Armament: | 90 guns (32-30pdr, 4-22cm) |
| Propulsion: | Sail and 2-cyl Indret geared, 960nhp (574ihp) |
| Speed: | 12.1 knts |
| Coal capacity: | 40 days' steaming |
| Complement: | |
Le Napoléon was a battleship of the French Navy, and the first purpose-built screw battleship in the world. She is also considered as the first true steam battleship in History[1]. Launched in 1850, she was the lead ship of a class of 9 battleships, all considered as very successful and built over a period of 10 years. This class of ship was designed by the famous naval designer Dupuy de Lôme.
[edit] Technological context
Before the experimental adoption of the screw in warships in the 1840s, the only available steam technology was that of the paddle-wheels, which, due to their positionning on the side of the hull and the large machinery they required were not compatible with the broadside cannon layout of the battleships.
In the end, France and Great-Britain were the only two countries to develop fleets of steam battleships.
[edit] British developments
From 1844-45 the Anglo-French Entente collapsed following the French interventions in Tahiti and Morocco, and the publication of French pamphlets advocating a stronger navy (such as "Notes sur l'Etat des forces navales" by the Prince de Joinville), leading to a arms race in the naval area.
Great Britain already had a few coastal units with screw/steam propulsion in the 1840s, called "blockships", conversions of small traditional battleships into floating batteries with a jury rig, with a medium 450hp engine for speeds of 5.8knts to 8.9knts. However, the Le Napoleon was the first regular steam battleship to be launched[2]
In 1846, Britain had designed a screw/steam battleship named the James Watt, but the project was abandoned. Finally, the Agamemnon was ordered in 1849 and commissionned in 1853 as a response to rumours of the French development. Britain's reluctance to commit to the steam battleship apparently stem from her commitment to long-distance, worldwide operation, for which, at that time, sail was still the most reliable mode of propulsion.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Steam, Steel and Shellfire", Conway's History of the Ship: "First true steam battleship" (p46)
- ^ "Hastened to completion Le Napoleon was launched on 16 May 1850, to become the world's first true steam battleship", "Steam, Steel and Shellfire", Conway's History of the Ship p39
[edit] References
- "Steam, Steel and Shellfire: The steam warship 1815-1905", Conway's History of the Ship, ISBN 0785814132
[edit] Jeune Ecole
The Jeune Ecole was a French naval school of thought developed during the 19th century. The concept, born from the naval rivalry between Britain and France (respectively the first and second navies of their time), advocated for the use of small, powerfully equipped units to combat larger battleship fleet, and commerce raiders capable of sufocating the trade of the rival power.
[edit] Small units against battleships
The Jeune
