On April 21, 2004, a scientific and practical conference "Afghanistan at the beginning of the XXI Century" was held, organized by the Afghanistan Sector of the Department of Near and Middle East of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the Russian Federation.

The conference was opened by Deputy Director of the Institute A. Z. Yegorin, who noted that joint conferences and forums with the participation of leading Russian Orientalists and representatives of the scientific community of the Afghan diaspora in Russia have become a good tradition and a significant contribution to strengthening scientific and cultural ties between the two countries.

Then, a welcoming message from the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Russia, Ahmad Zia Masood, was read out to the conference participants. Afghanistan is currently experiencing a difficult moment in the post-war reconstruction of the country after the devastating civil war, the Ambassador stressed, and therefore it is especially in urgent need of the support of the friendly people.

Ghulam Sahi Ghairat, Adviser to the Afghan Embassy in Moscow, dedicated his speech to an important step in the social and political life of today's Afghanistan-the adoption of a new, democratic constitution. He spoke about the complexities of the process of preparing and adopting the country's Basic Law, which took place in the context of a sharp political struggle between supporters of democratic reforms and conservatives. For the first time in Afghan history, he noted, the country's constitution includes provisions guaranteeing democratic rights and freedoms of citizens while respecting national traditions, including the provisions of Islam. The new constitution, Ghulam Sahi Ghairat expressed confidence, will open the way for further democratic transformations. He confirmed his confidence that the most important elements of democracy are already firmly rooted in Afghanistan: a free press, including an opposition one, is being published, numerous political parties and movements are functioning legally, trade unions are being formed, and women are openly and publicly defending their rights proclaimed in the constitution. At the same time, the speaker made no secret of his concerns that the practical implementation of the new Basic Law would face many of the difficulties that the country had inherited from the long civil war that had recently ended. He spoke in support of the ideas of national unification of Afghanistan, which, he believes, will be the key to the country's final transition to the path of peaceful, creative development.

V. G. Korgun, Head of the Afghanistan Sector of the Institute of Internal Affairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in his report "Afghanistan after the Taliban" analyzed the main directions of Afghanistan's domestic and foreign policy in the period after the overthrow of the Taliban regime. Despite the restrained optimism of the speaker, who generally positively assessed the activities of the government of Hamid Karzai during this period, his speech clearly expressed concern about the complexity of the military-political situation in the country, the unresolved vital problems, and the ongoing economic stagnation. The most critical section of the report was devoted to the role of international actors in the current Afghan events. This primarily concerned the activities in Afghanistan of its politically key neighbors - Iran and Pakistan, which, according to the speaker, seek to occupy their niche in the country, acting mainly in self-serving interests, while often on the verge of interference. V. G. Korgun's assessment of Moscow's position was not high either, as for a number of objective and subjective reasons, it turned out to be an outsider in providing assistance to Afghanistan, limiting its ability to do so.-

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training of officers of the National Afghan Army and supply of spare parts for military equipment. The theme of the new Afghan constitution, the adoption of which was undoubtedly the most important event of the post-Taliban period, was developed in his report by R. R. Sikoev (IB RAS). He analyzed the nature of the constitutional process in Afghanistan at different stages of the country's history, showed how the content of the Basic Law changed with the socio-political evolution of Afghan society, legally fixing the main features of the state system, the form of government and the social structure of Afghanistan in accordance with the requirements of the era and the interests of the ruling elite.

A very relevant topic was raised in his report by a prominent Afghan public figure, publisher, publicist, former employee of the Afghanistan sector Latif Bahand, now working for the BBC radio station. He dedicated his speech to the history of political parties in Afghanistan. This is an important issue in today's Afghanistan. At a time when a new political system is being formed in the country under the Law on Political Parties adopted in November 2003, parties are called upon to play a leading role in the further democratization of the country. However, the speaker noted that there is too little experience of party building in Afghanistan to speak seriously about the influence of parties on socio-political life. The party system is still in its infancy, and it will take a long time for parties to become actively involved in political life.

Along with domestic policy issues, the conference also focused on issues of an international, or rather regional, nature. The reports of leading scientists of the Department of Near and Middle East were devoted to them. It was about the positions and policies towards Afghanistan of its two neighbors, with which Kabul has long and very difficult ties.

Thus, the Pakistani-Afghan relations were covered in a detailed speech by V. N. Moskalenko (Institute of Political Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences). The radically changed situation in Afghanistan and in the world after September 11, 2001 and the strongest pressure from the United States forced Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to turn his Afghan policy 180 degrees. The government of the country that nurtured the Taliban and provided them with comprehensive support, now in cooperation with the Americans persecutes Islamists - former pupils of Pakistani madrassas. The threat posed by Islamic terrorists to Pakistan itself, V. N. Moskalenko shared his thoughts, was probably deeply realized by Islamabad, which risked, despite the sharpest opposition from a very influential conservative part of Pakistani society, to bet on the persecution and destruction of Islamic extremists using military force.

Zav. In his report "Pakistan and the Problem of Terrorism (the Afghan corner)", Vladimir Belokrenitsky, Head of the Department of the Middle East, showed the new course of Islamabad's policy in action: For the first time in the country's history, the Pakistani army has entered the "band of independent tribes" along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border-an area that does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Pakistani authorities, and is conducting large-scale military operations against the remnants of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants who have taken refuge in the mountains. Thus, the fight against terrorism has changed from a once propagandistic thesis to a conscious political practice of the Musharraf regime.

The position of Afghanistan's other neighbor, Iran, was analyzed in the report of M. R. Arunova (IB RAS), who identified two important components in Tehran's Afghan policy : on the one hand, a sincere desire to help the government of H. Karzai rebuild the country, put an end to terrorism and drug trafficking in the region, and on the other, the desire to use a favorable moment to establish its influence in Afghanistan. Despite this kind of dualism of goals and aspirations of the Iranian leadership, as is clear from the speech, now there is a favorable chance for rapprochement between the two countries, whose relations in the past were very difficult.

Unfortunately, the economic aspect of life in modern Afghanistan was poorly addressed at the conference. And this is quite understandable: the country's economy is in ruins after such a long war. Only trade flourishes, and mostly contraband. The economy is dominated by drug production and trade. Drug production in Afghanistan is becoming an entire sector of the economy, competing with the rest of the national economy. The International Monetary Fund recently warned the world that opium production in Afghanistan will soon dominate the national economy.-

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the economy, and the country is in danger of becoming a "drug state", in which the drug business accounts for between 40% and 60% of GDP.

In connection with the problems of Afghanistan's economic recovery, the conference once again focused on Russia's opportunities to participate in this process. G. P. Yezhov (ISAA at Moscow State University), who in the past participated in the development of state plans and programs for the economic development of Afghanistan, spoke about the experience of our country in providing technical and economic assistance to Afghanistan. Such programs, although of a limited scale, are still being developed, said L. B. Aristova (IB RAS), who took part in the discussion and actively participates in international and interregional forums devoted to transport communication problems. In particular, she said, Russian-Afghan negotiations are currently underway on designing a railway in Afghanistan, the first in the country.

The conference participants were particularly interested in reports on some ethno-religious problems of modern Afghanistan. Thus, N. M. Yemelyanova (IV RAS) shared the results of field research conducted in the summer of 2002 and 2003 in north-eastern Afghanistan under the auspices and with the assistance of the Aga Khan Foundation. The Ismailis of Afghanistan became the object of research of her group. A. A. Knyazev, Associate Professor of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University (Bishkek), who has repeatedly visited the north-eastern regions of Afghanistan as part of scientific expeditions, shared interesting information about the dramatic fate of the Afghan Kyrgyz people in his report read out at the conference.

The conference also touched upon the problem of the Afghan diaspora in Moscow. Information about the fate of Afghan youth seeking their niche in Russian society, far from their homeland, was presented in a speech by a graduate student of the Afghanistan sector, A. Yu. Lavrov, who has practical experience working with Afghan refugees in Moscow.

Closing the conference, its chairman V. G. Korgun highly appreciated the results of its work, describing them as a significant contribution to Russian journalism, and encouraged its participants to continue the tradition of holding joint discussions with the participation of Russian and Afghan scientists.

V. G. KORGUN

* * *

On April 27, 2004, a symposium dedicated to the national figures of Indonesia Radey Ajeng Karti (1879-1904) and Ki Hajar Devantoro (1889-1950) was held. Employees of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, members of the Society for Friendship and Cooperation with Indonesia, the scientific society "Nusantara", employees of the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow, and students participated in its work.

The meeting was opened by the head of the Department. Department of History and Political Problems of the Department of South-East Asia of the Institute of Political Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences A. Drugov. The symposium, he said, is intended to pay tribute to the grateful memory of two outstanding figures of the Indonesian national movement. This is first of all a wonderful daughter of the Indonesian people, one of the bright and romantic figures of the country's history, Raden Ajeng Karti. R. A. Kartini's contribution to the spiritual emancipation of not only Indonesian women, but also the nation as a whole, is incommensurable with the short life span that fate has allotted her.

Ki Hajar Devantoro is known as a political figure during the period of national awakening and the first years of independence of Indonesia, but his most important achievements relate to the formation of the concept, the moral basis of education in colonial Indonesia, and moreover - the national idea of Indonesia itself.

The fact that we address these historical figures today, A. Drugov noted, reflects not only our professional or emotional interest in Indonesian history. There is an extremely important trait inherent not only in Kartini and Devantoro, but also in the entire ideology of the Indonesian national movement. The idea of national sovereignty has always been the primary foundation of everything that exists in this movement. But at no point did this idea develop into xenophobia or an apology for national or ethnic superiority, which made the Indonesians stand out from those who colonized and oppressed them. Both Kartini and Devantoro defended the right of their compatriots to the full and free development of national culture and at the same time the right to freely join the best achievements and values of world civilization. (We also find this feature in the program of Budi Utomo, Indonesia's first national organization, whose 95th anniversary we are celebrating-

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lee was here last year. I would like to note that the principles of nationalism, internationalism and humanism coexist in the ideology of Pancha sila.) This is extremely important and relevant today, A. Drugov emphasized, when conflicts arise in different situations, as if leading us to a false conclusion about the inevitability of a clash of civilizations. The work of prominent Indonesian enlighteners and humanists R. A. Kartini and K. H. Devantoro is a refutation of this inevitability.

Nurrahman Urip, Minister-Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in the Russian Federation, addressed the participants of the symposium with a welcoming speech. A. Kartini and K. H. Devantoro in the Indonesian history of the XX century. National awakening, N. Urip noted, is always preceded by the appearance of educated, intelligent people who enlighten the people. Both Karthini and Devantoro came from Javanese aristocratic families. Karthini lived in a home, family circle and from an early age dreamed of promoting the role of an Indonesian woman. She corresponded with friends from Holland, and many of her letters were published and became a documentary source about her life. Karthini could have studied in Holland, but due to family reasons, refused the scholarship and gave it to Haji Agus Salim, later a prominent figure in the Indonesian liberation movement. It is not necessary to contrast the roles of men and women, says N. Urip. A woman can be free, independent, but still remain a woman. She must work together with a man, shoulder to shoulder, to create a home, a family, because a strong family is the foundation of a strong nation. We can see that everything Karthini dreamed of is realized and realized by the Indonesian nation. Ki Hajar Devantoro is a thinker. In particular, the "three dimensions" and three principles of leadership developed by him are known. These principles were intended for the teacher, the educator, but since they are universal and also applicable to the national leadership, they were always remembered by the true leaders of the Indonesian nation. They are formulated in Javanese and their meaning is as follows: the leader in front - serves as an example, and, if necessary, sacrifices himself; the leader in the center - inspires; the leader behind - pushes, insures, but can also voluntarily retreat, feeling that this is required.

A. Cererin, a student of the Institute of Practical Oriental Studies (a branch of the ISAA at Moscow State University), made a very interesting report on the life and activities of Kartini. The report was based on Kartini's letters. After finishing elementary school, she wanted to continue her education, but her father opposed this, because, according to custom, a girl from the age of 12 until marriage had to be at home and lead a reclusive life. Karthini was an ardent opponent of adat and a champion of the emancipation of women. She resented the fact that the bride did not know the groom before marriage, that during the wedding ceremony the bride kisses the groom's knees as a sign of future submission. Karthini highly valued the role of education, and believed that an enlightened man could better understand a woman. She assigned a leading role in education to women. Karthini founded two schools for girls from the families of officials of not only the highest, but also the middle rank. She considered enlightenment and moral education to be inseparable concepts, and true culture-the nobility of character and soul-independent of religion, since the core of any religion is good deeds.

V. V. Sikorsky read excerpts from his long-standing translations of some of Kartini's letters intended for the Russian edition, which, unfortunately, did not take place. Letters without comment vividly illustrate the environment in which Karthini lived, and how much she did when, breaking the rules of etiquette, she allowed her younger brothers and sisters not to observe etiquette in relation to themselves. At the same time, she herself continued to observe etiquette in relation to her elders. Kartini highly valued her Javanese culture, but was not opposed to borrowing from European culture ("...after all, crossbreeding is used to breed new breeds of both plants and animals..."), although she criticized the feeling of superiority of the Dutch.

A. Zimin (Institute of Practical Oriental Studies) made a report on the activities of Ki Hajar Devantoro as the founder of the Taman Sisva boarding school system. A descendant of an impoverished Javanese aristocratic family, Suwardi Suryaningrat (Ki Hajar Devantoro - "One who teaches the gods" - his pseudonym) was born on May 2, 1889 in Yogyakarta. On May 2, Indonesia celebrates a national holiday - National Education Day. In 1903-1909. Suvardi studied at the STOFIA Medical School in Batavia, where the first Budi Utomo national organization was established in 1908. Once among its leaders, he became involved in politics and cultural issues

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and education. Renouncing class privileges, he earned a living as a journalist. In 1912, he joined the Bandung branch of the Sarekat Islam party, and in December of the same year, along with two other prominent national leaders, he became the founder of the radical anti-colonial Indian Party. In September 1913, the leaders of this party, including C. H. Devantoro, were arrested and exiled to Holland. In 1922, after receiving permission to return to Yogyakarta, he founded Taman Siswa, which gradually developed into a system of boarding schools and kindergartens. The principle of education in "Taman Sisva" was freedom, without pressure, the teacher was constantly with the students, was an example for them. Ki Hajar Devantoro - "the one who teaches the gods". He called his students" gods". The colonial authorities were hostile to the Taman Siswa schools. Some officials even called them "communist." They were considered "wild schools" (sekolah liar), i.e. unofficial; the authorities could not close them, but in every possible way infringed their rights. "Taman Siswa "served as the basis of national education on a large scale.

V. A. Tsyganov specified the three principles of leadership mentioned by N. Urip in relation to the school. First, the teacher encouraged the students, he was always there, and the students saw how he acted in different situations. Hence the idea of a boarding school (students were taken from the family permanently). Second, the teacher inspired students with examples of Indonesia's glorious past, showed that the Indonesian people have something to be proud of, but did not build it into the principle of exclusivity. The third is to help, teach to develop, but insure against mistakes. Key Hadjar Devantoro, said V. A. Tsyganov, achieved that the Dutch equalized the rights of Dutch schools and Taman Sisva .

N. Urip thanked all participants of the symposium and handed over books on Indonesia sent as a gift by the Indonesian Ambassador.

In conclusion, the participants of the symposium paid tribute to the recently deceased B. B. Parnikel, who headed the Nusantara Society for more than three decades.

E. A. CHEREPNEVA

NUSANTARA SOCIETY

On January 16, 2004, IMEMO employee A. A. Rogozhin presented a report about a new independent State that appeared on the world map-the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. It is the first country in the world to be freed from colonial dependence on the former colony: East Timor was part of the Republic of Indonesia, formerly the Netherlands India, as a province. The speaker drew a very depressing picture of the state of the young state, almost a collapse, which was caused by prolonged military operations: poverty, unemployment (up to 80%), the problem of personnel after a massive outflow of foreigners, a grand scale of corruption, a decline in all sectors of the economy, almost complete absence of industry. The solution to many problems, according to the speaker, lies in the extraction of oil and gas, the reserves of which are plentiful in the republic, which has a chance to turn into a competitor to suppliers of these types of minerals on the world market, including Russia. The republic's prospects are as follows: large revenues from the development of oil and gas fields; reasonable economic diplomacy (delineation of maritime borders, joint use of mineral resources); in the absence of the threat of an outbreak of national conflicts due to ethnic homogeneity of the population (tetum), there is, however, the possibility of social conflicts; expansion of foreign economic relations, in particular with the ASEAN countries.

* * *

On February 25, 2004, the members of the society heard two speakers. T. A. Denisova, Professor of Historical Source Studies at the Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told about her research trip to the Institute of Language and Literature of Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) under a grant from this institute. Within three months, she had the opportunity to explore the Institute's repository of Malay manuscripts and discover a previously unknown edition of the historical chronicles of Johor, which she has been working on for several years.

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to give lectures on his research work and prepare for publication at the same institute a monograph in Malay on philosophical and religious terminology in the Johor historical chronicles.

V. V. Sumsky, head of the IMEMO sector, made a report "Philippines on the eve of the first parliamentary elections of the XXI century". The speaker, who knows this country well and recently published a two-volume work on the modern history of the Philippines, noted first of all the indescribable political atmosphere of the Philippines, full of paradoxes. Philippine-style politicization means paying too much attention to candidates and parties while simultaneously forgetting the economy and people's needs.

When analyzing the election programs of the upcoming elections, their pallor and indistinguishability are striking. The speaker attributes the scarcity of programs and personalities, and the general decline in their intellectual potential, to the loss of an alternative to the communist threat that forces the political elite to think. It is also noteworthy that people who do not have any political experience, specific programs for the development of the country and solutions to numerous internal problems, such as the problems of the Muslim south, are now seeking power. The main rival of the current president Gloria Macapagal Arroya, actor Fernando Po, is extremely popular, including among Muslims, but will he be able to take place as a political leader? The Philippines suffers from a long-standing problem of choosing between reform and revolutionary transformation. The "September 11 factor" has become an additional painful factor for the Philippine identity, as the Philippines is linked to the United States in a love-hate ambivalence. The future of the Philippines, which is, in the words of the speaker, "in a state of permanent transition", is very pessimistic. The Philippine theme of this meeting was timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the famous Russian philologist (linguist, literary critic, lexicographer, publicist, translator, teacher), Associate Professor of the ISAA V. A. Makarenko.

* * *

On March 30, 2004, the Nusantar community received guests from Indonesia - poets and journalists Doddy Ahmad Fauji and Benny Benke. Representatives of the younger generation of writers spoke about the cultural and literary life of today's Indonesia. As always, today the literary horizon of multinational Indonesia," the country of 12 thousand islands", is distinguished by the breadth and diversity of local cultures and languages, activity and emotionality characteristic of this people. The guests talked about new poets and prose writers, literary magazines, organizations, festivals and exhibitions. However, they consider the spirit of decadence, disillusionment, and breakage that resulted from the political instability in recent years, accompanied by the loss of illusions, to be a characteristic sign of the new time in the cultural life of Indonesia. The guests themselves, who are also actors, reciters, theater directors and critics, demonstrated the variety of creative talents characteristic of people in the world of poetry. They showed their acting and declamation skills at the poetry reading evening held the day before in ISAA, where Doddy and Benke read-played-staged their own poems and poems of masters of Indonesian poetry-Rendra, Khairil Anwar, Supardi Joko Damono and others. The guests ' poems translated into Russian by L. N. Demidyuk are included in a booklet published specifically for poetry readings in Russia (after Moscow, the poets also visited St. Petersburg University), which is also illustrated with reproductions of paintings by contemporary artists in Indonesia.

T. V. DOROFEEVA

SAINT PETERSBURG ST. PETERSBURG BRANCH OF THE INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

On October 20-21, 2003, the conference "Scientific expedition to China and Central Asia in the first third of the XX century Dedicated to the 140th anniversary of S. F. Oldenburg (1863-1934)"was held.

Opening the conference, Director of the branch I. F. Popova noted that a significant part of S. F. Oldenburg's life and activity was inextricably linked with the Asian Museum - Institute of Oriental Studies (1916-1934). S. F. Oldenburg's many-sided contribution to Russian Oriental studies and to the organization of Russian and Soviet science varies greatly-

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it has repeatedly become the subject of historical and scientific research. This scientific conference is intended to highlight the history of S. F. Oldenburg's activities as an organizer and participant of expeditions to China and Central Asia - an independent and fruitful aspect of his work.

At the plenary session, greetings to the conference were read out from the St. Petersburg Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which emphasized the importance of studying Russian expedition activities in Asia, its results and principles of organization, to the development of which S. F. Oldenburg made a significant contribution.

Scientific reports of the Academy were presented at the plenary session. V. S. Myasnikov (IDV RAS) and Deputy Director of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Director of the SPbF IB RAS E. I. Kychanov.

V. S. Myasnikov, in his report "S. F. Oldenburg in the footsteps of K. G. Mannerheim", highlighted the little-studied topic of K. G. Mannerheim's expedition to East Turkestan, whose tasks included studying the prospects for the deployment of the theater of military operations in Xinjiang and, in this regard, clarifying all country-specific information and correcting consular reports. The speaker noted that Mannerheim's materials on this trip have now been published in Finland.

E. I. Kychanov in his report "S. F. Oldenburg and P. K. Kozlov's Mongolian-Sichuan expedition" noted the great role of S. F. Oldenburg in organizing and supporting this expedition, which was facilitated by his status as a scientific consultant to the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. When P. K. Kozlov sent the first materials from Khara-Khoto, S. F. Oldenburg, assessing their scientific significance, recommended P. K. Kozlov to conduct a more detailed survey of the dead city. S. F. Oldenburg supported P. K. Kozlov's intention to transfer manuscripts and old printed books from Khara-Khoto to the Asian Museum. S. F. Oldenburg summarized the results of the scientific description of the iconographic material obtained by P. K. Kozlov's expedition in his work " Materials on Buddhist iconography of Hara-Khoto (images of Tibetan writing) "(St. Petersburg, 1914).

L. N. Menshikov (SPbF IB RAS) made a report "The Russian Turkestan expedition of S. F. Oldenburg 1914-1915 and the results of work on its materials". He analyzed the program of the expedition-a comprehensive description and study of the now world-famous Qianfodong Monastery ("Caves of a Thousand Buddhas") in Dunhuang (prov. L. N. Menshikov emphasized that it was an expedition of Russian scientists that carried out a complete description of the cave complex and applied an original method of marking the location of caves, frescoes and sculptures on the plan. It was the scheme of the" Caves of a Thousand Buddhas " created by S. F. Oldenburg and his colleagues that was recognized as the most complete until the 50s of the XX century. L. N. Menshikov also described the archival materials of the expedition-travel diaries of S. F. Oldenburg and his companions, correspondence, illustrative materials - as valuable sources for reconstructing the history of the Russian part of research Dunhuang. L. N. Menshikov noted the value of the results of S. F. Oldenburg's expedition for reconstructing the history, economic structure, and spiritual culture of the IV - XI centuries. At the present time, L. N. said. Menshikov, specialists from the St. Petersburg State Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the State Hermitage Museum are studying the materials of the Oldenburg expedition, which are part of the manuscript and museum collections. Together with the Shanghai publishing house "Ancient Book", a complete facsimile edition of Dunhuang materials stored in St. Petersburg was undertaken. The publication of handwritten materials in 17 volumes has been completed, the publication of the expedition archive and the description of art objects stored in the Hermitage (five volumes have already been published) continue. According to L. N. Menshikov, our publication was followed by the publication of Dunhuang materials from the Beijing, Shanghai, Paris and London collections.

M. I. Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya (SPbF IB RAS) gave a report on "Oldenburg and Central Asian Studies". She analyzed in detail the activities of the scientist and noted his important contribution to world Oriental studies. So, for the first time, he published a facsimile of the manuscript on birch bark in the ancient Indian Kharostha script of the famous Buddhist monument "Dharmapada", and created the series"Library of Buddhika". As head of the editorial board of the series, he edited each issue himself. During his lifetime, 26 issues were published. The series published texts in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese and Old Uyghur languages, in original graphics and transliteration, with or without translation into Russian or European languages, with dictionaries, glossaries and verborum indexes. Thus, it is thanks to S. F. Oldenburg and the series "Library" created by him.

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Buddhika " the study of Buddhism has received a reliable source foundation and the opportunity to develop on a scientific basis.

T. I. Yusupova (St. Petersburg Institute of International Relations) made a report "The role of S. F. Oldenburg in the creation and activity of the Mongolian Commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences". The Commission for Scientific Research of Mongolia under the Council of People's Commissars was established in 1925 (since 1927-the Mongolian Commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences). The reasons for its creation are closely related both to the geopolitical tasks of the Soviet government in the Central Asian region and to the internal problems of Mongolia itself. However, an equally important role was played by the need of the scientific community to conduct research on the adjacent territory, which was caused by the need to complete the work previously started in Mongolia and systematize the results already obtained. A special place in the report was given to the Mongol-Tibetan expedition of the Russian Geographical Society led by P. K. Kozlov in 1923-1926. This expedition, for a number of reasons, became a kind of catalyst that accelerated the process of organizing the research of Russian scientists in Mongolia.

S. G. Klyashtorny's report "D. A. Klementz and epigraphic research in Central Asia" was devoted to the analysis of the results of the expeditions of D. A. Klementz , one of the discoverers of runic monuments in Central Asia. S. G. Klyashtorny described the results of D. A. Klementz's expeditions to Mongolia in 1891, 1894, and 1895 as an important contribution to archeology and epigraphy, S. G. Klyashtorny emphasized the importance of epigraphy as a source of reconstruction of the history of Central Asia. S. G. Klyashtorny revealed the scientific significance of the results of D. A. Klementz's expedition to Turfan (1898), during which a large number of epigraphic and handwritten texts were discovered. Thus, D. A. Klements also made a significant contribution to the formation of the manuscript collection (Old Uighur collection). Asian Museum (now SPbF IB RAS).

I. V. Kulganek's report "To China via Mongolia with the XI Spiritual Orthodox Mission: O. M. Kovalevsky's diary of 1830" is dedicated to the journey of O. M. Kovalevsky, an outstanding Russian Mongol scholar, who headed the School of Mongol studies in Russia, an excellent connoisseur of culture, religion, and the history of the Mongolian peoples, Rector of Kazan University, Dean of the Faculty of History and Philology of the Warsaw University of University, Honorary member of the Paris Asiatic Society, full member of the Copenhagen Society of Northern Antiquities, full member of the Moscow Society of Russian History and Antiquities, Corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The topic of O. M. Kovalevsky's study of Central Asia is still relevant, since the unity of a certain part of the tasks and problems that faced the expeditions of the mid-XIX century and the researchers of our time remains.

O. M. Kovalevsky's diary of 1830 remained unpublished, unlike the others that he kept during his entire four-year stay in Transbaikalia (1829-1831). One of the reasons for this was the unfavorable characteristics of the Qing government contained in the diary, and information that could "compromise", as the Asian Department believed, the mission. Currently, the diary is kept in the Department of Manuscripts of the National Library of Belarus. In conclusion, I. V. Kulganek described the historical significance of O. M. Kovalevsky's diary. It is a valuable document on the history and culture of medieval Mongolia and China, an important source for ethnographic, historical, linguistic, and cultural studies, and is also interesting for researchers of the spiritual life of 19th-century Russia.

T. V. Ermakova (SPbF of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a report " S. F. Oldenburg on the problems of Soviet Oriental Studies (articles and speeches of the 1930s)". She described the views of S. F. Oldenburg as a scientist, which largely influenced his concept of the organization of Oriental studies in the Soviet period. Having extensive experience with the organization of academic science in Europe (England, Germany, France) and consistently recognizing Russian science as an integral part of world science, Oldenburg appreciated the possibilities of such a popular form of research organization in Europe in the 20s of the XX century as a scientific institute. As applied to Oriental studies, this form was realized in the creation, in particular, of the Institute of Buddhist Culture (1928).

Ya. V. Vasilkov (SPbF IB RAS) in the report " S. F. Oldenburg. The Last years of his life " analyzed the relevant memoir literature and restored the factual outline of the last years of the scientist's life, his activities in the context of the social climate of the 1930s.

T. V. ERMAKOVA

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MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY (KUNSTKAMERA) OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

On April 20-23, 2004, the anniversary session of the annual "Maklaev Readings" was held in honor of the 40th anniversary of the scientific activity of two Russian young scientists, E. V. Revunenkova and A. K. Ogloblin. The theme of the readings is "Nusantara: the culture of the Malay world and neighboring countries".

The following persons addressed the anniversaries with a welcoming speech: MAE Director E. A. Rezvan, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Indonesia in St. Petersburg V. A. Radchenko, Head of the Department of Chinese and Southeast Asian Philology of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of St. Petersburg State University R. A. Yanson, Head of the Department of Oriental Languages of the Russian Academy of Foreign Affairs V. V. Sikorsky, journalist (Republic of Indonesia) Henny Saptatia, Head of the Department of Oriental Languages of the Department of East and South-East Asia of the MAE E. V. Ivanova. The speakers noted the great contribution of the anniversaries to Mala studies in many scientific fields, emphasizing that their activities prove the high authority of the St. Petersburg academic school.

A. K. Ogloblin (St. Petersburg State University) is one of the leading Indonesian scientists in Russia.He is also a teacher, translator, linguist and literary critic. He is an expert in Indonesian, Old Malay, Javanese, Old Javanese, and Madur languages. He teaches, in addition to Indonesian and Javanese languages, Indonesian and Malay classical literature, and teaches courses in Austronesian linguistics. He is the author of scientific monographs on the Madur language and the diachronic typology of the Malay-Javanese languages, textbooks on practical grammar of the Indonesian language, and dozens of articles on a wide range of linguistic and literary topics. He is also one of the co-authors of the collective work "Grammar of the Indonesian Language". He prepared for publication a monograph on the ancient Malay language, the first in the world of Mala studies. His research interests also include social and cultural issues, such as Javanese language games, socialization of children among Javanese people, etc.

E. V. Revunenkova is an employee of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), a specialist in the ethnography and ethnology of Indonesian peoples. She is the author of a monograph on the peoples of Malaysia and Western Indonesia, and co-author of the Small Peoples of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It pays the most attention to the culture of the Bataks of Sumatra and the Dayaks of Kalimantan. She also studied in detail the only Russian version of the historical and literary classic monument "Sejarah Melayu", brought by the Russian navigator F. I. Krusenstern in 1799 and stored in the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The following reports were presented at the session: A. K. Ogloblin "Javanese Petruk and Russian Petrushka"; E. V. Revunenkova "Modern life of the ancient Batak priest's rod"; V. V. Sikorsky "Asrul Sani - a man from legend"; M. A. Boldyreva "Interpretation of a poem by Sitor Situmorang"; S. V. Banit "On the question of the ancient Batak priest's rod". historicity of Shair"; S. A. Kolbin "Creativity of Umar Qayyam"; N. A. Speshnee "Dance for two"; A. G. Storozhuk "Reflection of the theory of souls in Tang literature"; S. V. Kulland "Ancient Javanese kinship terms derived from hulun"; V. A. Popov " Malay kinship system: an eternal problem kinship studies"Yu. Lander ""Word" and "language" in the Nusantara languages (problem statement)"; S.E. Yakhontov "Glottochronology and the degree of politeness in Javanese languages"; M. F. Albedil "On the mythological nature of Hinduism"; A. G. Kozintsev "Indonesians, Indians, Northern Mongoloids"; V. B. Kasevich, I. I. I. Kim "Grammar and pause"; O. Krainyuk "Comparison of the lexical composition of the Malaysian and Indonesian languages"; M. Stanyukovich "Aliguyun nak Binenwahen-plot construction, characters and toponyms of the epic tale of Ifugao"; E. Shvets "On the translation of realities from Russian into Indonesian"; P. L. Belkov "Semantics of Tongan languages (the mythogram principle); I. A. Zueva-Nosova "Japanese studies of Kuroshio culture"; E. V. Ivanova "Iron and Bronze Age in Thailand"; V. N. Kislyakov "Early Collections of MAE RAS in New Guinea"; A. A. Lebedeva "Indonesian-Philippine parallels in the construction of traditional Micronesian ships"; T. V. Dorofeeva" Teaching Malay in the world: a quantitative and geographical review"; E. Novozhenova"Review of works on borrowing in Tagalog".

The guest of the session was an Indonesian healer Hallim Kaler, a successful practitioner in Germany, Russia, and Indonesia. He demonstrated his technique to psychote-

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He also read the report "Socialization of children in Indonesia".

The anniversary readings ended with a screening of two Indonesian films (a story about the deity Deva Ruchi based on the Mahabharata of the Wayang shadow theater and a tourist commercial about a trip to East Java)and a performance by an Indonesian community.

T. V. DOROFEEVA

Novosibirsk

On April 13-15, 2004, Novosibirsk State University hosted for the 52nd time the traditional international scientific student conference "Student and Scientific and Technological Progress", within the framework of which the section"Oriental Studies" has been working for the fifth year. In addition to students, it was also attended by undergraduates, postgraduates and young teachers. The sessions were divided into four sub-sections: "Archeology and History "(18 reports)," Philology and Mythology "(13)," Philosophy and Cultural Studies "(25)," Economics, Geopolitics, Law " (26). As a stable trend, we can note the constant increase in reports in the section "Economics, geopolitics, Law" from year to year, which reflects the interest of young people in the problems of modern international politics.

The geography of universities represented at the conference covers mainly the cities of Siberia and the Far East: Ufa, Surgut, Omsk, Tomsk, Barnaul, Kemerovo, Krasnoyarsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita, Yakutsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok. It should be noted that not only in universities, but also in newly formed humanities departments of technical universities, students are guided to serious scientific work in the field of Oriental and regional studies. The Organizing Committee of the section received reports from Tomsk Polytechnic, Ufa State Aviation Technical, Far Eastern State Technical, Altai State Technical and Multidisciplinary Humanitarian and Technical (Karaganda) universities. The international status of the Oriental studies section is supported by the participation of young specialists from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and China.

The first places in four sections were awarded to the following reports: L. N. Markova (NSU) "Japanese historiography of foreign intervention in Siberia and the Far East in 1918-1922", I. A. Dobrynin (NSU) "Existential aspect of Abe Kobo's creativity of the late period", I. V. Anikeyeva (NSU) " Food culture Japanese people through the eyes of European missionaries (based on the material of the letters of Fr. Xavier and L. Frois)", E. G. Kolpinskaya (Kem. GU) "The problem of unity of the Arab world in relation to Operation Iraqi Freedom".

At the plenary session, V. N. Plastun (Novosibirsk) made a report on "Actual problems of the current international situation in the countries of the Foreign East", paying special attention to the social aspects of the growth of Islamic fundamentalism and radicalism. The main points of his report were discussed by the participants of the conference in the framework of a "round table".

Materials of the section are published in a separate collection.

Yu. A. AZARENKO, S. A. KOMISSAROV

KUALA LUMPUR

April 27-29, 2004 Malaysian Association of Modern Languages (President-Prof. Asmahadji Omar, Patron-Crown Prince of Perak State Nazarin Shah) held an international conference on "Language and Communication in the Media", where 78 reports were heard in three parallel sessions. In addition to Malaysian scientists, the conference was attended by representatives of Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Turkey, Russia, and the United States.

The conference focused on the peculiarities of the language of mass media, advertising, information and entertainment programs of television, and the Internet.

V. A. POGADAEV

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