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Your Proofness: Mahim Maher Master Storyteller: Sundar Waqar Creativity Analysts: Amna Iqbal, Essa Malik, Jamal Khurshid, Samra Aamir, Anam Haleem, Umar Waqas
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 18, 2013
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Hi light
Samurai The samurai (or bushi) were the warriors of pre-modern Japan. They later made up the ruling military class that eventually became the highest ranking social caste of the Edo Period (period between 1603-1867 in the history of Japan). The samurai were in service of a lord and bound by codes of obedience.
Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of bushido shido — ‘the way of the warrior’. Samurai felt that hat the path of the warrior was one of honour, emphasising duty to one’s master, bravery, family mily pride and loyalty unto death. Strongly Confucian fucian in nature, bushido stressed concepts such uch as loyalty to one’s master, self discipline and d respectful, ethical behaviour. The most defining ng role that Confucianism played in samurai code was to stress the importance of the lord-retainer retainer relationship — the loyalty that a samurai murai was required to show his lord, no matter ter what the personal consequences of his duty were.
Society during the Edo period in Japan was ruled by strict customs and regulations intended to promote stability. Confucian ideas provided the foundation for a system of strict social rules. At the top of the social order, though below the emperor and daimyo (lords), were the samurai who functioned as the ruling class. The government during the period intentionally created a social order called the ‘four divisions of society’ (Shinokosho). This system based on the ideas of Confucianism divided society into samurai, farming peasants, artisans and merchants. Samurai were placed at the top of society because they set a high moral example for others to follow.
Confucianism is an ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. Humanism is at the core in Confucianism. A simple way to appreciate Confucian thought is to consider it as being based on varying levels of honesty, and a simple way to understand it is to examine the world by using the logic of humanity. Loyalty is particularly relevant for tthe social class to which most of Confu Confucius’ students belonged, because the m most important way for an ambitious yo young scholar to become a prominent official was to enter a rule ruler’s civil service.
What would you like to see in Hi Five? Send an email to hifive@tribune.com.pk and let us know!
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 18, 2013
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Hi light
Samurai armour changed and developed as the methods of samurai warfare changed over the centuries. In the 1500s a new type of armour started to become popular due to the advent of firearms, new fighting tactics and the need for additional protection. The kozane dou (early samurai armour) made from individual iron scales was replaced by plate armour. This new armour, which used iron plated scales laced together with silk or leather to form chest armour, was referred to as Tosei-gusoku, or modern armour. Various other components of armour protected the samurai’s body. The helmet (kabuto) was an important part of the samurai’s armour.
Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns, but their main weapon and symbol was the sword. • Japanese swords are the weapons that have come to be synonymous with the samurai. Wearing a long sword (katana) together with a smaller sword such as a tantō became the symbol of the samurai. This combination of swords is referred to as a daishō (literally big and small). During the Edo period only the samurai were allowed to wear a daisho. • The yumi (longbow) was a major weapon of the Japanese military. • Pole weapons such as yari (Japanese spear) were commonly used by the samurai. • Tanegashima (Japanese matchlock) were produced on a large scale by Japanese gunsmiths, enabling warlords to raise and train armies from masses of peasants. The new weapons were highly effective, their ease of use and deadly effectiveness led to the tanegashima (gun lock to facilitate firing) becoming the weapon of choice over the yumi (bow).
The Japanese Film Festival in Pakistan has been held since 1995 to provide an opportunity for the people of Pakistan to learn various aspects of Japanese traditions, culture, lifestyle and society. Last year, the Embassy of Japan showcased samurai movies during the film festival for Pakistan, highlighting a different aspect of samurai, focused more on their daily lives. Samurai were depicted as disciplined, thoughtful to others and dedicated to their families. The films showcased were The Twilight Samurai and The Passage to Japan. The latter depicts a life of Yukichi Fukuzawa, one of the most prominent samurai who contributed to the foundation of modern Japan at the end of the 19th century.
The word ‘ronin’ means ‘drifter’ or ‘lawless person.’ The ronin is a masterless samurai who has lost his status of a samurai due to his own misdeeds or the samura untimely death of his lord. The ronin became farmers, monks, soldiers of fortune or even bandits, beggars, and assassins.
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 18, 2013
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Origami Parrot Parrots are beautiful creatures and are very easy to make with paper! This week, ToffeeTV.com’s Ayesha Mehmood teaches you how to make an Origami Parrot.
Supplies needed: • Green paper (size: 8x8 inches) • Red paper (size: 2x2 inches) • Scissor • Black marker
Instructions: 1. Take the 8x8 inch green square and fold it diagonally in half to make a crease and unfold as shown in figure 1. 2. Then fold the side corner towards the centre (as shown in figure 2). 3. Fold the whole paper backward in half (as shown in figure 3). 4. Use the scissor to cut a slit in the bottom area (as shown in figure 4). 5. Left, from the slit, fold the upper layer upwards and the bottom layer backwards to make the legs (as shown in figure 5). 6. Fold the corners upward to make the wings (as shown in figure 6). 7. Now rotate the parrot. 8. Fold the corners to the right; then unfold to make the head (as shown in figure 7). 9. Now fold this corner inward (as shown in figure 8). 10. Take the 2x2-inch red square and fold it diagonally to make the beak (as shown in figure 9). 11. Fold about half-an-inch to make a crease and unfold (as shown in figure 10a and 10b). 12. Turn the folds to the opposite sides and place the beak in the space of parrot’s head (as shown in figure 11). 13. Fold the tip inside out as a hood to make the beak (as shown in figure 12). 14. Draw the eyes using a marker (as shown in figure 13). 15. Your parrot is now complete! Remember, you can watch a video of this tutorial on toffeetv.com by searching for ‘Origami Parrot’.
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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 18, 2013
World wide weird
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Get your weekly dose of the unusual and funny from across the globe!
Mini Elvis Presley As they welcomed her into the world 21 months ago, the parents of little Ella Mae couldn’t have known that a YouTube star was also born that day. Making waves across the internet, Ella has been recorded in the back seat of her father’s car singing Elvis Presley’s An American Trilogy. Throughout the five-and-a-half minute video cute Ella continually calls to her daddy before and during her cover song, as he frequently answers her back to make sure she knows he’s still there. The father and daughter duo are incredibly heart-warming during the clip which has garnered more than one million views on the video-sharing site. Billy, Ella’s father, posted a note accompanying the YouTube video confirming that she does in fact like to sing various songs. He said: “Some of her favourites include, of course more Elvis — Suspicious Minds and Lawdy Miss Clawdy; The Beatles — Twist & Shout; Stray Cats — Stray Cat Strut, among others. However she is only 21 months old and easily distracted so it can be quite challenging to get another video like this one.” METRO.CO.UK
Dump life
If you called this man’s house a dump you wouldn’t be ridiculing him, you’d just be stating fact — he lives in a converted bin. Gregory Kloehn’s holiday home in Brooklyn, New York City is different to most others in that it is not actually a house. Instead the California designer has decided to convert a dumpster into a fully-functioning home that has everything you need to live in, including a bathroom and kitchen. Kloehn told the HGTV show You Live in What? “I thought, ‘this is the perfect shape for a home.’” Among other changes he made to the bin was to install wheels so it could be moved more easily and to add a water tank to the roof, which is used for the toilet and outdoor shower. There’s also a fancy retractable roof that, when pulled back, allows extra light to be let in. “I think [passers-by] are just surprised that someone would take something like this and spend enough time to make it a home,” he added. DAILYMAIL.CO.UK
Cuffed dive A daredevil escape artist has landed safely after plummeting 14,500ft to the ground while trapped inside a locked coffin with his hands cuffed. Anthony Martin, 47, waved to a crowd who turned out to watch his stunt after parachuting gently into a field in Serena, Illinois, about 70 miles south-west of Chicago. After successfully getting out of the box, where his hands were cuffed to a belt around his waist and his right arm was chained to the inside of the box, he parachuted to safety, watching the casket fall behind him. Before jumping a prison door lock, which no keys exist for, was screwed into place to hold the door tight. A small parachute was attached to the top of the box before it was thrown from the plane as he fell at 130 miles per hour to the ground. A team of skydivers held the outside of the box to help steady it as Martin tried to escape from it. Those involved in the stunt landed safely and no one was hurt. Martin first performed the stunt 25 years ago and first began picking locks at the age of six. Since his first escape from handcuffs at the age of ten, he has wriggled his way out of ropes, chains, jail cells, coffins and a cage submerged under water. DAILYMAIL.CO.UK
Crawling in colon If you ever wanted to know what it felt like to crawl through a colon you can now find out after a 40-foot-long model of the human part was created. The giant replica is currently on show in Jacksonville, Florida. The colon is used to transfer waste out of the human system and the model, which is four-foot-tall, allows visitors to get up close and personal to their insides. The model is designed to highlight how to spot problems with the intestinal system which could lead to illness. METRO.CO.UK
Books and Movies
by Faiza Rahman
Shivers from a doctor When a doctor decides to write horror stories based on incidents of his profession, you know you’re in for some serious shivers. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a physician and a storyteller, is one man whose relative obscurity puts a huge toll on lovers of gothic fiction. His horror stories, science fiction stories and historical novels are lost amidst those of Mary Shelley’s, Bram Stoker’s and Bronte sisters that sit on our bookshelves. Not to mention the R L Stine’s and the Stephen King’s novels we love to devour now and then. Sadly enough, Sir Doyle’s prowess as a horror story writer is eclipsed by great success of the Sherlock Holmes series, which he introduced in 1887.
But those who care know how to fish out the gems. Tales of Terror and Mystery by Sir Doyle is a very uncelebrated anthology of some marvels by him. Within the collection, The Case of Lady Lennox is the one story that steals the show — and a night’s sleep too, if you are faint-hearted enough. Stories such as The Horror of the Heights and the The Black Doctor can only be written by someone who is aware of the nitty-grittys of the medical profession. My favourite story, however, was The Leather Funnel. The history in that story, with accounts of a popular form of medieval-era torture, is enough to create hairraising terror. Overall, Dr Doyle’s horror stories are a must for lovers of gothic fiction.
Do you have a favourite book that was made into a movie? Send an email about it to Faiza at hifive@tribune.com.pk
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 18, 2013
Did you know?
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s n i g i r O d r o W Why grandfather clocks are called so? In 1875, an American songwriter named Henry Clay Work was visiting England and saw in his hotel’s lobby a large pendulum clock. The clock had stopped long ago and just sat in the lobby, serving no apparent purpose. This unmoving clock fascinated Work and he asked about its history and was told a story. According to the story the clock had belonged to the inn’s previous two owners, the Jenkins brothers, both deceased. Apparently the clock had kept perfect time during their lives, but when the first Jenkins brother died, the clock started becoming less accurate. After this, the story went that the clock stopped completely the minute the second Jenkins brother died. Maybe because it was his Job to wind it but according to the story Work was told, it was actually because it broke and never got fixed again. The story might not be true but being a songwriter, Work wrote a song about the incident. The song was called My Grandfather’s Clock, released in 1876. The song received great response and the previous term for grandfather clock, the ‘longcase clock’, was dropped almost immediately by the public in favour of ‘grandfather clock’.
How to say ‘thank you ’ in many different languages Afrikaans Albanian Catalan Croatian Danish Dutch Esperanto Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician German Italian Latvian Portuguese Slovenian Swahili
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Dankie Falemnderit Gràcies Hvala Vam Tak Dank u Dankon Aitäh Salamat sa inyo Kiitos Merci Grazas Danke Grazie Paldies Obrigado Hvala Asante
Cool facts A word or sentence that is the same front and back (racecar, kayak) is called a ‘palindrome’. The cruise liner Queen Elizabeth II moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns. A ‘quidnunc’ is a person who is eager to know the latest news and gossip. The name for Oz in the Wizard of Oz was thought up when the creator Frank Baum looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N and O-Z. The Toltecs (a 7th century tribe) used wooden swords so they wouldn’t kill their enemies. The tool doctors wrap around a patient’s arm to measure blood pressure is called a sphygmomanometer. In the 17th century, the value of pi was known to 35 decimal places. Today, it is to 1.2411 trillion. Nepal is the only country that doesn’t have a rectangular flag. Switzerland is the only country with a square flag.
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 18, 2013
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Fun & games
Crossword
How carefully did you read this week’s issue of HiFive? If you think you are upto the task, try to solve our special crossword. The answers are all over HiFive! Put on your thinking caps, it is time to put the old noggin to work!
Across 3. During the Edo period only the samurai were allowed to wear a -----------. 6. The yumi (longbow) was a major weapon of the Japanese military. The yumi (longbow) was a major ------------ of the Japenese military. 7. Samurai were placed at the top of society because they set a high --------------example for others to follow. 8. At the top of the social order, though below the emperor and ----------- (lords), were the samurai who functioned as the ruling class. 11. Various other components of armour protected the samurai’s ------------. 13. Confucianism played in samurai code was to stress the importance of the lordretainer ---------------. 14. Pole weapons such as yari (Japanese -----------) were commonly used by the samurai. 15. The main symbol of the samurai was the ----------. 16. Confucian ideas provided the foundation for a system of strict social ------------. 17. Society during the Edo period in Japan was ruled by strict customs and regulations intended to promote --------------. 19. This new armour, which used iron plated scales laced together with silk or leather to form chest armour, was referred to as Tosei-gusoku, or ------------ armour.
Down 1. The -------------- were the warriors of pre-modern Japan. 2. Samurai employed a range of weapons such as ------------and arrows, spears and guns. 4. The kozane dou (early samurai armour) made from individual iron scales was replaced by ------------- armour. 5. Strongly Confucian in nature, bushido stressed concepts such as ----------------- to one’s master, self discipline and respectful, ethical behaviour. 9. Samurai ------------------- changed and developed as the methods of samurai warfare changed over the centuries. 10. The ronin is a ------------- samurai. 11. Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of ---------------- (the way of the warrior). 12. The ------------ was an important part of the samurai’s armour. 18. The samurai were in service of a -------------- and bound by codes of obedience.
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 18, 2013
Comic!
Winner of this week’s Liberty Books card competition
Humayl Aslam
Age: 10