iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Among my favourite Japan-made kanji is 辷 (⿺辶一) for sube(ru), 'to glide, slide' (more commonly written as 滑る): A sliding stroke 一 over a 辶 representing motion, very evocative 🤩

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

*Correction: It's 4 strokes in HK too. It's 3 strokes only in Taiwan!

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

This is among the first usages of the transcription 'Peking' for the Chinese capital, from Martino Martini and Joan Blaeu's Novus Atlas Sinensis (1655). 'Peking' is quite an accurate representation of the pronunciation in the era's prestige Nanjing Mandarin . 1/

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

I a lot of Mandarin varieties, you can say 1. jīnrge 今兒個 (today), 2. míngrge 明兒個 (tomorrow), 3. zuórge 昨兒個 (yesterday) (etc.), and I think that's beautiful😍

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Japan's highest mountain 富士山 is known as Fuji-san in Japanese, but historically/poetically, Fuji-no-yama was also common, as in Kobayashi Issa's (1763-1828) emblematic poem: "Snail / bit by bit ascend! / Mount Fuji" (transl. Kern). 🐌🗻

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

There are always fun little details in Chinese characters. Many will be surprised that the top part of 育 (充, 流) is written with 3 strokes (𠫓) in Taiwan and HK, but 4 strokes everywhere else - such divergences have long histories of course 😀

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Fascinated by this photo of a late Daqing bycicle shop in Peking (1900-1912) 🤩

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The numeral "1" is usually written with the simplest possible Chinese character: 一. But in Warring States texts, there were some more super complex characters for 1, namely ⿱羽能 and 𫜢（⿰鼠一）. Why? Read Wolfgang Behr's mindblowing article 🤯 www.degruyterbrill.com/de/document/...

degruyterbrill.com

Conceptualizing ‘One’ (一): Working Towards Unity?

Der Artikel Conceptualizing ‘One’ (一): Working Towards Unity? wurde am 1. Mai 2026 in der Zeitschrift Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques (Band 80, Heft 1) veröffentlicht.

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 11/06/2025

OTOH Wolfgang Behr has a cool article on his Academia.edu page about mentions of translation in ancient texts, “‘To Translate’ is ‘To Exchange’ 譯者言易也 — Linguistic Diversity and the Terms for Translation in Ancient China,” that might be more helpful as a source of inspiration or point of comparison.

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Arabic script used to write 4 different language (sub)families: 1) Sinitic (Xiao'erjing for Mandarin Chinese); 2) Mongolic (Mogholi - Afghanistan); 3) Austronesian (Cham - Vietnam); 4. Tibetic (Balti - Pakistan)

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Up to the early 20th century, Spain was often yclept GREAT LUZON in Sinitic languages: Tōa-lū-sòng / Daai6leoi5sung3 大呂宋. A case of the colonial power being called after the colony, not the other way round😁

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Bì 弼 is quite a cute character, innit? The word means 'to assist' - Chinese history aficionados might now it because it appeared in the name of the Privy Council instated at the very end of the Daqing Empire, the 'Court for Assisting with Virtue' (Bideyuan 弼德院) /

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

The term xingqi 星期 ('star period') has been used to mean '7-day week' in Chinese since the 1890s. Before that, it was used as a poetical term for the Qixi 七夕 festival (plus, it also came to mean 'wedding day'). The locus classicus is Wang Bo's 王勃 (650-676) Qixi fu 七夕賦:

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

‘Last, not least’ used to be more common than ‘last, but not least’ in German - going back to Shakespeare’s King Lear. Since the 1970s, the but-less form has declined: I guess read ppl less Shakespeare and more contemporary English…

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

I'm excited to share that I have started a new position as Associate Professor at Tohoku University.

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

傘 ('umbrella, parasol') is a fun pictograph. Among the many variants, there are some 'boring' phono-semantic compounds (繖、𢄻、𧝠), and a whole slew of funky ways to write the pictograph 😄

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Cartoon about the Russian Constitution of 1906: "When a crab sheds his shell (Absolutism) he retires into hiding ... as soon as he has grown a new one he returns."

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Zanna Van Loon @zannavanloon.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

A new gem in our collection: a remarkable 1571 copy of Plantin’s Humanae salutis monumenta. Because text, borders and plates were printed separately, no two copies are alike. This one is beautifully bound in an exceptional French fanfare binding. #earlymodern #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜

Shot of the early modern open book on a grey book pillow on a wooden table. Inside you see printed text on the verso page and an engraving within an engraved border on the facing recto page

Engraved title page of the book. Designer/Engraver: The title page bears the monogram of Pieter Huys (active 1550–1581), a noted Flemish designer and engraver.
Imagery: The design is highly architectural, featuring large, elaborate columns framing the text. In the background, it depicts a Renaissance palazzo or building, which serves as a metaphor for the book’s title, Monuments evoking human salvation.
Symbolism: The engraving shows people walking in a foreground square, suggesting the reader is on a balcony or podium overlooking the scene, inviting them to enter the "architectural" structure of the book's theological meditations.
Text: At the head of the title is the inscription: "Regi seculor immortali s.".

Early modern book in an elaborate French fanfare binding, featuring dark leather boards decorated with intricate gilt tooling, interlacing strapwork, floral ornaments, and small gold dots.

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Cartoon about the Russian Constitution of 1906: "When a crab sheds his shell (Absolutism) he retires into hiding ... as soon as he has grown a new one he returns."

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

'Turkey today: A barely breathing sick man country'. Chinese reproduction of a Western cartoon on the Ottoman Empire, 1920. From Rudolf Wagner's essay on 'China "asleep" and "awakening" '

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

The most common Chinese term for Chinatown is ‘Tang people street,’ 唐人街 hong3ngin3gai4/tong4jan4gaai1, but there is another interesting term: 華埠 va3feu5/waa4fau6 (‘Chinese city’), which can still be seen in various places.

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

I love the Chinese translation of ‘government’ in Victoria China Town’s ‘Government Street’: 加富門 Gaa1fu3mun4/Ga1fu1mon3, WEALTH INCREASING GATE (or maybe even CANADA WEALTH PORTE?). The phono-semantic match also has a lovely Yue/Canto flavour to it 😁😁

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Yeay, excited that my chapter on the afterlives of the Greek War of Independence in Asia has been published 🤩

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Delighted that the third volume of our trilogy with Ivan Sablin exploring the origins of modern forms of government has seen the light of the world: From Empire to Federation in Eurasia Ideas and Practices of Diversity Management. Editing this trilogy was great fun! 😁

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Mitra Sharafi @mitrasharafi.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Just discovered the newly launched ANTE website on global legal history--looking forward to learning lots here!

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

The terrible colleague at UNIL using my name has published a new paper again.👀 I don’t particularly enjoy reading it, nor do I think that it will interest anyone. All errors are solely her responsibility, not mine. www.academia.edu/164750402/Th... glorisunglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/u...

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DIJ Tokyo @dijtokyo.org · 18/02/2026

📖 New book chapter "A kingdom 'one and indivisible'. A (non-)history of political decentralization in Thailand" by DIJ's David M. Malitz www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi... In: From Empire to Federation in Eurasia @routledgebooks.bsky.social, eds. Ivan Sablin & @egasmb.bsky.social

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Barhebraeus in the 13th century on Uyghur script being adapted for Mongolian:

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

When the Daqing Empire fell 114 years and 1 day ago, the Emperor's abdication edict was carried through the streets of Beijing in a sedan chair, informing the population of the end of the dynasty

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multiburst @multiburst.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I am one of the few, who likes Teresa Teng mainly because her early musical work until ~1973. But still loving 月亮代表我的心. And as we are on the topics of covers. Other way around. bsky.app/profile/mult...

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Just today I learned that Teresa Teng 鄧麗君's iconic song "The moon represents my heart" (yueliang daibiao wo di xin 月亮代表我的心) was covered, among others, by Nana Mouskouri (2008) and Bon Jovi (2015). Nana Mouskouri's Mandarin pronunciation, in particular, is impressively good!

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Dr Danny Bate @dannybate.com · 01/02/2026

Dia daoibh, language lovers! In time for St Brigid's Day, there's a new episode of ALILI, all about Modern Irish! The language was the choice of Liam Ó Duibhiolla, an enthusiastic, eloquent expert and the founder of the 'Learn Irish Online' platform. Listen to it here: pod.link/1703401848/e...

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Alwin Kloekhorst @alwinkloekhorst.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Very glad that the volume ‘The Reconstruction of Indo-European Stop Systems: From the Traditional Model to Glottalic Theories’ (edited by Tijmen Pronk and myself) has now appeared. brill.com/display/titl... Looking forward to hearing reactions to it!

brill.com

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

This is genius! 😍 The sentence 不想上班那就別上 ("if you don't want to go to work, then just don't go") is mashed up into four written characters, each comprising two spoken syllables: ⿱⿰不目心⿲上丿王⿰𭃂尤⿰另上 h/t @y-wenli.bsky.social

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Chamee Yang @chamee22.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

A heartfelt appreciation for the editors of ST&HV for recognizing their peer reviewers journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... @sthv.bsky.social

journals.sagepub.com

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Reposted by Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ

Ustinische Sümpfe @ustinoff.eurosky.social · 02/02/2026

"Orion Klautau, the Lord of Prince Shōtoku Reception Studies". Zweifellos hat er den schönsten Namen der ganzen Welt. 😍

institutodehistoriadaarte.com

Orion Klautau

Name: Orion Klautau Position/Professional Category: Associate Professor, Tohoku University, Japan Research project: The Modern Saga of an Ancient Prince: Shotoku Taishi and Japanese Historiography …

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

This book is coming in March with a chapter by Yours Truly 😁: Chapter 12. ‘ “Every Single Verse Seems to Be Speaking to the Contemporary Chinese”: Perceptions of the Greek Revolution of 1821 in Japan and China’

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Very honoured to have contributed a chapter on constitutional interpretations of History in China to the monumental Handbook of Intepreting Chinese History edited by Kristin Stapleton, @xinfan.bsky.social, & Els van Dongen. It's in the best company of 31 more utterly fascinating chapters!🤩

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arabiafats🇵🇸 @arabiafats.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

this is cool i never knew the farsi word for electricity is barq lol. the arabic word for electricity is كهرباء (kahruba'a) which is itself apparently a compound word derived from farsi lmao

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

‎Interesting parallel between Persian and Chinese/Japanese: The modern word ‎for electricity comes from ‘lightning’. 😁 MC denH 電 > din6(hei3)/diàn(qì)/denki 電氣; Arabic barq برق ‘lightning’ > Persian barġ برق ‘electricity’. Pic is an electric street lamp in 1882 Tokyo 😁

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Update for a classic of etymology nerd memes (Original from Etymology Memes for Reconstructed Phonemes)

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Another review of the amazing book on global receptions of the Mahābhārata edited by Milinda Banerjee and Julian Strube. I had the pleasure and honour to contribute a chapter on Japan and China 😁 frontline.thehindu.com/arts-and-cul...

frontline.thehindu.com

Mahabharata’s Global Political Legacy Explained (2026)

The essays trace how the great Indian epic has shaped political thought, nationalist movements, and philosophical debates across continents.

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

What I find fascinating about 我 is that in Old Chinese, it seems to have had a (case-like?) division of work with 吾. How exactly is contested, but see sentences like: 今者吾喪我 ('I had just now lost myself'; Zhuangzi) - You wouldn't find 吾 in object position here.

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Marco Pouget @marcopouget.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

So many possibilities for this week! A common one is 姦. The joke is that the three "women" (女, notice the "broad hips") together mean gossip. Well, in Chinese at least, earlier character forms look nothing like this. More commonly, it is written 奸 in early imperial China. So...a woman and a cudgel.

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Murk @ginkgogoes.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

lmao why is this picture still in circulation credit: me

Screenshot: a tweet on the other site by me. text: extremely cursed etymology. image: the quoted photo.

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Egas Moniz Bandeira ᠡᡤᠠᠰ ᠮᠣᠨᠢᠰ ᠪᠠᠨᡩ᠋ᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠ @egasmb.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Since it's fake character origin week, here's at least a super funny one. 🤣🤣 And it's not even completely fake: 飛 is originally a pictogram of flying birds. (I don't have the original credits for this, if you know please add!)

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samuelwa.de @samuelwa.de · 06/01/2026

I think it's rather profound that the Chinese for "knowledge," 知, is a picture of Robin Hood playing basketball. Knowledge should not be hoarded by the few, but shared with the many; not confined to the mind, but expressed through action.

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