The last issue of 2001 contains mostly articles by authors from Saint Petersburg. Presenting the works of his colleagues, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, points out that one of the main precepts of the Saint Petersburg school of Oriental Studies is as follows: "science must serve the truth and mutual respect of people".
Among the publications of this issue one could note an article by Ephim Rezvan, which describes the wanderings of one of the "Osman Korans" that dates back to the 9th century. "Carnival of Thought", an article by Alexander Yurchenko, is of great interest. The author brings forward an original version of the origin of the so-called "Novel of Genghiz Khan" included in Plano Carpini's notes. Mikail Rodionov recalls the story how a collection from Yemen (where he worked as a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences expedition) entered the Kunstkamera (Cabinet of Curiosities). In his article "Temptations of Fame" Evgeny Kychanov introduces new documents testifying to the fact that the history of the discovery of the dead city of Hara-Hoto in the early 20th century is not that evident as it seemed to be up to now. The article "Ainu - the Island People", which describes the largest in the world collection of unique artifacts of this Far Eastern nation, is presented by researchers of the Russian Ethnographic Museum. Other publications of this issue are devoted to Egyptian antiquities, the Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie Publishing House, Indian art of magical patterns, national holidays of the Philippines, Buddhist relics of Thailand, verses of Japanese poetess Tawara Mati, and the secrets of Malaysian cuisine.
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