Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
From 1861 to 1890 the Munich publishing firm of Braun and Schneider published plates of historic and contemporary costume in their magazine Munchener Bilderbogen.<br/><br/> These plates were eventually collected in book form and published at the turn of the century in Germany and England.
Fujiwara no Umakai was a diplomat during the reign of Empress Genshoand and a minister during the reign of Emperor Shomu. In the Imperial court, Umakai was the chief of protocol (Shikibu-kyo).<br/><br/> In 716, together with Tajihi no Agatamori, Abe no Yasumaro and Otomo no Yamamori, Umakai participated in a Japanese diplomatic mission to Tang China in 717-718. Kibi no Makibi and the Buddhist monk Genbo were also part of the entourage.
Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai.<br/><br/> In the years 1613 - 1620, Hasekura headed a diplomatic mission to the Vatican in Rome, traveling through New Spain (arriving in Acapulco and departing from Veracruz) and visiting various ports-of-call in Europe. This historic mission is called the Keicho Embassy, and follows the Tensho embassy of 1582. On the return trip, Hasekura and his companions re-traced their route across Mexico in 1619, sailing from Acapulco for Manila, and then sailing north to Japan in 1620. He is conventionally considered the first Japanese ambassador in the Americas and in Europe.<br/><br/> Although Hasekura's embassy was cordially received in Europe, it happened at a time when Japan was moving toward the suppression of Christianity. European monarchs such as the King of Spain thus refused the trade agreements Hasekura had been seeking. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620 and died of illness a year later, his embassy seemingly ending with few results in an increasingly isolationist Japan.
Sugawara no Michizane (August 1, 845 – March 26, 903), also known as Kan Shojo or Kanke, was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian Period of Japan. He is regarded as an accomplished poet, particularly in Chinese poetry, and is today revered as the god of learning, Tenman-Tenjin, often shortened to Tenjin.<br/><br/> He was appointed ambassador to China in the 890s, but instead came out in support of abolition of the imperial embassies to China in 894, because of the decline of the Tang Dynasty.
In 717-718, Kibi was part of the Japanese mission to Tang China (Kentoshi) along with Abe no Nakamaro and Genbo.<br/><br/> Kibi stayed in China for 17 years before returning to Japan. He is credited with bringing back a number of things, introducing the game of Go to Japan for the first time, as well as the art of embroidery.
The Ryukyu Kingdom (historical English name: Lewchew, Luchu, or Loochoo) was an independent kingdom that ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th to the 19th century. The kings of Ryukyu unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan.<br/><br/> Despite its small size, the kingdom played a central role in the maritime trade networks of medieval East and Southeast Asia.
In 750, Kiyokawa was appointed envoy to Tang China, with Otomo no Komaro and Kibi no Makibi as vice-envoys. Before his departure, the Emperor gave him a symbolic sword as a sign of his command.<br/><br/> Upon arriving in Tang China, the envoy entered Chang'an and had an audience with Emperor Xuanzong. Because of the exigencies of the time, he remained in China until his death in 778.
Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai.<br/><br/> In the years 1613 - 1620, Hasekura headed a diplomatic mission to the Vatican in Rome, traveling through New Spain (arriving in Acapulco and departing from Veracruz) and visiting various ports-of-call in Europe. This historic mission is called the Keicho Embassy, and follows the Tensho embassy of 1582. On the return trip, Hasekura and his companions re-traced their route across Mexico in 1619, sailing from Acapulco for Manila, and then sailing north to Japan in 1620. He is conventionally considered the first Japanese ambassador in the Americas and in Europe.<br/><br/> Although Hasekura's embassy was cordially received in Europe, it happened at a time when Japan was moving toward the suppression of Christianity. European monarchs such as the King of Spain thus refused the trade agreements Hasekura had been seeking. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620 and died of illness a year later, his embassy seemingly ending with few results in an increasingly isolationist Japan.
Mahito took part in the planning of the Taiho Code alongside Prince Osakabe and Fujiwara no Fuhito, and in 701 was promoted to head of the Ministry of Popular Affairs. Mahito was also appointed as chief diplomat on a mission to Tang China, receiving a ceremonial sword from Emperor Tenmu as a symbol of his command.<br/><br/> In 704, the mission returned to Japan, along with some Japanese who had been captives since the Battle of Baekgang in 663. Mahito was rewarded with land in Yamato Province.
In 717-718, Abe no Nakamoro was part of the Japanese mission to Tang China (Kentoshi) along with Kibi no Makibi and Genbo. They returned to Japan; he did not.<br/><br/> In China, he passed the civil-service examination. Around 725, he took an administrative position and was promoted in Luoyang in 728 and 731. Around 733 he received Tajihi Hironari, who would command the Japanese diplomatic mission. In 734 he tried to return to Japan but the ship to take him back sank not long into the journey, forcing him to remain in China for several more years. In 752, he tried again to return, with the mission to China led by Fujiwara no Kiyokawa, but the ship he was traveling in was wrecked and ran aground off the coast of Vietnam, but he managed to return to Chang'an in 755.<br/><br/> When the An Lushan Rebellion started later that year, it was unsafe to return to Japan and Nakamaro abandoned his hopes of returning to his homeland. He took several government offices and rose to the position of Governor-General of Annam between 761 and 767, residing in Hanoi. He then returned to Chang'an and was planning his return to Japan when he died in 770.
Written in the Vietnamese language in Chinese characters (<i>chu han</i>) and dated 1880, this manuscript is a complete visual record of the route from Bac Thanh (the name of Hanoi under the Nguyen Dynasty) through China to Beijing, taken by envoys of the Vietnamese Emperor Tu Duc (r.1847-1883) on their tribute-bearing mission in 1880.<br/><br/> This work was created as an archival record of the journey. Roads, mountains, waterways, bridges, buildings, cities and towns are all clearly depicted, as are the points of departure and arrival on the first and last pages. The title, written in Chinese characters (<i>Beishi shuilu dituchu</i>), also includes the date (<i>gengchen</i>) of the journey, according to the Chinese 60-year cyclical system.<br/><br/> The annotations on each page list place names and distances in Chinese miles (<i>li</i> or <i>ly</i> in Vietnamese) with occasional useful notes, such as ‘from here merchants used only Qianlong money’. Land routes are marked in red ink and water routes are recorded in blue ink.
In 757 Yakatsugu was appointed governor of Sagami province, in 759 the governor of Mikawa province, and in 761 the governor of Kazusa province.<br/><br/> In 761 he was also appointed vice-envoy to Tang dynasty China, but in the next year was replaced by Fujiwara no Tamaro without making the journey.
The Tensho embassy, named after the Tensho Era (1573-1592) in which the embassy took place, was an embassy sent by the Japanese Christian Lord Otomo Sorin to the Pope and the kings of Europe in 1582.<br/><br/> The embassy was led by Mancio Ito (Ito Mansho, 1570–1612), a Japanese nobleman, who was the first official Japanese emissary to Europe.
Joseon missions to Imperial China were Joseon diplomatic ventures which were intermittently sent in the years 1392-1894. These represent a significant aspect of the international relations of mutual Korean-Chinese contacts and communication.<br/><br/> Although the Joseon Dynasty considered 1392 as the foundation of the Joseon Kingdom, Imperial China did not immediately acknowledge the new government on the Korean peninsula. In 1401, the Ming court recognized Joseon as a tributary state in its sino-centric schema of foreign relations. In 1403, the Yung-lo emperor conveyed a patent and a gold seal to Taejong of Joseon, thus confirming his status and that of his dynasty.<br/><br/> Despite the label 'tributary state', China did not interfere in Joseon domestic affairs and diplomacy.
In 717-718, Abe no Nakamoro was part of the Japanese mission to Tang China (Kentoshi) along with Kibi no Makibi and Genbo. They returned to Japan; he did not.<br/><br/> In China, he passed the civil-service examination. Around 725, he took an administrative position and was promoted in Luoyang in 728 and 731. Around 733 he received Tajihi Hironari, who would command the Japanese diplomatic mission. In 734 he tried to return to Japan but the ship to take him back sank not long into the journey, forcing him to remain in China for several more years. In 752, he tried again to return, with the mission to China led by Fujiwara no Kiyokawa, but the ship he was traveling in was wrecked and ran aground off the coast of Vietnam, but he managed to return to Chang'an in 755.<br/><br/> When the An Lushan Rebellion started later that year, it was unsafe to return to Japan and Nakamaro abandoned his hopes of returning to his homeland. He took several government offices and rose to the position of Governor-General of Annam between 761 and 767, residing in Hanoi. He then returned to Chang'an and was planning his return to Japan when he died in 770.
Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai.<br/><br/> In the years 1613 - 1620, Hasekura headed a diplomatic mission to the Vatican in Rome, traveling through New Spain (arriving in Acapulco and departing from Veracruz) and visiting various ports-of-call in Europe. This historic mission is called the Keicho Embassy, and follows the Tensho embassy of 1582. On the return trip, Hasekura and his companions re-traced their route across Mexico in 1619, sailing from Acapulco for Manila, and then sailing north to Japan in 1620. He is conventionally considered the first Japanese ambassador in the Americas and in Europe.<br/><br/> Although Hasekura's embassy was cordially received in Europe, it happened at a time when Japan was moving toward the suppression of Christianity. European monarchs such as the King of Spain thus refused the trade agreements Hasekura had been seeking. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620 and died of illness a year later, his embassy seemingly ending with few results in an increasingly isolationist Japan.
In 833, Emperor Nimmyo named Tsunetsugu the Imperial ambassador to China. He was the last envoy from Japan to China during the Heian period.<br/><br/> The diplomatic mission left Kyushu in 838; Tsunetsugu returned to Japan in 839. The mission party included the Buddhist monk Ennin.
Pope Paul V (Latin: Paulus V; 17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was Pope from 16 May 1605 to his death in 1621.<br/><br/> Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai.<br/><br/> In the years 1613 - 1620, Hasekura headed a diplomatic mission to the Vatican in Rome, traveling through New Spain (arriving in Acapulco and departing from Veracruz) and visiting various ports-of-call in Europe. This historic mission is called the Keicho Embassy, and follows the Tensho embassy of 1582. On the return trip, Hasekura and his companions re-traced their route across Mexico in 1619, sailing from Acapulco for Manila, and then sailing north to Japan in 1620. He is conventionally considered the first Japanese ambassador in the Americas and in Europe.<br/><br/> Although Hasekura's embassy was cordially received in Europe, it happened at a time when Japan was moving toward the suppression of Christianity. European monarchs such as the King of Spain thus refused the trade agreements Hasekura had been seeking. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620 and died of illness a year later, his embassy seemingly ending with few results in an increasingly isolationist Japan.
In 717-718, Abe no Nakamoro was part of the Japanese mission to Tang China (Kentoshi) along with Kibi no Makibi and Genbo. They returned to Japan; he did not.<br/><br/> In China, he passed the civil-service examination. Around 725, he took an administrative position and was promoted in Luoyang in 728 and 731. Around 733 he received Tajihi Hironari, who would command the Japanese diplomatic mission. In 734 he tried to return to Japan but the ship to take him back sank not long into the journey, forcing him to remain in China for several more years. In 752, he tried again to return, with the mission to China led by Fujiwara no Kiyokawa, but the ship he was traveling in was wrecked and ran aground off the coast of Vietnam, but he managed to return to Chang'an in 755.<br/><br/> When the An Lushan Rebellion started later that year, it was unsafe to return to Japan and Nakamaro abandoned his hopes of returning to his homeland. He took several government offices and rose to the position of Governor-General of Annam between 761 and 767, residing in Hanoi. He then returned to Chang'an and was planning his return to Japan when he died in 770.
Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga was a Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai.<br/><br/> In the years 1613 - 1620, Hasekura headed a diplomatic mission to the Vatican in Rome, traveling through New Spain (arriving in Acapulco and departing from Veracruz) and visiting various ports-of-call in Europe. This historic mission is called the Keicho Embassy, and follows the Tensho embassy of 1582. On the return trip, Hasekura and his companions re-traced their route across Mexico in 1619, sailing from Acapulco for Manila, and then sailing north to Japan in 1620. He is conventionally considered the first Japanese ambassador in the Americas and in Europe.<br/><br/> Although Hasekura's embassy was cordially received in Europe, it happened at a time when Japan was moving toward the suppression of Christianity. European monarchs such as the King of Spain thus refused the trade agreements Hasekura had been seeking. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620 and died of illness a year later, his embassy seemingly ending with few results in an increasingly isolationist Japan.
In 833, Emperor Ninmyo named Tsunetsugu the Imperial ambassador to China. He was the last envoy from Japan to China during the Heian period.<br/><br/> The diplomatic mission left Kyushu in 838; Tsunetsugu returned to Japan in 839. The mission party included the Buddhist monk Ennin as well as Ono no Takamura.
John VII Grammatikos or Grammaticus, i.e., 'the Grammarian' (Greek: Ιωάννης Ζ΄ ΓραμματικÏŒς, IÅannÄ“s VII Grammatikos), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from January 21, 837 to March 4, 843, died before 867.<br/><br/> John was renowned for his learning (hence the nickname Grammatikos), and for his persuasive rhetoric in the endless debates that are a favorite subject of hagiographic sources reflecting the second period of Iconoclasm. John was also charged with tutoring the future Emperor Theophilos during the reign of his father Michael II, and is credited with instilling strong Iconoclast sympathies in his student. On the accession of Theophilos, John was appointed synkellos (patriarch's assistant), a position that made him a likely heir to the patriarchate.<br/><br/> In c. 830, John was dispatched on an embassy to the Caliph al-Ma'mun, but this did little to prevent a period of fierce warfare between the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasids. He did, however, bring back a plan of the Abbasid palace at Baghdad for the amusement of his emperor and supervised the building of a similar structure in Bithynia.<br/><br/> The circumstances of John VII's patriarchate are obscure. He was appointed patriarch by his student Theophilos and may have been responsible for the slight intensification of the persecution of Iconodules. He was deposed by Theophilos' widow Theodora (his own relative) as a preliminary towards the ending of Iconoclasm in 843. The deposed patriarch survived into the 860s.
Shortly after midnight on 31 January 1968, 19 Vietcong sappers from the elite C-10 Sapper Battalion gathered at a Vietcong safe house in a car repair shop at 59 Phan Thanh Gian Street to distribute weapons and conduct final preparations for the attack. At 02:47 hours, the Vietcong blew a small hole in the perimeter wall on Thong Nhut Boulevard and gained access to the embassy compound.<br/><br/> The Vietcong opened fire on the Chancery building with Type 56s and RPG-2s. Several RPGs penetrated the walls of the Chancery. By 09:00, the Embassy was declared secure. Of the 19 Vietcong fighters that attacked the building, 18 had been killed and one wounded fighter was captured.<br/><br/> While the Embassy attack (like much of the Tet Offensive) was tactically insignificant, it had a profound political and psychological impact. The United States had been fighting in Vietnam for over two-and-a-half years, 20,000 Americans had been killed and despite the presence of nearly 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam, the Vietcong had managed to penetrate the U.S. Embassy, sovereign U.S. territory and the symbol of American power.
Shortly after midnight on 31 January 1968, 19 Vietcong sappers from the elite C-10 Sapper Battalion gathered at a Vietcong safe house in a car repair shop at 59 Phan Thanh Gian Street to distribute weapons and conduct final preparations for the attack. At 02:47 hours, the Vietcong blew a small hole in the perimeter wall on Thong Nhut Boulevard and gained access to the embassy compound.<br/><br/> The Vietcong opened fire on the Chancery building with Type 56s and RPG-2s. Several RPGs penetrated the walls of the Chancery. By 09:00, the Embassy was declared secure. Of the 19 Vietcong fighters that attacked the building, 18 had been killed and one wounded fighter was captured.<br/><br/> While the Embassy attack (like much of the Tet Offensive) was tactically insignificant, it had a profound political and psychological impact. The United States had been fighting in Vietnam for over two-and-a-half years, 20,000 Americans had been killed and despite the presence of nearly 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam, the Vietcong had managed to penetrate the U.S. Embassy, sovereign U.S. territory and the symbol of American power.
Shortly after midnight on 31 January 1968, 19 Vietcong sappers from the elite C-10 Sapper Battalion gathered at a Vietcong safe house in a car repair shop at 59 Phan Thanh Gian Street to distribute weapons and conduct final preparations for the attack. At 02:47 hours, the Vietcong blew a small hole in the perimeter wall on Thong Nhut Boulevard and gained access to the embassy compound.<br/><br/> The Vietcong opened fire on the Chancery building with Type 56s and RPG-2s. Several RPGs penetrated the walls of the Chancery. By 09:00, the Embassy was declared secure. Of the 19 Vietcong fighters that attacked the building, 18 had been killed and one wounded fighter was captured.<br/><br/> While the Embassy attack (like much of the Tet Offensive) was tactically insignificant, it had a profound political and psychological impact. The United States had been fighting in Vietnam for over two-and-a-half years, 20,000 Americans had been killed and despite the presence of nearly 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam, the Vietcong had managed to penetrate the U.S. Embassy, sovereign U.S. territory and the symbol of American power.
Shortly after midnight on 31 January 1968, 19 Vietcong sappers from the elite C-10 Sapper Battalion gathered at a Vietcong safe house in a car repair shop at 59 Phan Thanh Gian Street to distribute weapons and conduct final preparations for the attack. At 02:47 hours, the Vietcong blew a small hole in the perimeter wall on Thong Nhut Boulevard and gained access to the embassy compound.<br/><br/> The Vietcong opened fire on the Chancery building with Type 56s and RPG-2s. Several RPGs penetrated the walls of the Chancery. By 09:00, the Embassy was declared secure. Of the 19 Vietcong fighters that attacked the building, 18 had been killed and one wounded fighter was captured.<br/><br/> While the Embassy attack (like much of the Tet Offensive) was tactically insignificant, it had a profound political and psychological impact. The United States had been fighting in Vietnam for over two-and-a-half years, 20,000 Americans had been killed and despite the presence of nearly 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam, the Vietcong had managed to penetrate the U.S. Embassy, sovereign U.S. territory and the symbol of American power.
Shortly after midnight on 31 January 1968, 19 Vietcong sappers from the elite C-10 Sapper Battalion gathered at a Vietcong safe house in a car repair shop at 59 Phan Thanh Gian Street to distribute weapons and conduct final preparations for the attack. At 02:47 hours, the Vietcong blew a small hole in the perimeter wall on Thong Nhut Boulevard and gained access to the embassy compound.<br/><br/> The Vietcong opened fire on the Chancery building with Type 56s and RPG-2s. Several RPGs penetrated the walls of the Chancery. By 09:00, the Embassy was declared secure. Of the 19 Vietcong fighters that attacked the building, 18 had been killed and one wounded fighter was captured.<br/><br/> While the Embassy attack (like much of the Tet Offensive) was tactically insignificant, it had a profound political and psychological impact. The United States had been fighting in Vietnam for over two-and-a-half years, 20,000 Americans had been killed and despite the presence of nearly 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam, the Vietcong had managed to penetrate the U.S. Embassy, sovereign U.S. territory and the symbol of American power.
Over the course of Japan's Edo period, the Okinawan Kingdom of Ryūkyū sent eighteen missions to Edo, the capital of Tokugawa Japan. The unique pattern of these diplomatic exchanges evolved from models established by the Chinese, but without denoting any predetermined relationship to China or to the Chinese world order. The Kingdom became a vassal to the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma following Satsuma's 1609 invasion of Ryūkyū, and as such were expected to pay tribute to the shogunate; the missions also served as a great source of prestige for Satsuma, the only Japanese feudal domain to claim any foreign polity, let alone a kingdom, as its vassal.
Yirmisekiz Celebi Mehmet Efendi was a military inspector in the Ottoman armies who rose to be a diplomat and was selected by Sultan Ahmed III to be the empire’s first ambassador to Loius XV’s France. He was also a poet writing under the pen name ‘Faizi’. He wrote a compelling record of his experiences in France in the Turkish book of diplomatic travels, ‘Sefaretname’.
Twelve royal barges were dispatched to the mouth of the Chao Phraya River to receive the French delegation and lead them upriver to the capital in Ayutthaya.<br/><br/> The Siamese, or Thais, moved from their ancestral home in southern China into mainland Southeast Asia around the 10th century CE. Prior to this, Indianized kingdoms such as the Mon, Khmer and Malay kingdoms ruled the region. The Thais established their own states starting with Sukhothai, Chiang Saen, Chiang Mai and Lanna Kingdom, before the founding of the Ayutthaya kingdom. These states fought each other and were under constant threat from the Khmers, Burma and Vietnam.<br/><br/> Much later, the European colonial powers threatened in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but Thailand survived as the only Southeast Asian state to avoid colonial rule. After the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand endured 60 years of almost permanent military rule before the establishment of a democratic elected-government system.
The Konbaung Dynasty was the last dynasty that ruled Burma (Myanmar), from 1752 to 1885. The dynasty created the second largest empire in Burmese history, and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of modern state of Burma. The reforms proved insufficient to stem the advance of the British, who defeated the Burmese in all three Anglo-Burmese Wars over a six-decade span (1824–1885) and ended the millennium-old Burmese monarchy in 1885.
Presumably drawn in the 17th century when the Siamese capital was located in Ayutthaya, the lower illustration represents the king's barge while the upper galley was an escort for the French embassy.<br/><br/> The Siamese, or Thais, moved from their ancestral home in southern China into mainland Southeast Asia around the 10th century CE. Prior to this, Indianized kingdoms such as the Mon, Khmer and Malay kingdoms ruled the region. The Thais established their own states starting with Sukhothai, Chiang Saen, Chiang Mai and Lanna Kingdom, before the founding of the Ayutthaya kingdom. These states fought each other and were under constant threat from the Khmers, Burma and Vietnam.<br/><br/> Much later, the European colonial powers threatened in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but Thailand survived as the only Southeast Asian state to avoid colonial rule. After the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand endured 60 years of almost permanent military rule before the establishment of a democratic elected-government system.
Tran Le Xuan (born April 15, 1924 in Hanoi, Vietnam), popularly known as Madame Nhu but more properly Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, was considered the First Lady of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963. She was the wife of Ngo Dinh Nhu, brother and chief adviser to President Ngo Dinh Diem.<br/><br/> As Diem was a lifelong bachelor, and because the Nhus lived in the Independence Palace, she was considered to be the First Lady. Diem often appointed relatives to high positions, so her father became the ambassador to the United States while her mother, a former beauty queen, was South Vietnam's observer at the United Nations. Two of her uncles were cabinet ministers.<br/><br/> Madame Nhu was chauffeured in a black Mercedes and wore a small diamond crucifix. She also wore form-fitting apparel so tight that one French correspondent suggestively described her as, 'molded into her ... dress like a dagger in its sheath'. On formal occasions, she wore red satin pantaloons with three vertical pleats, which was the mark of the highest-ranking women of the imperial court in ancient Annam.<br/><br/> After the overthrow of the Diem government in 1963, Madame Nhu went into exile in France and died at Rome, Italy, in 2011.
Yirmisekiz Celebi Mehmet Efendi was a military inspector in the Ottoman armies who rose to be a diplomat and was selected by Sultan Ahmed III to be the empire’s first ambassador to Loius XV’s France. He was also a poet writing under the pen name ‘Faizi’. He wrote a compelling record of his experiences in France in the Turkish book of diplomatic travels, ‘Sefaretname’.
Yirmisekiz Celebi Mehmet Efendi was a military inspector in the Ottoman armies who rose to be a diplomat and was selected by Sultan Ahmed III to be the empire’s first ambassador to Loius XV’s France. He was also a poet writing under the pen name ‘Faizi’. He wrote a compelling record of his experiences in France in the Turkish book of diplomatic travels, ‘Sefaretname’.
The Konbaung Dynasty was the last dynasty that ruled Burma (Myanmar), from 1752 to 1885. The dynasty created the second largest empire in Burmese history, and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of modern state of Burma. The reforms proved insufficient to stem the advance of the British, who defeated the Burmese in all three Anglo-Burmese Wars over a six-decade span (1824–1885) and ended the millennium-old Burmese monarchy in 1885.
Joseon missions to Imperial China were Joseon diplomatic ventures which were intermittently sent in the years 1392-1894. These represent a significant aspect of the international relations of mutual Korean-Chinese contacts and communication.<br/><br/> Although the Joseon Dynasty considered 1392 as the foundation of the Joseon Kingdom, Imperial China did not immediately acknowledge the new government on the Korean peninsula. In 1401, the Ming court recognized Joseon as a tributary state in its sino-centric schema of foreign relations. In 1403, the Yung-lo emperor conveyed a patent and a gold seal to Taejong of Joseon, thus confirming his status and that of his dynasty.<br/><br/> Despite the label 'tributary state', China did not interfere in Joseon domestic affairs and diplomacy.
Japanese missions to Tang China (Kentoshi) represent Japanese efforts to learn from the Chinese culture and civilization in the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries. The nature of these contacts evolved gradually from political and ceremonial acknowledgment to cultural exchanges; and the process accompanied the growing commercial ties which developed over time.<br/><br/> Between 607 and 838, Japan sent 19 missions to the Tang Court. Knowledge and learning was the principal objective of each expedition. For example: Priests studied Chinese Buddhism. Officials studied Chinese government. Doctors studied Chinese medicine. Painters studied Chinese painting.
The Macartney Embassy, also called the Macartney Mission, was a British embassy to China in 1793. The Mission ran from 1792–94. It is named for the first envoy of Great Britain to China, George Macartney, who led the endeavour. The goal of the embassy was to convince Emperor Qianlong of China to ease restrictions on trade between Great Britain and China by allowing Great Britain to have a permanent embassy in Beijing, possession of 'a small unfortified island near Chusan for the residence of British traders, storage of goods, and outfitting of ships', and reduced tariffs on traders in Guangzhou.<br/><br/> The embassy was ultimately not successful. This was not due to Macartney's refusal to kowtow in the presence of the Qianlong Emperor, as is commonly believed. It was also not a result of the Chinese reliance on tradition in dictating foreign policy but rather a result of competing world views which were uncomprehending and incompatible.