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Tian Hongzheng, courtesy name Andao, formally Duke Zhongmin of Yi, was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty.<br/><br/> Under his governance, Weibo Circuit (headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), which had not been under imperial control for decades, submitted to imperial control.
Seoul is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of more than 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the developed world. The Seoul Capital Area, which includes the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, is the world's second largest metropolitan area with over 25.6 million people, home to over half of South Koreans along with 632,000 international residents.<br/><br/>During the Korean War, Seoul changed hands between the Chinese-backed North Korean forces and the UN-backed South Korean forces several times, leaving the city heavily damaged after the war. One estimate of the extensive damage states that after the war, at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins. In addition, a flood of refugees had entered Seoul during the war, swelling the population of Seoul and its metropolitan area to an estimated 2.5 million, more than half of them homeless.
Auguste Pavie (1847 - 1925) was the founding father of French influence in Laos. After a long career in Cambodia and Cochinchina, Pavie became the first French vice-consul in Luang Prabang in 1885, eventually becoming the first Governor-General and plenipotentiary minister of the newly formed French colony of Laos.
Auguste Pavie (1847 - 1925) was the founding father of French influence in Laos. After a long career in Cambodia and Cochinchina, Pavie became the first French vice-consul in Luang Prabang in 1885, eventually becoming the first Governor-General and plenipotentiary minister of the newly formed French colony of Laos.
Little is known about Shim Deuk-gyeong (1629-1710) except that he passed the lower civil service examination in 1693, the 19th year of King Sukjong. In this portrait he is wearing a Confucian scholar's overcoat and a tiered black horsehair hat and seated on a stool, in a three-quarter view from left.<br/><br/> The two colophons, both composed by Yi Seo (1662-1723), reveal that the portrait was painted by Yun Du-seo (1668-1715) in the 11th month of 1710, the 36th year of Sukjong, four months after Shim's death.
Joseon (Korean: 조선; Hanja: 朝鮮; also Chosŏn, Choson, Chosun, Cho-sen), was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries, from July 1392 to October 1897. It was founded following the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo Dynasty in what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul. The kingdom's northernmost borders were expanded to the natural boundaries at the Amnok and Duman rivers through the subjugation of the Jurchens. Joseon was the last dynasty of Korean history and the longest-ruling Confucian dynasty.<br/><br/>During its reign, Joseon consolidated its effective rule over the territory of current Korea, encouraged the entrenchment of Korean Confucian ideals and doctrines in Korean society, imported and adapted Chinese culture, and saw the height of classical Korean culture, trade, science, literature, and technology. However, the dynasty was severely weakened during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when invasions by the neighboring states of Japan and Qing nearly overran the peninsula, leading to an increasingly harsh isolationist policy for which the country became known as the Hermit Kingdom. After the end of invasions from Manchuria, Joseon experienced a nearly 200-year period of peace.<br/><br/>However, whatever power the kingdom recovered during its isolation further waned as the 18th century came to a close, and faced with internal strife, power struggles, international pressure and rebellions at home, the Joseon Dynasty declined rapidly in the late 19th century.<br/><br/>The Joseon period has left a substantial legacy to modern Korea; much of modern Korean etiquette, cultural norms, societal attitudes towards current issues, and the modern Korean language and its dialects derive from the culture and traditions of Joseon.
Although Vietnam has for centuries vigorously resisted any form of direct Chinese control, its traditional form of government has been almost a carbon copy of China, being based on Confucianism, the Imperial system, and a highly literate mandarinate.
The British conquest of Burma began in 1824 in response to a Burmese attempt to invade India. By 1886, and after two further wars, Britain had incorporated the entire country into the British Raj. To stimulate trade and facilitate changes, the British brought in Indians and Chinese, who quickly displaced the Burmese in urban areas. To this day Rangoon and Mandalay have large ethnic Indian populations. Railways and schools were built, as well as a large number of prisons, including the infamous Insein Prison, then as now used for political prisoners.<br/><br/>Burmese resentment was strong and was vented in violent riots that paralysed Rangoon on occasion all the way until the 1930s. Burma was administered as a province of British India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony. Burma finally gained independence from Britain on January 4, 1948.