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Japan: 'Horses Under a Willow Tree'. Woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunsen (1762-1830), c. 1804-1818. Katsukawa Shunsen (1762-1830), also known as Shunko II, was a designer of books and ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints. Shunsen is best known for his genre scenes, landscapes, and prints of beautiful women.
James Buchanan, Jr. (April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the United States (1857–61), serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives and later the Senate, then served as Minister to Russia under President Andrew Jackson.<br/><br/> He was named Secretary of State under President James K. Polk, and as of 2016 is the last former Secretary of State to serve as President of the United States. After Buchanan turned down an offer to sit on the Supreme Court, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Ambassador to the United Kingdom, in which capacity he helped draft the Ostend Manifesto.
Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804 – October 8, 1869) was the 14th President of the United States (1853–57). Pierce was a northern Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the unity of the nation.<br/><br/> His polarizing actions in championing and signing the Kansas–Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act failed to stem intersectional conflict, setting the stage for Southern secession.
James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th President of the United States (1845–49). Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–39)—the only president to have served as House Speaker—and Governor of Tennessee (1839–41).<br/><br/> Polk was the surprise (dark horse) candidate for president in 1844, defeating Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party by promising to annex the Republic of Texas. Polk was a leader of Jacksonian Democracy during the Second Party System.
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth President of the United States (1841–45). He was also, briefly, the tenth vice president (1841), elected to that office on the 1840 Whig ticket with William Henry Harrison.<br/><br/> Tyler became president after Harrison's death in April 1841, only a month after the start of the new administration. Known to that point as a supporter of states' rights, which endeared him to his fellow Virginians, his actions as president showed that he was willing to back nationalist policies as long as they did not infringe on the powers of the states. A firm believer in manifest destiny, President Tyler sought to strengthen and preserve the Union through territorial expansion, most notably the annexation of the independent Republic of Texas in his last days in office.
The smallest country in South America, Suriname's diversity began in the 16th century when French, Spanish and English explorers visited the area. A century later, plantation colonies were established by the Dutch and English along the many rivers in the fertile Guyana plains.<br/><br/> Disputes arose—as ever—between the Dutch and the English. In 1667, the Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of Suriname from the English, resulting from the Treaty of Breda. The English were left with New Amsterdam, a small trading post in North America, which later became New York City.<br/><br/> As a plantation colony, Surinam was still heavily dependent on manual labor, and to make up for the shortfall, the Dutch brought in contract laborers from the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) and India (through an arrangement with the British). In addition, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, small numbers of mostly men were brought in from China and the Middle East. Although Suriname's population remains relatively small, because of this unique history it is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse countries in the world.
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.
The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1914), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United Kingdom in Singapore during early 1873.<br/><br/> The war was part of a series of conflicts in the late 19th century that consolidated Dutch rule over modern-day Indonesia.
Joseon was a Korean kingdom founded by Yi Seonggye that lasted for approximately five centuries, from July 1392 to October 1897. It was officially renamed the Korean Empire in October 1897. It was founded following the aftermath of the overthrow of Goryeo in what is today the city of Kaesong.<br/><br/> The kingdom's northernmost borders were expanded to the natural boundaries at the Yalu and Tumen Rivers through the subjugation of the Jurchens. Joseon was the last dynasty of Korea and its longest-ruling Confucian dynasty.
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.
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.
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, best known for his 'Ave Maria', based on a work by Bach, as well as his opera 'Faust'.
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.
The smallest country in South America, Suriname's diversity began in the 16th century when French, Spanish and English explorers visited the area. A century later, plantation colonies were established by the Dutch and English along the many rivers in the fertile Guyana plains.<br/><br/> Disputes arose—as ever—between the Dutch and the English. In 1667, the Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of Suriname from the English, resulting from the Treaty of Breda. The English were left with New Amsterdam, a small trading post in North America, which later became New York City.<br/><br/> As a plantation colony, Surinam was still heavily dependent on manual labor, and to make up for the shortfall, the Dutch brought in contract laborers from the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) and India (through an arrangement with the British). In addition, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, small numbers of mostly men were brought in from China and the Middle East. Although Suriname's population remains relatively small, because of this unique history it is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse countries in the world.
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.
Ludwig van Beethoven (17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers.<br/><br/> His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the <i>Missa solemnis</i> and an opera, <i>Fidelio</i>.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (January 1, 1798 - April 14, 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting. He is associated with the Utagawa school.<br/><br/> The range of Kuniyoshi's preferred subjects included many genres: landscapes, beautiful women, Kabuki actors, cats, and mythical animals. He is known for depictions of the battles of samurai and legendary heroes. His artwork was affected by Western influences in landscape painting and caricature.
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.
The portrait of a young Hawaiian girl and her pet dog is perhaps Tikhanov's most appealing watercolor. The girl is shown crouching, her knees drawn up and her feet neatly tucked under as if arranged to fit the confines of the page. She turns her head to face outward at a slightly awkward angle, but she seems at ease, absorbed in her own thoughts. Her small dog rests on her knees, curled up.<br/><br/> The young girl wears about her waist a pink paʻu skirt of the finest and softest manufacture. Her matching <i>kihei</i>, or wrapper, is thrown across her left shoulder, over her head, and down her back. An additional detail of the girl's costume is the lei of hala' fruit segments, perhaps worn as a sign of mourning for the recent death of Kamehameha I's sister.<br/><br/> The identity of the girl is unknown, but she must have been of high status because of her elegant costume and band of lime-bleached hair, a dressing much in vogue at the time among women of royal rank.
Hyakki Yagyo, variation: hyakki yako, (lit. 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons') is a concept in Japanese folklore. It is a parade which is composed of a hundred kinds of <i>yokai</i> (supernatural monsters).<br/><br/> Legend has it that every year the yokai Nurarihyon, will lead all of the yokai through the streets of Japan during summer nights. Anyone who comes across the procession will perish or be spirited away by the yokai, unless protected by handwritten scrolls by anti-yokai onmyoji spellcasters.<br/><br/> According to the account in the Shugaisho, a medieval Japanese encyclopedia, the only way to be kept safe from the night parade if it comes by your house is to stay inside on the specific nights associated with the Chinese zodiac or to chant a magic spell.
Samurai is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.<br/><br/> The samurai followed a set of rules that came to be known as BushidÅ. While they numbered less than ten percent of Japan's population, samurai teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in martial arts such as KendÅ, meaning the way of the sword.
William Daniell RA (1769–1837) was an English landscape and marine painter, and engraver. He travelled extensively in the Far East, helping to produce one of the finest illustrated volumes of the period - Oriental Scenery.<br/><br/>William Daniell was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. Daniell’s future was dramatically changed when he was sent to live with his uncle, the landscape artist Thomas Daniell (1749–1840), after his father's premature death in 1779.<br/><br/>In 1784 William accompanied his uncle to India, who worked there as an engraver, acting as his assistant in preparing drawings and sketches.
Mahmud of Ghazni (November 2, 971 - April 30, 1030) was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty and ruled from 997 until his death in 1030. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni (now in Afghanistan) into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which extended from Afghanistan into most of Iran as well as Pakistan and regions of North-West India.
Karl Heinrich Marx (Berlin, 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the establishment of the social sciences and the development of the socialist movement. He is also considered one of the greatest economists in history. He published numerous books during his lifetime, the most notable being 'The Communist Manifesto' (1848) and Capital (1867 –1894). He worked closely with his friend and fellow revolutionary socialist, Friedrich Engels.<br/><br/> Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895) was a German social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research. In 1848 he co-authored The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx, and later he supported Marx financially to do research and write Das Kapital. After Marx's death Engels edited the second and third volumes.<br/><br/> Shanghai began life as a fishing village, and later as a port receiving goods carried down the Yangzi River. From 1842 onwards, in the aftermath of the first Opium War, the British opened a ‘concession’ in Shanghai where drug dealers and other traders could operate undisturbed. French, Italians, Germans, Americans and Japanese all followed. By the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai was a boom town and an international byword for dissipation. When the Communists won power in 1949, they transformed Shanghai into a model of the Revolution.
Karl Heinrich Marx (Berlin, 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the establishment of the social sciences and the development of the socialist movement. He is also considered one of the greatest economists in history. He published numerous books during his lifetime, the most notable being 'The Communist Manifesto' (1848) and Capital (1867 –1894). He worked closely with his friend and fellow revolutionary socialist, Friedrich Engels.<br/><br/> Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895) was a German social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research. In 1848 he co-authored The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx, and later he supported Marx financially to do research and write Das Kapital. After Marx's death Engels edited the second and third volumes.<br/><br/> Shanghai began life as a fishing village, and later as a port receiving goods carried down the Yangzi River. From 1842 onwards, in the aftermath of the first Opium War, the British opened a ‘concession’ in Shanghai where drug dealers and other traders could operate undisturbed. French, Italians, Germans, Americans and Japanese all followed. By the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai was a boom town and an international byword for dissipation. When the Communists won power in 1949, they transformed Shanghai into a model of the Revolution.
Hokuju was one of the best students of Hokusai. He produced very original landscapes with cubist landforms, stylized clouds and photographic figures. His curiously modern landscapes were apparently influenced by the Western art concept which was very new to his era.
The Durrani Empire, also referred to as the Afghan Empire, was a monarchy centered in Afghanistan and included northeastern Iran, the modern state of Pakistan as well as the Punjab region of India.<br/><br/> It was established at Kandahar in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan military commander under Nader Shah of Persia and chief of the Abdali tribe. After the death of Ahmad Shah in about 1773, the Emirship was passed onto his children followed by grandchildren and its capital was shifted to Kabul. With the support of tribal leaders, Ahmad Shah Durrani extended Afghan control from Meshed to Kashmir and Delhi, from the Amu Darya to the Arabian Sea.<br/><br/> Next to the Ottoman Empire, the Durrani was the greatest Muslim Empire in the second half of the 18th century. The Durrani Empire is considered the foundation of the current state of Afghanistan, with Ahmad Shah Durrani being considered the ‘Father’ of modern Afghanistan.
Dost Mohammad Khan (December 23, 1793 - June 9, 1863) was the Emir of Afghanistan between 1826 and 1863. He first ruled from 1826 to 1839 and then from 1843 to 1863. He was the eleventh son of Sardar PÄyendah Khan (chief of the Barakzai tribe) who was killed by Zaman Shah Durrani in 1799. He was the grandson of Hajji Jamal Khan who founded the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan. Dost Mahommed belonged to the Pashtun ethnic group.
French Indochina (French: Indochine française; Khmer: សហភាព​ឥណ្ឌូចិន, Vietnamese: Äông DÆ°Æ¡ng thuá»™c Pháp, frequently abbreviated to Äông Pháp) was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin (North), Annam (Central), and Cochinchina (South), as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887.
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.<br/><br/> Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.
Sir Thomas Francis Wade, GCMG, KCB (25 August 1818 – 31 July 1895), was a British diplomat and Sinologist who produced a syllabary in 1859 that was later amended, extended and converted into the Wade-Giles romanization for Mandarin Chinese by Herbert Giles in 1892. Thomas' Chinese name was Wei Tuoma (å¨å¦¥ç‘ª).<br/><br/> Born in London, he was the son of Major Wade of the Black Watch and Anne Smythe (daughter of William Smythe) of Barbavilla, County Westmeath, Ireland. He was educated at the Cape, in Mauritius, at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1838, his father purchased for him a commission in the 81st Foot. Exchanging (1839) into the 42nd Highlanders, he served with his regiment in the Ionian Islands, devoting his leisure to the congenial study of Italian and modern Greek.<br/><br/> On receiving his commission as lieutenant in 1841 he exchanged into the 98th Foot, then under orders for Qing China, and landed in Hong Kong in June 1842. The scene of the First Opium War had at that time been transferred to the Yangtze River, and Wade was ordered there with his regiment. There he took part in the attack on Zhenjiang and in the advance on Nanking.<br/><br/> In 1845, he was appointed interpreter in Cantonese to the Supreme Court of Hong Kong, and in 1846 assistant Chinese secretary to the superintendent of trade, Sir John Francis Davis. In 1852 he was appointed vice-consul at Shanghai. The Taiping Rebellion had so disorganized the administration in the neighborhood of Shanghai that it was considered advisable to put the collection of the foreign customs duties into commission, a committee of three, of whom Wade was the chief, being entrusted with the administration of the customs. This formed the beginning of the imperial maritime customs service.<br/><br/> In 1855, Wade was appointed Chinese secretary to Sir John Bowring, who had succeeded Sir J. Davis at Hong Kong. On the declaration of the Second Opium War in 1857, he was attached to Lord Elgin's staff as Chinese secretary, and with the assistance of Horatio Nelson Lay he conducted the negotiations which led up to the Treaty of Tientsin (1858). In the following year he accompanied Sir Frederick Bruce in his attempt to exchange the ratification of the treaty, and was present at Taku when the force attending the mission was attacked and driven back from the Pei Ho (Hai River).<br/><br/> After retiring from working over forty years in the British embassies in China, he returned to England in 1883, and donated 4,304 volumes of Chinese literature to the Cambridge University Library's Oriental Collection three years later. In 1888, he was elected the first Professor of Chinese at the University of Cambridge. He held the position as a professor until his death in Cambridge at 77. He served as president of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1887 to 1890.
A low-class prostitute, or yotaka (literally 'night hawk') tries to lure a low ranking samurai retainer (yakko) by tugging at his sash. She carries a straw mat so that she can provide her services under the stars.<br/><br/>The first poem on the print puns on the word taka, literally 'hawk', and yotaka, 'nighthawk prostitute'. The last line meaning the strings attached to a hawk while hunting (Taka no ashigawa) can also mean the strap by which a samurai attaches his dagger to his sash.<br/><br/>The second poem plays on the convention of seeing a hawk in a New Year's dream, but here the hawk is the prostitute.
Takenouchi no Sukune (武内宿禰) or Takeshiuchi no Sukune was a legendary Japanese hero-statesman, and is a Shinto kami.<br/><br/> Takenouchi no Sukune was supposedly the son of Princess Kagehime, and is said to be grandson to Imperial Prince Hikofutódhimakoto no Mikoto. Also descended from Emperor KÅgen, Takenouchi no Sukune served under five legendary emperors, Emperor KeikÅ, Emperor Seimu, Emperor ChÅ«ai, Emperor ÅŒjin, and Emperor Nintoku, but was perhaps best known for his service as Grand Minister to the Regent Jingu, with whom he supposedly invaded Korea. While Jingu was regent to her son, Ojin, Takenouchi was accused of treason.<br/><br/> In addition to his martial services to these emperors, he was reputedly also a <i>saniwa</i>, or spirit medium.<br/><br/> Twenty-eight Japanese clans are said to be descended from Takenouchi no Sukune, including Takeuchi and Soga. He is a legendary figure, and is said to have drunk daily from a sacred well, and this helped him to live to be 280 years old. Further, he is enshrined as a Kami at the Ube shrine, in the Iwami district of the Tottori Prefecture and at local Hachiman shrines. His portrait has also appeared on the Japanese yen, and dolls of him are popular Children’s Day gifts.
Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was an American statesman who served as the 13th President of the United States from 1850 to 1853.<br/><br/> He was the last Whig president, and the last president not to be affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties.