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China: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) and the Central Plaza building next to Victoria Harbour, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island.<br/><br/> Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, Hong Kong has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer.
China: Hong Kong cityscape including the Central Plaza Building and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Looking towards Hong Kong Island from Kowloon.<br/><br/> Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, Hong Kong has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer.<br/><br/> Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842.
China: A view from inside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) next to Victoria Harbour, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island.<br/><br/> Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, Hong Kong has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer.
China: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) next to Victoria Harbour, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island.<br/><br/> Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, Hong Kong has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer.<br/><br/> Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842.
China: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) next to Victoria Harbour, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island.<br/><br/> Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, Hong Kong has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer.<br/><br/> Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842.
China: The Reunification Monument and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) next to Victoria Harbour, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island.<br/><br/> Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, Hong Kong has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer.<br/><br/> Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842.
China: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) next to Victoria Harbour, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island.<br/><br/> Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, Hong Kong has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer.<br/><br/> Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842.
Japan: 'Banquet at a Foreign Mercantile House in Yokohama'. Woodblock print by Utagawa Sadahide (1807-1878/1879), 1861. Utagawa Sadahide, also known as Gountei Sadahide, was a Japanese artist best known for his prints in the <i>ukiyo-e</i> style as a member of the Utagawa school. His prints covered a wide variety of genres; amongst his best known are his <i>Yokohama-e</i> pictures of foreigners in Yokohama in the 1860s, a period when he was a best-selling artist. He was a member of the Tokugawa shogunate's delegation to the International Exposition of 1867 in Paris.
Sing-song girls (also known as flower girls) is an English term for the courtesans in nineteenth century China.<br/><br/> Although generally concubines or courtesans, people in Shanghai called the women who performed in sing-song houses 'xian sheng' in Wu dialect. The term was pronounced 'sing-song' in English and the young women always sang to entertain the customers; thus Westerners called them Sing-Song girls. The word xian sang in this case is a polite term used to refer to an entertainer.
The ‘Maqama’ are a collection of picaresque Arabic tales written in the form of rhymed prose in which rhetorical extravagance is conspicuous. The style was invented in the 10th century by Badi al-Zaman al-Hamadhani and extended by Abu Muhammed al-Qasim ibn Ali al-Hariri of Basra the following century.<br/><br/> The protagonists in the tales are invariably silver-tongued hustlers, especially the roguish Abu Zaid al-Saruji, who trick the narrator and who live on their wits and dazzle onlookers with displays of acrobatics, acting and by reciting poetry.
Fruit carving is a significant part of Thai cultural heritage. Watermelon carving dates to the 14th century in Thailand during the Sukhothai dynasty.<br/><br/> The annual Loi Krathong Festival occurs each November where people in Thailand float lamps and lanterns down a river to honor water spirits. One legend is that one of the king’s maids decorated her lantern with a watermelon carved with flower designs to impress him and that he was so pleased that he encouraged all Thai women to adopt the practice.
China: The Reunification Monument at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) next to Victoria Harbour, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island.<br/><br/> Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, Hong Kong has become one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. It is the world's tenth-largest exporter and ninth-largest importer.<br/><br/> Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842.
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. It was an important city in central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert.<br/><br/> The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (which means 'the town that repels' in Amorite and 'the indomitable town' in Aramaic) is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.
Tang Yin was a Chinese scholar, painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming dynasty period whose life story has become a part of popular lore. Even though he was born during the Ming dynasty, many of his paintings (especially paintings of people) were illustrated with elements from Pre-Tang to Song dynasty times.<br/><br/> Tang Yin is one of the most notable painters in Chinese art history. He is one of the 'Four Masters of Ming dynasty' (Ming Si Jia), which also includes Shen Zhou (1427–1509), Wen Zhengming (1470–1559) and Qiu Ying (ca. 1495-1552). Tang was also a talented poet.
Maqāma (literally 'assemblies') are an (originally) Arabic literary genre of rhymed prose with intervals of poetry in which rhetorical extravagance is conspicuous. The 10th century author Badī' al-Zaman al-Hamadhāni is said to have invented the form, which was extended by al-Hariri of Basra in the next century. Both authors' maqāmāt center on trickster figures whose wanderings and exploits in speaking to assemblies of the powerful are conveyed by a narrator.<br/><br/> Manuscripts of al-Harīrī's Maqāmāt, anecdotes of a roguish wanderer Abu Zayd from Saruj, were frequently illustrated with miniatures.
In 1788 a large Qing army was sent south to restore Lê Mẫn Đế (Lê Chiêu Thống) to the Vietnamese throne. They succeeded in taking Thăng Long (Hà Nội, Hanoi) and putting Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống back on the throne.<br/><br/> This situation did not last long as the Tây Sơn leader, Nguyễn Huệ, launched an attack against the Qing forces while they were celebrating the Chinese New Year festival of the year 1789. The Chinese were completely defeated and Nguyễn Huệ was proclaimed Emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam, although he also agreed to pat tribute to the Qing court to avoid further invasions.<br/><br/> The painting is from the 'Ten Great Campaigns' series produced by Jesuit missionaries at the Qing Court including Giuseppe Castiglione, Jean-Denis Attiret, Ignace Sichelbart and Jean Damascene. The engravings were executed in Paris under the direction of Charles-Nicolas Cochin of the Académie Royal at the Court of Louis XVI and the individual engravers include Le Bas, Aliamet, Prevot, Saint-Aubin, Masquelier, Choffard, and Launay.
The ‘Maqama’ are a collection of picaresque Arabic tales written in the form of rhymed prose in which rhetorical extravagance is conspicuous. The style was invented in the 10th century by Badi al-Zaman al-Hamadhani and extended by Abu Muhammed al-Qasim ibn Ali al-Hariri of Basra the following century.<br/><br/> The protagonists in the tales are invariably silver-tongued hustlers, especially the roguish Abu Zaid al-Saruji, who trick the narrator and who live on their wits and dazzle onlookers with displays of acrobatics, acting and by reciting poetry.
Cleopatra VII (69—30 BCE) was the last pharaoh of ancient Egypt and last of the Ptolemaic dynasty.<br/><br/> Famed historically as a classic femme fatale, Cleopatra seduced Roman emperor Julius Caesar in order to secure her place on the Egyptian throne. After Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE, Rome became divided between his heir, Gaius Octavian (later known as Augustus), and his military commander Mark Anthony. Cleopatra aligned herself with Mark Anthony and used her powers of seduction upon him. He fell in love with her and stayed with her at the Egyptian court in Alexandria. The couple had two children. But after losing the Battle of Actium, both Mark Anthony and Cleopatra committed suicide rather than be taken to Rome as prisoners. Cleopatra famously killed herself on 12th August, 30 BCE, by the bite of an asp.<br/><br/> In this scene from her court in Alexandria, Cleopatra has bet her lover Mark Anthony that she could there and then host a banquet for the princely sum of 10 million sestertia. After Mark Anthony accepted the wager, Cleopatra removed one of her pearl earrings, dissolved it in vinegar, then drank it. She is in the process of removing her second earring to do likewise, but is stopped by the disapproving former Roman senator Lucius Plancus.
This painting depicts a Biblical tale about Simon hosting Jesus Christ for dinner. In front of the table, a sinful woman is overcome and washes the Messiah's feet with her tears before drying them with her hair and then anointing them with fragrance from the pot that lies beside her. Simon is incensed that Jesus is allowing the prostitute to touch him, but Christ admonishes him, saying that the woman's sins are forgiven. Some of Jesus' disciples look on through the window with astonished expressions.<br/><br/> The woman later becomes a consort of Jesus and is known as Mary Magdalene.
Esther (Hebrew: אֶסְתֵּרr), born Hadassah, is the eponymous heroine of the Biblical 'Book of Esther'.<br/><br/> According to the Bible, she was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus is traditionally identified with Xerxes I (r. 486-465 BCE) during the time of the Achaemenid empire. Her story is the basis for the celebration of Purim in Jewish tradition.
South Arabia as a general term refers to several regions as currently recognized, in chief the Republic of Yemen; yet it has historically also included Najran, Jizan, and 'Asir which are presently in Saudi Arabia, and Dhofar presently in Oman. The frontiers of South Arabia as linguistically conceived would include the historic peoples speaking the related South Arabian languages as well as neighboring dialects of Arabic, and their descendants. Anciently there was a South Arabian alphabet, which was borrowed by Ethiopia. South Arabia as generally conceived would include the lands inhabited by peoples partaking of its distinctive traditions and culture, which overlap recently demarcated political boundaries.<br/><br/> Yemen or al-yaman means 'the south'. One etymology derives Yemen from yamin the 'right side' as the south is on the right when facing the sunrise; yet this etymology is considered suspect. Another derives Yemen from yumn meaning 'felicity' as the region is fertile; indeed the Romans called it Arabia Felix. In an ancient, traditional Arabian genealogy, the people of the peninsula are divided between north and south, those of the north descending from Ishmael and Adnan (from whom Muhammad descended), and those of South Arabia being the descendants of Qahtan or Joktan (Yoqtan) and Jokshan.<br/><br/> Three thousand years ago several different state entities occupied the region of South Arabia, including M'ain, Qataban, Hadhramaut and Saba.In those ancient times South Arabia claimed several notable features, e.g., the famous dam at Marib, the cosmopolitan incense trade, as well as the legendary Queen of Sheba. Two thousand years ago the Himyarites became the masters of South Arabia, remaining for several centuries until displaced by the armies of Axum which landed from nearby Ethiopia; rule by the Ethiopians was followed by that of Persia under the Sassanids, who also arrived by sea. A half-century later, in the year 638, the region became Muslim.