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Remarkable for their military prowess, their receptivity to Christianity, and their intricate all-embracing kinship network, the Kachins are a hardy mountain people living in the remote hills of northern Burma and on the peripheries of India and China.<br/><br/> 'Kachin' is actually a Burmese word that does not exist in any of the local dialects. Each Kachin tribe has a different name for themselves and their neighbours, but no word to describe the whole group. There are the Jinghpaw (known as Jingpo in China and Singpho in India), the Maru, the Lashi, the Atsi (or Szi), the Lisu and the Rawang—but those represent linguistic groups rather than actual nationalities. Far more important bonds are formed by an intricate system of clans, which cuts across tribal barriers.<br/><br/> Every 'Kachin' belongs to one of five original families: Marip, Maran, Lahpai, N'Hkum and Lattaw. These clans are related in an all-embracing kinship network of extreme complexity. In practice, however, this system binds together the Kachins into a remarkably tight-knit society.
Remarkable for their military prowess, their receptivity to Christianity, and their intricate all-embracing kinship network, the Kachins are a hardy mountain people living in the remote hills of northern Burma and on the peripheries of India and China.<br/><br/> 'Kachin' is actually a Burmese word that does not exist in any of the local dialects. Each Kachin tribe has a different name for themselves and their neighbours, but no word to describe the whole group. There are the Jinghpaw (known as Jingpo in China and Singpho in India), the Maru, the Lashi, the Atsi (or Szi), the Lisu and the Rawang—but those represent linguistic groups rather than actual nationalities. Far more important bonds are formed by an intricate system of clans, which cuts across tribal barriers.<br/><br/> Every 'Kachin' belongs to one of five original families: Marip, Maran, Lahpai, N'Hkum and Lattaw. These clans are related in an all-embracing kinship network of extreme complexity. In practice, however, this system binds together the Kachins into a remarkably tight-knit society.
Northeastern Thai and Lao food is generally of the simple, spicy, peasant variety enjoyed by the inhabitants of this relatively poor region. The most famous dishes include <i>somtam</i>– papaya salad with fish sauce, garlic, chilli peppers, peanuts and <i>puu na</i> field crab added to taste. This is often eaten with <i>kai yang</i>– grilled chicken, the best of which is said to come from Sisaket, close to the Lao frontier.<br/><br/> Perhaps the most classic of Isaan dishes is <i>larb</i>– spiced minced meat generally served with salad and a side plate of raw vegetables. Unlike Bangkok and the South, <i>khao niaw</i>, or 'sticky rice' – a glutinous variant served in small woven bamboo baskets and eaten with the hand – is the main accompaniment to every meal.
Northeastern Thai and Lao food is generally of the simple, spicy, peasant variety enjoyed by the inhabitants of this relatively poor region. The most famous dishes include <i>somtam</i>– papaya salad with fish sauce, garlic, chilli peppers, peanuts and <i>puu na</i> field crab added to taste. This is often eaten with <i>kai yang</i>– grilled chicken, the best of which is said to come from Sisaket, close to the Lao frontier.<br/><br/> Perhaps the most classic of Isaan dishes is <i>larb</i>– spiced minced meat generally served with salad and a side plate of raw vegetables. Unlike Bangkok and the South, <i>khao niaw</i>, or 'sticky rice' – a glutinous variant served in small woven bamboo baskets and eaten with the hand – is the main accompaniment to every meal.
Cambodia: A woman with a container full of dried goods walks near cattle in a dry field during the hot season, central Cambodia. Cambodia is a relatively flat, low-lying land. It is situated at the heart of Indochina and has a total area of just over 180,000sq km (69,500sq miles). It shares land borders with Thailand to the north and west, Laos to the northeast and Vietnam to the east and southeast.
Ifugao is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Covering a total land area of 262,820 hectares, the province of Ifugao is located in a mountainous region characterized by rugged terrain, river valleys, and massive forests. Its capital is Lagawe and borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela to the east, and Nueva Vizcaya to the south.<br/><br/> The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras and Banaue Rice Terraces are the main tourist attractions in the province. These 2000-year-old terraces were carved into the mountains, without the aid of machinery, to provide level steps where the native Ifugao people can plant rice. In 1995, they were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.<br/><br/> Ifugao culture revolves around rice, which is considered a prestige crop. There is an elaborate and complex array of rice culture feasts inextricably linked with taboos and intricate agricultural rites, from rice cultivation to rice consumption. Harvest season calls for grandiose thanksgiving feasts, while the concluding harvest rites 'tungo' or 'tungul' (the day of rest) entail a strict taboo of any agricultural work. Partaking of rice wine (bayah), rice cakes, and moma (a mixture of several herbs, powdered snail shell and betel nut/ arecoline: and acts as a chewing gum to the Ifugaos) is an indelible practice during the festivities and ritual activities.
The Tacuinum (sometimes Taccuinum) Sanitatis is a medieval handbook on health and wellbeing, based on the Taqwim al‑sihha تقويم الصحة ('Maintenance of Health'), an eleventh-century Arab medical treatise by Ibn Butlan of Baghdad.<br/><br/> Ibn Butlân was a Christian physician born in Baghdad and who died in 1068. He sets forth the six elements necessary to maintain daily health: food and drink, air and the environment, activity and rest, sleep and wakefulness, secretions and excretions of humours, changes or states of mind (happiness, anger, shame, etc). According to Ibn Butlân, illnesses are the result of changes in the balance of some of these elements, therefore he recommended a life in harmony with nature in order to maintain or recover one’s health.<br/><br/> Ibn Butlân also teaches us to enjoy each season of the year, the consequences of each type of climate, wind and snow. He points out the importance of spiritual wellbeing and mentions, for example, the benefits of listening to music, dancing or having a pleasant conversation.<br/><br/> Aimed at a cultured lay audience, the text exists in several variant Latin versions, the manuscripts of which are characteristically profusely illustrated. The short paragraphs of the treatise were freely translated into Latin in mid-thirteenth-century Palermo or Naples, continuing an Italo-Norman tradition as one of the prime sites for peaceable inter-cultural contact between the Islamic and European worlds.<br/><br/> Four handsomely illustrated complete late fourteenth-century manuscripts of the Taccuinum, all produced in Lombardy, survive, in Vienna, Paris, Liège and Rome, as well as scattered illustrations from others, as well as fifteenth-century codices.
The Dura Europos synagogue is an ancient synagogue uncovered at Dura-Europos, Syria, in 1932. The last phase of construction was dated by an Aramaic inscription to 244 CE, making it one of the oldest synagogues in the world. It is unique among the many ancient synagogues that have emerged from archaeological digs as it was preserved virtually intact, and it has extensive figurative wall-paintings. These frescoes are now displayed in the National Museum of Damascus.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.<br/><br/> The Palaung are an ethnic minority that is indigenous to northern Burma, but also has pockets of people in Thailand and China’s Yunnan Province. Mostly resident in Shan State, the Palaung have a population of about 500,000.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.<br/><br/> The Kachin are an ethnic minority group that is indigenous to Burma. The northernmost region of Myanmar is Kachin State where about 3 million Kachin people live. They are mostly Christian these days, and are renowned for their traditional herbal medicines.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.<br/><br/> The Shan, or Tai Yai (Large Tai) people are indigenous to Burma, but also have settlements in Thailand and China’s Yunnan Province. Myanmar has a northern region called Shan State; its capital is Taunggyi. The Shan have an estimated population of some 6 million.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.<br/><br/> The Wa are an ethnic minority that is indigenous to northern Shan State in Myanmar. Many of the 500,000 Wa are animists, but a small proportion follows a derivative of either Buddhism or Christianity. The Wa were once known as the ‘Wild Wa’ for their ritualistic practice of headhunting.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.<br/><br/> The Shan, or Tai Yai (Large Tai) people are indigenous to Burma, but also have settlements in Thailand and China’s Yunnan Province. Myanmar has a northern region called Shan State; its capital is Taunggyi. The Shan have an estimated population of some 6 million.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.<br/><br/> The Tai ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals, including the water festival. Despite never having a unified nation-state of their own, the peoples also have historically shared a vague idea of a "Siam" nation, corrupted to Shan or Assam in some places. The majority of Tai Lu live around Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province in southern China. Other Tai Lu villages can be found in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Burma.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.<br/><br/> The Karen are an ethnic minority that is indigenous to Burma, and also has a small population in Thailand, including many who are refugees from Myanmar. A Sino-Mongolian group, the Karen have an estimated population today of some 5 million.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.<br/><br/> The Lisu are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority that lives primarily in northern Burma, northern Thailand, China’s Yunnan Province and India’s Arunachal Pradesh. The approximately 1.2 million Lisu pass their history down from one generation to the next in the form of songs that are often so long that it can take a whole night to sing one.
The Eight Immortals (Chinese: Baxian; Pa-hsien) are a group of legendary 'xian' (immortals; transcendents; fairies) in Chinese mythology. Each Immortal's power can give life or destroy evil. Most of them are said to have been born in the Tang Dynasty or Song Dynasty. They are revered in Daoism (Taoism) and are also a popular element in secular Chinese culture. They are said to live on a group of five islands in the Bohai Sea which includes Penglai Mountain-Island. The Immortals are:<br/><br/> 1. Immortal Woman He (He Xiangu)<br/><br/> 2. Royal Uncle Cao (Cao Guojiu)<br/><br/> 3. Iron-Crutch Li (Tieguai Li)<br/><br/> 4. Lan Caihe<br/><br/> 5. Lu Dongbin, (leader) 6. Philosopher Han Xiang (Han Xiang Zi)<br/><br/> 7. Elder Zhang Guo (Zhang Guo Lao)<br/><br/> 8. Han Zhongli (Zhongli Quan)<br/><br/> In literature before the 1970s, they were sometimes translated as the Eight Genies. First described in the Yuan Dynasty, they were probably named after the Eight Immortal Scholars of the Han.
Known to the central Siamese as the Lao States at the turn of the 20th century, the northern region of what is now Thailand was an independent region known as the Lanna kingdom. The main city, Chiang Mai, was built in 1296 by King Mengrai. The city was abandoned in 1776—91 due to Burmese invasions, but became an acknowledged part of Siam around the same time. The north was linked to Bangkok only by river, a journey which could take some six months, until in 1922, a railway was completed which connected Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
The annual Inthakin Festival (starts on the 12th day of the waning moon of the 6th lunar month and lasts for 8 days) is a custom held to propitiate Chiang Mai's guardian spirit.<br/><br/> King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city') in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom. The ruler was known as the Chao. The city was surrounded by a moat and a defensive wall, since nearby Burma was a constant threat.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai formally became part of Siam in 1774 by an agreement with Chao Kavila, after the Thai King Taksin helped drive out the Burmese. Chiang Mai then slowly grew in cultural, trading and economic importance to its current status as the unofficial capital of northern Thailand, second in importance only to Bangkok.
Fenghuang is Chinese for Phoenix and refers to the mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, and (according to Sanchuniathon) the Phoenicians.<br/><br/> Legend suggests that two phoenixes on discovering the town hovered overhead for some considerable time before reluctantly flying away.<br/><br/> Fenghuang town is a well-preserved ancient town supposedly dating back to 248 BC. It is home to the Miao and Tujia minorities. The distinctive architecture includes Ming and Qing styles.
Hatshepsut established the trade networks that had been disrupted during the Hyksos occupation of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, thereby building the wealth of the eighteenth dynasty.<br/><br/> She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the Land of Punt. The expedition set out in her name with five ships, each measuring 70 feet (21 m) long bearing several sails and accommodating 210 men that included sailors and 30 rowers. Many trade goods were bought in Punt, notably myrrh.<br/><br/> Most notably, however, the Egyptians returned from the voyage bearing thirty-one live myrrh trees, the roots of which were carefully kept in baskets for the duration of the voyage. This was the first recorded attempt to transplant foreign trees. It is reported that Hatshepsut had these trees planted in the courts of her Deir el Bahri mortuary temple complex.<br/><br/> She had the expedition commemorated in relief at Deir el-Bahri, which is also famous for its realistic depiction of the Queen of the Land of Punt, Queen Iti, who appears to have had a genetic trait called steatopygia (a large amount of fat accumulating around the buttocks). Hatshepsut also sent raiding expeditions to Byblos and Sinai shortly after the Punt expedition.
Scene from the tomb of the painted basket of Lo-lang, Saikyozuka, Pyongyang, Korea.<br/><br/> Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province.<br/><br/> Along with Baekje and Silla, Goguryeo was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Goguryeo was an active participant in the power struggle for control of the Korean peninsula as well as associated with the foreign affairs of neighboring polities in China and Japan.<br/><br/> The Samguk Sagi, a 12th century CE Goryeo text, indicates that Goguryeo was founded in 37 BC by Jumong, a prince from Buyeo, although there is archaeological and textual evidence that suggests Goguryeo culture was in existence since the 2nd century BCE around the fall of Gojoseon, an earlier kingdom that also occupied southern Manchuria and northern Korea.<br/><br/> Goguryeo was a major dynasty in Northeast Asia, until it was defeated by a Silla-Tang alliance in 668 CE. After its defeat, its territory was divided among the Unified Silla, Balhae, and Tang dynasty.<br/><br/> Goguryeo changed its name into Goryeo (Koryŏ) during the reign of King Jangsu, and such name was succeeded by Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), from which the English word "Korea" stemmed.