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Liulichang is a district in Beijing known for a series of traditional Chinese stone houses selling various crafts, arts and antiques. It is one of Beijing's traditional old quarters.
Liulichang is a district in Beijing known for a series of traditional Chinese stone houses selling various crafts, arts and antiques. It is one of Beijing's traditional old quarters.
Eydhafushi Island, in Baa Atoll (South Maalhosmadulu Atoll), was once renowned for its <i>feyli</i> or sarong weavers. Eydhafushi is the capital of Baa Atoll.<br/><br/> Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.
Yashima Gakutei was a Japanese artist and poet who was a pupil of both Totoya Hokkei and Hokusai. Gakutei is best known for his <i>kyoka</i> poetry and <i>surimono</i> woodblock works.
Liulichang is a district in Beijing known for a series of traditional Chinese stone houses selling various crafts, arts and antiques. It is one of Beijing's traditional old quarters.
During the 10th and 11th centuries CE the Chandella Kings of central India, scions of a powerful Rajput clan who claimed the moon as their direct ancestor, built a total of 85 temples to the glory of God, the creation, and the Hindu pantheon. The Chandellas were devout Hindus. <br/><br/> Eclipsed by the Mughal conquest, the rise of rival dynasties, and the passage of time, the temples languished in the harsh sun and monsoon rains of central India, gradually becoming lost in the jungle. At the time of their re-discovery in 1839, they were so completely overgrown that T. S. Burt, their founder, thought no more than seven temples had survived. Happily this proved far from the case, for when the undergrowth was hacked back and the complex restored, no fewer than twenty two of the original structures were revealed standing.
The Tashrih al-aqvam ('An Account of Origins and Occupations of Some of the Sects, Castes, and Tribes of India') was completed in 1825. The text, a summary of the Vedas and Shastras, translated into Persian by Colonel James Skinner (1778–1841), is a survey of both Hindu and Muslim occupational groups and religious mendicants in the Delhi region and begins with an account of the house of Timur down to Akbar II (r. 1806–37).<br/><br/> Skinner commissioned Delhi artists to illustrate the album, the chief of them being Ghulam Ali Khan. The artist accompanied Skinner on his travels, and the watercolor portraits are probably all studies from life.
Eydhafushi Island, in Baa Atoll (South Maalhosmadulu Atoll), was once renowned for its <i>feyli</i> or sarong weavers. Eydhafushi is the capital of Baa Atoll.<br/><br/> Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.
Suzhou, the city of canals and gardens, was called the ‘Venice of the East’ by Marco Polo. An ancient Chinese proverb states: <i>‘In Heaven there is Paradise; on Earth there is Suzhou’</i>.<br/><br/> The city’s love affair with gardens dates back 2,500 years and continues still. At the time of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) there were 250 gardens, of which about a hundred survive, although only a few are open to the public.
Suzhou, the city of canals and gardens, was called the ‘Venice of the East’ by Marco Polo. An ancient Chinese proverb states: <i>‘In Heaven there is Paradise; on Earth there is Suzhou’</i>.<br/><br/> The city’s love affair with gardens dates back 2,500 years and continues still. At the time of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) there were 250 gardens, of which about a hundred survive, although only a few are open to the public.
Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753 - October 31, 1806) was a Japanese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga. He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.
Quanzhou was established in 718 during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). In those days, Guangzhou was China's greatest seaport, but this status would be surpassed later by Quanzhou. During the Song Dynasty (960–1279) and Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368), Quanzhou was one of the world's largest seaports, hosting a large community of foreign-born inhabitants from across the Eurasian world.<br/><br/> Due to its reputation, Quanzhou has been called the starting point of the Silk Road via the sea. From the Arabic name form of the city, Zayton, the word satin would be minted. In The Travels of Marco Polo, Quanzhou (called Zayton, T'swan-Chau or Chin-Cheu) was listed as the departure point for Marco Polo's expedition to escort the 17-year-old Mongol princess bride Kököchin to her new husband in the Persian Ilkhanate.
The Nanfeng Ancient Kilns, situated in Shiwan, a subdistrict of Foshan, date from the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). Ceramics are reputed to have been produced in the Shiwan area for more than 5000 years.<br/><br/> Foshan dates back to the 7th century CE and has been famous for its ceramics, porcelain and pottery industry since the Song Dynasty (960 - 1276 CE). It is also famous for its martial arts. It contains numerous Wing Chun schools where many come to train and spar.
The revenge of the Forty-seven Ronin (四十七士 Shi-jū-shichi-shi), also known as the Forty-seven Samurai, the Akō vendetta, or the Genroku Akō incident (元禄赤穂事件 Genroku akō jiken) took place in Japan at the start of the 18th century. One noted Japanese scholar described the tale as the country's 'national legend'. It recounts the most famous case involving the samurai code of honor, bushidō.<br/><br/> The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ronin) after their daimyo (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka, whose title was Kōzuke no suke. The ronin avenged their master's honor after patiently waiting and planning for two years to kill Kira.<br/><br/> In turn, the ronin were themselves ordered to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder. With much embellishment, this true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that all good people should preserve in their daily lives. The popularity of the almost mythical tale was only enhanced by rapid modernization during the Meiji era of Japanese history, when it is suggested many people in Japan longed for a return to their cultural roots.<br/><br/> Fictionalized accounts of these events are known as Chūshingura. The story was popularized in numerous plays including bunraku and kabuki. Because of the censorship laws of the shogunate in the Genroku era, which forbade portrayal of current events, the names of the ronin were changed.
Liang Qichao (Wade-Giles: Liang Ch'i-ch'ao; Styled Zhuoru, Pseudonym: Rengong, February 23, 1873–January 19, 1929) was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), who inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements. He died of illness in Beijing at the age of 55.<br/><br/> As an advocate of constitutional monarchy, Liang was unhappy with the governance of the Qing Government and wanted to change the status quo in China. He organized reforms with Kang Youwei by putting their ideas on paper and sending them to Emperor Guangxu (光緒帝, 1871–1908; reigned 1875–1908) of the Qing Dynasty. This movement is known as the Wuxu Reform or the Hundred Days' Reform.<br/><br/> In the late 1920s, Liang retired from politics and taught at the Tung-nan University in Shanghai and the Tsinghua Research Institute in Peking as a tutor. He founded Chiang-hsüeh she (Chinese Lecture Association) and brought many intellectual figures to China, including Driesch and Tagore. Academically he was a renowned scholar of his time, introducing Western learning and ideology, and making extensive studies of ancient Chinese culture.
Palestine (Arabic: فلسطين‎ Filasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn; Greek: Παλαιστίνη, Palaistinē; Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשתינה Palestina) is a n ame given to the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The region is also known as the Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ־ישראל Eretz-Yisra'el), the Holy Land and the Southern Levant.<br/><br/> In 1832 Palestine was conquered by Muhammad Ali's Egypt, but in 1840 Britain intervened and returned control of the Levant to the Ottomans in return for further capitulations. The end of the 19th century saw the beginning of Zionist immigration and the Revival of the Hebrew language. The movement was publicly supported by Great Britain during World War I with the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The British captured Jerusalem a month later, and were formally awarded a mandate in 1922.<br/><br/> In 1947, following World War II and the Holocaust, the British Government announced their desire to terminate the Mandate, and the United Nations General Assembly voted to partition the territory into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jewish leadership accepted the proposal but the Arab Higher Committee rejected it; a civil war began immediately, and the State of Israel was declared in 1948.<br/><br/> The 1948 Palestinian exodus, known in Arabic as the Nakba (Arabic: النكبة‎, an-Nakbah, 'The Catastrophe') occurred when approximately 711,000 to 725,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War during which Israel captured and incorporated a further 26% of Palestinian territory.<br/><br/> In the course of the Six Day War in June 1967, Israel captured the remainder of historic Palestine and began a continuing policy of Israeli settlement and annexation.
T. Enami (Enami Nobukuni, 1859 – 1929) was the trade name of a celebrated Meiji period photographer. The T. of his trade name is thought to have stood for Toshi, though he never spelled it out on any personal or business document.<br/><br/> Born in Edo (now Tokyo) during the Bakumatsu era, Enami was first a student of, and then an assistant to the well known photographer and collotypist, Ogawa Kazumasa. Enami relocated to Yokohama, and opened a studio on Benten-dōri (Benten Street) in 1892. Just a few doors away from him was the studio of the already well known Tamamura Kozaburō. He and Enami would work together on at least three related projects over the years.<br/><br/> Enami became quietly unique as the only photographer of that period known to work in all popular formats, including the production of large-format photographs compiled into what are commonly called "Yokohama Albums". Enami went on to become Japan's most prolific photographer of small-format images such as the stereoview and glass lantern-slides. The best of these were delicately hand-tinted.
The Qianlong Emperor (Chinese pinyin: Qianlong Di; Wade–Giles: Chien-lung Ti) was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1736 to 7 February 1795. On 8 February (the first day of that lunar year), he abdicated in favor of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor - a filial act in order not to reign longer than his grandfather, the illustrious Kangxi Emperor. Despite his retirement, however, he retained ultimate power until his death in 1799. Although his early years saw the continuity of an era of prosperity in China, he held an unrelentingly conservative attitude. As a result, the Qing Dynasty's comparative decline began later in his reign.