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'Book of the Marvels of the World' (French: <i>Livre des Merveilles du Monde</i>) or 'Description of the World' (<i>Devisement du Monde</i>), in Italian <i>Il Milione</i> ('The Million') or <i>Oriente Poliano</i> and in English commonly called 'The Travels of Marco Polo', is a 13th-century travelogue.<br/><br/> It was recorded by Rustichello da Pisa from stories told by Marco Polo, describing Polo's travels through Asia between 1276 and 1291, and his experiences at the court of Kublai Khan.
An amphora (English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container of a characteristic shape and size, descending from at least as early as the Neolithic Period. Amphorae were used in vast numbers for the transport and storage of various products, both liquid and dry, but mostly for wine. It is most often ceramic, but examples in metals and other materials have been found.<br/><br/> Stoppers of perishable materials, which have rarely survived, were used to seal the contents. Two principal types of amphorae existed: the neck amphora, in which the neck and body meet at a sharp angle; and the one-piece amphora, in which the neck and body form a continuous curve. Neck amphorae were commonly used in the early history of ancient Greece, but were gradually replaced by the one-piece type from around the 7th century BCE.
The <i>Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry</i> is the most famous and possibly the best surviving example of French Gothic manuscript illumination, showing the late International Gothic phase of the style. It is a book of hours: a collection of prayers to be said at the canonical hours.<br/><br/> It was created between c. 1412 and 1416 for the extravagant royal bibliophile and patron John, Duke of Berry, by the Limbourg brothers. When the three painters and their sponsor died in 1416, possibly victims of plague, the manuscript was left unfinished. It was further embellished in the 1440s by an anonymous painter, who many art historians believe was Barthelemy d'Eyck. In 1485-1489, it was brought to its present state by the painter Jean Colombe on behalf of the Duke of Savoy.<br/><br/> Acquired by the Duc d'Aumale in 1856, the book is now in the Musee Conde, Chantilly, France.
Construction on the Temple of Heaven began in 1406 during the reign of Emperor Yongle (r. 1402-1424) and took 14 years to complete. The complex contains three main buildings where the emperor, as the 'Son of Heaven', went during the winter solstice to offer prayers and sacrifices for a good harvest. The emperor spent the night before the ceremony fasting in the Hall of Abstinence.<br/><br/> The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the north stands 39 m tall and is supported by 28 wooden pillars covered with three conical roofs, all covered with blue glazed tiles. The last person to use the hall was Yuan Shi-kai, president of the new republic, who had imperial ambitions and who offered imperial sacrifices on the winter solstice in 1914.<br/><br/> The Hall of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, in the centre, stored the ceremonial tablets used in rituals. Echo Wall, a circular brick wall surrounding the Imperial Vault, has the acoustical ability to enable two people standing at opposite points to hear each other whisper. The Circular Mound Altar of Heaven, to the south, is where the emperor offered sacrifices and prayed.
Construction on the Temple of Heaven began in 1406 during the reign of Emperor Yongle (r. 1402-1424) and took 14 years to complete. The complex contains three main buildings where the emperor, as the 'Son of Heaven', went during the winter solstice to offer prayers and sacrifices for a good harvest. The emperor spent the night before the ceremony fasting in the Hall of Abstinence.<br/><br/> The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the north stands 39 m tall and is supported by 28 wooden pillars covered with three conical roofs, all covered with blue glazed tiles. The last person to use the hall was Yuan Shi-kai, president of the new republic, who had imperial ambitions and who offered imperial sacrifices on the winter solstice in 1914.<br/><br/> The Hall of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, in the centre, stored the ceremonial tablets used in rituals. Echo Wall, a circular brick wall surrounding the Imperial Vault, has the acoustical ability to enable two people standing at opposite points to hear each other whisper. The Circular Mound Altar of Heaven, to the south, is where the emperor offered sacrifices and prayed.
Construction on the Temple of Heaven began in 1406 during the reign of Emperor Yongle (r. 1402-1424) and took 14 years to complete. The complex contains three main buildings where the emperor, as the 'Son of Heaven', went during the winter solstice to offer prayers and sacrifices for a good harvest. The emperor spent the night before the ceremony fasting in the Hall of Abstinence.<br/><br/> The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the north stands 39 m tall and is supported by 28 wooden pillars covered with three conical roofs, all covered with blue glazed tiles. The last person to use the hall was Yuan Shi-kai, president of the new republic, who had imperial ambitions and who offered imperial sacrifices on the winter solstice in 1914.<br/><br/> The Hall of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, in the centre, stored the ceremonial tablets used in rituals. Echo Wall, a circular brick wall surrounding the Imperial Vault, has the acoustical ability to enable two people standing at opposite points to hear each other whisper. The Circular Mound Altar of Heaven, to the south, is where the emperor offered sacrifices and prayed.
Construction on the Temple of Heaven began in 1406 during the reign of Emperor Yongle (r. 1402-1424) and took 14 years to complete. The complex contains three main buildings where the emperor, as the 'Son of Heaven', went during the winter solstice to offer prayers and sacrifices for a good harvest. The emperor spent the night before the ceremony fasting in the Hall of Abstinence.<br/><br/> The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the north stands 39 m tall and is supported by 28 wooden pillars covered with three conical roofs, all covered with blue glazed tiles. The last person to use the hall was Yuan Shi-kai, president of the new republic, who had imperial ambitions and who offered imperial sacrifices on the winter solstice in 1914.<br/><br/> The Hall of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, in the centre, stored the ceremonial tablets used in rituals. Echo Wall, a circular brick wall surrounding the Imperial Vault, has the acoustical ability to enable two people standing at opposite points to hear each other whisper. The Circular Mound Altar of Heaven, to the south, is where the emperor offered sacrifices and prayed.
Construction on the Temple of Heaven began in 1406 during the reign of Emperor Yongle (r. 1402-1424) and took 14 years to complete. The complex contains three main buildings where the emperor, as the 'Son of Heaven', went during the winter solstice to offer prayers and sacrifices for a good harvest. The emperor spent the night before the ceremony fasting in the Hall of Abstinence.<br/><br/> The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the north stands 39 m tall and is supported by 28 wooden pillars covered with three conical roofs, all covered with blue glazed tiles. The last person to use the hall was Yuan Shi-kai, president of the new republic, who had imperial ambitions and who offered imperial sacrifices on the winter solstice in 1914.<br/><br/> The Hall of the Imperial Vault of Heaven, in the centre, stored the ceremonial tablets used in rituals. Echo Wall, a circular brick wall surrounding the Imperial Vault, has the acoustical ability to enable two people standing at opposite points to hear each other whisper. The Circular Mound Altar of Heaven, to the south, is where the emperor offered sacrifices and prayed.
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia and the West Indies.<br/><br/> Rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species.<br/><br/> There are many varieties of rice and culinary preferences tend to vary regionally. For example in India, there is a saying that 'grains of rice should be like two brothers, close but not stuck together', while in the Far East there is a preference for softer, stickier varieties.<br/><br/> Because of its importance as a staple food, rice has considerable cultural importance. For example, rice is first mentioned in the Yajur Veda and then is frequently referred to in Sanskrit texts. Rice is often directly associated with prosperity and fertility, therefore there is the custom of throwing rice at weddings.
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants <i>Oryza sativa</i> (Asian rice) or <i>Oryza glaberrima</i> (African rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia and the West Indies.<br/><br/> Rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species.<br/><br/> There are many varieties of rice and culinary preferences tend to vary regionally. For example in India, there is a saying that 'grains of rice should be like two brothers, close but not stuck together', while in the Far East there is a preference for softer, stickier varieties.<br/><br/> Because of its importance as a staple food, rice has considerable cultural importance. For example, rice is first mentioned in the Yajur Veda and then is frequently referred to in Sanskrit texts. Rice is often directly associated with prosperity and fertility, therefore there is the custom of throwing rice at weddings.
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants <i>Oryza sativa</i> (Asian rice) or <i>Oryza glaberrima</i> (African rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia and the West Indies.<br/><br/> Rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species.<br/><br/> There are many varieties of rice and culinary preferences tend to vary regionally. For example in India, there is a saying that 'grains of rice should be like two brothers, close but not stuck together', while in the Far East there is a preference for softer, stickier varieties.<br/><br/> Because of its importance as a staple food, rice has considerable cultural importance. For example, rice is first mentioned in the Yajur Veda and then is frequently referred to in Sanskrit texts. Rice is often directly associated with prosperity and fertility, therefore there is the custom of throwing rice at weddings.
The Bamberg Apocalypse, 1000-1020, is held in the Bamberg State Library, Germany. It was commissioned by Otto III (Holy Roman Emperor 980-1002) and contains 57 gilded miniatures produced in the scriptorium at Reichenau.
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 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 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.
Located in the northeast of the country, Shan State covers one-quarter of Burma’s land mass. It was traditionally separated into principalities and is mostly comprised of ethnic Shan, Burman Pa-O, Intha, Taungyo, Danu, Palaung and Kachin peoples.
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.
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.
Tibetans in Zhongdian have their own costume which differs from Central Tibet's. The women wear a long, side-fastened tunic over trousers, a white apron in front and a pleated half-skirt in back. In colder weather they wear woollen coats or capes. In all seasons they braid their hair and wrap it in head scarves or under a cap with wool fringe that frames their faces. Men wear a floppy woollen coat, high boots, a wide leather belt with lots of little studs and pockets, a dagger dangling on the side, plus cowboy hats or fur caps. They have their own dialect which is quite distinct from Tibet.
The Hunterian Psalter (or York Psalter) is an illuminated manuscript of the 12th century. It was produced in England some time around 1170, and is considered a striking example of Romanesque book art. The work is part of the collection of the Glasgow University Library, which acquired the book in 1807. It derives its colloquial name, the 'Hunterian Psalter', from having been part of the collection of 18th century Scottish anatomist and book collector William Hunter, who willed his collection to the University. It has also at times been known as the 'York Psalter', owing to its supposed northern English origin in the city of York.
The annual water festival, known in Burmese as 'thingyan,' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April. In this scene of revelry, participants gather water from the Pegu River and pour or throw it over each other.
The Great Leap Forward (simplified Chinese: 大跃进; traditional Chinese: 大躍進; pinyin: Dà yuè jìn) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China (CPC), reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern communist society through the process of rapid industrialization, and collectivization. Mao Zedong led the campaign based on the Theory of Productive Forces, and intensified it after being informed of the impending disaster from grain shortages.<br/><br/> Chief changes in the lives of rural Chinese included the introduction of a mandatory process of agricultural collectivization, which was introduced incrementally. Private farming was prohibited, and those engaged in it were labeled as counter revolutionaries and persecuted. Restrictions on rural people were enforced through public struggle sessions, and social pressure.<br/><br/> The Great Leap ended in catastrophe, resulting in tens of millions of excess deaths. Estimates of the death toll range from 18 million to at least 45 million.<br/><br/> In subsequent conferences in 1960 and 1962, the negative effects of the Great Leap Forward were studied by the CPC, and Mao was criticized in the party conferences. Moderate Party members like Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping rose to power, and Mao was marginalized within the party, leading him to initiate the Cultural Revolution in 1966.
The weaving of cotton in Bali is a traditional method for making sarongs, blankets and batik clothing.<br/><br/> Located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east, Bali is one of Indonesia’s 33 provinces with the provincial capital at Denpasar toward the south of the island.<br/><br/> With a population of 4 million, Bali is home to most of Indonesia's small Hindu minority. In the 2000 census, about 92% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism while most of the remainder follow Islam. It is also the largest tourist destination in the country and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music.
This early 19th- century pencil sketch shows a Javanese ploughman tending to his rice paddy. His plough is pulled by two water buffaloes.<br/><br/> With a population of 136 million, Java is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java.<br/><br/> Java was the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, Islamic sultanates, the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, and was at the centre of Indonesia's campaign for independence. The island dominates Indonesian social, political and economic life.