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Guanyin, short for Guanshiyin, is a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism often associated with compassion and mercy. While she is often portrayed as a woman, she is beyond gender and can be depicted as both male and female.<br/><br/> Guanyin is often referred to as the 'most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity', due to her miraculous powers and her loving compassion. She is not only worshipped in Buddhism, but also in Taoism and Chinese folk religion, with various stories and legends about her. Guanyin plays a very important role in the classic Chinese novel 'Journey to the West.'<br/><br/> She is known by various names in different nations, with the Japanese calling her Kannon/Kwannon, or more formally Kanzeon, while in Thailand she is called Kuan Im. She is extremely popular, with temples dedicated to her found throughout South and East Asia, especially in China and Chinese folk religion.
When Yongzheng was still a prince, he commissioned a beautiful set of paintings for the purpose of decorating a screen in the Deep Willows Reading Hall, a study within his private quarters at the Summer Palace.<br/><br/> An imperial garden to the northwest of Beijing, the Summer Palace was presented to the young prince in 1709 by his father the Kangxi emperor (r. 1662-1722). An item found in the archives of the Internal Affairs Department notes that in the eighth month of 1732, ten years into Yongzheng's reign as emperor, the twelve paintings were removed from the screen and individually stored.<br/><br/> The record suggests that the scenes in these paintings show the Summer Palace as it looked when it was relatively new, before the lavish expansions that were undertaken later in the eighteenth century.
Wat Ban Ngaek is a remote forest temple situated in a ‘Tai Loi’ (‘Mountain Thai’) or Lua inhabited border region of easternmost Burma. The temple, which is located near to an ancient trade route between Sipsongpanna or Xishuangbanna in China and Kengtung in Shan State, is thought to be about 300 years old and to have been built on the orders of the Thai Khoen rulers of Kengtung (or perhaps the lords of Chiang Saen in Thailand, then under Burmese rule) to serve the needs of travellers on the old trade route.<br/><br/> Today it is considered to be an unusually fine (if very isolated) example of Chiang Saen temple architecture. There are few or no Tai peoples living in the area, and the temple now serves the local Tai Loi community, who believe that their ancestors built it.
Wat Ban Ngaek is a remote forest temple situated in a ‘Tai Loi’ (‘Mountain Thai’) or Lua inhabited border region of easternmost Burma. The temple, which is located near to an ancient trade route between Sipsongpanna or Xishuangbanna in China and Kengtung in Shan State, is thought to be about 300 years old and to have been built on the orders of the Thai Khoen rulers of Kengtung (or perhaps the lords of Chiang Saen in Thailand, then under Burmese rule) to serve the needs of travellers on the old trade route.<br/><br/> Today it is considered to be an unusually fine (if very isolated) example of Chiang Saen temple architecture. There are few or no Tai peoples living in the area, and the temple now serves the local Tai Loi community, who believe that their ancestors built it.
That the Durbar Square of Bhaktapur appears so much less cluttered than its counterparts in Kathmandu and Patan is simply due to the earthquake of 1934. The earthquake devastated a large number of buildings in the square and they were never reconstructed.<br/><br/> A minor earthquake in 1988 did further damage. According to the Nepalese chronicles, Bhupatindra Malla had laid out 99 courtyards within the palace compound; in 1742, only 12 remained, and today there are but six.<br/><br/> Durbar Square is now a relatively large open space, surrounded by buildings on its fringes but clear of any constructions in the centre. On the west side, the square is accessed through Durbar Square Gate, built by Bhupatindra Malla (1696-1722) as a main entry point to the area. He also erected the figures of monkey god Hanuman and Narasinha, the half-man, half-lion deity, along the lines of the Hanuman and Narasinha figures near the palace gate in Kathmandu.
That the Durbar Square of Bhaktapur appears so much less cluttered than its counterparts in Kathmandu and Patan is simply due to the earthquake of 1934. The earthquake devastated a large number of buildings in the square and they were never reconstructed.<br/><br/> A minor earthquake in 1988 did further damage. According to the Nepalese chronicles, Bhupatindra Malla had laid out 99 courtyards within the palace compound; in 1742, only 12 remained, and today there are but six.<br/><br/> Durbar Square is now a relatively large open space, surrounded by buildings on its fringes but clear of any constructions in the centre. On the west side, the square is accessed through Durbar Square Gate, built by Bhupatindra Malla (1696-1722) as a main entry point to the area. He also erected the figures of monkey god Hanuman and Narasinha, the half-man, half-lion deity, along the lines of the Hanuman and Narasinha figures near the palace gate in Kathmandu.
That the Durbar Square of Bhaktapur appears so much less cluttered than its counterparts in Kathmandu and Patan is simply due to the earthquake of 1934. The earthquake devastated a large number of buildings in the square and they were never reconstructed. A minor earthquake in 1988 did further damage. According to the Nepalese chronicles, Bhupatindra Malla had laid out 99 courtyards within the palace compound; in 1742, only 12 remained, and today there are but six.<br/><br/> Durbar Square is now a relatively large open space, surrounded by buildings on its fringes but clear of any constructions in the centre. On the west side, the square is accessed through Durbar Square Gate, built by Bhupatindra Malla (1696-1722) as a main entry point to the area. He also erected the figures of monkey god Hanuman and Narasinha, the half-man, half-lion deity, along the lines of the Hanuman and Narasinha figures near the palace gate in Kathmandu.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/> During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
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.
Kakizaki Hakyo (June 25, 1764 - July 26, 1826) was a samurai artist from the Matsumae clan. His first artistic success was a group of 12 portraits called the <i>Ishu Retsuzo</i>. The portraits were of 12 Ainu chiefs from the northern area of Ezo, now Hokkaido.
Yashima Gakutei was a Japanese artist and poet who was a pupil of both Totoya Hokkei and Hokusai. Gakutei is best known for his kyoka poetry and surimono woodblock works.
The Bund (Chinese: Wàitān) is an area of Huangpu District in central Shanghai. The area centres on a section of Zhongshan Road (East-1 Zhongshan Road) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River, facing Pudong, in the eastern part of Huangpu District.<br/><br/> The Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road, as well as some adjacent areas.
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.
Akbar (Urdu: جلال الدین محمد اکبر , Hindi: जलालुद्दीन मुहम्मद अकबर, Jalāl ud-Dīn Muhammad Akbar), also known as Shahanshah Akbar-e-Azam or Akbar the Great (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), was the third Mughal Emperor. He was of Timurid descent; the son of Emperor Humayun, and the grandson of Emperor Babur, the ruler who founded the Mughal dynasty in India. At the end of his reign in 1605 the Mughal empire covered most of the northern and central India.<br/><br/> Akbar was thirteen years old when he ascended the Mughal throne in Delhi (February 1556), following the death of his father Humayun. During his reign, he eliminated military threats from the powerful Pashtun descendants of Sher Shah Suri, and at the Second Battle of Panipat he decisively defeated the newly self-declared Hindu king Hemu. It took him nearly two more decades to consolidate his power and bring all the parts of northern and central India into his direct realm. He dominated the whole of the Indian Subcontinent and he ruled the greater part of it as emperor. As an emperor, Akbar solidified his rule by pursuing diplomacy with the powerful Hindu Rajput caste, and by marrying Rajput princesses.<br/><br/> Akbar's reign significantly influenced art and culture in the country. He was a distinguished patron of art and architecture. He took a great interest in painting, and had the walls of his palaces adorned with murals. Besides encouraging the development of the Mughal school, he also patronised the European style of painting. He was fond of literature, and had several Sanskrit works translated into Persian and Persian scriptures translated in Sanskrit, in addition to having many Persian works illustrated by painters from his court.<br/><br/> During the early years of his reign, he showed an intolerant attitude towards Hindus and other religions, but later exercised tolerance towards non-islamic faiths. His administration included numerous Hindu landlords, courtiers and military generals. He began a series of religious debates where Muslim scholars would debate religious matters with Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians and Portuguese Roman Catholic Jesuits. He treated these religious leaders with great consideration, irrespective of their faith, and revered them.<br/><br/> Akbar not only granted lands and money for the mosques but the list of the recipients included a huge number of Hindu temples in north and central India, Christian churches in Goa and a land grant to the newly born Sikh faith for the construction of a place of worship. The famous Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab is constructed on the same site.
Altar pieces consisting of a large candle holder in the form of a mythical beast sitting on a plinth with a tall squared pedestal resting on its back. The top of the pedestal is surmounted by a rectangular platform with elaborately carved protrusions surrounding a round candle receptacle. Covered in a straw colored glaze with dark green highlights. Repair to beasts tail and mane, and also to the extremities at the top.<br/><br/> The attendant censer is in the style of bronze pieces of the era and sits on a reticulated pedestal base and shares many of the decorative elements of the candle-holder.
A Happy Worker in Sovdepia (a derogatory name for the Soviet state). A White Russian paper poster published in Odessa, satirizing hyperinflation in Soviet-held territories (the worker is shown begging while sitting on a heap of devalued and worthless banknotes).
Legend attributes the first Buddhist doctrine in Burma to 228 BC when Sonna and Uttara, two ambassadors of the Emperor Ashoka the Great of India, came to the country with sacred texts. However, the golden era of Buddhism truly began in the 11th century after King Anawrahta of Pagan (Bagan) was converted to Theravada Buddhism. Today, 89% of the population of Burma is Theravada Buddhist.<br/><br/> 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.
Japan surrendered to the Allies in August 1945, and the Vietminh under the leadership of Hồ Chí Minh attempted to take power in a free Vietnam.<br/><br/> Hồ was able to persuade Bao Dai to abdicate on 25 August 1945, handing power over to the Vietminh — an event which greatly enhanced Hồ's legitimacy in the eyes of the Vietnamese people.<br/><br/> Bao Dai was appointed 'supreme advisor' to Hồ's Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi, which asserted its independence on 2 September 1945, but was ousted by the French in November 1946, leading directly to the First Indochina War and to French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
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.
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.
Phuket, formerly known as Thalang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon (a corruption of the Malay Tanjung Salang or 'Cape Salang'), is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are Phang Nga and Krabi, but as Phuket is an island it has no land boundaries.<br/><br/> Phuket, which is approximately the size of Singapore, is Thailand’s largest island. The island is connected to mainland Thailand by two bridges. It is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Phuket formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber, and enjoyed a rich and colorful history. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign ship logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch and English traders. The region now derives much of its income from tourism.
Ragamala Paintings are a series of illustrative paintings from medieval India based on Ragamala or the 'Garland of Ragas', depicting various Indian musical nodes, Ragas. They stand as a classical example of the amalgamation of art, poetry and classical music in medieval India. Ragamala paintings were created in most schools of Indian painting, starting in the 16th and 17th centuries and are today named accordingly, as Pahari Ragamala, Rajasthan or Rajput Ragamala, Deccan Ragamala, and Mughal Ragamala.
Ragamala Paintings are a series of illustrative paintings from medieval India based on Ragamala or the 'Garland of Ragas', depicting various Indian musical nodes, Ragas. They stand as a classical example of the amalgamation of art, poetry and classical music in medieval India. Ragamala paintings were created in most schools of Indian painting, starting in the 16th and 17th centuries and are today named accordingly, as Pahari Ragamala, Rajasthan or Rajput Ragamala, Deccan Ragamala, and Mughal Ragamala.
Phuket, formerly known as Talang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon (a corruption of the Malay Tanjung Salang, i.e. 'Cape Salang'), is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phang Nga and Krabi, but as Phuket is an island there are no land boundaries.<br/><br/> Phuket, which is approximately the size of Singapore, is Thailand’s largest island. The island is connected to mainland Thailand by two bridges. It is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea.<br/><br/> Phuket formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber, and enjoyed a rich and colorful history. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign ship logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch and English traders. The region now derives much of its income from tourism.
Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun (1508-56) was the second Mughal emperor who ruled present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of northern India from 1530–40 and again from 1555–56. Like his father, Babur, he lost his kingdom early, but with Persian aid, he eventually regained a larger one. On the eve of his death in 1556, the Mughal Empire spanned almost one million square kilometers.
Peranakan Chinese and Baba-Nyonya are terms used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to the Malay-Indonesian archipelago of Nusantara during the Colonial era.<br/><br/> Members of this community in Malaysia identify themselves as 'Nyonya-Baba' or 'Baba-Nyonya'. Nyonya is the term for the females and Baba for males. It applies especially to the ethnic Chinese populations of the British Straits Settlements of Malaya and the Dutch-controlled island of Java and other locations, who adopted partially or in full Malay-Indonesian customs to become partially assimilated into the local communities.<br/><br/> While the term Peranakan is most commonly used among the ethnic Chinese for those of Chinese descent also known as Straits Chinese (土生華人; named after the Straits Settlements), it may also be applied to the Baba-Yaya community in Phuket and other provinces of southern Thailand.
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.
Lehnert & Landrock: Rudolf Franz Lehnert (Czech) and Ernst Heinrich Landrock (German) had a photographic company based in Tunis, Cairo and Leipzig before World War II. They specialised in somewhat risque Orientalist images of young Arab and Bedouin women, often dancers.
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 Lahu are an ethnic minority hilltribe that is indigenous to Thailand, Burma, Laos, Vietnam and China’s Yunnan Province with a total population estimated to be about 750,000. The Lahu divide themselves into a number of subgroups, such as the Lahu Na (Black Lahu), Lahu Nyi (Red Lahu), Lahu Hpu (White Lahu), Lahu Shi (Yellow Lahu) and the Lahu Shehleh. Where a subgroup name refers to a color, it refers to the traditional color of their dress.
The Ashta-Nayika is a collective name for eight types of nayikas or heroines as classified by Bharata in his Sanskrit treatise on performing arts, the Natya Shastra. The eight nayikas represent eight different states (avastha) in relationship to her hero or nayaka. As archetypal states of the romantic heroine, it has long been used as theme in Indian painting, literature, sculpture as well as Indian classical dance.
The Jim Thompson House is a museum in Bangkok. It is a complex of various old Thai structures that the American businessman Jim Thompson collected from all parts of Thailand in the 1950s and 60s.<br/><br/> James (Jim) Harrison Wilson Thompson (born March 21, 1906 in Greenville, Delaware - unknown) was an American businessman who helped revitalize the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 1960s. A former U.S. military intelligence officer, Thompson mysteriously disappeared from Malaysia's Cameron Highlands while going for a walk on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1967.
Khmer Rouge leader Saloth Sar, aka Pol Pot, sitting with group of children at Anlong Veng c.1990. The child on his lap is probably Pol Pot's daughter. Others may be his grandchildren, or those of other senior Khmer Rouge cadre. Photo probably by senior KR official.
The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was the first great war of the 20th century which grew out of the rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea.<br/><br/> The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea. The resulting campaigns, in which the Japanese military attained victory over the Russian forces arrayed against them, were unexpected by world observers. As time transpired, these victories would transform the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a reassessment of Japan's recent entry onto the world stage.<br/><br/> The embarrassing string of defeats inflamed the Russian people's dissatisfaction with their inefficient and corrupt Tsarist government, and proved a major cause of the Russian Revolution of 1905.
In Thai Theravada Buddhism young men are usually expected to ordain into the monkhood at some point in their life. Ordination into the Buddhist monkhood has never implied a lifetime commitment and most men usually only spend a short time in the temple.<br/><br/> Entering the monkhood, even for a short time, is believed to bring great merit to the ordained as well as his parents.
In Thai Theravada Buddhism young men are usually expected to ordain into the monkhood at some point in their life. Ordination into the Buddhist monkhood has never implied a lifetime commitment and most men usually only spend a short time in the temple.<br/><br/> Entering the monkhood, even for a short time, is believed to bring great merit to the ordained as well as his parents.
That the Durbar Square of Bhaktapur appears so much less cluttered than its counterparts in Kathmandu and Patan is simply due to the earthquake of 1934. The earthquake devastated a large number of buildings in the square and they were never reconstructed.<br/><br/> A minor earthquake in 1988 did further damage. According to the Nepalese chronicles, Bhupatindra Malla had laid out 99 courtyards within the palace compound; in 1742, only 12 remained, and today there are but six.<br/><br/> The Vatsala Temple, a few metres southeast of the Bhupatindra Pillar, was built in 1672 CE by Jagatprakasha Malla. Its most conspicuous feature is a bell, about four feet high and set in a massive stone frame, which was added by Ranajit Malla in 1737. The bell was rung to call the faithful to the morning prayers conducted for the goddess Taleju.