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John Gabriel Stedman (1744 – 7 March 1797) was a distinguished British–Dutch soldier and noted author. He was born in 1744 in Dendermonde, which then was in the Austrian Netherlands, to Robert Stedman, a Scot and an officer in the Dutch Republic's Scots Brigade, and his wife of presumed Dutch noble lineage, Antoinetta Christina van Ceulen.<br/><br/> He lived most of his childhood in 'the Dutch Republic with his parents but spent time with his uncle in Scotland. His years in Surinam, on the northern coast of South America, were characterized by encounters with African slaves and colonial planters, as well as the exotic local flora and fauna.<br/><br/> He recorded his experiences in <i>The Narrative of a Five Years Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam</i> (1796) which, with its firsthand depictions of slavery and other aspects of colonization, became an important tool in the early abolitionist cause.
Chợ Lớn is a Chinese-influenced section of Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon). It lies on the west bank of the Saigon River, having Bình Tây Market as its central market. Cholon consists of the western half of District 5 as well as several adjoining neighborhoods in District 6.<br/><br/> The Vietnamese name Cholon literally means 'big' (lớn) 'market' (chợ). The Chinese name (and original name) of Cholon is 堤岸 (pronounced Tai-Ngon in Cantonese and Dī'àn in Mandarin, which means 'embankment' (French: quais). The Vietnamese reading of the Chinese name is Đê Ngạn, but this is rarely used. Vietnamese speakers exclusively use the name Chợ Lớn, while Chinese speakers (both inside Vietnam and in China) are the only users of the latter.
The rugged, indomitable Chinese muleteers known to the Burmese as Panthay, and to the Thai and Lao as Haw or Chin Haw, were—and to some extent still are—the masters of the Golden Triangle. Certainly they were the traders par excellence, penetrating into the remotest reaches of forbidden territory such as the Wa States, whilst at the same time their mule caravans, laden with everything from precious stones and jade to opium and copper pans, traded as far as Luang Prabang in Laos, Moulmein in Burma, Dali and Kunming in Yunnan, and Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.<br/><br/> Doi Mae Salong was once an impoverished, heavily-armed Kuomintang (KMT) outpost, it is today a tranquil oasis of tea gardens, fruit orchards and Yunnanese-style houses.
The rugged, indomitable Chinese muleteers known to the Burmese as Panthay, and to the Thai and Lao as Haw or Chin Haw, were—and to some extent still are—the masters of the Golden Triangle. Certainly they were the traders par excellence, penetrating into the remotest reaches of forbidden territory such as the Wa States, whilst at the same time their mule caravans, laden with everything from precious stones and jade to opium and copper pans, traded as far as Luang Prabang in Laos, Moulmein in Burma, Dali and Kunming in Yunnan, and Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.<br/><br/> Doi Mae Salong was once an impoverished, heavily-armed Kuomintang (KMT) outpost, it is today a tranquil oasis of tea gardens, fruit orchards and Yunnanese-style houses.
The illustration shows a traveling monk from Nagano prefecture who would bathe in hot springs without removing his leggings. If anyone asked him why he did not fully undress before entering the water, he would show them the holes in his shins which contained snakes. The man was born with snakes living in his legs as punishment for misdeeds in a previous life. The Kaikidan Ekotoba is a mid-19th century handscroll that profiles 33 legendary monsters and human oddities, mostly from the Kyushu region of Japan, but with several from other countries, including China, Russia and Korea. The document, whose author is unknown, is in the possession of the Fukuoka City Museum.
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.
The Overhanging Great Wall (Xuanbi Changcheng) was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644).<br/><br/> Jiayuguan, the ‘First and Greatest Pass under Heaven’, was completed in 1372 on the orders of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming Emperor (1368-98), to mark the end of the Ming Great Wall. It was also the very limits of Chinese civilisation, and the beginnings of the outer ‘barbarian’ lands.<br/><br/> For centuries the fort was not just of strategic importance to Han Chinese, but of cultural significance as well. This was the last civilised place before the outer darkness, those proceeding beyond, whether disgraced officials or criminals, faced a life of exile among nomadic strangers.<br/><br/> Jiayuguan or Jiayu Pass (literally "Excellent Valley Pass") is the first pass at the west end of the Great Wall of China, near the city of Jiayuguan in Gansu province.
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.
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.<br/><br/> A raga uses a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is constructed. However, the way the notes are approached and rendered in musical phrases and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. In the Indian musical tradition, rāgas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons.<br/><br/> Rāginī (Devanagari: रागिनी) is a term for the 'feminine' counterpart or 'wife' to a rāga. The rāga-rāgini scheme dates from about the 14th century and aligns 6 'male' rāgas with 6 'wives'.
The Overhanging Great Wall (Xuanbi Changcheng) was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644).<br/><br/> Jiayuguan, the ‘First and Greatest Pass under Heaven’, was completed in 1372 on the orders of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming Emperor (1368-98), to mark the end of the Ming Great Wall. It was also the very limits of Chinese civilisation, and the beginnings of the outer ‘barbarian’ lands.<br/><br/> For centuries the fort was not just of strategic importance to Han Chinese, but of cultural significance as well. This was the last civilised place before the outer darkness, those proceeding beyond, whether disgraced officials or criminals, faced a life of exile among nomadic strangers.<br/><br/> Jiayuguan or Jiayu Pass (literally "Excellent Valley Pass") is the first pass at the west end of the Great Wall of China, near the city of Jiayuguan in Gansu province.
Nāga is the Sanskrit and Pāli word for a deity or class of entity or being, taking the form of a very great snake — specifically the king cobra, found in Hinduism and Buddhism. A female nāga is a nāgī or nāginī.<br/><br/> Nats are spirits worshipped in Burma (or Myanmar) in conjunction with Buddhism. They are divided between the 37 Great Nats and all the rest (i.e., spirits of trees, water, etc.).
In Hindu tradition Shesha, also known as Sheshanaga, is the king of all Nagas, and of all serpent deities, one of the primal beings of creation, and according to the Bhagavata Purana, an avatar of the Supreme God known as Narayana. He is also known as Balarama and Sankarshana.<br/><br/> In the Puranas, Sheshanaga is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as Ananta Shesha which translates as endless-Shesha or as Adishesha which means the first Shesha.<br/><br/> It is said that when Adishesa uncoils, time moves forward and creation takes place. When he coils back, the universe ceases to exist. 'Shesha' in sanskrit texts, especially those relating to mathematical calculation, also implies the 'remainder' - that which remains when all else ceases to exist.
Although an important town for hundreds of years, Bangkok sat on the sidelines, located beside the Chao Phraya River between the ancient capital of Ayutthaya to the north and the sea to the south. It was only following a sequence of kingdoms and invasions in the regions to the north that Bangkok evolved into what it is today.<br/><br/> The story of Bangkok begins in the far north of Thailand. The soil from which tall buildings now sprout once provided sustenance for rice. At that time, as little as 1,500 years ago, the site of the future capital city lay beneath the ocean’s waters. Each monsoon season, the powerful currents of the Chao Phraya River swept southwards, carrying the soil from eroded farmland into the sea, gradually nudging the shoreline a little further into what is known today as the Gulf of Thailand.
Abu Yahya Zakariya' ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (أبو يحيئ زكريا بن محمد القزويني) (born 1203 - died 1283), was a Persian physician, astronomer, geographer and proto-science fiction writer.<br/><br/> Born in the Persian town of Qazvin, he is descended from Anas ibn Malik, Zakariya' ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini served as legal expert and judge (qadhi) in several localities in Persia and at Baghdad. He travelled around in Mesopotamia and Syria, and finally entered the circle patronized by the governor of Baghdad, ‘Ata-Malik Juwayni (d. 1283 CE).<br/><br/> It was to the latter that al-Qazwini dedicated his famous Arabic-language cosmography titled 'Aja'ib al-makhluqat wa-ghara'ib al-mawjudat عجائب المخلوقات و غرائب الموجودات ('Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing'). This treatise, frequently illustrated, was immensely popular and is preserved today in many copies. It was translated into Persian and Turkish.<br/><br/> Qazwini was also well-known for his geographical dictionary, Athar al-bilad wa-akhbar al-‘ibad اثار البلاد واخبار العباد ('Monument of Places and History of God's Bondsmen'). Both of these treatises reflect extensive reading and learning in a wide range of disciplines.<br/><br/> Al-Qazwini also wrote a futuristic proto-science fiction Arabic tale entitled Awaj bin Anfaq, about a man who travelled to Earth from a distant planet.<br/><br/> Al-Qazwini mentioned how alchemists dubbed 'swindlers' claimed to have carried out the transmutation of metals into gold, al-Qazwini states: 'They ruined the development of the science of chemistry, by fooling powerful rulers such as Imad ad-Din Zengi and thus many scholars and various colleagues turned against alchemy thus resulting in the isolation of the science'.
Chợ Lớn is a Chinese-influenced section of Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon). It lies on the west bank of the Saigon River, having Bình Tây Market as its central market. Cholon consists of the western half of District 5 as well as several adjoining neighborhoods in District 6.<br/><br/> The Vietnamese name Cholon literally means 'big' (lớn) 'market' (chợ). The Chinese name (and original name) of Cholon is 堤岸 (pronounced Tai-Ngon in Cantonese and Dī'àn in Mandarin, which means 'embankment' (French: quais). The Vietnamese reading of the Chinese name is Đê Ngạn, but this is rarely used. Vietnamese speakers exclusively use the name Chợ Lớn, while Chinese speakers (both inside Vietnam and in China) are the only users of the latter.