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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.
From 1861 to 1890 the Munich publishing firm of Braun and Schneider published plates of historic and contemporary costume in their magazine Munchener Bilderbogen.<br/><br/> These plates were eventually collected in book form and published at the turn of the century in Germany and England.
Zhan Shichai (1841 - 5 November 1893) was a Chinese giant who toured the world as 'Chang the Chinese Giant' in the 19th century. His stage name was 'Chang Woo Gow'.<br/><br/> Zhan was born in Fuzhou, Fujian Province in the 1840s, though reports of the year vary from 1841 to 1847. His height was claimed to be over 8 feet (2.4 m), but there are no authoritative records. He left China in 1865 to travel to London where he appeared on stage, later travelling around Europe, and to the US and Australia as 'Chang the Chinese Giant'. Zhan received a good education in various countries, and developed a good understanding of ten languages. In America, he earned a salary of $500 a month.<br/><br/> Kin Foo, the Chinese wife who accompanied Zhan from China, died in 1871, and Zhan later married Catherine Santley, a Liverpudlian whom he met in Sydney, Australia. They had two children: Edwin, born in 1877 in Shanghai, and Ernest, born in 1879 in Paris.<br/><br/> In 1878, Zhan retired from the stage and settled in Bournemouth, where he opened a Chinese teahouse and a store selling Chinese imports.<br/><br/> Zhan died in Bournemouth in 1893, four months after his wife, aged around 50. His coffin was 8 feet 6 inches (2.6 m) long.
Hand-colored engraving from 'Moeurs, Usages, et Costumes de tous les Peuples de Monde, d'apres des Documents Authentiques et les Voyages les plus Recents', by Auguste Wahlen (Brussels, 1843-44).
Hand-colored engraving from 'Moeurs, Usages, et Costumes de tous les Peuples de Monde, d'apres des Documents Authentiques et les Voyages les plus Recents', by Auguste Wahlen (Brussels, 1843-44).
The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary (Latin: Agnus scythicus or Planta Tartarica Barometz) is a legendary zoophyte of Central Asia, once believed to grow sheep as its fruit.<br/><br/> The sheep were connected to the plant by an umbilical cord and grazed the land around the plant. When all the plants were gone, both the plant and sheep died.
Example Of A Coiffure On A Tartar Or Manchu Female, who is wearing a long sleeved quilted garment. The hair is wrapped around a flat strip of wood. Scottish photographer John Thomson.
Probably born in Venice around 1254 CE, Marco Polo was raised by his aunt and uncle after his mother died. His father, Niccolo, was a Venetian merchant who left before Marco was born to trade in the Middle East. Niccolo and his brother Maffeo passed through much of Asia and met with Mongol emperor Kublai Khan who reportedly invited them to be ambassadors. In 1269, Niccolo and Maffeo returned to Venice, meeting Marco for the first time.<br/><br/> In 1271, Marco Polo, aged 17, with his father and his uncle, set off for Asia, travelling through Constantinople, Baghdad, Persia, Kashgar, China and Burma. They returned to Venice 24 years and 15,000 miles later with many riches. Upon their return, Venice was at war with Genoa, and Marco Polo was imprisoned. He spent the few months of his imprisonment dictating his adventures to a fellow inmate, Rustichello da Pisa, who incorporated the tales into a book he called 'The Travels of Marco Polo'. The book documented the use of paper money and the burning of coal, and opened European eyes to the wonders of the East.
Tatars (Tatar: Tatarlar / Татарлар, sometimes spelled Tartars) are a Turkic speaking people, numbering around 7 million. The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of 5.5 million, 2 million of which live in the Republic of Tatarstan, 1 million in the Republic of Bashkortostan and the other 2.5 million in different regions of Russia. Significant minority populations are found in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and countries of Central Asia.<br/><br/> The Tatars originated with the Tatar confederation in the north-eastern Gobi desert in the 5th century. After subjugation in the 9th century by the Khitans, they migrated southward. In the 13th century, they were subjugated by the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan. Under the leadership of his grandson Batu Khan, they moved westwards, forming part of the Golden Horde which dominated the Eurasian steppe during the 14th and 15th centuries. In Europe, they were assimilated by the local populations or their name spread to the conquered peoples: Kipchaks, Kimaks and others; and elsewhere with Uralic-speaking peoples, as well as with remnants of the ancient Greek colonies in the Crimea and Caucasians in the Caucasus.<br/><br/> Siberian Tatars are survivors of the Turkic population of the Ural-Altaic region, mixed to some extent with the speakers of Uralic languages, as well as with Mongols.<br/><br/> The three ethnic descendants of the 13th-century westward migration are Volga Tatars, Lipka Tatars and Crimean Tatars, most of whom adopted Islam in the medieval period.