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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.<br/><br/> The atolls, formed of great rings of coral based on the submarine Laccadive-Chagos ridge, vary greatly in size. Some are only a few kilometres square, but in the far south the great atoll of Suvadiva is sixty-five kilometres across, and has a central lagoon of more than 2000 square kilometres. The northern and central atolls are separated from each other by comparatively narrow channels of deep water, but in the south Suvadiva is cut off by the eighty-kilometre-wide One-and-a-half-Degree Channel. Addu Atoll is still more isolated, being separated from the atoll of Suvadiva by the seventy-kilometre-wide Equatorial Channel.
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Haytham (Arabic: أبو علي، الحسن بن الحسن بن الهيثم‎), frequently referred to as Ibn al-Haytham (Arabic: ابن الهيثم, Latinized as Alhazenor Alhacen; c. 965 – c. 1040), was an Arab Muslim polymath and philosopher who made significant contributions to the principles of optics, astronomy, mathematics, meteorology, visual perception and the scientific method.<br/><br/> In medieval Europe, he was honored as Ptolemaeus Secundus ('Ptolemy the Second') or simply called 'The Physicist'. He is also sometimes called al-Basri (Arabic: البصري) after Basra, his birthplace. He spent most of his life close to the court of the Caliphate in Cairo and earned his life authoring various treatises and tutoring members of the nobilities.
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Haytham (Arabic: أبو علي، الحسن بن الحسن بن الهيثم‎), frequently referred to as Ibn al-Haytham (Arabic: ابن الهيثم, Latinized as Alhazenor Alhacen; c. 965 – c. 1040), was an Arab Muslim polymath and philosopher who made significant contributions to the principles of optics, astronomy, mathematics, meteorology, visual perception and the scientific method.<br/><br/> In medieval Europe, he was honored as Ptolemaeus Secundus ('Ptolemy the Second') or simply called 'The Physicist'. He is also sometimes called al-Basri (Arabic: البصري) after Basra, his birthplace. He spent most of his life close to the court of the Caliphate in Cairo and earned his life authoring various treatises and tutoring members of the nobilities.
Hunayn ibn Ishaq ( Latin: Iohannitius) (809 – 873) was a famous and influential scholar, physician, and scientist of Nestorian Arab Christian descent. He and his students transmitted their Syriac and Arabic translations of many classical Greek texts throughout the Islamic world, during the apex of the Islamic Abbasid Caliphate.<br/><br/> Hunayn ibn Ishaq was the most productive translator of Greek medical and scientific treatises in his day. He studied Greek and became known among the Arabs as the 'Sheikh of the translators'. He mastered four languages: Arabic, Syriac, Greek and Persian.
Composed in Egypt in the first half of the 11th century, the 'Book of Curiosities' is a 12th/13th century cosmographical manuscript contains highly unique celestial and terrestrial maps, including the first known rectangular map of the world produced before the renaissance.<br/><br/> The geographical references are based largely on the first century work of Ptolemy but the manuscript contains previously unknown distinct cartographic features.
The Waqwaq is a giant tree that bears humanoid fruit in Indo-Persian lore. It is similar to the Japanese Jinmenju, another Human-Like tree.<br/><br/> The Waqwaq is a Persian Oracular Tree, originating from India, whose branches or fruits become heads of men, women or monstrous animals (depending on version) all screaming 'Waq-Waq'.<br/><br/> In the Islamic world, there is a legend about a fabulous tree on the island of Waq Waq, which has fruit in the form of human figures, or heads that talk and make prophesies. Alexander the Great is said to have encountered one such talking tree with human fruit.
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.
The Bakemono Zukushi handscroll, painted in the Edo period (18th-19th century) by an unknown artist, depicts 24 traditional monsters that traditionally haunt people and localities in Japan.
The Mogao Caves, or Mogao Grottoes (Chinese: mò gāo kū), also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas and Dunhuang Caves, form a system of 492 temples 25 km (15.5 miles) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China.<br/><br/> The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out 366 AD as places of Buddhist meditation and worship. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the three famous ancient sculptural sites of China. The caves also have famous wall paintings.
Guan Yin (Guanyin) represented with several bodhisattva heads topped by a Buddha head. the figure is standing on a lotus pedestal held up by four heavenly kings. A pair of bodhisattva attendants flank the figure on each side. Seated Buddhas are in clouds above the figure. Eight Deva kings appear below the figure. Ink and colors on silk.
Set squarely in the siddhi – a zone of supernatural power where guardian deities dwell and wishes are granted – Bodhnath is located just six kilometres east of Kathmandu, along the long, old trade road to Lhasa. Known to the Tibetans simply as Chorten Chempo, or 'Great Stupa', it has been the Mecca of Tibetans in exile ever since the Chinese occupation of their homeland in 1950. Bodhnath has also developed as a centre for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, numerous monasteries having been built in effective replacement of those destroyed by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guards.<br/><br/>The origins of Bodhnath are lost in the mists of time, but tradition fixes the foundation in the fifth century CE. According to legend, a daughter of the god Indra stole flowers from heaven, and was punished by being reborn the daughter of a poor poultry farmer in a Kathmandu Valley village. To atone for her earlier crime, she lived a blameless life, becoming prosperous enough to build a gigantic stupa at Bodhnath to honour Amitabha, the Buddha of the past age. Whatever truth lies behind this legend, Tibetans attach great importance to it, for it goes on to warn of an invasion of their homeland by a powerful enemy, which would scatter the Tibetans southwards into Nepal and India. In 1950, when China occupied Tibet, and more particularly in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa to Dharamsala, this prophecy seemed finally to have been borne out.
Set squarely in the siddhi – a zone of supernatural power where guardian deities dwell and wishes are granted – Bodhnath is located just six kilometres east of Kathmandu, along the long, old trade road to Lhasa. Known to the Tibetans simply as Chorten Chempo, or 'Great Stupa', it has been the Mecca of Tibetans in exile ever since the Chinese occupation of their homeland in 1950. Bodhnath has also developed as a centre for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, numerous monasteries having been built in effective replacement of those destroyed by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guards.<br/><br/>The origins of Bodhnath are lost in the mists of time, but tradition fixes the foundation in the fifth century CE. According to legend, a daughter of the god Indra stole flowers from heaven, and was punished by being reborn the daughter of a poor poultry farmer in a Kathmandu Valley village. To atone for her earlier crime, she lived a blameless life, becoming prosperous enough to build a gigantic stupa at Bodhnath to honour Amitabha, the Buddha of the past age. Whatever truth lies behind this legend, Tibetans attach great importance to it, for it goes on to warn of an invasion of their homeland by a powerful enemy, which would scatter the Tibetans southwards into Nepal and India. In 1950, when China occupied Tibet, and more particularly in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa to Dharamsala, this prophecy seemed finally to have been borne out.
Set squarely in the siddhi – a zone of supernatural power where guardian deities dwell and wishes are granted – Bodhnath is located just six kilometres east of Kathmandu, along the long, old trade road to Lhasa. Known to the Tibetans simply as Chorten Chempo, or 'Great Stupa', it has been the Mecca of Tibetans in exile ever since the Chinese occupation of their homeland in 1950. Bodhnath has also developed as a centre for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, numerous monasteries having been built in effective replacement of those destroyed by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guards.<br/><br/>The origins of Bodhnath are lost in the mists of time, but tradition fixes the foundation in the fifth century CE. According to legend, a daughter of the god Indra stole flowers from heaven, and was punished by being reborn the daughter of a poor poultry farmer in a Kathmandu Valley village. To atone for her earlier crime, she lived a blameless life, becoming prosperous enough to build a gigantic stupa at Bodhnath to honour Amitabha, the Buddha of the past age. Whatever truth lies behind this legend, Tibetans attach great importance to it, for it goes on to warn of an invasion of their homeland by a powerful enemy, which would scatter the Tibetans southwards into Nepal and India. In 1950, when China occupied Tibet, and more particularly in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa to Dharamsala, this prophecy seemed finally to have been borne out.
Set squarely in the siddhi – a zone of supernatural power where guardian deities dwell and wishes are granted – Bodhnath is located just six kilometres east of Kathmandu, along the long, old trade road to Lhasa. Known to the Tibetans simply as Chorten Chempo, or 'Great Stupa', it has been the Mecca of Tibetans in exile ever since the Chinese occupation of their homeland in 1950. Bodhnath has also developed as a centre for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, numerous monasteries having been built in effective replacement of those destroyed by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guards.<br/><br/>The origins of Bodhnath are lost in the mists of time, but tradition fixes the foundation in the fifth century CE. According to legend, a daughter of the god Indra stole flowers from heaven, and was punished by being reborn the daughter of a poor poultry farmer in a Kathmandu Valley village. To atone for her earlier crime, she lived a blameless life, becoming prosperous enough to build a gigantic stupa at Bodhnath to honour Amitabha, the Buddha of the past age. Whatever truth lies behind this legend, Tibetans attach great importance to it, for it goes on to warn of an invasion of their homeland by a powerful enemy, which would scatter the Tibetans southwards into Nepal and India. In 1950, when China occupied Tibet, and more particularly in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa to Dharamsala, this prophecy seemed finally to have been borne out.
Set squarely in the siddhi – a zone of supernatural power where guardian deities dwell and wishes are granted – Bodhnath is located just six kilometres east of Kathmandu, along the long, old trade road to Lhasa. Known to the Tibetans simply as Chorten Chempo, or 'Great Stupa', it has been the Mecca of Tibetans in exile ever since the Chinese occupation of their homeland in 1950. Bodhnath has also developed as a centre for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, numerous monasteries having been built in effective replacement of those destroyed by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guards.<br/><br/>The origins of Bodhnath are lost in the mists of time, but tradition fixes the foundation in the fifth century CE. According to legend, a daughter of the god Indra stole flowers from heaven, and was punished by being reborn the daughter of a poor poultry farmer in a Kathmandu Valley village. To atone for her earlier crime, she lived a blameless life, becoming prosperous enough to build a gigantic stupa at Bodhnath to honour Amitabha, the Buddha of the past age. Whatever truth lies behind this legend, Tibetans attach great importance to it, for it goes on to warn of an invasion of their homeland by a powerful enemy, which would scatter the Tibetans southwards into Nepal and India. In 1950, when China occupied Tibet, and more particularly in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa to Dharamsala, this prophecy seemed finally to have been borne out.
Set squarely in the siddhi – a zone of supernatural power where guardian deities dwell and wishes are granted – Bodhnath is located just six kilometres east of Kathmandu, along the long, old trade road to Lhasa. Known to the Tibetans simply as Chorten Chempo, or 'Great Stupa', it has been the Mecca of Tibetans in exile ever since the Chinese occupation of their homeland in 1950. Bodhnath has also developed as a centre for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, numerous monasteries having been built in effective replacement of those destroyed by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guards.<br/><br/>The origins of Bodhnath are lost in the mists of time, but tradition fixes the foundation in the fifth century CE. According to legend, a daughter of the god Indra stole flowers from heaven, and was punished by being reborn the daughter of a poor poultry farmer in a Kathmandu Valley village. To atone for her earlier crime, she lived a blameless life, becoming prosperous enough to build a gigantic stupa at Bodhnath to honour Amitabha, the Buddha of the past age. Whatever truth lies behind this legend, Tibetans attach great importance to it, for it goes on to warn of an invasion of their homeland by a powerful enemy, which would scatter the Tibetans southwards into Nepal and India. In 1950, when China occupied Tibet, and more particularly in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa to Dharamsala, this prophecy seemed finally to have been borne out.
Set squarely in the siddhi – a zone of supernatural power where guardian deities dwell and wishes are granted – Bodhnath is located just six kilometres east of Kathmandu, along the long, old trade road to Lhasa. Known to the Tibetans simply as Chorten Chempo, or 'Great Stupa', it has been the Mecca of Tibetans in exile ever since the Chinese occupation of their homeland in 1950. Bodhnath has also developed as a centre for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, numerous monasteries having been built in effective replacement of those destroyed by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guards.<br/><br/>The origins of Bodhnath are lost in the mists of time, but tradition fixes the foundation in the fifth century CE. According to legend, a daughter of the god Indra stole flowers from heaven, and was punished by being reborn the daughter of a poor poultry farmer in a Kathmandu Valley village. To atone for her earlier crime, she lived a blameless life, becoming prosperous enough to build a gigantic stupa at Bodhnath to honour Amitabha, the Buddha of the past age. Whatever truth lies behind this legend, Tibetans attach great importance to it, for it goes on to warn of an invasion of their homeland by a powerful enemy, which would scatter the Tibetans southwards into Nepal and India. In 1950, when China occupied Tibet, and more particularly in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa to Dharamsala, this prophecy seemed finally to have been borne out.
Set squarely in the siddhi – a zone of supernatural power where guardian deities dwell and wishes are granted – Bodhnath is located just six kilometres east of Kathmandu, along the long, old trade road to Lhasa. Known to the Tibetans simply as Chorten Chempo, or 'Great Stupa', it has been the Mecca of Tibetans in exile ever since the Chinese occupation of their homeland in 1950. Bodhnath has also developed as a centre for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, numerous monasteries having been built in effective replacement of those destroyed by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guards.<br/><br/>The origins of Bodhnath are lost in the mists of time, but tradition fixes the foundation in the fifth century CE. According to legend, a daughter of the god Indra stole flowers from heaven, and was punished by being reborn the daughter of a poor poultry farmer in a Kathmandu Valley village. To atone for her earlier crime, she lived a blameless life, becoming prosperous enough to build a gigantic stupa at Bodhnath to honour Amitabha, the Buddha of the past age. Whatever truth lies behind this legend, Tibetans attach great importance to it, for it goes on to warn of an invasion of their homeland by a powerful enemy, which would scatter the Tibetans southwards into Nepal and India. In 1950, when China occupied Tibet, and more particularly in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa to Dharamsala, this prophecy seemed finally to have been borne out.
The date of construction of the Svayambhunath stupa, its origins steeped in myth, is unknown. According to the inscriptions on an ancient and damaged stone tablet at Svayambhunath, King Vrishadeva (ca. 400 CE) was the first to build a place of worship on the site. His grandson, King Manadeva I (ca. 464-505) may have made some additions.<br/><br/> The Muslim invasion of 1349 undid all the pious building work, the marauding Muslim warriors dismantling every kafir (infidel) sanctuary that they came across. An inscription at Svayambhunath records the date of the Muslim invasion as 20 November 1349, in all probability a very accurate account. After the raids Svayambhunath was restored, and most of the buildings seen today are from the post-invasion period.<br/><br/> Swayambhunath (Devnagari: स्वयम्भूनाथ स्तुप) is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west. The Tibetan name for the site means 'Sublime Trees' (Wylie:Phags.pa Shing.kun), for the many varieties of trees found on the hill.<br/><br/> For the Buddhist Newars in whose mythological history and origin myth as well as day-to-day religious practice, Swayambhunath occupies a central position, it is probably the most sacred among Buddhist pilgrimage sites. For Tibetans and followers of Tibetan Buddhism, it is second only to Bodhnath.
The Nuremberg Chronicle is an illustrated world history. Its structure follows the story of human history as related in the Bible; it includes the histories of a number of important Western cities. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel, with a version in German translation by Georg Alt, it appeared in 1493. It is one of the best-documented early printed books - an incunabulum (printed, not hand-written) - and one of the first to successfully integrate illustrations and text.
The date of construction of the Svayambhunath stupa, its origins steeped in myth, is unknown. According to the inscriptions on an ancient and damaged stone tablet at Svayambhunath, King Vrishadeva (ca. 400 CE) was the first to build a place of worship on the site. His grandson, King Manadeva I (ca. 464-505) may have made some additions.<br/><br/> The Muslim invasion of 1349 undid all the pious building work, the marauding Muslim warriors dismantling every kafir (infidel) sanctuary that they came across. An inscription at Svayambhunath records the date of the Muslim invasion as 20 November 1349, in all probability a very accurate account. After the raids Svayambhunath was restored, and most of the buildings seen today are from the post-invasion period.<br/><br/> Swayambhunath (Devnagari: स्वयम्भूनाथ स्तुप) is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west. The Tibetan name for the site means 'Sublime Trees' (Wylie:Phags.pa Shing.kun), for the many varieties of trees found on the hill.<br/><br/> For the Buddhist Newars in whose mythological history and origin myth as well as day-to-day religious practice, Swayambhunath occupies a central position, it is probably the most sacred among Buddhist pilgrimage sites. For Tibetans and followers of Tibetan Buddhism, it is second only to Bodhnath.
Kamal al-Din Hasan ibn Ali ibn Hasan al-Farisi or Abu Hasan Muhammad ibn Hasan (1267– 12 January 1319 (Persian: كمال‌الدين فارسی‎) was a prominent Persian born in Tabriz, Iran. He made two major contributions to science, one on optics, the other on number theory. Farisi was a pupil of the great astronomer and mathematician Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, who in turn was a pupil of Nasir al-Din Tusi.<br/><br/> His work on optics was prompted by a question put to him concerning the refraction of light. Shirazi advised him to consult 'The Book of Optics' of Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen), and Farisi made such a deep study of this treatise that Shirazi suggested that he write what is essentially a revision of that major work, which came to be called the Tanqih.
The Siamese were avid theatre-goers at the turn of the 20th century. Mime, dance, plays and shadow puppetry were all very popular. Many of the stage plays involved dancers, mostly female, who adorned themselves in jewellery and exhibited lithe movements portraying beauty and flexibility, especially in bending the fingers back. The most common plays were called ‘khon’, which essentially feature scenes from the ‘Ramakien’, the Thai version of the Hindu epic ‘The Ramayana’.
The Siamese were avid theatre-goers at the turn of the 20th century. Mime, dance, plays and shadow puppetry were all very popular. Many of the stage plays involved dancers, mostly female, who adorned themselves in jewellery and exhibited lithe movements portraying beauty and flexibility, especially in bending the fingers back. The most common plays were called ‘khon’, which essentially feature scenes from the ‘Ramakien’, the Thai version of the Hindu epic ‘The Ramayana’.
The Siamese were avid theatre-goers at the turn of the 20th century. Mime, dance, plays and shadow puppetry were all very popular. Many of the stage plays involved dancers, mostly female, who adorned themselves in jewellery and exhibited lithe movements portraying beauty and flexibility, especially in bending the fingers back. The most common plays were called ‘khon’, which essentially feature scenes from the ‘Ramakien’, the Thai version of the Hindu epic ‘The Ramayana’.
The Siamese were avid theatre-goers at the turn of the 20th century. Mime, dance, plays and shadow puppetry were all very popular. Many of the stage plays involved dancers, mostly female, who adorned themselves in jewellery and exhibited lithe movements portraying beauty and flexibility, especially in bending the fingers back. The most common plays were called ‘khon’, which essentially feature scenes from the ‘Ramakien’, the Thai version of the Hindu epic ‘The Ramayana’.
Wandering Eyes Giving Way to Wandering Thoughts, 1890s. By Wu Youru (1839-1893). Ink on paper. Collection of the Shanghai History Museum.
China: 'Shining Eyes and White Wrists'. By Wu Youru (1839-1893). Ink on paper. Collection of the Shanghai History Museum.