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Asia

Black and white cat hissing on a gabled rooftop. This is a detail from Japanese printmaker Kōno Bairei.
Review

Japanese Illustrated Books from the Edo and Meiji Periods

Spanning over three hundred years of Japanese book history, the collection includes famous Edo period (1603-1868) artists such as Andō Hiroshige (1797-1858) and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849).
Review

Photo Library of the French School of Asian Studies

The EFEO has long been one of the leading centres of architectural, archaeological, epigraphic, ethnographic, and art historical research on Asia and this effort to digitise their extensive collection of photographs offers scholars and the public a new lens with which they can view a visually
Thumbnail of logo of the Woodow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Review

Digital Archive: International History Declassified

An extensive repository that collects declassified archival records from all over the world, the Wilson Center's Digital Archive: International History Declassified is an essential resource for scholars, educators, and students interested in international history.
Image featuring digital avatar of Rani Pramesti split down in half with the left half of the image featuring geometric designs while the right half features the naga, a mythical Southeast Asian creature
Review

The Chinese Whispers

[The Chinese Whispers] serves as an important and powerful—if somewhat unconventional—primary source, allowing instructors and students to grapple with a variety of topics including Indonesian history, studies of the Overseas Chinese as a diasporic community, and notions of identity and belonging
Bronze sculpture of Buddha sitting under a tree
Source

Buddha Sheltered by a Naga

This small bronze statue made in Cambodia in the twelfth century shows the serpent king Muchilinda, a type of mythical half human and half cobra being known as a naga, protecting the Buddha.

Bronze sculpture of Shiva standing with a head dress.
Source

The Half-Male, Half-Female Form of Shiva (Shiva Ardhanarishvara)

This sculpture is of Shiva, originally found in Kerala, southwestern India, shows the importance of religious symbols in Hinduism. Shiva is a major Hindu god who is associated with the opposing ideas of destruction and regeneration.

Stellar diagram features a drawing of a ship surrounded by Chinese characters
Source

Navigational Charts Based on Those Used by Zheng He

These two woodblock prints are part of a map printed in a seventeenth-century military treatise, and thought to be based on the maps used by Zheng He in his voyages.

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Source

Excerpt from the Memoirs of Ma Huan

This excerpt is from the memoir of Ma Huan (1380-1460), a Chinese Muslim voyager and translator, who accompanied Admiral Zheng He on three of his seven voyages.

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Source

Excerpt from Ibn Battuta's Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354

This source comes from the travel book of Ibn Battuta (1304-1369), a Moroccan Berber scholar and explorer.

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Teaching

Long Teaching Module: Trade and Religion in the Indian Ocean Network, 1100-1500

Global trade is a central aspect of the contemporary world, but trade was also important in pre-modern eras.