News Stories
Copyright
Story posted: 30. November 2013 by Andrew Forbes
COPYRIGHT, IMAGE USAGE and REFUND POLICYCopyright, Image Usage and Refund Policy Pictures from History / Pictures from Asia: Copyright Statement and Rights Management Details
1. All images in Pictures from History are in the public domain. CPA Media does not claim copyright but makes a claim as ‘provider' for finding, researching, cleaning and supplying public domain images. Pictures from History images should be attributed to @Pictures from History as source and provider.
2. All images in Pictures from Asia are copyright and…
Health and Well Being: A Medieval Handbook
Story posted: 16. December 2011 by Andrew Forbes
Pictures From History / Themes / MEDIEVAL HEALTHHealth and Well Being: A Medieval Handbook
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
The Tacuinum Sanitatis is a medieval handbook on Health and Well Being. First printed in Europe in 1531, it was aimed at an educated secular readership and offered concise and sensible advice on how to live a long, healthy and enjoyable life.
Four handsomely illustrated manuscripts of the Tacuinum survive, all produced in Lombardy and now housed, respectively, at libraries in Rome, Vienna, Paris and…
Category: World
Ukiyo-e: Pictures of the Floating World
Story posted: 29. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / FLOATING WORLDSEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Ukiyo-e: Pictures of the Floating World
Ukiyo-e ( literally 'pictures of the floating world' ) is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters. It is the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan.Usually the word ukiyo is literally translated as 'floating world'…
Category: Japan
The Tokugawa Shogunate, 1600-1868
Story posted: 29. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / TOKUGAWASEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
The Tokugawa Shogunate, 1600-1868
The Tokugawa Shogunate , also known as the Tokugawa Bakufu and the Edo Bakufu , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa clan. This period is known as the Edo Period and derives its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was changed in 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle from 1603 until 1868, when it was…
Category: Japan
China's Triple Religion: Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism
Story posted: 29. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / SAN JIAOSEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
China's Triple Religion: Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism
In Chinese philosophy, the Three Teachings, Three Religions or San Jiao of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism are considered as a harmonious religious union. The concept originated in China during the Wei (220-265 CE) and Jin (265-420 CE) Dynasties, but has long since spread beyond the confines of China to the traditional Sinosphere of Japan, Korea and Vietnam, as well as - more…
Category: China
Discover Siam's Ancient Capitals
Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / SIAMESE CAPITALSSEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Discover Siam's Ancient Capitals
The earliest known civilisation in Thailand dates from around 3600 BC, when the people of Ban Chiang in the northeast developed bronze tools, fired pottery, and began to cultivate wet paddy rice. At this time the Tai people who have given their name to the kingdom did not even inhabit the region of present day Thailand, but are thought to have been living in loosely organised groups in what is now southern…
Category: Thailand
Lords of Life - The Royal Dynasties of Thailand
Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / SIAMESE MONARCHSSEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Lords of Life - The Royal Dynasties of Thailand
Thai people take the institution of the monarchy very seriously. Ever since the first independent Thai kingdom was established at Sukhothai some seven and a half centuries ago, the Thais have been ruled over by kings. It is true that, since the revolution of 1932, the monarchy has been constitutional – but the Thais continue to love and honour their royal…
Category: Thailand
Tibetan Buddhism: The Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus
Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / JEWEL IN THE LOTUSSEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Tibetan Buddhism: The Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India (particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Dharamsala, Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim). It is the state religion of Bhutan. It is also practiced in Mongolia and parts of Russia (Kalmykia,…
Category: China
Chiang Mai and the Lan Na Kingdom
Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / LAN NA KINGDOMSEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Chiang Mai and the Lan Na Kingdom
Khon Muang, or “People of the Principalities”, is the name most commonly applied by the people of northern Thailand to themselves. In times past they have been referred to variously as the Tai Yuan—a name now considered to be somewhat derogatory, and therefore no longer in favour—and also, somewhat misleadingly, as the “Northern Lao”. Sometimes, indeed, they were referred to as…
Category: Thailand
Exploring Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle
Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / CULTURAL TRIANGLESEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Sri Lanka's Cultural Triangle
In recent years north-central Sri Lanka has been much promoted by the Sri Lanka Tourist Board as "the Cultural Triangle" - and with good reason. While the south coast offers some of the most beautiful beaches on earth, the roughly triangular area encompassing Kandy, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa is home to some of the richest and most impressive archaeological monuments in Asia.
Sigiriya
The single most…
Category: Sri Lanka
The Ancient Tea Horse Road
Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / TEA HORSE ROADSEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
The Ancient Tea-Horse Road
What is the name of that mountain , That mountain that lies ahead?
After we get to Changdu Monastery , Then we can press on to Ya’an
The butter tea of Batang is sweet , The zanba of Litang so appetizing
Once we’ve reached Baxiu We can press on to Mangkang
What is the name of that river, That river that lies ahead?
After we get to…
Category: China
Dreams of Xanadu - The Allure of Orientalism
Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / OZYMANDIASSEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Dreams of Xanadu - The Allure of Orientalism
'Orientalism' is the name given to a romanticised and even meretricious vision of The East that developed following Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1799. From about this time Western adventurers and explorers began to penetrate the back-blocks of Asia and the Middle East, often followed by poets and painters. In fact this process of ‘discovery' was not only commercially driven, but also by a genuine lust…
Category: World
LIST OF ALL THEMES by COUNTRY
Story posted: 27. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History: Themes Listed By Country
Below is a list of all current Pictures From History THEMES listed alphabetically by location from AFGHANISTAN to WORLD .
Simply click on a theme to be taken to the relevant THEME PAGE , then click on the rotating images to see all related images.
To read the related in depth text, click on READ MORE and then on THEME TEXT CONTINUED .
AFGHANISTAN
Graveyard of Invaders
CAMBODIA
Ancient Angkor, Eighth Wonder of the World
Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Regime…
Category: About Themes
Historic Hampi, Capital of the Vijayanagara Empire
Story posted: 27. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / HISTORIC HAMPIHistoric Hampi, Capital of the Vijayanagara Empire
'What I saw… seemed to me as large as Rome, and very beautiful to the sight… There you will find all sorts of rubies, and diamonds, and emeralds, and pearls, and seed-pearls, and cloths, and every other sort of thing there is on earth and that you may wish to buy'.
Domingo Paes, Portuguese visitor to Hampi, c.1520
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Today Hampi is a village in southern India's Karnataka…
Category: India
Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Regime
Story posted: 26. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / DEMOCRATIC KAMPUCHEAPol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Regime
'Whoever questions is an enemy; whoever opposes is a corpse'.
Khmer Rouge maxim
For most of the last half of the 20th century Cambodia was racked by war and famine. Considered a ‘sideshow' in the Second Indochina War, it was invaded by both North and South Vietnam, bombed to bits by the United States, strewn with land mines and lethal weapons of every kind, and – worst of all – ruled, between 1975 and…
Category: Cambodia
Mandate of Heaven: Imperial Dynasties of China
Story posted: 26. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / MANDATE OF HEAVENMandate of Heaven - Imperial Dynasties of China
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
The title Emperor of China - in Chinese, Huángdì - refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shi Kai's short-lived Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven - ti?nz? - a title that predates the Qin unification and includes the legendary dynasties, the…
Category: China
The Ramayana, Great Epic of Hinduism - and Buddhism
Story posted: 24. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / RAMAYANAThe Ramayana, Great Epic of Hinduism - and Buddhism
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
It's a story as old as time and - at least in the Indian subcontinent and across much of Southeast Asia - of unparalleled popularity. More than two thousand three hundred years ago, at about the same time as Alexander the Great invaded north-west India, in another, less troubled part of that vast country the scholar-poet Valmiki sat down to write his definitive epic of love and war.
The…
Category: India
Holy Men of Nepal
Story posted: 21. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / SADHU HOLY MENHoly Men of Nepal
And the wildest dreams of Kew are the facts in Kathmandu
Rudyard Kipling, 1895
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
They are known, variously, as sadhus , yogis , fakirs and sunyasins . They are the ascetic - and often eccentric - practitioners of an austere form of Hinduism. Sworn to cast off earthly desires, some choose to live as anchorites in the wilderness. Others, as these pictures make clear, are of a less retiring disposition,…
Category: Nepal
Cloud Maidens of Sigiriya
Story posted: 21. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / CLOUD MAIDENSCloud Maidens of Sigiriya
The girl with golden skin entices the mind and eyes
Her lovely breasts cause me to recall swans drunk with nectar
Graffito, Sigiriya Mirror Wall, c. 800 AD
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
The rock fortress of Sigiriya rises abruptly from the surrounding plains of north-central Sri Lanka, dominating the country for miles around. A massive monolith of red stone, so sheer that the top overhangs the vertical walls on all four sides, it…
Category: Sri Lanka
Palaces of the Gods: Khmer Temples of Isaan
Story posted: 21. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / KHMER TEMPLES OF ISANPalaces of the Gods: Khmer Temples of Isan
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
The high plateaus of northeastern Thailand -- or Isan, as the region is most commonly known today -- boast the country's longest and most continuous cultural heritage. From Asia's earliest bronze-age culture 4000 years ago to present-day Thai nationhood, Isan has remained intimate with virtually every key historical transition mainland Southeast Asia has seen.
Of these important…
Category: Thailand
Women in Asian and African History
Story posted: 21. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / WOMEN IN HISTORYWomen in Asian and African History
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
It will come as no surprise that men have dominated Asian and African history just as completely as they have in Europe and the West. Indeed, perhaps even more completely. Take China, for instance – five thousand years of more-or-less continuous civilization but only one female ruler in her own right, Empress Wu Zetian (r. 690-705). Plenty of consorts and concubines, to be sure, and one…
Category: World
Benin and its Bronzes
Story posted: 20. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / BENIN BRONZESBenin and its Bronzes
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
The Benin Empire (1440–1897) was a pre-colonial African state in what is now modern Nigeria. It is not to be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey.
The original people and founders of the Benin Empire, the Edo People, were initially ruled by the Ogisos (Kings of the Sky) who called their land Igodomigodo. The city (later called Benin City by the Portuguese in the late 15th…
Category: Nigeria
Celebrating Old Ceylon
Story posted: 20. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / OLD CEYLONCelebrating Old Ceylon
‘Dear me, it is beautiful! And most sumptuously tropical, as to character of foliage and opulence of it'. Mark Twain, Following the Equator (Hartford, Connecticut: 1897).
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Perhaps the most beautiful country in South Asia, Sri Lanka has an appeal which has drawn visitors over the centuries, first for its rich spice and gem markets, and more recently for its pristine beaches and magnificent hill country.…
Category: Sri Lanka
The Great Khans and the Mongol Imperium
Story posted: 20. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / GREAT KHANSThe Great Khans and the Mongol Imperium
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
In the 13th century a new and unexpected power exploded onto the Central Asian scene, rapidly conquering the entire length of the Silk Road from Chang’an in the east to Antakya in the west under a single empire for the first time in history, and producing as a consequence the last great flourishing of Silk Road trade before the latter’s decline and gradual disappearance in the 15th and 16th centuries. The…
Category: Mongolia
The Silk Road in History
Story posted: 20. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / SILK ROADThe Silk Road in History
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
In recent years the end of the Cold War, together with the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, the newly acquired independence of the various Central Asian Republics (sometimes referred to collectively as ‘the Stans’) and the opening up of China, have all combined to make the Heart of Asia more accessible to the ordinary traveller than at any time in the past. As a consequence, the term ‘Silk…
Category: China
Graham Greene's Saigon Revisited
Story posted: 19. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / GRAHAM GREENE IN SAIGONGraham Greene's Saigon Revisited
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
It was quite by chance that I fell in love with Indo-China; nothing was further from my thoughts on my first visit than that I would one day set a novel there… The spell was first cast, I think, by the tall elegant girls in white silk trousers, by the pewter evening light on flat paddy fields, where the water-buffaloes trudged fetlock-deep with a slow primeval gait, by the French…
Category: Vietnam
Phuket's Bloody Vegetarian Festival
Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / VEGETARIAN FESTIVALPhuket's Bloody Vegetarian Festival
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Phuket's most unusual religious happening is the Vegetarian Festival, which is celebrated during the first nine days of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. In practice, this usually falls in late September or early October.
The festival marks the start of Taoist Lent, when devout Sino-Thais abstain from eating meat of all kinds. In Phuket, the festival activities centre on six Chinese temples,…
Category: Thailand
The Black Tai of Thailand's Loei Province
Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / BLACK TAIThe Black Tai of Thailand's Loei Province
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Few people, even in Thailand, know much in detail about the Tai Dam or ‘Black Tai’ people. Certainly they are one of the numerous Tai-speaking sub groups scattered across mainland Southeast Asia from Assam to Guangdong, rather like the Tai Yai of Burma’s Shan State, the Tai Lu of China’s Sipsongpanna region, and the Tai Phuan of Xieng Khouang in Laos. But beyond this simple fact, little…
Category: Thailand
Exploring Ancient Angkor
Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / ANCIENT ANGKORExploring Ancient Angkor
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Angkor is one of the wonders of the world. Perhaps nowhere else on earth, unless it be the Valley of the Nile in Egypt, are the relics of antiquity found on so monumental a scale. In colonial times, when the French first opened Angkor to tourism, it was usual to distinguish between the ‘Small Circuit’ comprising the central temples of the complex, and the ‘Great Circuit’, taking in the outer…
Category: Cambodia
Afghanistan, Graveyard of Invaders
Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / GRAVEYARD OF INVADERSAfghanistan, Graveyard of Invaders
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Rudyard Kipling, The Young British Soldier (1892).
SEE ALL RELATED IMAG ES
Afghanistan is a welcoming land, full of hospitable (if unusually well-armed) people. I…
Category: Afghanistan
Old Shanghai, City of Wealth, Inequality and Vice
Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media
Pictures From History / Themes / OLD SHANGHAIOld Shanghai, City of Wealth, Inequality and Vice
SEE ALL RELATED IMAGES
Shanghai is a city of superlatives. China’s largest city, with a population of almost 19 million in the municipal area and more than 10 million in the urban core, it is the nation’s richest, most progressive, most stylish and most modern metropolis. It’s also perhaps the least Chinese of cities in China, having been molded and formed since the mid-19th century by decades of…
Category: China
Pictures From History
Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved.