Asian History

In the 1600s, the Arakan empire's capital, Mrauk U, had 160,000 inhabitants. The 200-foot spire of Ratanabon temple attests to eclipsed glories.

The Hidden City of Myanmar

The ancient kingdom of Mrauk U welcomed Buddhists and Muslims. Now efforts to uncover its mysteries are threatened by ethnic hostilities

Illustration from woodblock-printed text on the life of Gautama Buddha

Library of Congress Digitizes Taiwanese Watercolors, Rare Chinese Texts

The library's rare Chinese book collection includes 5,300 titles, 2,000 of which will ultimately be included in the online portal

Empress Dowager Cixi by Katharine A. Carl, 1903

New Scholarship Is Revealing the Private Lives of China’s Empresses

Lavish paintings, sumptuous court robes, objets d’art tell the stories of Empress Cixi and four other of the most powerful Qing dynasty women

All of the Denisovan specimens found to date originated from a cave in Siberia

The Hominins We’ve Been Calling Denisovans Are More Diverse Than Previously Thought

Researchers have identified three distinct Denisovan lineages, including one that could constitute an entirely separate species

These illustrations come from a miniature book of classical Persian poetry.

The Library of Congress Has Digitized 155 Persian Texts Dating Back to the 13th Century

Offerings include a book of poetry featuring the epic <em>Shahnameh</em> and a biography of Shah Jahan, the emperor who built the Taj Mahal

Northern Mountains, 2005

A Veteran Returns to Vietnam, Photographs the Country and Comes to Peace With His Wartime Experience

Trading in his rifle for a camera, photographer Chuck Forsman captures the country's resiliency in a new book

Conservation of the Juanqinzhai moon gate in Qianlong Garden was completed in 2016.

Architect Annabelle Selldorf Will Design New Interpretation Center for China’s Forbidden City

The restored Qianlong Garden complex, a sprawling oasis of four courtyards and 27 pavilions, is set to open to the public for the first time in 2020

North, South Korea Form Tag Team to Get Traditional Wrestling Unesco Heritage Status

The two nations filed a historic joint application to place traditional Korean wrestling on the world cultural heritage listing

A man cleans a skull near a mass grave at the Chaung Ek torture camp run by the Khmer Rouge in this undated photo.

Landmark Verdict Finds Two of Khmer Rouge's Surviving Leaders Guilty of Genocide

It is the first time that such a verdict has been meted out against high-ranking members of the brutal Cambodian regime

Residents of a village on the main island Hokkaido (pictured) didn't realize one of the small, uninhabited islands, Esanbe Hanakita Kojima, off the coast near them had vanished completely.

How a Japanese Island Quietly Disappeared

Esanbe Hanakita Kojima, as the island is called, may have been eroded by wind and ice floes

The sample included women from 31 out of 34 Chinese provinces and 36 out of 55 ethnic minority groups

Largest Ever Study of Chinese People’s Genetics Reveals Insights on Migration Patterns, Diet, Disease

Scientists analyzed DNA samples from 141,431 pregnant Chinese women, or roughly 1/10,000 of the country’s population

Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, Tainan city councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh and Huang Shu-jen, head of a local group established to commemorate "comfort women"

Taiwan Unveils Its First Statue Honoring ‘Comfort Women’

The monument has sparked diplomatic tensions with Japan

Lion Forest Garden.

This City in China Has the Most Unesco-Recognized Gardens in the World

Suzhou has more than 60 gardens dating back to 600 AD, and nine have collective World Heritage status

An 8,000-year-old skull found in Gua Cha, Malaysia, provided DNA used in the study

Ancient DNA Offers Insight on Origins of Southeast Asia's Present-Day Population

Researchers sequenced 26 genomes using DNA samples dating as far back as 8,000 years

Ceramic box base with a Chinese inscription that mentions a place, Jianning Fu, which dates from AD 1162 to 1278. From the Java Sea Shipwreck.

An 800-Year-Old Shipwreck Helps Archaeologists Piece Together Asia’s Maritime Trade

A new date for the Java Sea shipwreck could shed light on the politics of Chinese trade routes

The butchered rhino

700,000-Year-Old Butchered Rhino Pushes Back Ancient Human Arrival in the Philippines

The find changes the story of human migration, but scientists still don't know what human species did the cutting

This silk velvet ikat robe was made specifically for a woman, as evidenced by the pinched waist. Velvet ikats were considered top-of-the-line, the Freer|Sackler's Massumeh Farhad explains, because two rows of weft were needed instead of the usual one.

How the Technicolor Ikat Designs of Central Asia Thread Into Textile History

A new Smithsonian exhibition sheds light on the rich backstory of an oft-imitated tradition

rice wine

Bottle of 2,000-Year-Old Rice Wine Found in Chinese Tomb

The bronze jug was dated around the late Warring States time period and the Qin Dynasty

Ahmad Shah (r. 1909–25) and his cabinet by Assadullah al-Husayni naqqash-bashi, 1910

In Persia’s Dynastic Portraiture, Bejeweled Thrones and Lavish Decor Message Authority

Paintings and 19th century photographs offer a rare window into the lives of the royal family

Made of fermented vegetables, kimchi was popularized globally during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

How the 1988 Olympics Helped Spark a Global Kimchi Craze

The Summer Games in Seoul introduced a new international audience to the delicious and stinky staple

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