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The Complete Library in Four Sections (Siku Quanshu)
Siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections), compiled in the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, was the largest collection of texts in pre-modern China and has an important historical place in...
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The Exploitation of the Works of Nature (Tiangong Kaiwu)
Tiangong kaiwu (Exploitation of the works of nature), an integrated work on agriculture and handicrafts, is one of the most important works on science and technology in the history of China. A European...
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The Four Books in Chapter and Verse with Collected Commentaries
The Analects is one of the important classics for Ruist (Confucian) scholars. It was compiled by the disciples of Confucius and their disciples. It mostly records conversations and dialogs relating to...
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On the Fall of States
This complete scroll of a Tang dynasty manuscript was unearthed in Dunhuang, China. The text is written in ink on yellowish paper in a regular script, in well-spaced columns with beautiful characters....
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View of the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan
Under Japanese rule between 1895 and 1945, the chief authority in Taiwan was the governor-general, an official appointed by, and sent from, Tokyo. The governor-general wielded supreme executive,...
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Chart of the Organs Revealed by Inward Illumination
This medical text shows the five major organs (heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys) and six minor organs (gall bladder, stomach, small intestines, large intestine, bladder, and triple heater...
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Su Ruolan
The portrait is of Su Hui, a gifted fourth-century female scholar and poet who had the courtesy name of Ruolan (“like an orchid”). She is famous for a palindromic poem that she embroidered in several...
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The Public Baths: Which Take Pride in Their Blend of Japanese and Foreign...
The Taipei Prefecture public baths were built in the late 1920s to commemorate the enthronement of the Showa emperor in Japan, at a site where natural hot springs already were in use. The facilities...
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The People of Taiwan Parading to a Ritual Sacrifice (for Generals Fan and Xie)
The annual ritual sacrifices for General Fan and Xie at the temple to the city gods in Taipei were especially important to the people of Taiwan during the period of Japanese occupation, which lasted...
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Two Illustrations from "Selected Arias of the Yuan Dynasty"
These prints from around 1615 show two figures from Yuan-dynasty (1279-1368) poetry. The right-hand picture illustrates a play about Zheng Kongmu, a law clerk, and Song Bin, a young man who...
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Nine-Headed Phoenix
This Qing-dynasty (1644-1911) print shows the nine-headed phoenix, a being from Chinese mythology with a bird's body and nine heads with human faces. It is one of several hybrid creatures mentioned in...
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The Plum Blossom
The plum blossom and bamboo sometimes are paired as friends in Chinese culture. Both are symbols of purity and steadfastness. This pairing is reflected in this late 17th-early 18th century painting...
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The Magnificent Longshan Temple in Taipei
The Longshan Temple is the most famous ancient temple in Taipei. Built in 1738 by settlers from the Chinese mainland who founded a trading post at the site 15 years previously, the temple was where...
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Raising Ducks in Taipei Province
Traditionally, raising ducks has been an important enterprise in Taiwan, especially in the northern region. Wherever there is water, families have raised ducks for food.
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Partial Draft of the Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government (Zizhi Tongjian)
The Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government (Zizhi tongjian) is the first comprehensive, chronologically-organized history in China. It describes 1,362 years of history, from the 23rd year of King...
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Diamond Prajna Paramita Sutra
This complete scroll from the first year of the Yifeng era (676) of the Tang dynasty was unearthed in Dunhuang, China. The scroll contains the Diamond Prajna pāramitā sutra, a work that is an...
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Stele of the Army of Inspired Strategy
This rubbing of a stone stele records the inspection of the Army of Inspired Strategy by the Tang emperor Wuzong (Li Yan). The text was composed by Cui Xuan and written by Liu Gongquan, both of the...
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Secret Edition of the Northern Western Wing Corrected by Mr. Zhang Shenzhi
The Yuan dynasty drama, Story of the Western Wing, by Wang Shifu, is the finest dramatic work of traditional China. It ranks with Tang Xianzu’s Peony Pavilion, Kong Shangren’s Peach Blossom Fan, and...
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Learning Portuguese (Aboard the Seattle-Maru in June 1917)
This photograph shows Japanese emigrants to Brazil learning Portuguese aboard the Japanese emigrant ship Seattle-Maru in 1917. The ship took about 80 days to sail from the port of Kobe, Japan, to...
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Illustrated Guide of Tilling and Weaving: Rural Life in China
This book is comprised of 23 illustrations of tilling and 23 illustrations of weaving, each of which is accompanied by a poem. According to the "Preface to the imperially commissioned illustrations of...
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