Abbreviated Map of All the World's Nations, approx. 1800-1850. Japan. Woodblock print; ink on paper. Gift to honor the Reverend Hodo Tobase, 2010.452.
Much of China, a country slightly larger than the continental United States, is hilly or mountainous. To its east lies the Pacific Ocean; to its south thick jungles. Learn more.
Part of a long archipelago off the eastern rim of the Asian continent, the island country of Japan has four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Learn more.
Korea is a mountainous peninsula surrounded by the sea on three sides. It shares its northern borders with China and Russia, and its closest southern neighbor is Japan, which lies across a narrow strait. Learn more.
What are often thought of as “Indian” art and culture spread not only throughout the modern nation of India but also through Pakistan and Bangladesh. This huge area was never politically unified except under British colonial rule (1858–1947). Learn more.
Only in the past sixty years has “Southeast Asia” been used to refer to the region comprising modern-day Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines. Learn more.
The Himalayas are the highest mountain ranges in the world, and from them flow the major rivers of Asia. Learn more.
Iran's rich history stretches back to about 8000 BCE, when the first settlements appeared in western Iran and the Caspian sea.
Central panel of a blanket (kumo), approx. 1950. Philippines, Mindanao. Abaca. Gift of Jack and Milka Wigfield, F2009.31.1. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
Episode from the story of the Soga brothers (soga monogatari), one of a pair, 1615-1868. Japan. Six panel folding screen; ink, colors and fold on paper. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60D5.
In the early years of Western sea exploration, traders and missionaries began returning to Europe with stories and goods from their visits to China. Information about China was spread through books, prints, and export items, such as porcelain and textiles. Reports compiled by Jesuit missionaries fueled the curiosity of the public and inspired chinoiserie, the evocation of Chinese motifs in art, furniture, architecture, and gardens. Just as Jesuits translated important authors such as Euclid into Chinese, they also translated Confucian works into Latin.
Students explore the unique geogrraphical features through visual analysis of works of art. Then, they infer how these characteristics affected Japan's culture and relationships with the mainland.
Fan-shaped box with the Eight Views of Omi (Lake Biwa), Meiji period (1868-1912)-Taisho period (1912-1926). Japan. Lacquered wood with makie (sprinkled metallic powder) decoration; silver. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60M255. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
Join Dr. Laura Hostetler, visiting scholar at the Ricci Institute, as she delves into the history and cultural significance of a map produced in China by Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), while Dr. Ralph Ehrenberg from the Library of Congress will speak about a map by the Flemish priest Ferdinand Verbiest (1623–1688). Both maps are in the exhibition China at the Center: Rare Ricci and Verbiest World Maps at the Asian Art Museum. The program continues as former NASA administrator, Stephen Sandford, and Google Geospatial Programs coordinator, Ed Parsons, provide insights into the technology-run mapping processes of the 21st century and show how the way we view the world has changed over the centuries.
Search Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA) for oral histories, letters, diaries, photographs, newspapers and other records.
Inro with map of Japan, 1670-1722. By Shiomi Masanari (Japanese, 1647 - approx. 1722), Lacquered wood with sprinkled metallic powder (maki-e) decoration. Gift of Dr. Joseph Kushner, 2014.6. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
Large plate with map of Japan, 1800-1868. Japan; Arita region, Saga prefecture. Porcelain with cobalt decoration. The Avery Brundage Collection, B72P1.
Students investigate maps as primary sources by investigaing the 17th century Ricci and Verbiest maps and creating their own collaborative personal maps of their neighborhoods
Map of Shimoda Port, from the Black Ship Scroll, Edo period (1615-1868); approx. 1854. Japan. Hanging scroll; handscroll segment mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and colors on paper. Museum purchase with assistance from the Japan Society of Northern California, 2012.60.1.
Map
The exhibition, Emperors' Treasures: Chinese Art from the National Palace Museum, Taipei focuses on Chinese imperial taste over more than 1,000 years, during which Chinese political borders changed dramatically. This video highlights some of those changes.
Mount Fuji and the beach at Miho no Matsubara, Edo period (1615-1868). By Shiba Kokan (Japanese, 1738 - 1818). Hanging scroll; Ink and colors on silk. The Avery Brundage Collection, B65D20. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
Mt. Fuji Viewed from the Imai Ferry on the Tone River, Shimosa Province, by Shiba Kokan, (Japanese (1738-1818)), 1812. Japan. Hanging scroll; oil on silk. Gift of Junkichi Mayuyama, B66D18.
Mt. Fuji, approx. 1834-1846, by Kano Seisen'in (Japanese, 1796 - 1846), Hanging scroll; Ink and colors on silk, Gift of Edith Fried, 2005.59. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
This background information will help you prepare your students for their visit to Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia (on view at the Asian Art Museum from October 24, 2014–January 18, 2015).
This collection of resources explores movement of goods, people, and ideas along the Silk Roads. Activities support the Silk and Spice Roads school tour at the Asian Art Museum.
Tale of the Soga Brothers, approx. 1700-1868. Japan. Ink and colors on paper with gold leaf. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60D6.
Art museums are joining together to provide a clearinghouse of exemplary resources to help you teach about Japan. Find peer-reviewed lesson plans, student-friendly videos, contextual information, and high quality images.
Background Information on the Achaemenid Empire
Professor Karen Wigen of Stanford University, gives a talk to teachers on the Japanese archipelago at the Japan Teacher Institute at Asian Art Museum in partnership with the University of California at Berkeley History–Social Science Project.
Tibet is located in the heart of Asia, held aloft on a vast mountainous plateau. Besides sharing borders with India to the west and south and China to the east, Tibet is also neighbor to Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Burma (Myanmar) to the south, and Eastern Turkestan to the north.
Trace the spread of Buddhism through close looking at Buddhist objects from different regions. Explore how artifacts reveal distinct local traditions as well as common ideas and motifs.
The Urami Waterfall in Niko, Picture of Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces, August, 1853, by Ando Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797 - 1858), Woodblock print; Ink and colors on paper, Gift of Japanese Prints from the Collection of Emmeline Johnson. Donated by Oliver and Elizabeth Johnson, 1994.48. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
“Asia” is a term invented by the Greeks and Romans, and developed by Western geographers to indicate the land mass east of the Ural Mountains and Ural River, together with offshore islands such as Japan and Java.
Woman's shawl (manton de Manila), approx. 1920. China. Silk. Gift of Consuelo H. McHugh in memory of Juanita S. Hall, F2008.36. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
Woman’s blouse (camisa), approx. 1850-1950. Philippines, Luzon Island. Pina and cotton (?). Museum Purchase, 2014.43. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
