Video
Video
Beliefs Made Visible: Religion and Art in South Asia
View the whole series of religious arts in South Asia.
Background Information
Becoming a Master Islamic Calligrapher
Background Information
An Introduction to the Qu'ran
A brief introduction to the Qu’ran. Includes audio by Qamar Adamjee, Malavalli Family Foundation Associate Curator of Art of the Indian Subcontinent.
Background Information
An Introduction to the Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty is one of the great dynasties in Chinese history, encompassing nearly four hundred years of expansion and consolidation which coincided with the period of the Roman republic and empire in the West.
Video
An Introduction to Japanese Buddhism
Professor Robert Sharf, University of California, Berkeley, discusses Japanese Buddhism at the Medieval Japan Teacher Institute at the Asian Art Museum.
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A Brief History of Samurai Armor
Background Information
The Underground Army of the First Emperor
Just east of the modern city of Xi’an, you can see an army of soldiers unearthed. Discovered first in 1974, the work continues on three pits containing over 7,000 model soldiers. The army was buried within a framework of wooden pillars just east of the large tumulus containing the tomb of the First Emperor. It was a massive undertaking, certainly the largest ceramic project ever undertaken anywhere.
Background Information
The Life of the Buddha
The Buddha—that is, the “Enlightened One”—lived nearly 2500 years ago in northern India. His followers have always seen his life as a shining example to all, but what “really happened” is now impossible to know for certain. Even the earliest stories of his life include miraculous events that may seem hard to take literally. Later versions are even more elaborate, and they differ from one another in many details.
Background Information
The Invention of Woodblock Printing in the Tang (618–906) and Song (960–1279) Dynasties
Among the most globally significant innovations of the Tang and Song dynasties were the inventions of woodblock printing and moveable type, enabling widespread publishing of a variety of texts, and the dissemination of knowledge and literacy.