Before Taiwan, Vietnam
Vietnam showed it was possible to be part of a Sinitic realm while rejecting China itself.
The evolution of pan-Asianism, Pt. IV: Southeast Asia.
A four-part series where we examine ideas of Asia, past and present.
The evolution of pan-Asianism, Pt. III: China
A four-part series where we examine ideas of Asia, past and present.
The evolution of pan-Asianism, Pt. II: India
A four-part series where we examine ideas of Asia, past and present.
The evolution of pan-Asianism, Pt. I: Japan
A four-part series where we examine ideas of Asia, past and present.
The rise and fall of the technorati
Plotting the trajectory of the knowledge elites from another era.
The other Manchurian incident
The worst catastrophe you've never heard of.
Pondering the haze
How does a single nation handle a transnational problem?
Behind the Pax Sinica
China's trying to build a new international order, but it may not be what you think.
Sail on, black ships
You know that old chestnut about how Japan is so weirdly wonderful because of its several hundred years of self-imposed isolation? Not so true after all.
Identity is an ongoing conversation.
India is no more a Hindu country than China is a porcelain print dress. Some realities are so complex, they don't lend themselves to oversimplification.
Janice Nimura on the importance of being amphibious
Janice Nimura on her book, "Daughters of the Samurai," a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, and on living a three-dimensional life.
The dilemma of an American education
Trop picks: Monet's garden in Naoshima
Claude Monet's iconic paintings were inspired by the work of the great Japanese woodcut artist, Utagawa Hiroshige.
The Chinese influence on Indian art: Deccani paintings
Little is known about the Chinese influence on Indian art. But the two civilisations have a long history of capturing each other's imaginations.
A special relationship: The Coppolas and Tokyo
What explains the special relationship between Sofia Coppola and Tokyo? Papa Francis was a Japanophile and young Sofia would go along on his trips to Japan.
The Chinese influence on Indian modern art: M. F. Husain and Xu Beihong
M.F. Husain's horse paintings owe an artistic debt to Xu Beihong's paintings of the same, reiterating the Chinese influence on Indian modern art.
A bit of Singapore in Sidhpur?
Noting a remarkable similarity between the homes of the Dawoodi Bohras of Sidhpur and the Peranakan Chinese.
The first beauty pageant
In 1907, the Japanese newspaper Jiji Shimpō held Asia's first beauty pageant heralding the entry of women into the public sphere.
Vlisco: A bit of Java in Africa
It is a little known fact that these "African" cloths are not from Africa at all, but have their origins in Indonesia and are manufactured in Holland by a Dutch company called Vlisco for export to Africa.