Nicolò Manucci: The Adventurer and Historian of the Mughal India

Nicolò Manucci, often referred to as the Marco Polo of India, was an Italian voyager whose life and works offer an invaluable glimpse into 17th-century Mughal India. Born in Venice around 1639, his journey began at the tender age of 14 when he fled home, stowing away on a ship bound for the unknown. This …

Journey to Tuva – Otto Mänchen-Helfen- 1929

Otto John Mänchen-Helfen ( 1894 in Vienna, Austria – 1969 in Berkeley, California) was an Austrian academic, sinologist, historian, author, and traveler. Between 1927 and 1930 he worked at Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow, he then he moved to Berlin from 1930 to 1933, till the rise of Nazisms when he then decided to go back …

A priest and photographer at the end of Qing dynasty

About 100 years ago, China was under the influence of foreign powers as a result of the a century of political and military failures. In the once unexplored provinces of China were now mushrooming representative offices, businessman and even religious men. All were exporting westernization in the Chinese soil trough market, regulations, infrastructures and new …

Macau St. Paul Church

I visited the old center of Macau 3 times in the past years, and each time somehow it all began with a walk around St. Paul's church. It is not for us to known the time the project of St. Paul's Church (aka, Our Lady Mother of God, 大三巴牌坊) started or from whom was draw …

Kongar-ool Ondar

My wife told me while I'm writing this article that she hasn't heard that many songs by Kongar-ool Ondar in a day since her childhood in Tuva. Kongar-ool Borisovich Ondar (Ондар Коңгар-оол Борис оглу,  in Russian/Tuvan, 4 December 1962 - 25 July 2013) was an influential Tuvan musician of the 20th century and one of …

fistful of promises

Up to today there's no yet a wide bibliography about Republic of Tuva in English. The main information available are mostly related to "Tuva Or Bust" by Ralph Leighton (1991), "In Siberia" by Colin Thubron (1999) and few other readings on Khoomei throat singing. Fistful of Promises offers an image of the Republic of Tuva …

Chinese Translators After 1949 – Ji Chaozhu Biography

  Introduction: The dialogue with the United States in the East has never been easy for several reasons. The problems in mainland China did not emerged after WWII, but since the beginning of its relationships with the US. For the duration of the Twentieth century, except for the last three decades, the two political figures, have …

Geda the Living Buddha

The reason why i'm attracted to Geda the Living Buddha story is because of a early trip in the Sichuan Tibetan's areas in 2007. At that time me and my brother we spent one night in a little tibetan village inside Huanglong natural reserve, where still there were some old wodden hoses. In one of the …

STICK OUT YOUR TONGUE – Ma Jian

STICK OUT YOUR TONGUE – Ma Jian 亮出你的舌苔或空空荡荡 1987   Introduction Published first in 1987, Stick Out Your Tongue (CHINESE NAME) has been an example of Chinese literature explaining about the Tibetan culture, how nomadic life has changed while progress has been imported to the province. Also interesting the Chinese way of seen this communities …